Houston Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. suffered insults as part of his starting lineup in Game 3 of the World Series on Tuesday night, Become the first pitcher to throw five home runs in the World Series. McCullers left in the fifth inning, allowing 6 hits in 4 1/3 innings.
McCullers’ troubles started outside the door. Bryce Harper (two-pointer), Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh homered each in the first two innings to give Philadelphia a 4-0 lead and Philly in the process The Man became the first team to hit three home runs in the first two frames of the World Series.
McCullers will settle down for a while after the second inning. He retired eight batters in a row, taking him to fifth. That’s when he ran into even more trouble. McCullers, who was allowed to face the lineup for the third time for whatever reason, surrendered a single to Marsh before hitting back-to-back homers to Kyle Schwaber and Rhys Hoskins for the Phillies. The team leads 7-0.
Notably, Harper drew attention after his first-inning homer, when he first called and then delivered a message to Bohm on the Fox broadcast, then waited for his turn in a circle on the deck. It’s unclear exactly what Harper said to Bohm, or if it had anything to do with McCullers — let alone if he was pitching his ball or using a predictable pitch pattern.
However, Bohm was coy when Ken Rosenthal asked him late in the game about Harper’s comments about him. He said bluntly that the dialogue between them will continue.
After the game, both McCullers and manager Dusty Baker dismissed the idea that the starters were pitching.
“It’s not about tipping,” McCullers told reporters. Including Brian McTaggart of MLB.com“Obviously they had a good game plan for me and they executed it better than me.”
“I was terrified,” he added.
Meanwhile, Baker said the team had no reason to believe McCullers was tipping. “Sometimes, they just hit you,” he said. According to Gabe Lacques of USA TODAY.
No matter what Harper said or didn’t say, no matter what the Phillies noticed or didn’t notice McCullers’ shooting, they homered him on Tuesday more than he allowed in 47 2/3 innings of the regular season. Four times more.