Junior Caminero doesn’t typically say much in the Tampa Bay Rays clubhouse, letting his bat do the talking instead. So, when the 23-year-old third baseman started absolutely screaming in the visitors’ dugout during Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday night, his teammates definitely noticed. “When he speaks, everybody listens,” Rays infielder Richie Palacios said Sunday. Fox cameras caught the whole outburst after the sixth inning of Game 2. Moments earlier, Chandler Simpson had let a Christian Yelich fly ball bounce off his glove for what should’ve been the third out. Suddenly, a solid 4-0 Rays lead was gone, and that clip spread like wildfire, with everyone assuming Caminero was tearing into Simpson.
The Outburst Everyone Saw, and the Assumption That Followed
Everyone watching probably thought the same thing: Caminero was ripping into Simpson for that misplay. The Brewers had just tied the game in the sixth, erasing a four-run lead, and that bounce off Simpson’s glove was right in the middle of it. It was scored a single, not an error, but it definitely put runners on the corners and forced manager Kevin Cash to pull pitcher Ian Seymour. The play itself didn’t directly lead to a run, but the Brewers tied the game right there in that sixth inning. We all saw the clip, we all made the jump, right? That’s what happens in the World Series when the stakes are this high.
What Really Got Him Fired Up? It Wasn’t What You Think.
The Rays quickly clarified what really went down. “Yesterday, he was just encouraging us to lock in, lock in and not worry about what’s behind us but to worry about what’s ahead of us,” Palacios said. “We all took it as a positive.” Caminero himself, speaking through interpreter Kevin Vera after the game, never named a single teammate. He pointed at the *whole* defense. “We had to get outs,” Caminero told reporters. “At the moment, we weren’t doing our job.” And honestly, Simpson wasn’t the only one having a rough time. Jonathan Aranda let a routine grounder go right through his legs in the fourth inning with a runner on third, costing the Rays a run. Caminero’s goal was “trying to create some energy and get some life back into us.” That’s the kind of fire you need when things are slipping.
Cash’s Take on the Passion, and What’s Next
Manager Kevin Cash didn’t see a problem with Caminero’s intensity at all. “I think more than anything else, Cammy was trying to fire the guys up, fire the dugout up,” Cash said Sunday. “He knew we weren’t playing our best baseball.” Cash explained that these kinds of moments happen all the time during the season, but the World Series stage just puts it in front of a much bigger audience. “Cammy cares a lot,” Cash added. “The players care a lot and we want to play good behind our pitchers without a doubt.”
The Rays definitely need that message, that collective “lock in,” to stick. They ended up losing Game 2 by a score of 5-4 and now trail the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 in the series. They’ll head into Game 3 on Monday, Oct. 26 at Tropicana Field with a huge uphill battle ahead. That energy Caminero brought, even if it was misinterpreted at first, is exactly what they’ll need to turn this series around.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply