PHILADELPHIA -- For a few minutes Tuesday, the MLB All-Star Game came to a halt as Junior Caminero and the Tampa Bay Rays lived a nightmare. Caminero writhed on the ground in agony after taking a 97.6-mph sinker from St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Riley O'Brien off his left hand. When he got up, he jogged straight into the American League clubhouse. The star third baseman's second All-Star Game appearance was over in the third inning. He worried that he would miss much more than that.
Soon came good news: X-rays on the hand were negative. Caminero, who had a bandage around his left pinky after departing, said he hopes to play Friday when the Rays resume their season with a doubleheader against the Red Sox in Boston.
"I felt a little scared," Caminero said in Spanish. "I said, 'Wow I think something is broken.' Because in the moment, you think about bad things. But, thank God, everything is fine. A little sore, but nothing. Ready for Friday."
It was an abrupt ending for Caminero, who hit 17 home runs in Monday's Home Run Derby. He became the first Rays player to start an All-Star Game in consecutive seasons Tuesday. He batted cleanup, grounding out in his first at-bat in the AL's three-run first inning against National League starter Cristopher Sanchez before O'Brien's sinker didn't sink enough two innings later.
Miguel Vargas of the Chicago White Sox replaced Caminero and hit a solo home run in the eighth inning for the game's first extra-base hit in the American League's 4-0 win.
O'Brien, a first-time All-Star in his second full major league season, visited with Caminero in the AL clubhouse after the scare to apologize.
"He was very worried," Caminero said. "I told him, 'No, that's part of the game.' I'm very happy because he came here to the All-Star Game and he's very deserving. And that's part of the game. He shouldn't feel bad. I'm proud of him and everything is fine."
The 23-year-old Caminero is one of the sport's brightest young stars. Last season, he belted 45 home runs with 110 RBIs. This year he has been even better, batting .279 with 28 home runs and a .927 OPS in 94 games for the first-place Rays. Earlier this month, he became the youngest player since at least 1900 with a home run in six straight games.
He is the engine for a Rays club that has surpassed expectations with the best record in the AL and a three-game lead on the New York Yankees. And if all goes as planned, he'll be back in the lineup Friday after Tuesday's scare.