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One tap too many, apparently. Rays shortstop Taylor Walls was ejected during the ninth inning of Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Astros for apparently tapping his helmet. The act was a nod to
baseball’s incoming Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system, which is expected to be implemented in 2027. Walls saw just one pitch from Astros closer Josh Hader, a slider down and away,
which was clearly out of the strike zone, yet was called a strike by home plate umpire Nic Lentz. The light-hitting shortstop then said something inaudible to the umpire and stepped out of
the batter’s box, tapping his helmet potentially in a mocking request to challenge the call. EXPLORE MORE However, that is not yet allowed in the league, and he was swiftly ejected. Walls,
who is hitting just .188 this year after hitting .183 in 2024, went berserk after the ejection. Walls’ aggressive reaction shocked broadcasters, as well as coaches, who were unable to corral
him in an attempt to deescalate the situation and saw him run back at the umpire. Lentz gave a clear explanation of the ejection, adding that it was because of the way he tapped his helmet,
which ignited the fury-filled aftermath. After the game, Walls denied mocking the umpire with a mock-challenge request and that he didn’t even remember the heated back and forth. “I just
remember going to get into the box, kind of adjusting my helmet, and then hearing him mouthing something,” Walls told FanDuel’s Ryan Bass. “I think I said, huh, like, ‘What’d you say? I
can’t hear you.’ At that point, I have no recollection of it, but after seeing the video, it looks like I tapped my helmet, but it was totally unintentional, something I was not consciously
aware of at all,” Walls went on. “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. “I don’t know how he didn’t see that in the moment, but I’m looking right at him. We’re so confused, trying to understand what he said and I think it was just a
mannerism that happened because I was stepping into the box, kind of re-adjusting my helmet at the time, and that just happened. He comes out, and he’s like, ‘We’re not doing that. You’re
out of here,’ and tosses me. “So, at this point, I have no idea that I just, what looked like to him, tapped my helmet, so I’m ticked off. I’m like, what are you talking about? I didn’t say
anything to you. I’m asking you what you said, and [I] had no recollection that I even made a gesture that looked like that. Never in my life have I shown an umpire [up] like [that], been
that disrespectful to do something like that. We didn’t even have the ABS in spring training, so just to be so on edge thinking that somebody’s just trying to be so disrespectful and show
you up at that point, I think it was premature.” The Rays are now in third place in the AL East with a 30-29 record after splitting their four-game series with the Astros. They open up a
three-game set with the Rangers on Tuesday.