Rays pitcher carted off field and taken to hospital after foul ball into dugout hits him in face

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Rays pitcher Hunter Bigge was carted off the field in a frightening scene and taken to a hospital after getting struck in the face by a foul ball lined into the Tampa Bay dugout Thursday night.

Bigge was placed on a backboard and gave a thumbs up before being driven by ambulance to a nearby hospital for tests. He never lost consciousness and was able to converse with first responders, Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

In the top of the seventh inning, Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman sharply pulled a pitch into the Tampa Bay dugout on the first base side and the ball hit Bigge, a 27-year-old right-hander currently on the injured list.

Emergency medical personnel quickly arrived to attend to Bigge. After several quiet minutes, as visibly concerned Rays players knelt in the field, Bigge was loaded onto a stretcher and carted off.

After the game, Cash said Bigge was struck in the face. The ball left Rutschman’s bat at 105 mph, according to Statcast.

Bigge, on the 15-day injured list with a lat strain, received a standing ovation from the Steinbrenner Field crowd as he was loaded onto a cart. The game resumed after an eight-minute delay, and Baltimore held on for a 4-1 victory.

Bigge was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 12th round of the 2019 amateur draft from Harvard and made his major league debut for them on July 9 last year. He was traded 19 days later to Tampa Bay along with Christopher Morel and minor leaguer Ty Johnson for All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes.

In 32 career appearances, including one start, Bigge has a 2.51 ERA and one save. This season, he has a 2.40 ERA in 13 relief outings covering 15 innings.

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Tampa Bay Rays' Junior Caminero, right, stands teammate with Hunter Bigge as Bigge is taken off the field after being hit by a foul ball while in the dugout during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

Tampa Bay Rays' Hunter Bigge gives a thumbs up as paramedics tend to him after being hit by a foul ball while in the dugout during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

Tampa Bay Rays' Hunter Bigge is taken off the field after being hit by a foul ball while in the dugout during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

Tampa Bay Rays' Hunter Bigge is taken off the field after being hit by a foul ball while in the dugout during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote Thursday on social media, “Motor Tanker Veronica had previously passed through Venezuelan waters, and was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

A social media post from U.S. Southern Command on the capture said that Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to make the capture while Noem’s post noted that, like in previous raids, a U.S. Coast Guard tactical team conducted the boarding and seizure.

Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.

The Veronica is the sixth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products, and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

Noem, in her social media post, said that the raid was carried out with “close coordination with our colleagues” in the military as well as the State and Justice departments.

“Our heroic Coast Guard men and women once again ensured a flawlessly executed operation, in accordance with international law,” Noem added.

As with prior posts, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see it as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Last week, Trump met with executives from oil companies to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)