Taylor Walls homers from each side of the plate to make Tampa Bay Rays history
- Taylor Walls homered from each side of the plate in a 12-4 victory against the Athletics.
- He became the first switch-hitter to accomplish this feat twice for the Tampa Bay Rays.
- Walls hit his first homer left-handed in the fourth inning and then right-handed in the sixth inning.
- This was Walls' first home run of the season, ending a 105-game drought.
- He is the fifth player this season to homer from both sides of the plate.
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Taylor Walls homered from each side of the plate in a 12-4 victory at the Athletics on Tuesday night, becoming the first switch-hitter to do that twice for the AL-leading Tampa Bay Rays. Walls also accomplished the feat on April 18, 2023, at Cincinnati.
The 30-year-old shortstop hit his first homer Tuesday left-handed in the fourth inning off Athletics starter Mason Barnett. Walls went deep as a right-handed hitter off reliever Brady Basso in the sixth, helping Tampa Bay win its eighth straight game.
Walls is the fifth player this season to homer from both sides of the plate, joining the Chicago White Sox’s Drew Romo, Colorado’s Willi Castro, Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds, and Minnesota’s Josh Bell. Hitting his first long ball of the season, Walls ended his personal home run drought at 105 regular-season games, dating to July 27, 2025. Walls only has 24 home runs in 581 games in the majors, counting the playoffs.
泰勒·沃尔斯双边击球均发轰，创造坦帕湾光芒历史
加利福尼亚州西萨克拉门托（美联社）——泰勒·沃尔斯在周二晚上对阵运动家的比赛中，双边击球均发轰，帮助球队以12-4获胜，成为美联领先的坦帕湾光芒队历史上第一位两次完成此壮举的转换击球手。沃尔斯还在2023年4月18日于辛辛那提完成过此壮举。
这位30岁的游击手在第四局左手击出首个本垒打，击球对象是运动家的首发投手梅森·巴尼特。沃尔斯在第六局右手击出第二个本垒打，击球对象是接替投手布雷迪·巴索，帮助坦帕湾赢得了第八场连胜。
沃尔斯是本赛季第五位双边击球均发轰的球员，加入了芝加哥白袜队的德鲁·罗莫、科罗拉多的威利·卡斯特罗、匹兹堡的布莱恩·雷诺兹和明尼苏达的乔什·贝尔。沃尔斯的本赛季首个本垒打结束了他105场常规赛的本垒打荒，自2025年7月27日以来未能击出本垒打。沃尔斯在大联盟（包括季后赛）中仅有24个本垒打，出战581场比赛。