The Tampa Bay Rays dramatically earned a playoff berth Friday night for the first time since 2023.
On Saturday, they will look to take the series from the Houston Astros in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The series opener could not have been scripted any better for the American League’s top club, which is 88-59 and waited until the ninth inning to start readying playoff tickets.
Junior Caminero notched his first career walk-off hit with his AL-leading 40th blast to score pinch runner Jonny DeLuca, who ran for Jonathan Aranda after the first baseman nearly won it with a double off the top of the wall.
Caminero joined New York Yankees star Aaron Judge as the only players with current back-to-back 40-homer seasons.
“I was looking for a high pitch, and I was able to get it and send it out,” said Caminero, who launched the Rays into the postseason for the sixth time in eight seasons in the 3-1 win.
Soaked in champagne, manager Kevin Cash said his team would savor the moment.
“We’ve been pretty consistent all season long,” Cash said. “We thought this group was special. … The guys are pumped in there and rightfully so. We’ve all acknowledged we want to continue this.”
Starter Drew Rasmussen took a no-decision Friday after another sharp outing, allowing one run on eight hits in seven innings. The Rays are 10-0 since the All-Star break when Rasmussen takes the mound.
As the battle rages on against the in-state rival Texas Rangers, the AL West-leading Astros will turn to right-hander Peter Lambert (8-8, 3.67 ERA) and his seven-pitch repertoire to even the series.
In July, he was 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in five starts with 32 strikeouts and eight walks in 28 2/3 innings.
According to Fangraphs, Lambert is one of a dozen pitchers to deliver seven different pitches 100 times or more.
He returned from his 2025 season in Japan with a robust arsenal of offerings – three fastballs, three breaking pitches and a changeup – and has excelled with the Astros (75-73) on the rotation’s front end.
“I experimented with some different pitches (in Japan), but it never really stuck,” said Lambert. “I was always a true four-pitch guy over there. With some help from the Astros, and it being a main focus of the offseason for me, I was able to get those pitches to stick.”
Lambert is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in two starts and a relief appearance versus the Rays.
Slugger Yordan Alvarez (.310, 38 homers, 96 RBIs, 1.017 OPS) missed the opener with a sprained right ankle.
Tampa Bay’s Ian Seymour will continue his chase for 10.
Since beating the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 9, the left-handed Seymour (9-6, 4.33) has been winless in five outings.
After moving to 9-3 by beating the M’s with six innings of one-run ball, the 27-year-old Virginia Tech alum fell into a brutal stretch that saw him go 0-3 with a 5.19 ERA, though he did whiff 34 batters in his 26 innings pitched.
Firmly entrenched in one of the final two spots on the rotation’s back end now but surely shifting to the bullpen in the playoffs, Seymour will be facing the Astros for the first time when he makes his 14th start and 44th appearance thus far.
-Field Level Media
