Junior Caminero hits solo home run, giving Dominican Republic early lead over United States
Junior Caminero hit a solo home run to give the Dominican Republic an early lead over the United States.
Tampa Bay Rays phenom Junior Caminero is making a serious run at the AL MVP, but all fans saw Tuesday night was quite possibly the slowest walk of all time.
Maybe this is what hitting a "walk-off" home run truly means? I don't know. If so, the 23-year-old nailed it.
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Caminero hit his second walk-off in the span of five days Tuesday against the A's, wrapping his 41st home run of the year around the right field foul pole to win the game, 2-1. The superstar slugger is now hitting .279 this season to go along with the 41 dingers, along with 96 RBI and a nearly .900 OPS.
Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off home run in the ninth inning to defeat the Athletics 2-1 at Tropicana Field on Sept. 15, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Getty Images)
For most of the season, the AL MVP has been Yordon Álvarez's to lose. And the Houston slugger hasn't lost it, by any means.
But Caminero is on the verge of ripping it away — and his home run trot after Tuesday's walk-off may have sealed the deal.
Take a look:
Junior Caminero took forever to complete this trot
Goodness gracious. I grew up watching David Ortiz absolutely milk home run trots, but I'm not sure I've ever seen one quite like that. Are you even allowed to touch the runner before he hits home? They're all just high-fiving him down the first base line.
We grew up being SCOLDED if we dared touch a batter before he touched home. It was basically a sin.
Apparently, that's just a myth — at least in the MLB rulebook. A deeeeeeeep dive actually revealed that there is no rule in MLB on this, but it's actually pretty strictly enforced down in the college ranks.
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Rule 5, Section 2 states: After a home run, no offensive team member, other than the base coaches, shall touch the batter-runner before home plate has been touched.
No such rule exists in Major League Baseball. True story. The more you know!
Junior Caminero and Chandler Simpson react after Caminero hit a walk-off home run against the Oakland Athletics in the ninth inning at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Sept. 15, 2026. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
Junior Caminero #13 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates after hitting a walk-off home run in the ninth inning to defeat the Athletics 2-1 at Tropicana Field on Sept. 15, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Getty Images)
Anyway, Caminero's blast gave the Rays their 91st win of the year. Tampa has already clinched a playoff spot, and will likely wrap up the AL East here in a few days.
As for the 40+ second trot, most on social media loved it. Some, of course, want him drilled in the ribs in the first inning tonight.
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The duality of man:
