The Astros are facing renewed suspicions over sign stealing two years after being punished by the league for a scandal during their 2017 World Series run.
White Sox reliever Ryan Tepera implied Sunday night that Houston may have been stealing signs in Games 1 and 2 of their AL Division Series after Chicago won the third game.
Houston was going for a sweep after it rolled to a pair of impressive victories at home. But it struck out 16 times in a 12-6 loss at Chicago after it struck out a total of 16 times in the first two games. The AL West champions went down in order in each of the last five innings.
“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
Tepera, who worked two perfect innings, noted the difference between the Astros at home and on the road.
“Yeah. It is what it is. They’ve obviously had a reputation of doing some sketchy stuff over there,” he said. “It’s just, we can say that it’s a little bit of a difference. I think you saw the swings and misses tonight compared to, you know, the first two games at Minute Maid.”
The Astros were disciplined by Major League Baseball after it found the team used electronics to steal signs during their run to the 2017 title and again in the 2018 season.