Familiar problem
McCullers again becomes vulnerable during his third time through the lineup, although bats do little in way of support
Only three Texas Rangers saw Lance McCullers Jr. for a third time in his season debut last weekend. One doubled, one singled and the other struck out — half of the four hits McCullers yielded.
Talk of the third time through a batting order and the pitfalls a pitcher could encounter when facing it overtook Major League Baseball’s opening weekend. Phillies manager Gabe Kapler and his questionable, but always data-driven, decisions were the impetus.
In 2017, 118 opponents in their third plate appearance against McCullers slugged .567 and produced an even 1.000 OPS.
During their first plate appearances, 198 opponents slashed .188/.269/.267. A second plate appearance for 195 yielded a .239/.309/.358 output.
In Friday’s 4-1 loss, five consecutive Padres knocked hits against McCullers in the fifth inning. Four were
seeing the Astros’ 24-yearold curveball maestro for a third time.
If not for Jose Pirela’s baserunning gaffe — a misguided attempt to stretch his two-RBI double into a triple — the damage against McCullers would have been greater.
Pirela’s double preceded consecutive singles from Eric Hosmer and Christian Villanueva, either of which would have chased the Padres left fielder home. The two-run inning was the only breakthrough for either team.
But, assigning the game’s outcome solely to McCullers’ issues with the lineup for a third time is disingenuous. His problems existed far before the third turn of the Padres’ order, an inability to harness command for much of his repertoire.
“He was battling his pitches,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He didn’t have his breaking ball like he normally does, so he had to make do with less than his best pitch. He battled, and I never thought the game was going to get away from him at all.”
Fifty-two of McCullers’ 91 pitches were curveballs. He got only 11 swings and misses on them, and six others were called strikes.
“Early on, I went to it a lot because I felt like I had good matchups,” McCullers said. “I was throwing a lot of balls with it so I was falling behind. But I battled through, I thought I really caught my groove in the third and threw really well in the fourth.”
McCullers permitted a baserunner in each of his first four innings, three of which contained a walk. An errant pickoff throw to second base in the first inning allowed Pirela and Hosmer to each scurry to scoring position.
Pirela scored on a twoout passed ball, permitting the Padres a lead before the Astros came to bat.
When they did, little was accomplished. To counter McCullers, San Diego called upon Luis Perdomo, a third-year righthanded pitcher with a 5.24 lifetime ERA and a 1.56 WHIP.
Six days prior, Milwaukee pummeled Perdomo, slashing seven hits in four innings. Perdomo did not pitch a fifth. Friday, he did.
The Astros mustered four singles and advanced just one man — George Springer — to third base against him. Springer scored on Carlos Correa’s third-inning sacrifice fly to tie the ballgame.
The Astros did not put runner in scoring position thereafter. They didn’t muster a hit after the fourth inning, either.
“It was a pretty quiet night all the way around,” Hinch said. “We couldn’t piece anything together They pitched their game plan pretty well. Looked like they did pound us inside a little bit, either by design or by result. Certainly a quiet night.”
Just one man reached base after the fourth inning — Marwin Gonzalez drew a ninth-inning walk — part of a stifling display by three Padres relievers. The first was familiar name. Jordan Lyles is 27 and with his third team. The former Astros firstround pick and prized prospect fired two perfect innings in relief of Perdomo. Four of the seven men who faced him struck out.
Only Springer made threatening contact. Lyles left a 2-0 changeup at his belt
Springer took a mighty hack, lacing it straight toward the mound. Springer darted out of the box.
Lyles gloved it, almost accidentally, in an effort to defend himself from the baseball. Instead, he cradled the third out of the seventh inning. Springer removed his helmet and smashed it to the ground, a crack heard throughout the sellout crowd muted for all of this Friday night.