CLEVELAND -- Jubilation turned to agony for the Rays in the top of the fifth inning in their 6-1 loss to the Guardians at Progressive Field on Saturday night.

After not getting a runner past second base in the first four innings against Cleveland starter Joey Cantillo, Tampa Bay finally appeared to break through when Jose Siri shot a single to center field that seemed to score Josh Lowe, who was ruled safe at the plate after a narrow tag.

A knock like Siri’s has been few and far between for the Rays, who have struggled to get hits with runners in scoring position all year and entered play Saturday with MLB’s worst batting average with runners in scoring position (.214).

But several minutes and one replay review later, the call was overturned, as video showed that catcher Austin Hedges slapped the tag down on a throw from Lane Thomas mere moments before Lowe crossed the plate.

“Heck of a throw there from Thomas,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Josh did everything he could there to try to finagle his way in, but [the replay center in] New York saw it differently.”

After the game, Lowe said that he didn’t get a great read on the ball off Siri’s bat, which led to him having a slight delay before breaking into a sprint and ended up being the difference between him scoring and being tagged out.

“[My read] in between,” Lowe said. “I thought I was going to get there, but they had a perfect throw and tag to get me out.”

While the Rays’ offense didn’t set the world on fire in the team’s wins against the Guardians on Thursday and Friday, both games featured a big hit that came on the back of shutdown pitching.

Neither of those things happened Saturday, as Tampa Bay only managed to scratch one run across the plate on six hits.

“That’s kind of the story of our season, right?” Lowe said when asked about the Rays’ struggles with runners in scoring position. “We’re just not getting those guys in. It’s a big part of the game -- everyone’s doing everything they can to get those guys in, but it hurts even more when it becomes a known thing.”

Three of those hits were from Junior Caminero, who a few days ago graduated from his status as MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 overall prospect.

The 21-year-old torched his former organization (he was traded from the Guardians to the Rays as a Minor Leaguer in 2021) in the form of three doubles, with his last one in the eighth inning driving in Tampa Bay’s only run.

“He’s going to continue to show everyone that [power],” shortstop Taylor Walls said. “Everyone knows what he’s capable of, and we’re happy to have him on this team. He’s going to be a strength in the middle of our lineup for years to come.”

Caminero’s final double went a Statcast-projected 396 feet to straightaway center field at 107.4 mph, which was the hardest-hit ball in the game. That, coupled with his 102.6 mph double in the sixth inning, means that Caminero has now put 24 balls in play at 100-plus mph since Aug. 23. He also became the youngest player to have three doubles in a game since Manny Machado did it as a 20-year-old on May 23, 2013.

“That’s pretty special,” Cash said. “Machado’s going to go to the Hall of Fame, so if he’s doing anything similar to him at that age we’re fortunate.”

Drew Rasmussen opened for the Rays and threw two solid innings before being relieved by Tyler Alexander, who allowed four runs in five innings.

“Overall, I thought I threw the ball well,” Alexander said. “Even in the inning I gave up runs, I was a little unfortunate. … It was weak contact and good hitting.”

Yandy Díaz (who, like Caminero, is a former Cleveland farmhand) made history Saturday by recording his 700th hit with the Rays, making him the seventh player in franchise history to accomplish the feat, joining Carl Crawford, Aubrey Huff, Kevin Kiermaier, Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and Ben Zobrist.

Díaz signed with Cleveland in 2013 after defecting from Cuba and appeared in 88 MLB games with the club in '17 and ‘18 before being traded to Tampa Bay prior to the ‘19 season. He’s spent the past five years serving as the heartbeat of the Rays’ lineup.

“Congrats to Yandy,” Cash said. “He’s worked hard to get all those hits. That’s a lot of hits. There’s been a lot of good players in this organization, and he’s certainly one of them.”