Junior Caminero Sends The Tampa Bay Rays To The Playoffs With 40th Home Run
Junior Caminero leaned back, watched Bryan Abreu's 97 mph fastball leave his bat at 107 mph and travel 417 feet into the left-center field seats at Tropicana Field, and sent the Tampa Bay Rays to the playoffs.
The two-run walk-off in the bottom of the ninth gave Tampa Bay a 3-1 win over the Houston Astros Friday night and made the Rays the first team to clinch a 2026 postseason berth.
It was Caminero's 40th home run of the season, the most in the American League, and his first career walk-off blast.
He pounded his chest twice, exhorted the dugout and began what quickly became a joyous, dogpile celebration. "I thought that was the moment right there where I could really, really elevate myself to be a superstar in this game," he said through his interpreter.
He is already in that conversation. The 22-year-old Dominican Republic third baseman is the Rays' franchise player and the centerpiece of the best record in the AL.
Tampa Bay is 88-59 and holds a three-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East, the division title and a first-round playoff bye are both in reach.
Caminero is only the 11th player in MLB history to hit a walk-off homer on the day his team clinched a playoff spot. The first was Bobby Thomson's Shot Heard 'Round the World in 1951. It was fitting company.
