Junior Caminero's Mother's Day homer leads AL-best Rays over Red Sox

BOSTON - Last month, Junior Caminero made a promise to his mother, Yeudy, that he'd hit a homer on her birthday, and he did, helping the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Chicago White Sox.

Sunday, wearing a pink belt, socks, batting gloves and sweatbands while swinging a pink Victus bat to mark Mother's Day, Caminero delivered another timely gift - a first-inning blast over the Green Monster that led the Rays to a 4-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

After running through the congratulatory dugout tunnel, he looked at a camera and said, "Happy Mother's Day."

In winning for the eighth time in nine games, 14th in 16 and 24th in 32 since a 2-5 start, the Rays have a 26-13 record that is the best in the American League as they approach the quarter pole of the season.

After Caminero staked them to the 1-0 lead in the first with his 11th homer of the season, a blast measured at 404 feet and clocked at 105.2 mph off his bat, the Rays added runs in the third and sixth innings playing small ball.

Nick Fortes led off the third with a single and moved to second on Taylor Walls' bunt. Chandler Simpson grounded a ball that shortstop Trevor Story couldn't handle, scoring Fortes. Simpson went to second on the error and scored on a two-out single to right by Ben Williamson.

The Rays made it 4-0 in the sixth when Williamson led off with a walk, went to third on a pinch-hit single by Jonathan Aranda, then scored on a well-placed bunt by Cedric Mullins.

Nick Martinez worked into the sixth, allowing one run in delivering another strong start for the Rays, his eighth straight this season allowing two or fewer runs. Martinez lowered his ERA to 1.70, fourth best in the American League.

Kevin Kelly, Garrett Cleavinger and Bryan Baker (who posted his 10th save) took it from there. Caminero also made a play in the ninth when Boston had two on and one out, retiring Caleb Durbin on a groundout to third.

The Rays left after the game for Toronto, where they will open a three-game series on Monday night.

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This story was originally published May 10, 2026 at 3:14 PM.