Hamilton homers, bullpen retires 13 of final 14 hitters, and Red Sox beat Rays 1-0

TAMPA (AP) — David Hamilton hit a third-inning home run, four pitchers combined to strike out 13 and the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 on Wednesday night.

Hamilton lined a 3-2 fastball just inside the right-field foul pole off Rays starter Zack Littell (0-4) to lead off the third and give Boston all it needed in the three-game series finale. The Red Sox rebounded from Monday’s 16-1 loss to win the final two games.

Playing without Alex Bregman, on paternity leave after a career-high five hits with two homers in Tuesday’s win, the Boston bullpen limited the Rays to one hit over the final 4 1/3 innings.

Relievers Greg Weissert (1-0), Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten combined to retire 13 of the final 14 Tampa Bay hitters with no walks and nine strikeouts.

Slaten retired all three batters in the ninth, fanning two, for his second save.

Red Sox starter Sean Newcomb walked the first hitter of the game but allowed just four hits over 4 2/3 innings. Boston didn’t allow a runner past second base.

Littell pitched six strong innings, allowing five hits and one run, but the Rays gave him no run support. Tampa Bay has scored two or fewer runs in 21 of his last 24 starts.

Newcomb left in the fifth with a 1-0 lead, two outs and the tying run on second. Weissert entered and struck out Yandy Díaz to get out of the inning.

Rafael Devers became the 31st player to appear in 1,000 games in a Red Sox uniform.

Taj Bradley (2-0, 3.71 ERA) starts for the Rays in the opener of a four-game series against the Yankees on Thursday. New York starts Will Warren (1-0, 5.14).

Boston has Thursday off before starting a seven-game homestand on Friday against the White Sox and Mariners.

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Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Zack Littell delivers to the Boston Red Sox during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Boston Red Sox pitcher Sean Newcomb delivers to the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays' Christopher Morel, right, dives back ahead of the tag by Boston Red Sox first base Triston Casas on a pickoff attempt during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Jose Caballero, left, misplays a double by Boston Red Sox's Jarren Duran during the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. Looking on is centerfielder Jake Mangum. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays third base Junior Caminero, left, tags out Boston Red Sox's Jarren Duran while attempting to steals third base during the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Boston Red Sox shortstop David Hamilton prepares to tag out Tampa Bay Rays' Christopher Morel (24) attempting to steals second base during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Boston Red Sox's David Hamilton bats against Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Zack Littell during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Multiple airstrikes have hit Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis overnight, killing more than 50 people in a second consecutive night of heavy bombing.

An Associated Press cameraman in Khan Younis counted 10 airstrikes on the city overnight into Thursday, and saw numerous bodies taken to the morgue in the city’s Nasser Hospital. Some bodies arrived in pieces, with some body bags containing the remains of multiple people. The hospital’s morgue confirmed 54 people had been killed.

The dead included a journalist working for Qatari television network Al Araby TV, the network announced on social media, saying Hasan Samour had been killed along with 11 members of his family in one of the strikes in Khan Younis.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes.

It was the second night of heavy bombing, after airstrikes Wednesday on northern and southern Gaza killed at least 70 people, including almost two dozen children.

The strikes come as U.S. President Donald Trump visits the Middle East, visiting Gulf states but not Israel. There had been widespread hope that Trump’s regional visit could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. An Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed earlier in the week to push ahead with a promised escalation of force in Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip to pursue his aim of destroying the Hamas militant group.

In comments released by Netanyahu’s office Tuesday, the prime minister said Israeli forces were days away from entering Gaza “with great strength to complete the mission ... It means destroying Hamas.”

International rights group Human Rights Watch said Thursday that Israel’s stated plan of seizing Gaza and displacing hundreds of thousands of people “inches closer to extermination,” and called on the international community to speak out against it.

The war began when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in an Oct. 7, 2023 intrusion into southern Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. Almost 3,000 have been killed since Israel broke a ceasefire on March 18, the ministry said.

Hamas still holds 58 of the roughly 250 hostages it took during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, with 23 believed to still be alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three of those.

Israel’s offensive has obliterated vast swathes of Gaza’s urban landscape and displaced 90% of the population, often multiple times. It halted the entry of all aid, including food and medication, into the territory on March 2, and international food security experts have warned that Gaza will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn’t lift its blockade and stop its military campaign.

Nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation while 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises.

Human Rights Watch said Israel's plan to seize Gaza and remain there, coupled with the “systematic destruction” of civilian infrastructure and the block on all imports into the territory, were cause for signatories to the Genocide Convention to act to prevent Israel’s moves.

Israel vehemently denies accusations that it is committing genocide in Gaza.

The group also called on Hamas to free the 58 hostages it still holds in Gaza, 23 of whom are believed to be alive.

Goldenberg contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.

Palestinians evacuate after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning for several schools and a hospital in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians evacuate after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning for several schools and a hospital in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)