Maybe Friday’s rainout in Cleveland gave the Rays’ "Big Three" the rest and relaxation they needed to clear their minds. On Saturday night, the bats of Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda and Yandy Díaz awoke in a major way to even the American League Championship Series. Caminero, Aranda and Díaz, who were hitting .147 with one RBI through the first three games of the series, combined for six hits and five RBI in a 7-3 win in Game 4 to ensure, at the very least, the series will go back to Tampa Bay.
Here are my takeaways: It felt like this was brewing. After Caminero struck out in each of his four at-bats in Game 3, Rays manager Kevin Cash did not appear concerned about his superstar’s psyche moving forward. He expected Caminero to make the adjustments necessary and "find a way to get his name in the paper." "He was playing dominos last night after the ball game with the guys," Cash said before Game 4.
"I talked to him this morning. He's got the biggest smile in the clubhouse on his face. He's ready to get a bat in his hands." Hours later, it certainly looked that way.
In the fourth inning, Caminero came close to breaking out, and breaking a 1-1 tie, when he blasted a fastball from Foster Griffin 110.7 mph off the bat. He didn’t quite get enough of the 410-foot drive through the chilly Cleveland air, though, as center fielder Peter Halpin went crashing into the wall to make the play. His next time up, Caminero went for less hangtime.
With the game still tied in the sixth, Daniel Espino left an 0-1 fastball down the middle that Caminero fouled back. The Rays’ star third baseman stared back at the Guardians reliever like he knew he got away with one. In Game 3, Espino got Caminero to chase an 0-2 fastball well out of the zone for a strikeout.
This time, Espino threw Caminero another 0-2 heater above the zone, only this one was far more hittable. Caminero did not miss, lining the 97.9-mph fastball 110.2 mph off the bat and into left field for a go-ahead double. He pounded his chest at second base to celebrate his biggest hit of the series.
The damage could have been far greater that inning for the Rays in the sixth, who put each of their first three hitters on against Espino. But Guardians manager Stephen Vogt turned to lefty Tim Herrin, who kept the deficit at one by recording three straight outs. A year ago, Chase DeLauter made his MLB debut in the wild-card series and dropped the first ball ever hit to him after losing it in the sun.
That error did not come back to bite him in a scoreless inning. However, his second career playoff error, and yet another costly defensive blunder for the Guardians, would yield more consequences Saturday night. In Game 2 of the ALCS, the Rays scored each of their three runs in a 3-1 win after a two-out grounder got through Jose Ramirez’s legs at third base in the fourth inning.
Two games later, another Rays victory followed another Guardians miscue. The Rays led 2-1 with two runners in scoring position in the seventh inning Saturday night when Aranda roped a base hit to right field that would have certainly scored one run. DeLauter charged, hoping to prevent a second run from scoring, when the ball trickled under his glove.
Two runs scored on the play, and the error allowed Aranda to get to third base and then score on a sacrifice fly that stretched the Rays’ lead to 5-1. It was a breakout night for Aranda, who earlier had tied the game with a two-out RBI single in the third inning to snap an 0-for-11 start to the series. He reached base four times in five plate appearances in Game 4.
And it was a tough turn for DeLauter, who gave Cleveland an early lead with an RBI single in the first inning and had starred all series up until that defensive blunder. The insurance runs stemming from his error would be meaningful after the Guardians staged a late-inning comeback. Cleveland brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth inning, but the Rays extinguished the threat and then got a ninth-inning homer from Díaz to put the game away.
While Drew Rasmussen and Freddy Peralta understandably absorb most of the attention in the Rays’ rotation, there’s also a 36-year-old All-Star in the rotation who earned his moment in the spotlight Saturday night. Nick Martinez has been through it all as a big-leaguer after starting his career with the Texas Rangers, spending four years in Japan, returning stateside primarily as a reliever, then taking advantage of his full-time opportunity as a starter. His familiarity as a reliever could end up serving Tampa Bay at some point this postseason, and he spent Game 1 of the ALCS in the bullpen in case the team wanted him in relief.
"Just whatever the team needs, I'm up for it," Martinez said. "I think that's been my MO since coming back from Japan and my whole career, really. That's got to be the mentality for the rest of the year." Game 4, however, was Martinez’s to start.
He starred all year on the road (7-3, 2.38 ERA), picked apart the Guardians lineup in two regular-season matchups this year (13 scoreless innings) and had the experience of nine postseason appearances before Saturday night. All of that seemed to pay off, as the standout veteran allowed an RBI single to his third batter of the game then proceeded to shut the Guardians down the rest of the night with 5.1 innings of one-run ball. He surrendered just two hits and at one point retired 11 straight Cleveland batters.
Interestingly, it was Peralta — who threw six scoreless innings four days ago in Game 2 — who followed Martinez in relief and recorded two outs before handing the ball to the usual suspects in the Rays’ bullpen. Peralta only threw nine pitches, so it’s unlikely that will impact his availability as a starter later in the series. It’s a battle of the aces, as the Rays’ Drew Rasmussen and the Guardians’ Parker Messick are expected to face off in Game 5 to try to move their teams one win away from the World Series.
The Friday postponement gave Rasmussen an extra day of rest after starting Game 1 of the ALCS. He will be pitching on five days of rest, as he usually did during the regular season. The Guardians would have probably liked to give their star rookie a bit more of a breather.
After starting Game 2, Messick will be starting on four days of rest (as he did 12 times during the regular season) and will likely cross the 200-inning mark for the season on Sunday. But this time of year, it’s all hands on deck as both teams try to avoid putting their season on the brink heading back to Tampa Bay.
