Array
By the time Lance McCullers Jr. walked off the mound with one out in the fifth inning Tuesday night, the Astros right-hander had allowed five — count ’em, five — home runs to the Phillies.
“It was kind of mind-boggling,’’ Houston manager Dusty Baker said after his team lost Game 3 of the World Series, 7-0. “Because he doesn’t give up homers.”
But on this night, McCullers did, and the Astros fell behind two games to one in the series.
There was much speculation the right-hander was tipping his pitches, especially after TV cameras showed Bryce Harper — who had just hit a homer in the bottom of the first inning off McCullers — call over Alec Bohm and whisper something into his ear. Bohm then led off the bottom of the second with a home run.
Some noted the potential irony of the Astros, whose lone World Series title, in 2017, was tainted by a sign-stealing scandal, could be hurt by a Phillies team that may have picked something up from McCullers. But both teams said it wasn’t the case.
Asked about the conversation between Harper and Bohm, McCullers placed the blame firmly on himself.
