Shane Baz, Junior Caminero lead Rays past Blue Jays for 4th straight win

Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times on May 24, 2025

Published in Baseball

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TAMPA, Fla. — Junior Caminero hit a three-run homer in the first inning, and the Rays pitching staff made it stand up in a 3-1 victory Saturday that ran their winning streak to four, all at Steinbrenner Field.

Shane Baz, coming off a rough four-start stretch, reverted to his strong early season form. He worked into the sixth, and three relievers took things from there.

The Rays improved to 25-26, the closest they’ve been to .500 since April 30. The four-game win streak is their second longest of the season and their best run at Steinbrenner Field, where they had lost 18 of their first 29 and had a 1-11 stretch.

The Rays looked to have an opportunity to score early in the first when No. 2 hitter Josh Lowe walked with one out and was running on Jose Berrios’ pitch that Brandon Lowe laced to right-center field.

Josh Lowe was hustling home, but the ball one-hopped the wall for a ground-rule double, sending him back to third. Manager Kevin Cash spent a few minutes talking, politely, with the umpires, but there was no change in the ruling.

Caminero, who got Wednesday off to reset after a 1-for-17 stretch, quickly made it irrelevant. He blasted a 2-1 slurve on a 387-foot ride over the left-center-field wall.

Baz said he made some small adjustments following his recent tough stretch, and whatever he did helped. He posted five zeroes, allowing his only run on Vladimir Guerrero’s 423-foot homer leading off the sixth.

Garrett Cleavinger got the Rays through the seventh, Manny Rodriguez had the eighth and Pete Fairbanks finished it off for his 10th save in 11 chances.

As usual, the Rays got help from their defense, most notably a running, sliding catch by rookie center fielder Kameron Misner in the eighth, along with two double plays.

Baz was coming off an ugly stretch in which he went 0-3 with a 9.61 ERA, allowing a .361 average (30 for 83, including six homers) and 1.117 OPS. He struck out 12 and walked 10 over 19 2/3 innings.

What made his struggles more glaring were that he had a strong five-start opening month of April, going 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA. He allowed a .194 average and .564 OPS, striking out 36 and walking nine over 29 1/3 innings.