St. Petersburg, FL – Junior Caminero and Cedric Mullins each homered and Drew Rasmussen delivered another quality start as the Tampa Bay Rays completed the sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks by a final score of 5-1.
The victory improved the Rays to 15 games over .500 at 48-33 and they finish their longest homestand of the season winning seven of ten contests. It marks the fourth time the Rays have swept the Diamondbacks at Tropicana Field.
Drew Rasmussen (7-4, 2.45 ERA) picked up the win Craig Kimbrel, Garrett Cleavinger, and Trevor Martin worked the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings respectively to close it out.
Merrill Kelly (5-5, 5.84 ERA) takes the loss to Arizona who fall to a game under .500 at 41-42. Kelly worked six innings allowing five earned runs on eight hits wile striking out three and walking two. The Diamondbacks lone run came on Ketel Marte‘s 15th homer of the year in the top of the eighth inning. Marte has reached base safely in 15 of his last 16 games.
Rasmussen’s Solid Start:
Drew Rasmussen worked six scoreless innings allowing just three hits, hitting two batters, striking out five and walking one. He threw 99 pitches with 65 for strikes. It was his fifth consecutive quality start and his ninth quality start of the season tying Nick Martinez for the team lead. Rasmussen finishes the month of June with a 0.82 ERA (3ER/33IP) marking the third lowest ERA in any month for a Rays pitcher in franchise history: Chris Archer (0.73 ERA – July 2013) and Rich Hill (0.78 ERA – May 2021). It is the lowest ERA for any Rays pitcher in franchise history eclipsing Shane McClanahan’s 1.36 mark in June of 2022.
Rasmussen ran into trouble in the third inning but struck out Corbin Carroll to end the threat. “He was so efficient the first two innings and then they had some good at bats where the pitch count got above a 30 pitch inning.” Manager Kevin Cash said. “Normally we’re not very comfortable with that, but a lot of trust with him and he ends up clearing through six and not giving up anything.”
Rays Strike Early:
Junior Caminero singled in Yandy Diaz in the bottom of the first inning to give the Rays a 1-0 lead. Diaz led the game off with a single extending his home on-base streak to 26 straight games (May 5 – present).
The lead was extended to 3-0 in the bottom of the second on the back of a Cedric Mullins homer. It was Mullins eighth home on the season and his second in the last three games. Mullins has recorded a hit in 13 of his last 16 games hitting .296 (16×54) with 3HR, 7 RBI, and an OPS of .824 in that span. Yandy Diaz extended the lead on a sacrifice fly that scoring Taylor Walls. It was Diaz’s 449th RBI as a Ray tying Aubrey Huff for fifth place in franchise history.
Caminero Destroys Baseball…..Again:
Junior Caminero homered for the fourth consecutive game in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend the Rays lead to 4-0. It was his 22nd homer on the season and his sixth in the last four games. The ball traveled 463 feet into the Rays’ Daiquiri Deck in left center filed and left the bat at 113.5 miles per hour. Caminero finished the game 3-for-3 with a walk and a home run.
Manager Kevin Cash attributes the recent success at the plate to Junior’s hard work in the cage. “I think he’s done a really good job of being who he is, working in the cage and getting good results.” Cedric Mullins said it’s special to watch Caminero turn groundballs, into line drives, and then bombs. He also said that Caminero’s blast which normally would bring cheers, brought silence to the Rays dugout. Caminero said that he’s opened up his stance to try to get more loft on the ball. With seven home runs in his last six games the approach seems to be working.
Williamson Powers Up:
Ben Williamson connected on his second homer of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning extending the lead to 5-0. It was his second homer of the season.
Diaz Departs Game:
Yandy Diaz was lifted for pinch hitter Richie Palacios in the bottom of the seventh due to what the team is calling a shoulder strain. The team says he is day to day. Kevin Cash said that Diaz has been managing the shoulder for five years and is hopeful that a day or two of rest and he should be ready to go. Diaz said he was uncomfortable after the game but also noted that he has been managing the shoulder issue for some time. He hopes to be ready in Kansas City on Tuesday night.
Up Next For Rays:
The Rays will enjoy an off-day on Monday before heading to Kansas City to take on the Royals for a three game set starting Tuesday evening at 7:40 p.m. EST. Griffin Jax (3-5, 3.33 ERA) will take the mound for the Rays and will face Noah Cameron (4-5, 4.50 ERA). Jax faced Cameron and the Royals on Wednesday at Tropicana Field in a 5-3 Rays victory. In that game Jax worked five innings allowing two runs, none earned in picking up the win. Cameron took the loss allowing five earned runs in five innings. The Rays and Royals finish their sesason series after splitting the four game series in St. Petersburg last week.
