BOSTON -- With Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet filling up the strike zone, Rays starter Shane Baz weaving his way out of trouble and shadows creeping over the field Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park, it became obvious the pitchers’ duel would come down to which team made the fewest mistakes.
Shortstop Taylor Walls felt he made two that came back to haunt the Rays in a 1-0 loss, their 11th defeat in the past 15 games: the run he allowed to score when Carlos Narváez’s RBI single bounced under his glove in the fourth inning; and the run he didn’t score on Ha-Seong Kim’s well-executed squeeze bunt in the sixth.
“I feel like this one's on me, to be honest,” Walls said in a quiet visitors’ clubhouse.
To be fair, it was mostly on Crochet, who pitched his first complete game by retiring 27 of the 30 batters he faced, and a red-hot Red Sox team that has reeled off nine straight wins. The left-hander struck out nine, didn’t walk a batter and threw 72 of his 100 pitches for strikes.
“Any time you're going up against a guy like Crochet, you know runs are going to be tough to come by,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
But Baz held his own, limiting Boston to just one run over 6 1/3 innings. The run came in the fourth, when rookie Roman Anthony hit a one-out double to right and scored on Narváez’s hard grounder through the left side of the infield.
Walls took the blame for the RBI single, saying, “That ball’s got to be caught.” By some metrics the best defender in baseball at any position, Walls said he accurately predicted how the sequence would play out: a two-strike breaking ball, low and away, resulting in a chopper back up the middle.
Walls got a good jump on the 98 mph grounder, too, but it bounced under his glove as he slid. He smacked the ground with his right hand in frustration before standing up.
“Just missed it,” Walls said. “[It’s a] play that I make 100 out of 100 times, I feel like.”
Considering how much defensive value Walls has provided, how many hits he has taken away and how many runs he has saved, Baz instead placed the responsibility on his shoulders.
“It was a hard-hit ball, kind of [in] no man's land. And I think he's got some leeway to play with, as many plays as he's made,” Baz said. “It's a tough play, and it happens. Got to get the strikeout next time.”
That gave Crochet a lead, but the Rays threatened to tie the game in the sixth. Walls hit a one-out single to right, one of Tampa Bay’s three hits on the day, and he dashed to third on a base hit by Yandy Díaz. Up came Kim, who had 14 sacrifice bunts during his four years in San Diego.
“I just thought to myself if I made accurate contact, I have a really good chance,” Kim said through interpreter David Lee. “I think I was able to do that, but it just didn't come our way.”
The Rays called for a bunt from the dugout, and Kim got one on the ground to the right of the mound. Walls broke for home and slid, but first baseman Abraham Toro made a nice play, and Narváez tagged Walls before his hand touched the plate.
Walls said he was at fault, as he briefly froze on the basepaths before dashing home. Considering how high and tight Crochet’s 96.7 mph fastball came in, Walls thought Kim might pull back the bunt, leaving Walls vulnerable to a back-pick at third base by the strong-armed Narváez.
In hindsight, Walls said he should have erred on the side of being aggressive. Being too conservative left him unable to capitalize on Kim’s bunt.
“That one little split second of stopping my momentum and then having to try to get it back going is the difference of [being] safe by a foot and a half or out,” Walls said. “I don't take anything away from [Toro] for doing what he did, but if I do what I'm supposed to do, I'm safe 100% of the time.”
The Rays went down quietly after that, dropping their fifth straight series and losing the season series against the Red Sox for the first time since 2018. They’ve fallen to fourth place in the American League East, with just one game to reestablish some momentum before the much-needed All-Star break.
“I don't want to go into the break like this. I want to play three more games and win all three,” Walls said. “It is what it is. You've got to come back. We've got to find out a way to win ballgames.”