By MATT PIKE
Junior Caminero homered in his sixth straight game to match a Tampa Bay record helping the Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-0 at Kauffman Stadium.
It was the seventh win in a row for the Rays. Caminero hit his 24th home run of the season on the first pitch he saw from Seth Lugo, who fell to 3-6 on the season, following Jonathan Aranda’s one-out single in the first inning to put Tampa Bay up 2-0. Caminero tied Carlos Peña’s team record set in 2010.
Caminero is now two away from tying the major league record of eight set by the Pirates’ Dale Long in 1956 and matched by the Yankees’ Don Mattingly in 1987 and the Mariners’ Ken Griffey Jr. in 1993. Rafael Devers was the last player to homer in six straight games, doing so for the Boston Red Sox in May 2024.
Lugo struck out Caminero his next two times up, but Cedric Mullins hit his ninth home run of the season in the sixth inning, a two-out shot that gave the Rays a 3-0 advantage. Lugo gave up three runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts in six innings, one week after giving up seven runs in five innings to Tampa Bay on the road. Mullins drove in the final run of the game in the eighth off reliever Jose Cuas.
Shane McClanahan limited Kansas City to three hits in six innings. The Royals had six hits overall, with Jac Caglianone going 2-for-4. Carter Jensen's 20 game hit streak came to an end with him going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Starling Marte, Bobby Witt Jr, Salvador Perez, and Michael Massey also each had hits.
Kansas City and Tampa Bay wrap up their series tomorrow. The Royals anticipate Stephen Kolek (4-2, 4.15 ERA, 34K's) will return and start against opener Ian Seymour (4-1, 4.32 ERA, 52K's) for the Rays. First pitch is at 6:40pm, pregame begins at 6 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
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