TAMPA — The high-fives and hollering in the home dugout made sense on Saturday night at VyStar Ballpark. After being two-hit by the Durham Bulls for seven innings, the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp had rallied in the eighth to take a 3-2 lead.
But why were the Bulls celebrating in the other dugout?
“We just gave up a lead in the eighth inning and we were coming to hit in the ninth, and (manager) Morgan Ensberg got everyone together and told me I was going to the big leagues and we all started cheering,” said left-handed pitcher Ian Seymour. “I’m sure people were probably confused. ‘They just gave up the lead, why is everyone cheering?’”
Seymour, a second-round pick out of Virginia Tech in 2020, was called up by the Rays to fortify the bullpen after using six relievers during Saturday’s 11-10, 10-inning loss to the Marlins. Cole Sulser was optioned to Durham to create room on the roster.
As fortune would have it, Seymour’s mom, Amy, was visiting him in Jacksonville and so they hopped in the car and drove to Tampa immediately after the Bulls game Saturday night. His father, Albert, and brother, Elliot, caught flights from Boston, and his sister, Isabelle, flew in from Philadelphia after working an all-night shift as a nurse.
Seymour, 26, has been used almost exclusively as a starter in the Rays system (69 starts, two relief appearances in five years), but the Rays wanted the flexibility of a multiple-inning pitcher in case things went sideways against the Marlins on Sunday.
But with Drew Rasmussen throwing six solid innings and three different relievers finishing the game off, Seymour’s big-league debut was put on temporary hold.
The lefty came into the weekend leading the International League in strikeouts with 84 in 61 innings.
“Ian Seymour made a great impression in spring training. He’s done a lot of good things in Durham,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “So we’ll use him in whatever role, but basically the thought is if we get him in the ballgame it’s to cover some innings.”
Uceta to the rescue![With the bullpen taxed and the Rays playing another close game, Kevin Cash used Edwin Uceta to throw back-to-back innings to close out Sunday's win.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 620 413"/%3E "With the bullpen taxed and the Rays playing another close game, Kevin Cash used Edwin Uceta to throw back-to-back innings to close out Sunday's win.")
With the bullpen taxed and the Rays playing another close game, Kevin Cash used Edwin Uceta to throw back-to-back innings to close out Sunday’s win. [ LUIS SANTANA | Times ]
It was seemingly a strange time to ask high-leverage reliever Edwin Uceta to pitch the final two innings of a game. He had gone 44 consecutive appearances dating back to last August without a two-inning outing, and he’s struggled for much of 2025.
But with the bullpen taxed and the Rays playing another close game, Cash used Uceta to throw back-to-back innings to close out a 3-2 win against the Marlins. Uceta retired all six batters he faced with three strikeouts.
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“I’m always ready for any situation,” Uceta said through interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “But I was pretty much waiting for this, because I knew we were thin in the bullpen.”
Uceta has two wins and four holds in his last eight appearances.
“What Uceta did, I’m pumped for him,” Cash said. “Uceta needed an outing like that. You could tell he was pretty pumped up after that final strikeout. He had good stuff, good velocity, and just commanded the ball in the zone.”
Day laborers
Because of the Metallica concerts at Raymond James Stadium on Friday and Sunday, the Rays ended up playing three day games in succession in some pretty steamy weather. The start times since Thursday have varied from 7:35 to 1:10 to 4:10 to 12:10.
“You’re talking a weird schedule over three or four days now,” said Rasmussen. “For (position players) to show up and bring the energy and effort that they did is absolutely incredible. Those guys are nails.”
Miscellany
Jacksonville ended up beating the Bulls 3-2 Saturday night, but Durham starter Joe Boyle threw six more shutout innings. Boyle leads the International League in ERA (1.50), WHIP (0.926) and batting average against (.151) … Sunday’s game had an announced attendance of 9,014. Four of the six games on the homestand against Texas and Miami failed to sell out … Brandon Lowe’s game-winning sacrifice fly was the 21st time in his career that he drove in the tying or winning run in the eighth inning or later. Only Evan Longoria (42), Ben Zobrist (25) and Carlos Pena (24) have more in Rays history.
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