Walls takes ‘very beatable’ claim into own hands

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Three days after calling the Yankees a “very beatable” team, Taylor Walls took them down almost single-handedly.

While the Rays infielder insisted his initial comments got blown out of proportion, he backed up his words on Sunday afternoon with a monster game to secure a series split.

Walls crushed a go-ahead home run off Luis Severino, then made a pair of superb defensive plays to capture a 4-2 win over the Yankees at Tropicana Field.

“Anytime you can scrap one out and win like that, especially against a team like them, you gotta cherish it,” Walls said.

After the Rays lost the series opener on Thursday, including a key error from Walls at shortstop and an 0-for-3 showing at the plate, he remained confident in the Rays’ chances against the Yankees.

“That team’s very beatable, and we know we can beat them,’’ Walls said Thursday night. “We’re here. We’re going to be here all year. There’s [18] more games [against them]. We’re going to be here.’’

Walls said Sunday he felt like the Rays proved something by winning the final two games of the series, but tried to put his previous comments in context.

“There was no shade thrown at them when I said that,” Walls said. “I think that comment got blew way out of proportion. All I mean is that the Tampa Bay Rays can play and beat any team in this league. I don’t just speak for this team, but I think anybody around the league knows that as well. That’s baseball. Any time you show up to the ballpark, any day of the week, any team can be beat.

But that’s all I meant by that comment. It is what it is.”

Walls, who entered Sunday mired in a 3-for-58 slump over his last 19 games, put the Rays up 2-1 in the fifth inning with a solo shot.

Then in the top of the sixth, playing third base, he ranged to his left to start a 5-4-3 double play to get starter Shane McClanahan out of a jam.

After Walls drew a walk in the seventh inning to extend a Rays rally, he made his best defensive play of the day in the top of the eighth at second base.

With a runner on third base and two outs, Aaron Hicks drilled a hard ground ball up the middle. It skipped off the mound, but Walls slid onto the shortstop side of second base to backhand it, then spun around and fired to first to nail Hicks to end the frame.

“Any time we play any division team, especially the Yankees, there’s always a little tension there,” Walls said. “There’s always a little more nerves because it is a rivalry. The past couple years, we’ve kind of had their number. This year, especially the way they’ve been playing, they’re coming in with something to prove.”