Tampa Bay Rays fans were welcomed to George M. Steinbrenner field Thursday with a bobblehead of star third baseman Junior Caminero. He sent them home happy, too, as he scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning which gave the Rays a dramatic 4-3 win over the Texas Rangers.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, he hit an RBI single to trim the Rangers' lead to one run. Then, with two outs, he made it home from second base on an infield single by Rays shortstop Taylor Walls to win the game. Walls hit a grounder to Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien who couldn't make the play at first because nobody was there to cover the bag.
The tying run scored from third, then Caminero bolted toward home from second and slid in head first for the walk-off run as catcher Jonah Heim's tag came just a touch too late. Caminero popped up, tossed his helmet in the air and pumped his fists excitedly as he ran to swarm with his teammates.
THE RAYS WALK IT OFF 🤯 pic.twitter.com/gcBh7xzQAw
— MLB (@MLB) June 6, 2025
Caminero was responsible for the Rays' only run before the ninth inning as he hit a solo home run to center field in the second inning.
Junior Caminero hits a LOUD home run off the batter's eye 😳
— MLB (@MLB) June 6, 2025
On his own bobblehead night! pic.twitter.com/kALzb9hwPq
All in all, he ended the game with two hits, a homer and two RBIs, plus a savvy base-running move to catch the Rangers off balance, which resulted in a dramatic comeback win for the Rays. And fans got to go home with an awesome bobblehead of their team's hero.
The question is—what got Caminero more excited, his first bobblehead or the walk-off run?
#Rays Junior Caminero is quite excited to have his first bobblehead, which is a giveaway for all fans tonght. pic.twitter.com/kzfll3K3Bp
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 5, 2025
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Junior Caminero Was So Fired Up As He Scored the Game-Winning Run on Own Bobblehead Night.
