Caminero homers in front of childhood idol, gives Machado a wink

ST. PETERSBURG -- On Friday night, between their long-awaited reunion on a big league field and their postgame jersey exchange, Junior Caminero and Manny Machado shared a moment near third base.

Machado had just ripped a three-run homer out to center field, one of many big hits during the Padres’ blowout win in the series opener, and he winked at his new friend and longtime admirer as he trotted around the bases.

So when Caminero crushed a three-run homer of his own in the second inning of the Rays’ 11-4 rout of the Padres on Saturday afternoon at Tropicana Field, he couldn’t resist.

Machado gave him a wink. Caminero winked back.

It was yet another highlight for baseball’s top prospect, who seems to enjoy big moments in the spotlight as much as he loves blasting baseballs out of the ballpark.

“He’s the No. 1 prospect in the world. He’s No. 1 for a reason. He’s pretty good. He’s got so many tools. He’s got some talent,” said infielder José Caballero, who led the team with a career-high four RBIs. “He’s pretty comfortable. I can tell you that. He likes that. He’s having fun with everything, and that’s good for the team.”

So was Saturday’s 11-run, 13-hit performance. The Rays have been waiting a while for a game like this.

The Rays only scored 12 total runs while going 1-4 over their previous five games. They entered the day averaging 3.12 runs per game in August, and they scored two runs or fewer in 14 of their 27 games this month.

Then came Saturday, their highest-scoring showing since they put up 13 runs in Toronto on July 25. They dropped nine runs and 11 hits on Padres starter Randy Vásquez, tied for the most runs they’ve scored off an opposing starter all season (also June 4 against Miami’s Jesús Luzardo) and their most hits off another starter since they had 12 against Cincinnati’s Nick Lodolo on April 18, 2023.

“It felt good. Hopefully they feel good about themselves,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “As much of a struggle as maybe it's been result-wise, they've continued to work. You need to have some of those good result days to help along, and today was one of those.”

Caminero had the biggest, longest and loudest hit of the day. Batting with two on and two outs in the second inning, Caminero unloaded on a first-pitch cutter from Vásquez and launched it onto the Daiquiri Deck just beyond the center-field fence.

As much as the Statcast-projected distance (429 feet), exit velocity (105.8 mph) or bat speed (84.5 mph) behind the home run, the location stood out to those familiar with the Trop.

“Not a lot of balls go out to that part of the park,” said starter Shane Baz, who limited the Padres to a two-run homer in the first and retired 14 of the last 16 hitters he faced in his first start back from an illness that left him 11 pounds lighter. “If you watch his BP, you’re pretty impressed. He looks like he’s settling in real well.”

Caminero said he knew he hit it well, and he thought it would get out, but he still ran out of the batter’s box, knowing how difficult it is to go deep to that area just left of dead center field.

“Something with that little triangle out there keeps the ball in,” said Brandon Lowe, who went 3-for-5 with one RBI and three runs. “To be able to hit it through and hit it out as far as he did, it's impressive.”

Of course, the ability to punish baseballs like others can’t is what makes Caminero a special prospect, and he’s showing it in his second Major League stint.

In his past eight games, Caminero is hitting .273 (9-for-33) with two doubles, one triple, three homers, six RBIs and a .647 slugging percentage. Including Saturday’s blast, he has recorded 13 triple-digit exit velocities during that stretch.

“Very impressive,” Cash said. “That guy's super talented. Happy that he's having this type of success here early on.”

After trotting around the bases, Caminero ran through Tampa Bay’s dugout to celebrate then huddled, bounced around, danced and posed with Jose Siri and Christopher Morel.

It’s a new tradition, apparently, and likely one we’ll see plenty of if Caminero keeps this up.

“I guess you could say it was born here. It was something that we just did for fun,” Caminero said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “We like to have fun on this team with Siri and Morel, and it’s just something that just happened and we have fun doing it.”