The Tampa Bay Rays’ 4-0 lead after the first inning of Game 2 of the World Series was gone by the seventh inning.
So was Junior Caminero’s patience.
The star third baseman was caught on camera exploding in the visitors’ dugout at American Family Field between the sixth and seventh innings on Saturday, Oct. 24. The Fox broadcast didn’t show precisely who Caminero’s verbal outburst was directed toward. But the reason for his frustration was not difficult to decipher.
The Rays’ defense gifted the Brewers extra pitches and extra outs left and right after taking an early lead. In the second inning, first baseman Jonathan Aranda dropped a foul pop-up off the bat of William Contreras in front of the protective netting behind first base.
When Contreras hit an opposite-field single later in the same at-bat, Milwaukee scored its first run.
Although it was scored a single, not an error, it extended the inning and forced Tampa Bay to pull Seymour from the game.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Cooper Pratt’s RBI single scored Brice Turang to give the Brewers a 5-4 lead.
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Tampa Bay led all MLB teams in defensive efficiency in the regular season at .723. Simpson was among baseball’s best defensive left fielders.
In short, the Rays committed the kind of meltdown Caminero was not accustomed to seeing during the regular season. And it happened at an impossibly bad time.
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