Junior Caminero hits his 39th homer as the Rays beat the Braves 7-1

Sport

Junior Caminero hits his 39th homer as the Rays beat the Braves 7-1

2026-09-09 10:03 Last Updated At：10:30

ATLANTA (AP) — Junior Caminero hit his 39th home run, one of four homers by Tampa Bay, and the Rays beat the Atlanta Braves 7-1 on Tuesday night.

Freddy Peralta (8-11) allowed just one run in six innings to win his third straight start. He is 3-2 since being traded from the Mets at the trade deadline and has given up just two runs in his last 18 innings.

Caminero was 2 for 3 with a walk, hit by pitch and two runs scored. His first-inning blast off Braves starter A.J. Smith-Shawver went 455 feet into the left field bleachers and gave him the American League lead in home runs. Liam Hicks added a two-run homer in the third to give the Rays a 3-1 lead and Yandy Díaz and Richie Palacios added solo homers in the eighth and ninth.

Victor Mesa Jr. was 2 for 5 with a stolen base and RBI on his 25th birthday for Tampa Bay. Atlanta native Chandler Simpson had a single, a run scored and he stole his 40th base of the season in his first game at Truist Park. According to MLB researcher Sarah Langs, Simpson became the first player since Chad Curtis in 1992-93 to steal at least 40 bases in his first two seasons.

Smith-Shawver (0-2) continued a string of discouraging starts since rejoining the Braves after having Tommy John surgery last June. He gave up four runs in 3 1/3 innings, and has surrendered 18 runs in 21 innings over five starts this season.

Drake Baldwin drove in Ronald Acuña Jr. in the first inning for the Braves only run.

Rays RHP Griffin Jax (6-10, 3.82 ERA) will start Wednesday against Braves RHP Reynaldo López (4-3, 3.64), who will make his first start since July thanks to left knee inflammation.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Former US Sen. John E. Sununu to face US Rep. Chris Pappas in New Hampshire Senate race

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Republican John E. Sununu and Democrat Chris Pappas will compete for an open U.S. Senate seat in New Hampshire in a race that has emerged as one of a handful around the country that could determine control of the chamber in November.

Sununu, a former U.S. senator, and Pappas, a member of the U.S. House, are vying to replace U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, whose decision to not seek reelection created a cascade of competitive races. Both entered their respective party primaries as strong front-runners and now have just eight weeks to make their case to general election voters.

Republicans view the seat as an opportunity to regain a foothold in a region long dominated by Democrats in Congress. Democrats, meanwhile, need a net gain of four seats to retake the chamber, and keeping New Hampshire in their column is a critical part of that effort.

In other top races, Anthony DiLorenzo won the Republican primary for the 1st Congressional District, while Lily Tang Williams won the GOP primary in the 2nd District, where she’ll face U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander, a Democrat seeking a second term.

Still outstanding were the results in the Democratic primary for the 1st District, where the candidates included Shaheen’s daughter, Stefany Shaheen, and retired Marine Maura Sullivan.

Pappas, who is giving up his seat in the 1st Congressional District after four terms, defeated four other candidates, including democratic socialist Karishma Manzur, who had been gaining on him in recent weeks.

Speaking to supporters at his family's restaurant in Manchester, he quickly sought to link Sununu to President Donald Trump, who endorsed Sununu even though Sununu called him “a loser” during the 2024 presidential campaign.

“While New Hampshire families are struggling to make ends meet, John Sununu has thrown his lot in with Donald Trump and supports the policies that cater to big corporations and billionaires while they make life harder for Granite Staters,” said Pappas, whose campaign also quickly posted a negative ad on social media calling Sununu “a sequel we can't afford.”

“We've got to turn the page on Donald Trump's reckless leadership, on corruption, on the rigged economy and on costs, and this is not the time to turn it back to a failed politician from the past," he said at his victory party.

Sununu, who spent six years in the U.S. House and one term in the Senate before being ousted by Shaheen in 2008, called Pappas a career politician who has held office for virtually his entire adult life.

“He’s not an independent voice for New Hampshire,” Sununu said at his victory party at a Manchester ski area. “Chris Pappas has three main qualities: ineffective, partisan and out of touch with New Hampshire.”

Sununu defeated seven other Republicans to win the primary, including former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, who accused him of coasting on his name. Sununu's father and younger brother are both former governors.

Jim Loomis, 83, of Bow, said he backed Brown in 2014 but not on Tuesday because “he never got traction back again.” He acknowledged Sununu had been out of politics for even longer but still voted for him.

“I think what he’s done for work over the years has kept him close enough to what’s going on, and then with his family ties, I just think he’s got a more stable base,” Loomis said.

Stefany Shaheen and Sullivan were the leading candidates among seven seeking the Democratic nomination in the 1st District.

Shaheen is a former city councilor in Portsmouth. She founded a business to help people with chronic medical conditions after one of her daughters was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. She also is part of a bio-tech initiative in New Hampshire to advance regenerative medicine.

Sullivan is a retired Marine and Iraq War veteran who served as an assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs under President Barack Obama. A vice chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, Sullivan ran for the 1st District seat in 2018, losing in an 11-candidate primary to Pappas in his first congressional bid.

On the Republican side, political newcomer DiLorenzo, who owns a chain of car dealerships and has been endorsed by Trump, won the Republican primary. He defeated three other candidates, including Hollie Noveletsky, a veteran and nurse practitioner who runs a steel fabrication company and ran for the same seat two years ago.

In the 2nd District, first-term incumbent Goodlander overcame a primary challenge from Paige Beauchemin, a progressive state lawmaker and nurse. Tang Williams, who was the nominee two years ago and was making her third attempt at the seat, won the Republican primary.

In contrast to the all-Democratic congressional delegation, Republicans dominate state government.

Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte defeated two little-known opponents in her primary as she seeks a second two-year term. Cinde Warmington, a healthcare attorney, was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Voters also were nominating candidates for the entire state Legislature, where Republicans hold a roughly 40-vote majority in the 400-member House and outnumber Democrats in the Senate 16-8.

Accustomed to going first when it comes to presidential primaries, New Hampshire is among the last states to hold state-level primary elections. But legislation passed this year moves future state primaries to the second Tuesday in June.