The Philadelphia Phillies found themselves in another pitch-tipping debacle in Game 1 of the NLDS. Reliever Matt Strahm was front and center in the drama after he allowed a go-ahead home run to Teoscar Hernández in the seventh inning. The home run ended up being the decisive blow in the Dodgers 5-3 win, but the drama wasn’t over just yet.
Cristopher Sánchez had to hand the ball off to the bullpen with a 3-2 lead after a masterful performance. After ending the sixth inning, David Robertson allowed two base runners to begin the seventh before Strahm entered the game with runners on first and second with nobody out.
After Strahm got back-to-back outs of Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, he had to face Teoscar Hernández. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Hernández got a hold of an elevated 91.8 mph fastball and hit it into the right-center field seats for a go-ahead three-run home run to put the Dodgers up 5-3. After the game, Ben Verlander accused Strahm of tipping his pitches to the runner on second base, which led to the home run.
TEOSCAR HERNÁNDEZ!@DODGERS LEAD! #NLDS pic.twitter.com/XeygIPFj4t
https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1974638199688556813?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Verlander, an MLB analyst and brother of future Hall of Fame pitcher Justin Verlander, posted a photo showing Andy Pages on second base and stated that Strahm allowed Pages to relay to Hernández what pitch was coming by raising his arm. Strahm immediately shot down that idea in his reply to Verlander.
“Ben I get stirring the pot is how ya make a living since baseball didn’t pan out,” Strahm said in his reply on X. “But go watch the game he did the same thing on different pitches. Oh and if ya know ball you’d know I’ve had my hands up the better part of a decade and have fingers together for all pitches.”
Ben I get stirring the pot is how ya make a living since baseball didn’t pan out. But go watch the game he did the same thing on different pitches. Oh and if ya know ball you’d know I’ve had my hands up the better part of a decade and have fingers together for all pitches.
https://twitter.com/MattStrahm/status/1974843863178133528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1974843863178133528%7Ctwgr%5E7ee26195c3d793aa00aa5b38e187736a640b9de4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthatballsouttahere.com%2Fphillies-game-1-scapegoat-eviscerates-mlb-legend-s-brother-after-pitch-tipping-drama
The Phillies already dealt with a pitch-tipping issue with Game 2 starter Jesús Luzardo earlier this season, and it’s reared its ugly head once again. At least this time, Strahm denied that was the case and let Verlander hear it after he just piled on following the crushing loss. Strahm may have had an answer to Verlander’s read on the situation, but it’s still possible that the Dodgers still had some read on Strahm beforehand.
At the end of the day, Strahm needs to leave no doubt that runners can’t relay pitches to the batter. It’s great that he had an answer for Verlander, but it doesn’t take away from the reality that the home run happened and was the deciding score to lose Game 1 for the Phillies. Now they have flush it and bounce back on Monday night in Game 2.
