Rays rally to sweep series

The Tampa Bay Rays erased a one-run deficit in the ninth inning Thursday, beating the Chicago White Sox 5-3 to finish a three-game sweep. (apnews.com) Junior Caminero tied the game at 3-3 with a solo homer off Seranthony Domínguez, then Tampa Bay loaded the bases and took the lead on walks drawn by Hunter Feduccia and Taylor Walls. (mlb.com) The White Sox had gone ahead 3-2 in the eighth on Everson Pereira’s home run after earlier runs from Miguel Vargas and Edgar Quero. Tampa Bay’s earlier scoring came on a Taylor Walls RBI single in the fourth and a Richie Palacios RBI single in the seventh. (mlb.com) The win pushed Tampa Bay to 11-7 and extended its streak to six games, the best record in the American League as of Thursday night. The Rays had also just swept the New York Yankees in a four-game set before taking all three in Chicago. (mlb.com 1) (mlb.com 2) That gives Tampa Bay seven straight wins over the Yankees and White Sox combined in a span of seven days, a sharp turn after the club opened the season 5-7. Thursday’s comeback was the second straight series-clinching sweep in that run. (baseball-reference.com) (mlb.com) Caminero’s homer carried extra personal weight: he said before the game that he had promised his mother a birthday home run, then delivered with a 375-foot shot into the left-field bleachers. (mlb.com) Chicago’s collapse came from a bullpen that issued the two bases-loaded walks in the ninth after Domínguez gave up the tying homer and Lucas Sims lost the strike zone. The White Sox finished the series 0-3 and fell to 6-12. (apnews.com) (mlb.com) For Tampa Bay, the last inning was enough: one swing from Caminero, two patient plate appearances, and another sweep on the road. (mlb.com)