'Investigate Matt Strahm'; 'Dodgers cheating as usual' - Fans divided as Phillies LHP's glove grip gaffe leads to 3-run HR for Teoscar Hernandez

The Philadelphia Phillies were on top of the proceedings in Game 1 of the National League Division Series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.

The NL East winners held a 3-0 lead after five innings, but things went downhill after that. The Dodgers scored two runs in the sixth to cut the Phillies' lead to a run.

The Phillies called on reliever Matt Strahm to the mound after David Robertson had put two batters on base to start the seventh. Strahm struck out Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, leaving two runners on base with Teoscar Hernandez on the plate.

Strahm seemingly showed his grip to Dodgers' Andy Pages on second base, who relayed it to Hernandez. The veteran Dodgers outfielder smashed the Phillies reliever for a three-run home run to give LA a 5-3 lead.

Fans reacted to Strahm's exposed glove, which potentially led to the game-changing home run.

"Please investigate Matt Strahm for gambling."

"Dodgers cheating as usual."

"How are teams still so bad at defending against this. It’s so public(and legal!)"

"No. Nothing here besides Strahm missing his location big time is what occurred."

"Doesn’t help that Strahm misses location by about 20 inches."

While MLB analyst Nen Verlander alleged Strahm showed his grip to Pages, the Phillies reliever missed his mark by a few inches as catcher J.T. Realmuto was set up for an inside fastball, but Strahm threw it outside the mark.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash