ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Junior Caminero hit a game-ending, two-run homer in the ninth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays clinched a playoff berth with a 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night.

Caminero’s 417-foot shot to left-center off Bryan Abreu (6-4) was his 40th of the season and sparked a joyous celebration at the plate. The 23-year-old hit 45 homers in 2025, his first full year in the majors, and he joins Aaron Judge as the only active major leaguers with consecutive 40-homer seasons.

AL-best Tampa Bay (88-59) became the first team in the majors to secure a playoff spot.

Bryan Baker (2-2) worked a scoreless ninth.

Victor Mesa Jr. homered in the fifth for the Rays, but that was one of only two Tampa Bay hits through eight innings.

In the ninth, Jonathan Aranda doubled off the right-field wall with one out. He was replaced by pinch-runner Jonny DeLuca, and Caminero walked it off on the next pitch.

The Astros scored in the fourth against Drew Rasmussen when Isaac Paredes doubled and came home on a grounder by Yainer Diaz.

Rasmussen worked seven innings, allowing eight hits. He struck out four and walked none.

Starter Miguel Ullola worked the first for Houston, Bryan King got the next four outs and Ethan Pecko pitched the next 5 2/3 innings before giving way to Abreu in the ninth.

ORIOLES 7, BLUE JAYS 4 Dylan Beavers hit his first career leadoff home run, Coby Mayo added a solo blast and visiting Baltimore beat Toronto in the opener of a series between AL wild-card contenders. Christian Encarnacion-Strand had three hits and Beavers had three RBI.

ROYALS 3, RED SOX 2 Carter Jenson had a two-run double, Salvador Perez added an RBI and visiting Kansas City beat Boston. It was the second straight win for the Royals, who’d lost four of their previous five.

GUARDIANS 5, TWINS 2 Brayan Rocchio hit a two-run double as part of a three-run rally in the top of the ninth visiting Cleveland defeated Minnesota.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BREWERS 20, REDS 0 Garrett Mitchell hit the Brewers’ first grand slam of the season, one of four homers for host Milwaukee in a rout of Cincinnati that clinched a playoff spot for the team with the best record in the majors. William Contreras, Bryce Turang and Jake Bauers also went deep for the Brewers (92-56), who now are assured of at least a wild-card spot. They lead second-place Chicago by 10 games in the division, and their magic number to clinch that title is four. Dustin May (7-9) and Garrett Stallings combined on a two-hitter while Milwaukee pounded out a season-high 23 hits.

DODGERS 6, MARLINS 2 Kyle Tucker hit his sixth career grand slam and fell a double shy of the cycle as Los Angeles beat host Miami to stretch its season-best winning streak to eight games. Tucker connected on a 1-1 sweeper from reliever Cade Gibson for a 6-1 lead in the seventh. He singled in the first and tripled in the sixth. Max Muncy had three hits and a walk and Will Smith added a run-scoring single for the NL West-leading Dodgers.

CUBS 12, PIRATES 2 Alex Bregman hit his 25th homer and doubled among three hits, Shota Imanaga pitched six effective innings and Chicago pounded Pittsburgh to end a four-game slide. Seiya Suzuki had three hits, including a wind-blown triple, scored three runs and drove in one as the Cubs finished with 16 hits and ended the Pirates’ four-game winning streak.

BRAVES 6, PHILLIES 5 (11) Drake Balwin’s double in the bottom of the 11th inning scored Ha-Seong Kim, whose RBI single earlier in the inning tied the game, as Atlanta overcame an early deficit to beat Philadelphia. Derek Hill’s two run double in the second gave Philadelphia a 3-1 lead, but a solo home run from Austin Riley in the seventh and an RBI single from Sean Murphy in the bototm of the ninth sent the game to extra innings. The teams traded runs in the 10th before Luis Arraez hit an RBI single in the 11th that gave Philadelphia a 5-4 lead. Atlanta now has a five game lead over the Phillies in the NL East.

INTERLEAGUE

YANKEES 6, METS 4 Cody Bellinger hit a three-run homer in the second inning off rookie Nolan McLean, and the host New York Yankees beat the New York Mets. Ben Rice also homered as the Yankees (85-62) won for the 17th time in 24 games and moved a season-high 23 games over .500. Rookie Spencer Jones added an RBI single in the first inning and Ryan McMahon hit an RBI single in the eighth. Carlos Rodon (6-3) allowed 2 runs and 3 hits in a season-high 6 1/3 innings.

NATIONALS 4, ANGELS 3 Jorbit Vivas hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the eighth inning to lift host Washington to a victory over Los Angeles that snapped the Nationals’ seven-game losing streak.

TIGERS 6, ROCKIES 2 Riley Greene had three hits, Dillon Dingler homered and host Detroit beat Colorado. The Tigers have won three of four after a 5-17 skid that dropped them out of the American League wild-card race. Colorado has lost eight straight road games, scoring just 17 runs during the streak.