3 days ago
Rays' Taylor Walls ejected after tapping on helmet, erupting at umpire in loss to Astros
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls was livid on Sunday afternoon at Daikin Park.
Walls was thrown out of the Rays' 1-0 loss to the Houston Astros after he got into it with home plate umpire Nick Lentz over what he thought was a missed call. Walls then batted the top of his helmet just barely, which is what prompted Lentz to throw him out of the game.
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Once Walls realized what had happened, he was furious. He had to be held back multiple times before finally making his way into the clubhouse.
'I said that ball's down, and then I heard the dugout kind of yapping at him a little bit,' Walls said, via Fan Duel's Ryan Bass. 'I may have reiterated that ball's way down, but past that, I didn't say anything. I was ticked off.'
The issue, it seemed, was that Walls tapped the top of his helmet — which was the same gesture that players used to call for a challenge throughout spring training. That, however, wasn't carried over into the regular season.
That gesture, Walls insisted, was accidental.
'I have no recollection of it, but after seeing the video, it looks like I tapped my helmet,' he said. 'But it was totally unintentional, something I was not consciously aware of at all. I'm looking right at him when I'm doing it with no sincere, at that point, maybe I was frustrated with the strike call, but there was no sincerity of trying to show the guy up … He comes out, and he's like, we're not doing that. You're out of here, and tosses me.'
The Astros held on and closed out the half inning to grab the 1-0 win. They scored their only run of the night in the first inning after Christian Walker hit an RBI single.
The Rays, who now sit at 30-29 on the year, had just two hits in the game. They'll be back in action on Tuesday when they kick off a three-game series against the Texas Rangers at home.
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While Walls said he felt bad for his reaction, he's not sure he's entirely in the wrong here.
