The Houston Astros hit Tyler Glasnow hard early in Game 5 of the ALDS on Thursday night and the pitcher said afterward he felt he tipped his pitches.
"I went back and looked, and it was pretty obvious," Glasnow said. "As far as the tips go."
The Astros scored four quick runs to jump out to a lead over the Tampa Bay Rays. Houston had five hits among their first six batters.
"I'm aware that there is speculation about pitch tipping," Kevin Cash said. "It's something that we have discussed. It's a little tough to do that, make an adjustment in Game 5 of a division series. But at the end of the day, give the guys the credit that went up to the plate and put the ball in play and hit line drives. I think that's what did us in."
Alex Bregman denied the tipping theory, saying that there are bigger issues to worry about when facing a pitcher like Glasnow.
"No, no, no," Bregman said. "He's as tough to face as anybody; I think if you went around and asked everybody on our team, it was just a team approach today. It was just one at-bat after another.
"The ball that Glasnow throws, that cutter, the four-seam cutter that he throws is unbelievable. His breaking ball goes from your head to your toes quick. So I feel like, with him, you just had to pick a pitch and try to put a pretty good swing on it."