Red Sox Awarded Key Run vs. Rays After Rare Ruling by Third Base Ump

Andy Nesbitt | Jul 13, 2025

The Red Sox scored their first run on Sunday in a weird way. / @NESN

The Boston Red Sox stayed red-hot on Sunday, beating the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-1, for their 10th straight win.

While Ceddanne Rafaela's two-run home run in the sixth inning gave Boston the three-run lead that it wouldn't relinquish, the team's first run of the day came courtesy of a rare ruling by third base umpire Scott Barry.

With two outs in the bottom of the third, Marcelo Mayer appeared to be picked off at third base on a throw by Rays catcher Matt Thaiss. Barry even initially ruled it an out. But then he quickly changed his mind and ruled that Rays third baseman Junior Caminero obstructed Mayer from being able to touch the bag. That meant that Mayer was able to trot home to score the game's first run.

Here's how that went down:

Marcelo Mayer scored a run on this pickoff play after umps called obstruction on Junior Caminero pic.twitter.com/ZMkuEDg22Y

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 13, 2025

That's normally a call seen when a catcher blocks a runner from home plate, but it did look like Berry made the right call. Still, that's a very strange way for a team to score a run.

The Red Sox are now 53-45 on the year, and will be right in the thick of the playoff race after the All-Star break.

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