Rays' Junior Caminero homers twice, but bullpen falters late

The Rays offense started to come together a little bit in yesterday's game against the Minnesota Twins. Led by Junior Caminero's huge day at the plate, Tampa Bay hitters produced nine hits and four extra-base hits. Minor leaguer Kenny Piper and utility-man Richie Palacios hit a double a piece, but the other two extra-base hits made the largest impact (and the loudest sounds).

21-year old Caminero stole the show with his first multi-homer game of 2025. The slugging infielder crushed a two-run shot off of Twins starter Chris Paddack in the first inning to give the Rays an early 2-0 lead. He would replicate another two-run home run in his next at-bat against... Twins starter Chris Paddack. The only difference was that this bomb was hit to straight away right field, while the first one was deposited in the seats in left center.

This pair of homers really displayed the youngster's versatility at the plate. Few players his age can portray that kind of power to all fields. According to Rays starting pitcher Shane Baz, there was a unique tone to Caminero's contact on Sunday afternoon. "It sounded different. You look up as soon as a bat makes that sound.", Baz commented. This is certainly an encouraging remark from one of his teammates.

However, the Rays wouldn't be able to keep their early lead in this spring exhibition. Despite the bullpen being one of the lone bright spots of 2024, they blew this game in the late innings. Rays sidearm hurler, Kevin Kelly gave up back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning to allow Minnesota to trim their deficit to only two runs.

Rays non-roster invitee Nathan Wiles completed the blown lead for good, as he gave up four hits and two runs in the ninth inning. Ultimately, the Rays tied yesterday's game against the Twins, further showing the insignificance of the outcome.

Although, the recent outings from Rays relievers have been disappointing to say the least. Kevin Kelly is a late-inning relief pitcher that they will rely on heavily, so it is essential for him to bounce back from this performance and ensure that he can fix his command prior to Opening Day.