Ian Seymour made a strong starting debut while Junior Caminero impressively continued hitting home runs as the Rays beat the Guardians 9-0 on Monday night in Cleveland.
The win, which included a roughly half-hour rain delay in the seventh inning, was the Rays’ third straight and improved them to 64-67.
Seymour, 26, moved from the bullpen into the spot opened in the Rays rotation by the demotion of Joe Boyle and delivered a dazzling performance over five shutout innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out eight.
Caminero went deep twice, homering for the third straight game and totaling a MLB-most 12 in August and 39 for the season.
Caminero, who turned 22 on July 5, moved past Hall of Famer Frank Robinson and into a tie with Cody Bellinger (2017) for the fourth-most homers by a player in his age 21 season (determined as of June 30). Eddie Mathews tops that list with 47 in 1953. Caminero also moved past Logan Morrison (2017) and into a three-way tie with teammate Brandon Lowe (2021) and Carlos Peña (2009) for the second most homers hit by a Ray in a season. The team record is 46, hit by Peña in 2007.
The Rays acquired Caminero from Cleveland in a November 2021 trade for minor-league pitcher Tobias Myers.
Yandy Diaz also hit a notable homer, his career high-tying 22nd in the seventh inning.
In 12 relief outings over three stints with the Rays, Seymour was 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA, throwing 60-plus pitches in each of his last two outings. In 16 games (15 starts) for Triple-A Durham, he was 9-3 with a 2.62 ERA.
He was the first lefty to start for the Rays since Tyler Alexander on Sept. 26, 2024.
Relying primarily on his trademark changeup and a 92-mph fastball, Seymour was sharp from the start. He retired the first seven Guardians, allowed a one-out single in the third, then set down six more before allowing his only walk. He got through the five innings throwing 67 pitches, 49 for strikes.
Rays manager Kevin Cash said on Sunday that Seymour, who hadn’t worked more than 3 1/3 innings in the big leagues, likely would be limited to five innings.
The Rays took the lead with two runs in the fourth
Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero advanced to third base behind Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez and then scored on a throwing error by catcher Bo Naylor in the fourth inning Monday night in Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
They got one when Caminero singled, stole second and scored on an errant throw to third by catcher Bo Naylor. The other came when Hunter Feduccia walked with two outs, went to second on a single by Carson Williams (who has hits in each of his three big-league games) and scored on rookie Bob Seymour’s single.
They made it 4-0 when Caminero hit a two-run homer in the fifth, then doubled the margin in the seventh on homers by Diaz and Caminero, plus a two-run double by Williams.
The 64-66 Guardians have lost nine of their last 10 and scored just 18 runs, including three straight shutouts.
