Houston Astros at Tampa Bay Rays

· Major League Baseball

Houston Astros

75-73, 38-35 Away

Final
1 - 3

Tampa Bay Rays

88-59, 48-25 Home

Junior Caminero's walk-off homer sends Rays to playoff-clinching 3-1 win over Astros

Rays clinch a playoff spot off a Junior Caminero walk-off homer

Caminero’s 417-foot shot to left-center off Bryan Abreu (6-4) was his 40th of the season and sparked a joyous celebration at the plate. The 23-year-old hit 45 homers in 2025, his first full year in the majors, and he joins Aaron Judge as the only active major leaguers with consecutive 40-homer seasons.

AL-best Tampa Bay (88-59) became the first team in the majors to secure a playoff spot.

Bryan Baker (2-2) worked a scoreless ninth.

Victor Mesa Jr. homered in the fifth for the Rays, but that was one of only two Tampa Bay hits through eight innings.

In the ninth, Jonathan Aranda doubled off the right-field wall with one out. He was replaced by pinch-runner Jonny DeLuca, and Caminero walked it off on the next pitch.

The Astros scored in the fourth against Drew Rasmussen when Isaac Paredes doubled and came home on a grounder by Yainer Diaz.

Rasmussen worked seven innings, allowing eight hits. He struck out four and walked none.

Opener Miguel Ullola worked the first for Houston, Bryan King got the next four outs and Ethan Pecko worked the next 5 2/3 innings before giving way to Abreu in the ninth.

Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez, who is chasing the AL triple crown but trails Caminero by two homers, missed the game after twisting his right ankle in Thursday’s win at Philadelphia. Manager Joe Espada said the injury isn’t considered serious.

Up next RHP Peter Lambert (8-8, 3.67 ERA) starts for the Astros on Saturday against Rays LHP Ian Seymour (9-6, 4.33).

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TV Channel: Astros at Rays 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
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Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Caminero homered to left center (417 feet), DeLuca scored.
	9th Inning	DeLuca ran for Aranda
	9th Inning	Aranda doubled to right.
	9th Inning	Díaz struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Abreu relieved Pecko
	9th Inning	Smith struck out swinging.

Statistics

HOU		TB
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	1
14	Ground Balls	12
6	Strikeouts	5
1	Runs Batted In	3
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
9	Hits	4
1	Stolen Bases	2
1	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
1	Runs	3
1	Ground Into Double Play	1
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
33	At Bats	27
0	Home Runs	2
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
12	Runners Left On Base	5
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
1	Doubles	1
13	Fly Balls	10
1	Caught Stealing	1
116	Pitches	116
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
1	Is Qualified In Steals	1
10	Total Bases	11
34	Plate Appearances	30
0.0	Projected Home Runs	324.0
1	Extra Base Hits	3
2.4	Runs Created	2.3
.273	Batting Average	.148
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.303	Slugging Percentage	.407
.061	Secondary Average	.370
.294	On Base Percentage	.233
.597	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.641
1.1	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	1.2
2.5	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	2.5
16.0	Batter Rating	26.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	13.5
0.50	Stolen Base Percentage	0.67
3.41	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.87
.030	Isolated Power	.259
0.17	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.40
.029	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.067
-.212	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.222
2.0	Runs Produced	6.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.5
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.1
72.8	MLB Rating	74.0
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0