Phils believe Bastardo has been tipping pitches

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NEW YORKThe great riddle of Antonio Bastardos rising ERA may have been solved, and it was the detective work of pitching coach Rich Dubee that got to the bottom of things.

Or so the Phillies hope.

According to the pitching coach, the Phillies lefty reliever had been tipping his pitches. Actually, Bastardo had been giving away his slider, which is normally his best pitch but not when the hitter knows it is coming.

We saw it in his eyes and he was going, Holy cow! The hitters dont need the help, Dubee said. The swings they were taking against him made you wonder.

The tip-off to the tipping came during the eighth inning of Wednesday nights loss to the Nationals where the lefty gave up a run on two hits and allowed two inherited runners to score. Moreover, Bastardo had 11 of the last 21 hitters he faced to reach base, sporting an ERA of 16.20 since Sept. 3. In his last 3 13 innings covering six appearances, Bastardo has allowed six earned runs. Before that, the lefty had allowed just five earned runs over 35 13 innings covering 37 appearances.

The strange part was the velocity of his pitches had not waned and his repertoire remained reasonably crisp. Manager Charlie Manuel said Bastardo had made worse pitches and been able to get hitters out.

Were not talking about sliders up in the strike zone, Dubee said. Were talking about sliders with depth and action to it. Hopefully weve hit on the right thing.

Bastardo says he may have been gripping his slider weird and that the ball felt as though it was coming out of his hand differently than in the past.

I felt something in my hand and the slider didnt have the break that I wanted, Bastardo said. The slider didnt have the rotation that it did before. The big break that it had before wasnt there and I started asking myself some questions, but it felt a little weird.

Dubee says the correction is something Bastardo can take care of while playing catch. Better yet, the pitcher wont go crazy trying to solve an issue that might be as simple as gripping the ball differently.

E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com.

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