By his own admission, Taylor Walls doesn’t play with a lot of visible emotion. So even he was taken aback when he slid into second base with a double in the fifth inning of the Rays’ 3-1 win over the Blue Jays on Saturday night, popped up on one knee and let loose a big fist pump.

“I was a bit surprised at myself when I came up fired up like that,” Walls said, smiling.

But Walls fed off the energy from his teammates, who were shouting and calling for the baseball to commemorate Walls’ first hit, and the approximately 30 friends and family members who made the trip to TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla., to see his Major League debut. And he put on a show for them, doubling from both sides of the plate, making a few nice plays at shortstop and displaying some aggressive, heads-up baserunning to get in position to score his first run.

Walls became the sixth Rays player with a multihit game in his big league debut -- the first since Delmon Young on Aug. 29, 2006 -- and the first with multiple extra-base hits. He was also the third switch-hitter in the modern era (since 1900) to have an extra-base hit from each side of the plate in his debut, joining Minnesota’s Rich Becker (in 1993) and Texas’ George Wright (in 1982).

It was such an eventful night that you might not believe how nervous Walls said he was when he first took the field.

“Tried to settle the nerves a little bit in [batting practice] and slow everything down, but I just don't know if that was quite possible,” Walls said Sunday morning. “I was nervous as soon as I ran out on the field and took the field in the bottom of the first. Really, after I got the first couple ground balls, everything just felt normal. Everything went back to normal. I had a little bit of nerves my first at-bat, like just the first couple pitches, but after seeing the first pitch and realizing that it was just the same game I've always played, everything felt normal and I could relax.”

• Walls on callup: 'They believe in me'

After the game, Walls said he received a pair of game balls: one from each of his first two hits. He got to enjoy the moment with his wife, daughter, parents, brother, grandparents, uncles and everyone else -- “you name it,” Walls said -- there to support him. Walls said he had so many notifications on his phone afterward that, even as someone who never likes to leave a message unanswered, it was hard to keep up with all of them.

“I know how important those people are making me feel right now, and I want to make them feel just as supported back,” he said. “So I mean, there's a lot of them I haven't gotten to yet, but every one of them to where I have time and I see it, I try to respond.”

But first, Walls had to celebrate a bunch of firsts -- game, start, hit, run, win -- with his teammates.

“It was exciting. It was fun. These guys made me feel special in here,” Walls said. “Everybody was hooting, hollering, jumping around me when I got into the clubhouse. So they made me feel special, and I thank them for it.”

Kiermaier update
Kevin Kiermaier said he was feeling “a little bit better” and would be available off the bench on Sunday after leaving Saturday’s game in the fifth inning due to left eye irritation.

Kiermaier said the irritation he felt Saturday night stemmed from an eyelash getting in his eye during pregame batting practice, which led to a scratch on his eye that he said felt “like a piece of sand is on the inside of my eyelid, and every time I blink, it’s just grinding.”

The center fielder, who has missed time this season due to two injuries, said he was obviously frustrated with having to exit the game early. But he reported some slight improvement in how he felt Sunday morning.

“This kind of happened out of nowhere yesterday during BP, so I am really hoping it goes away out of nowhere as well,” Kiermaier said. “Just one of those weird things, and it seems like this stuff could only happen to me. But just got to get through it and roll with the punches.”

Manager Kevin Cash said Kiermaier had a scheduled day off Sunday anyway, and he expected he would be available to hit, run or play defense if needed. Brett Phillips got the start in center at TD Ballpark.

Roster move
To make room for right-hander Michael Wacha’s return from the 10-day injured list Sunday, the Rays optioned righty Brent Honeywell Jr. to Triple-A Durham. Tampa Bay recalled Honeywell on Friday, but he did not pitch before being sent back down.