The Tampa Bay Rays' young superstar left it all on the field Wednesday.
Junior Caminero hustled to reach base on a throwing error to lead off the bottom of the 12th inning and came up limping afterward. But instead of being removed from the game, he gutted out a run from first to third on an ensuing single before being replaced by Cedric Mullins.
Mullins scored the game-tying run on a single by Jonny DeLuca, and Ben Williamson proceeded to walk off the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 with an RBI single, keeping Tampa Bay's World Series hopes alive.
The Rays now trail the Brewers 3-1 in the best-of-seven Fall Classic.
Caminero didn't reveal the extent of his injury but said it didn't matter with Tampa Bay on the brink of elimination.
“If my foot is broken,” Caminero said, “I’ll play tomorrow.”
The 23-year-old Caminero had 42 home runs and 101 RBIs while playing all 162 games during the regular season. He has just one homer and five RBIs in 13 games this post-season.
The Rays are hitting .195 with a single home run in the World Series. Manager Kevin Cash believes his team needs its best hitter in the lineup to keep its season going.
“He’ll play tomorrow on one leg," Cash said. "I’ll make sure of it.”
On Tuesday, Caminero laboured as he tried to leg out his ground ball to third base, and was only able to reach when Jake Bauers failed to pick Joey Ortiz's low throw. The Rays' 23-year-old phenom then grimaced and appeared to have difficulty walking, but ultimately remained at first.
The decision to leave Caminero in the game didn't come back to bite Tampa Bay, as he successfully went first to third on a single by Toronto-born catcher Liam Hicks.
However, he appeared to be in even more discomfort after fully exerting himself on the play, and was subsequently removed for Mullins.
— with files from The Associated Press
