Rays beat Red Sox 4-1 as Willson Contreras exits with hand injury; Mickey Gasper collects three hits

After Saturday’s rainout shortened the Red Sox and Rays series to three games, Boston returned to Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon for a Mother’s Day finale.

The Red Sox handed the ball to rookie left-hander Payton Tolle, who was taking the mound just two years after losing his mother, Jina, to colon cancer.

But there would be no Mother’s Day magic at Fenway.

Tampa Bay attacked Tolle early and never let up, tagging the rookie for three earned runs in a 4-1 victory over Boston.

Tolle opened the game by retiring the speedy Chandler Simpson on just two pitches, but trouble quickly followed.

One batter later, Junior Caminero crushed a 404-foot solo homer into the Green Monster seats. The blast, Caminero’s 11th of the season, left his bat at 105.2 mph and came on an 0-2 curveball that caught too much of the plate at 85.1 mph.

In the bottom of the first inning, Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras was hit in the hand by a pitch from Rays starter Nick Martinez.

Contreras initially remained in the game after being checked on by the training staff, but he did not return defensively in the second inning and was replaced at first base by Andruw Monasterio.

Being hit by pitches is nothing new for the Red Sox slugger. Contreras is tied for the MLB lead with eight hit-by-pitches this season. Last year with the Cardinals, he finished third in the majors after being plunked 23 times. Over the course of his career, Contreras has been hit by 137 pitches, including a career-high 24 times in 2022 while with the Cubs.

The 33-year-old entered Sunday hitting .259 with eight home runs, four doubles, and 23 RBI.

In the second inning, Tolle allowed a leadoff single to Ryan Vilade that dropped in front of a charging Wilyer Abreu in right field. Abreu quickly fired the ball into the infield to Monasterio at first base, catching Vilade too far off the bag.

After a lengthy rundown, Monasterio chased Vilade back toward second and finished the play with a diving tag to erase the baserunner.

Mickey Gasper had been searching for his first hit in a Red Sox uniform.

Although the Bryant product recorded his first major league hit last season with the Twins, Gasper waited nearly two years to finally break through with Boston.

He collected that long-awaited hit in the bottom of the second inning, ripping a double off the Green Monster on a 93.4 mph sinker left up in the zone. The ball jumped off his bat at 95.6 mph.

Tampa Bay answered with another run in the third inning.

Nick Fortes singled to center and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Taylor Walls. Simpson then hit a weak chopper toward Trevor Story at shortstop. Instead of squaring his body in front of the ball, Story attempted to make the play off to his side and the ball deflected off his glove into left field.

The veteran shortstop was immediately met with boos from the Fenway crowd. The error snapped Story’s 20-game errorless streak and marked his fifth fielding error in just 36 games this season.