Rays 12, Phillies 1: Caminero's 42nd, 101 RBI, Philly Still Sliding

A drizzle, a delay, and Nola's first inning did not survive it

September 26, 2026 - Philadelphia - It drizzled. First pitch sat until 7:51 p.m. after a 36-minute delay. Aaron Nola still threw the first inning, and Junior Caminero still hit the first pitch that mattered into the left-center seats.

His 42nd homer. Yandy Díaz scored in front of him. 2-0, and 101 RBI for Caminero on the year. The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Philadelphia Phillies 12-1 at Citizens Bank Park, won their 98th game, and left a playoff club looking like a team that wanted the regular season over.

62 degrees. Wind 14 mph in from center. Attendance 43,076. The game lasted 3 hours, 13 minutes once it finally started. Tampa Bay had 17 hits. Philadelphia had seven and one unearned run.

"We were looking for that," Caminero said of 100 RBI, per MLB.com. "We were looking for another season with 100 RBIs. Thank God we completed it. Very happy."

He already had 40 homers. He already had the walk-off that clinched Tampa Bay's October on September 11. Sunday, if he starts at third again, he becomes the fourth player in the divisional era to start 162 games at the hot corner in a season.

Nola faced seven. Four of them hit it.

Nola (the loss, 7-12) lasted one inning: four hits, three earned, no walks, no strikeouts, one homer, 21 pitches. Caminero's two-run drive. Victor Mesa Jr. reaching. Richie Palacios doubling him home. 3-0 before Philadelphia had a hit that meant anything.

Tanner Banks threw 1 1/3 scoreless after that. Chase Shugart walked Palacios with the bases loaded in the fifth, Liam Hicks scoring, and José Urquidy inherited the mess. Cedric Mullins singled Caminero and Mesa home. 7-0. The sixth was the same story in a different font. Mesa doubled Díaz in. Palacios singled Caminero and Mesa home. 10-0.

José Alvarado issued an intentional walk to Caminero. It did not slow the inning. Urquidy finished with 2 2/3, five hits, three earned. Max Lazar allowed four hits and two runs in the ninth. Ryan Vilade singled Jonny DeLuca and Taylor Walls home. 12-1. Brooks Raley was the only Philadelphia arm who got through an inning without the scoreboard moving.

Philadelphia's only run was an error. Bryson Stott scored in the seventh when Justin Crawford reached on a fielding error by Palacios. Manuel Rodríguez was on the mound. It was unearned. It was also the whole home offense: seven hits, 11 left on base, one run they did not earn.

Mesa, Palacios, and a bullpen that treated this like October

Mesa went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI, and three runs. Palacios went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and four RBI. Díaz went 3-for-4 with a double and three runs. Caminero went 2-for-3 with a walk, a homer, two RBI, and three runs. Hicks had two hits. Mullins drove in two. Vilade drove in two. The Rays did not need a second homer. They just kept putting balls in the outfield grass.

Griffin Jax opened and threw three scoreless: two hits, no walks, one strikeout, 52 pitches. Steven Matz (the win, 6-6) threw a clean inning, one strikeout, 10 pitches. Brody Hopkins, Cam Booser, Rodríguez, Ty Johnson, and Cole Sulser finished it. Seven Tampa Bay pitchers. One earned run among them, and that one sat on an error.

Trea Turner went 2-for-5 with a double. Stott went 2-for-4 with two doubles and the run. Crawford stole a base. The Phillies are 87-74. They lost 2-0 here on Friday and 12-1 on Saturday. The San Diego Padres locked up the No. 4 seed later in the night because this game ended the way it started: Tampa Bay scoring, Philadelphia watching.

The Rays are 98-63. They are the American League's best record and they spent a wet Saturday in South Philadelphia looking like it. Caminero wanted 40, 100, and 162. He checked the middle box before the second inning. The rest of the lineup made sure the scoreboard kept moving after that.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Tampa Bay at 26 team fantasy points, second on Saturday behind only Houston's 27. Mesa had 11 hitting FP. Caminero had 10. Palacios had 5. Jax had 8 pitching FP. Matz had 6.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: MLB.com schedule; MLB Gameday wrap; ESPN scoreboard; ESPN box score; AthX Engine daily scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*