Caminero tops players in Monday’s ALCS Game 6 as Rays win pennant over Guardians

Junior Caminero is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Monday’s American League Championship Series Game 6.

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Junior Caminero is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Monday’s American League Championship Series Game 6 as the Tampa Bay Rays eliminate the Cleveland Guardians and advance to the World Series.

AL Championship Series Game 6: Rays 7, Guardians 3

(Rays win best-of-seven series, 4-2)

Junior Caminero went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs, including a two-run home run, as the Rays won their third straight game to capture the AL pennant.

His homer gave the Rays a 5-1 lead. Earlier, in the second inning, he singled and was forced out on a fielder’s choice. In the third inning, he walked and scored on a Jonny DeLuca sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

Caminero 2026 Regular Season

Caminero earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 167th overall, 23rd among AL batters, 3rd among AL third basemen.

Notable Box-Toppers Game Scores

  • Junior Caminero (+3.0)—Player of the Game winner with a game-high score (HR 2-3 2R 2BI).

  • Freddy Peralta (-1.9)—Rays starting pitcher who earned the win (5.1IP 5H R 3BB 3K W).

  • Tyler Wells (-5.8)—Rays relief pitcher who recorded the game’s lowest game score (0.2IP 2H 2R 0BB 0K ND).

  • Shawn Armstrong (-2.0)—Guardians opening pitcher who picked up the loss (1IP H R 0BB 0K L).

  • Cade Smith (-5.0)—Reliever who had the lowest game score among Guardians players (1IP H 2R BB 0K ND).

  • Nathaniel Lowe (+1.0)—Top Guardians batter (2-3 R BI).

Rays Advance to World Series

The Rays eliminate the Guardians and advance to the World Series. While the Rays were the AL’s top-seeded playoff team, they ranked second in the AL in Box-Toppers team rankings, behind the Yankees, even though the Rays led New York in the AL East by 4.5 games:

  1. New York Yankees 120.1 combined Box-Toppers points, third overall

  2. Tampa Bay Rays 115.0 points, fifth overall

  3. Cleveland Guardians 112.1, seventh overall

In addition, though the Guardians were both the lower-ranked and lower-seeded AL playoff team (second), Box-Toppers favored Cleveland over Tampa Bay in the series because they had Box-Toppers points advantages among their key core players and among pitchers.

Tampa Bay makes its third trip to the World Series in franchise history (which began in 1998). In 2008, they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in five games and in 2020, they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games. This time, they will face the Milwaukee Brewers. Both the Brewers and Rays are among five active franchises without a World Series title, along with the Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies. The Brewers franchise began in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots before moving to Milwaukee in 1970.

Rays pitcher Freddy Peralta was named American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player.

ALCS MVP: Freddy Peralta

Rays pitcher Freddy Peralta was named American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player. He appeared three times during the series, winning Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors once:

  • Oct. 13: Game 2—He won Player of the Game honors (6IP 4H 0R 2BB 6K W), recording a +6.0 Box-Toppers game score.

  • Oct. 17: Game 4—He threw nine pitches in relief in the win (0.2IP 0H 0R BB 0K ND), recording a -0.8 game score.

  • Oct. 19: Game 6—He recorded a -1.9 game score and earned the win (5.1IP 5H R 3BB 3K W).

No Tampa Bay player won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors more than once in the ALCS. The four game winners:

Game 2—Freddy Peralta

Game 4—Jonathan Aranda

Game 5—Drew Rasmussen

Game 6—Junior Caminero

The World Series begins Friday with Game 1 in Milwaukee.

All of Monday’s Player of the Game winners are listed in the chart.

Box‑Toppers Player of the Game winners

Here is the top player from each of the day’s games listed from highest to lowest Box‑Toppers game score (BTG).
10/19 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
  +3.0 TB 7, CLE 3 Junior Caminero 3B 3 2 2 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.
` Pitcher had a no‑decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s Player of the Game winners

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2026 (’26). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’25-26), the period 2021-2026 (’21-26) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2026 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2025 total (+/-).
Player of the Game Pos Team ’26 ’25‑26 ’21‑26 Career +/‑
Caminero, Junior 5089 3b tb al 5.0 14.0 15.0 15.0 -4.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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About Box-Toppers

Box-Toppers tracks who contributes most to their team’s victory. Using standard box score statistics, we identify the Player of the Game for every MLB contest. In the regular season, winners earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point, with bonus points awarded to the top overall and league-specific players of the day. (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.) More on how Box-Toppers works.

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