PHILADELPHIA – A hush came over Citizens Bank Park when Rays emerging superstar slugger Junior Caminero was struck on his left pinkie finger by a 97.6 mph pitch from Cardinals righty Riley O’Brien in the third inning of Tuesday night’s All-Star Game.
The last thing anyone wants at any Midsummer Classic is a serious injury. Fortunately, Caminero avoided one, and it just goes down as an All-Star scare.
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X-rays at the ballpark came back clean, and Caminero is day to day. The third baseman expressed confidence he will be able to play on Friday when the Rays return to action with a day-night doubleheader at Fenway Park against the Red Sox.
“Yeah, in the moment I was just scared, right,” Caminero said through an interpreter. “Kind of in that situation, right there in the moment, you're thinking the worst, and I honestly thought something might have been broken. But look, thank you to God that everything's fine, and now it's just a little bit sore, but we're all good.”
The sound of the hit by pitch was easily picked up by FOX microphones as Caminero winced in pain and went straight to the clubhouse. Caminero was replaced by White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas, who hit a towering home run in the top of the eighth inning.
“A 98 mile-per-hour sinker on the hands, and it didn't hit my bat at all,” Caminero said. “So look, it was a scary moment, but right now we feel really good, and we're going to keep moving forward.”
In a compelling show of sportsmanship, O’Brien went into the American League clubhouse to check in with Caminero.
“Yeah, look, with O'Brien, I really appreciate the gesture,” Caminero said. “He came into the clubhouse to apologize, but I told him, ‘No, it's part of the game.’ He was really worried, but I told him, ‘Look, these things happen. We're here to have fun. We're here to enjoy the night.’ And yeah, we caught up and we both felt really good that … everything's okay.”
The scare, albeit brief, had to be jarring for anyone affiliated with the Rays to watch. Tampa Bay has been one of the best stories in MLB this season, breaking out to an American League-best 56-38 record to take a three-game lead over the Yankees in the division.
The 23-year-old Caminero has been in the middle of it all, belting 28 homers to go with a .927 OPS.
For the Rays, nerves turned into relief once the X-rays came back clean.
The right-handed-hitting slugger from the Dominican Republic has mashed 80 homers in his first 1,156 at-bats.