Cardinals Say Smoltz Tipped Pitches in Boston

John Smoltz makes eight starts in Boston, and he gets lit up in every one. He leaves Beantown with a 2-5 record and 8.32 ERA and sets off for St. Louis. Then, in his first start with the Cardinals, he throws five shutout innings and strikes out nine batters — including seven in a row — and he wins.

What was the problem in Boston?

The Cardinals' coaching staff thinks it knows.

It may have been the competition level, and it may have been a slight tweak in his delivery, but most likely, it was the fact that Smoltz was tipping his pitches while he was with the Red Sox, MLB.com reports. The coaches in St. Louis saw him throw a bullpen session on Thursday, they changed his delivery a bit — from the stretch, in particular — and poof. Suddenly, Smoltz isn't getting knocked around.

"It's pretty clear he was tipping his pitchers," Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa told MLB.com after Smoltz's start on Sunday.

According to MLB.com, batters were especially successful against the veteran right-hander when there were already runners on base. They had a 63-point higher batting average and a 123-point higher slugging percentage in that situation. Given those numbers, it's not outlandish to say hitters may have known what was coming.

Smoltz was reluctant to admit he may have been tipping — instead, he said he got his heel closer to the rubber in Sunday's game — but he said it was a possibility.

"I very well could have been," he told MLB.com. "If you tip your pitches, it's a lot easier to hit in this league."

If only the Red Sox had thought of that.