ST. PETERSBURG — The Rays lost starting left fielder Chandler Simpson to a lip injury requiring stitches and pulled shortstop Taylor Walls as a precaution for recurring left hamstring tightness during a lopsided loss to the Detroit Tigers at Tropicana Field.
Simpson slid headfirst into second base on a wild pitch by Tigers starter Ty Madden in the fourth inning, and his helmet came off, caromed off the bag and bounced back into his face. He left the game bleeding and was taken to Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, where he received stitches in his lower lip. Manager Kevin Cash said Simpson should be fine despite significant swelling. “I think Chandler is gonna be OK,” Cash said. “He’s gonna be in the lineup tomorrow, as we speak right now.”
Walls’ exit came earlier, in the third inning, when Cash replaced him with pinch-hitter Oliver Dunn after the Rays fell behind by six runs. Walls had already sat out two games in Baltimore last week due to tightness in his left hamstring. Cash called the move precautionary — “100 percent on me” — and said the club would go day to day with him. “Just figured once the game got to 6-nothing, trying to look for an opportunity to rest the hammy,” Cash said.
Walls acknowledged his hamstring felt “maybe a tick worse” than the day before but said he was playing with “no restrictions” and left the ballpark “100 percent” expecting to play Tuesday night. “[Cash] felt that getting me off my feet at that point, with just the condition and where I was at today, would probably be the smartest move going forward,” Walls said. “From my understanding, that’s what it was for.”
On the field, starter Griffin Jax surrendered two runs in the first inning and four more in the third on back-to-back-to-back home runs by Dillon Dingler, Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene. Detroit racked up a season-high-tying 14 hits and added two more runs in the eighth on consecutive RBI doubles by Dingler and Carpenter off reliever Cole Sulser to push the lead to five runs. “From the start, they were swinging early, but they weren’t chasing,” Jax said. “They were putting some really quality at-bats together, making you come at them with your best stuff.”
Tampa Bay clawed back. Junior Caminero launched his team-leading 14th home run of the season — his first since May 18 — on a 2-0 sinker from Madden in the fourth. Pinch-runner Ryan Vilade, who had replaced Simpson, crushed a three-run homer off the D-ring catwalk above left field in the sixth against reliever Brenan Hanifee. Two-run hits by Nick Fortes and Ben Williamson that deflected off Tigers infielders’ gloves made it a one-run game late, but the comeback fell short. “We fought until the 27th out. We gave it all we had,” Caminero said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “Ultimately, in the end, it didn’t go our way, but we fought the entire time.”
Cash said the offensive surge was encouraging after a recent dry spell but lamented the pitching. “We’ve just got to limit runs,” he said. “It was good for the offense, because I know it’s been challenging on the other side here lately, but to get some runs was encouraging. Just didn’t sync up tonight.” The Rays host the Tigers again Tuesday night at Tropicana Field, where both Simpson and Walls are expected to be available.