Lance McCullers: "This has nothing to do with tipping. Clearly they had a good game plan against me"
Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. allowed five home runs against the Philadelphia Phillies, and many believe it was due to tipping his pitches. Tipping pitches is when a pitcher inadvertently reveals what type of pitch he is throwing before releasing the ball. Despite evidence to the contrary, McCullers maintained after the game that this was not the case.
Home runs came early and often for the Phillies, starting with Bryce Harper in the first inning. Not only was it his first at-bat, it was the first pitch he saw. Things did not improve for Lance after that, as he allowed four more home runs en route to the loss. These five home runs are the most allowed by a pitcher in World Series history.
Despite this historically poor performance, the Astros pitcher maintained he was not tipping his pitches. Brian McTaggart reported his postgame comments via Twitter.
“This has nothing to do with tipping,” McCullers said. “Clearly they had a good game plan against me and they executed better than I did.”
"This has nothing to do with tipping. Clearly they had a good game plan against me and they executed better than I did," McCullers said.
McCullers may not have been aware that he was tipping his pitches, but the Phillies certainly thought he was. Given the success they found against him, it is safe to say they had something figured out.
Twitter user Jomboy transcribed this video of Bryce Harper calling over Alec Bohm before his at-bat to provide advice.
Well Harper and Phillies definitely thought they found something twitter.com/ajzahn510/stat… https://t.co/hhiPX9clu3
"Well Harper and Phillies definitely thought they found something" - Jomboy
Since Alec Bohm would go on to homer in his very next at-bat, whatever Harper said to him clearly worked. Regardless of whether Lance McCullers was tipping pitches or not, he was beaten definitively in this game.
The Philadelphia Phillies have all the momentum in the series after 5 home-run game against Lance McCullers
Not only did the Phillies win, they absolutely dominated the game. They held the lead from start to finish and never allowed a single run. They played so well against McCullers that it became shocking that he remained in the game for so long.
MLB analyst Jared Carrabis was extremely confused as to why the Astros did not make a pitching change sooner.
Dusty Baker must HATE Lance McCullers. The whole WORLD knew the Phillies had something on him nine home runs ago.
"Dusty Baker must HATE Lance McCullers. The whole WORLD knew the Phillies had something on him nine home runs ago," Jared Carrabis tweeted.
The MLB uploaded this video of the five home runs to YouTube.
The Houston Astros are trailing in the World Series and will have to steal one of the next two road games to keep their hopes alive.