A great year for the Rays ended in a disappointing loss in Houston, after the Astros lit up Tampa Bay starter Tyler Glasnow in the first inning. It was as if the Astros batters knew the pitches before they were thrown... well, turns out they did! It's all explained here.
VIA NBC Sports: Rays starter Tyler Glasnow didn’t have time to get settled in during his ALDS Game 5 start against the Astros, surrendering four straight hits and ultimately four runs in the first inning. The Rays would go on to lose the decisive playoff game 6-1.
Glasnow’s night wasn’t long, as he lasted only 2 2/3 innings, but he was otherwise solid outside of the first six batters. He ended the first inning with back-to-back strikeouts, then worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the second with a strikeout and two weak pop-ups. He got another pop-up and a ground out in the third before manager Kevin Cash removed him in favor of lefty Blake Snell.
On the FS1 broadcast, Joe Girardi and A.J. Pierzynski ruminated that Glasnow may have been tipping his pitches. Some former players were more confident that Glasnow was, in fact, tipping his pitches.
Phillies radio analyst Kevin Frandsen tweeted, “Glasnow never changed in between starts! Tips every pitch!” Frandsen, by the way, said Glasnow was tipping last week as well in Game 1 against the Astros.
Trevor Plouffe, who re-signed with the Phillies on a minor league contract for the 2019 season, responded to Frandsen, “I had his pitches this Spring Training. Every one of em and it only took an inning.”
Preston Wilson wrote, “No doubt in my mind. Glasnow is tipping his pitches.”
Here's the MLB Crew breaking it down....
Glasnow admits he figured it out after the fact in the post game