Lance McCullers Jr. disputes he was tipping pitches as Phils mash 5 HRs

McCullers denied that pitch-tipping was at fault.

“This has nothing to do with tipping,” he said, dismissing speculation that began with Harper getting in Bohm’s ear moments before he hit the first McCullers pitch he saw for a home run.

The Astros’ co-pitching coach, Joshua Miller, echoed similar thoughts.

“We didn’t identify anything specific today,” Miller said. “It’s something that we always monitor and look into.”

But McCullers nonetheless approached this outing with a very predictable trait: Through his first two postseason starts, he had thrown only one fastball to opposing left-handed hitters. Lefties were basically able to narrow their selection to either McCullers’ curveball or breaking ball, the two pitches he throws most often, and they barely missed their chances. Three of the homers McCullers gave up—to Harper, Marsh and Schwarber—were to left-handed hitters. He totaled just one swing and miss against lefties in Game 3, a sign to Miller that his curveball, his best pitch against them, was not sharp.