ST. PETERSBURG -- As he saw Rays hitter Kevin Kiermaier barreling toward him up the line in the fifth inning of Tampa Bay's 8-6 win, Marlins first baseman Neil Walker knew the ensuing play wouldn’t be pretty.
“As soon as he hit it, I knew it was going to be one of those plays where it was going to be a bang-bang play, where I had to get it and try to tag him, because if he got around me, there probably wasn’t going to be somebody covering first,” Walker said. “The urgency on my part was to get it and make a left-hand turn with it as quickly as possible.
“Unfortunately, everything happened at the exact same time.”
Walker had just scooped Kiermaier’s nubber off the end of the bat and went to apply the tag. Kiermaier, who was blazing a trail in an attempt to avoid it, realized a collision was inevitable a split second later, and turned his body sideways.
The pair collided despite the last-minute zag, with Kiermaier’s left (front) shoulder knocking Walker clear off his feet and to the ground. The pair remained down long enough for each to make sure the other was OK, then both remained in the game.
“That was an odd play,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “[Kiermaier] seemed to be OK. I know he was very apologetic, and there was no intent by any stretch.”
Kiermaier appeared unfazed by the bang-up, but Walker was replaced by pinch-hitter Martin Prado in the seventh inning. The Marlins later announced Walker was day to day with a jammed right index finger.
“It’s a little sore, a little swollen,” Walker said, “but it should be all right.”
Despite the injury, Walker communicated there were no hard feelings and even made light of the situation when drawing on his past experiences.
“A guy like Kiermaier, as a catcher, is the guy that you don’t want to see coming around third; the shorter, stockier guy that can really run,” said Walker, who came up through the Pirates organization as a catcher before transitioning to the infielder. “That didn’t go great.
“I caught for a while and I played football -- safety -- in high school, so at a much younger age, I was accustomed to taking some hits every once in a while, but you never like to be a part of those, for sure."
Walker -- who’s hitting .262 in 81 games for the Marlins this season -- didn’t anticipate the injury would be any more than an annoyance, and added he hoped the swelling would go down over night and wouldn’t keep him from action.