Junior Caminero, a key to Rays' future, sparks victory over Red Sox

BOSTON — Saturday’s penultimate game of the Tampa Bay Rays’ season started in a way that seemed a fitting tribute to many of the others that came before it. They got their first two hitters on, loaded the bases with one out and got nothing out of it.

But as the crisp afternoon went on, the Rays showed, despite a historically bad performance over six months with runners in scoring position, that they occasionally can deliver big hits in key situations, and beat the Red Sox 7-2.

Amid the disappointment of missing the playoffs for the first since since 2018, there has been ample excitement about the development and progress of their pitchers, with an abundance of starters and a stable of hard-throwing relievers.

But to get back to where they want to be and playing into October, they are going to have to improve their sagging offense.

And while there will be extensive conversation and considerable speculation about potential offseason acquisitions to do that, they also are going to need some of their prominent younger players to step up.

There were signs of that Saturday, as Junior Caminero hit a two-run homer and singled in another run, and Josh Lowe delivered a two-run single.

Caminero, 21, is a big part of the Rays’ future, having been among the top prospects in the game since last year. He has shown that since his mid-August promotion from Triple A, hitting .256 with six homers, 18 RBIs and a .741 OPS in 42 games.

So is Lowe, the 26-year-old who had a breakthrough 2023 season but was set back by injuries this spring and never seemed to get fully on track. He is hitting .241 with 10 homers, 34 RBIs and a .696 OPS.

They were supported by another strong pitching performance, as Shane Baz capped his return from a nearly two-year injury absence with another strong outing, allowing two runs and three hits over six innings.

Kevin Kelly followed and worked a quick seventh, extending his majors-longest active scoreless streak to 24 1/3 innings. It is now the third-longest single-season streak in franchise history, trailing only J.P. Howell’s 27 1/3 in 2012 and Alex Cobb’s 24 2/3 in 2014.

Drew Rasmussen, who returned in August from 2023 elbow surgery, took it from there.

The Rays improved to 80-81, and with another win on Sunday can avoid their first losing season since 2017 and move ahead of the Red Sox to finish third in the American League East. Their last time lower than third was 2016.

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