does "rather than" work exactly like "instead of?"

I just need to run a check on this one sentence please

context: I’m relating an incident to a friend, where person ‘x’ blames an innocent bystander instead of guilty party ‘y"

I say: "I just didnt like how ‘x’ pinned the blame on an innocent person rather than calling out ‘y’"

Should "calling" have been "call" instead?
Also, does "rather than" here function the same as "instead of"?