Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls was livid 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 tapped the top of his helmet, which 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 FanDuel’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, 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.”
Regardless of his intent, Lentz wasn’t having it.
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.
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The Rays, who now sit at 30-29 on the year, had just two hits in the game. They’ll be back in action Tuesday when they kick off a three-game series against the Texas Rangers at home.
While Walls said he felt bad for his reaction, he’s not sure he was entirely in the wrong.
“I kind of want to apologize to him for if [tapping my helmet] is what he thought I did, but at the same time like, after missing a call, you kind of have to understand the situation,” he said. “You can’t just toss me for something that you’re not totally sure that I was doing it intentionally to disrespect.”
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