Player of the gameShane McClanahanTBA6.0ip 3h 0er 4k
Jonathan Aranda had barely gotten situated at first base after a first-inning single off Royals starter Seth Lugo, and all of a sudden the ball was flying off Junior Caminero’s bat, bound for the seats beyond the visitors’ bullpen at Kauffman Stadium. As he began his jog around the bases, Aranda couldn’t help but laugh. How else can you respond to the history Caminero seems to be making every night at this point? “It's kind of amazing when you've got 25 other players in the dugout that are pretty much in awe, along with an entire coaching staff,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “That means you're doing some incredible things.” Caminero swung at the first pitch he saw from Lugo, a sinker that was supposed to be away from Tampa Bay’s superstar but wound up leaking back inside. Caminero did what he’s done so often and blasted it out to left field for a two-run homer to jump-start the Rays’ 4-0 win over the Royals. It was Caminero’s sixth straight game with a home run, matching the franchise record set by Carlos Peña from June 6-12, 2010. And it almost immediately had the Rays on their way to their seventh straight victory, matching their longest winning streak of the season and making them the first American League team to record 50 wins. * Most consecutive games with a home run The Statcast-projected 425-foot blast also made Caminero the youngest player since at least 1900 to go deep in six straight games. That distinction previously belonged to Ken Griffey Jr., who was 23 years and 246 days old when he homered in his sixth straight game (amid his record-tying eight-game run) on July 25, 1993. Meanwhile, Caminero will turn 23 on Sunday. His age still won’t match his home run total for the season, which is now at 24. “Pretty surprised,” Caminero said. “Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. ... When my name stays in that lineup, it's unbelievable.” Before Caminero, the last player to hit a home run in six straight games was Rafael Devers from May 15-20, 2024. If Caminero goes yard again in Thursday night’s series finale, he’ll become only the seventh player to ever have a seven-game home run streak, with Mike Trout (Sept. 4-12, 2022) being the most recent to do so.
