Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero will look to continue his torrid hitting when the Rays chase a series victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.
Caminero, the American League co-Player of the Week, belted a solo shot in the Rays’ 5-1 victory Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series. His team-leading 14th homer of the season was his sixth in his past 10 games, boosting his RBI total to 18 in that stretch.
“(I’m) happy that Cam got the ball out of the ballpark. That was a big one,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “… Even that one was up in the top of the zone and looked middle in. It’s really impressive that he can get up to 95-96 (mph). He’s incredibly talented to do that.”
Kameron Misner also went deep for the Rays, who have won 10 of their past 13 games overall and eight of their past nine at home.
The Rangers, in turn, mustered just Jake Burger’s RBI single among four hits as the team dropped the opener of its nine-game road trip and fell to 9-19 away from home.
“It doesn’t matter whether you are on the road or at home,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “We’re doing what we can to get this offense going. We had a couple of nice games there last series, but we’ve got to win some games on the road. We’ve got to be better. That’s our focus. It didn’t happen (on Tuesday).”
Texas’ Evan Carter was activated from the 10-day injured list and went 0-for-1 in his return to the lineup. He had been sidelined since May 16 due to a right quadriceps injury.
“It’s really good to have Evan back,” Bochy said. “We’ve had a little bit of time with him this year, but he feels great. He told me, ‘I’m being honest, I feel great right now.’ So that was good to hear.”
Slumping Adolis Garcia returned from a four-game absence to record a single and a run on Tuesday. It was a promising showing after he was batting just .164 (9-for-55) with 21 strikeouts in his previous 16 games.
“He’s working hard and doing what we are asking him to do,” Bochy said. “We’ve got to get him back to being who he is. And it’s about making some adjustments up there.”
Texas right-hander Kumar Rocker (1-3, 8.10 ERA) is expected to be activated from the 15-day injured list and get the starting assignment on Wednesday. Rocker, who has been sidelined by right shoulder impingement, scattered two hits and eight strikeouts over seven scoreless innings across two minor-league rehab appearances.
Rocker, 25, allowed one run on six hits in five innings in a no-decision against the Rays on April 6 in his only career appearance against them. Texas won 4-3.
Rays right-hander Shane Baz (4-3, 4.92 ERA) will take the mound on Wednesday. Baz has struggled mightily to keep the ball in the park this season, yielding two homers in three of his past four starts and 12 for the season.
Baz, 25, is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in his lone career encounter with the Rangers, a 3-0 loss last July 5.
–Field Level Media
