In a disastrous start he won’t soon forget, Houston hurler Lance McCullers surrendered a whopping five home runs in five innings to set a World Series record as the Astros fell 7-0 to the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of the Fall Classic on Tuesday night.
McCullers, who surrendered taters to Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh and Kyle Schwarber, only gave up four home runs in 47 and ⅔ regular-season innings this year, leading some to speculate that perhaps he was tipping his pitches after giving up five in Game 3. That speculation was only aided by a video showing Harper seemingly saying something important to Bohm after smashing a first-pitch curveball into the seats in the first inning. Bohm went on to bash a deep fly of his own in the second inning, the 1,000th home run in World Series history. “I think anytime you have information, you want to be able to give that to your teammates at any point,” Harper said afterward.
Speaking after the game, McCullers denied anything was amiss with him on the mound and dismissed the idea that Harper had discovered something in his delivery that was tipping what kind of pitch was on the way to the plate.
“This has nothing to do with tipping. I’m not going to sit here and stand in front of you guys and blame something. I was out there and they beat me and they beat us and that’s it,” he said. “Other than the homers, there was a lot of balls in the ground. Listen. I am who I am. I’m going to throw a lot of off-speed. Everyone knows that. I think guys have conversations all the time before at-bats, before innings, things like that. I’m not going to sit here and say anything like that. I got whupped. End of story.”
If he’s lucky, McCullers will get to add another, possibly different, chapter to that story if the Series extends to seven games and he’s able to get back on the mound. With the Phillies leading 2-1, Game 4 is in Philadelphia tonight.
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