ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays seem to have avoided a significant injury scare after superstar third baseman Junior Caminero and outfielder Jonny DeLuca crashed into each other while chasing a foul ball in the ninth inning of Tampa Bay’s 7-3 loss to Cleveland in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night at Tropicana Field.
Batting with a runner on second base and nobody out, Brayan Rocchio lifted a fly ball high into the air and toward the Guardians’ bullpen down the left-field line. DeLuca pursued the ball from his spot in left field, and Caminero ran back from third base to get under it.
Neither caught the ball, then they slammed into each other, with their left shoulders seeming to absorb most of the impact. DeLuca hit the turf hard, rolled into the bullpen bench then quickly got to his feet. Caminero stayed on his feet for a moment then appeared to be in quite a bit of pain as he sat with his back against the short wall between the field and 162 Landing.
After being checked on, Caminero remained in the game and returned to his spot at third base as “Gonna Fly Now,” the theme from “Rocky,” pumped through The Trop’s speakers.
“I feel good. Feel good overall,” Caminero said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “Just my head hurts a little bit, but overall good.”
Caminero said he was mostly struck in the chest during the collision and called the headache “just kind of the normal aftereffect … of feeling the hit, feeling the blow.” Manager Kevin Cash repeated that Caminero was “OK.”
“I think he got the wind knocked out of him a little bit. I actually didn't even notice that he went down,” Cash said. “I was looking at DeLuca. He popped up pretty quick, and [I] didn't realize that Cami had fallen down a couple feet behind him. But I think he just got the wind knocked out of him, and he seems to be totally fine now.”
DeLuca said the run-in banged up his left shoulder and hand, but he doesn’t expect either to be an issue moving forward -- for himself or Caminero.
As for how the collision came about in the first place? DeLuca said it was simply a product of their desire to make a play in a one-run game and a loud crowd of 35,361.
“Just two guys going hard at it, and obviously it's pretty noisy. It's hard to hear each other,” DeLuca said. “That's about it. I think Cami's good. I'm pretty good.”