Junior Caminero put on a show in the fifth inning Tuesday night, and he capped it with a celebration that brought back memories of Dikembe Mutombo.
With the Rays in front 3-0 and nobody on base in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, Cleveland’s Steven Kwan lined a 1-1 pitch from Tampa Bay starter Freddy Peralta into the air. Caminero ranged over, left his feet and made the catch to take away a hit.
Then came the flourish: a finger wag that seemed to nod to the late NBA legend Mutombo, the four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award winner who died in 2024.
Junior Caminero hit Steven Kwan with the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag after catching his line drive 😅 pic.twitter.com/QuXxV0VEZB
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 14, 2026
The play was a big one for Tampa Bay, which entered the night trying to keep from falling into a 2-0 hole against a Guardians team that had opened the series with a 7-3 win Monday. Caminero had gone 1-for-4 in that loss, driving in a run and scoring one, but it wasn’t enough to stop Cleveland from stealing Game 1.
Even with that setback, the Rays still fit the profile of a team capable of turning the series quickly. Caminero remains a leading contender for the AL Most Valuable Player Award, and Tampa Bay earned the postseason’s No. 1 seed in the American League after winning 98 games.
Before this matchup with Cleveland, the Rays had already shown how quickly they could roll through a series, sweeping the New York Yankees in three games in the AL Division Series.
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