Angels confident Ervin Santana not tipping pitches

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — An extensive video review of Ervin Santana’s shoddy start against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night revealed plenty of hanging breaking balls and poorly placed fastballs, too many hitter’s counts and some questionable pitch sequences.

It did not reveal that Santana, who was tagged for a career-high four home runs and has given up a major league-high 10 homers in 23 2/3 innings of four starts this season, is tipping his pitches.

“We’re pretty confident that’s not the case — we didn’t see anything that stood out,” pitching coach Mike Butcher said. “It’s a matter of executing pitches and setting up hitters better.”

Though the Rays took some good swings off Santana, especially Luke Scott and Carlos Pena, who hit prodigious solo homers to right field in the Rays’ 5-0 victory, Butcher didn’t see any of the telltale signs that hitters knew what kind of pitch was coming.

“When a guy checks off on a nasty breaking ball down and away, a ball he’d normally swing at, that’s an indication you might be tipping pitches,” Butcher said. “Or if you’re making really nasty, quality pitches and they’re driving them. Normally, those pitches wouldn’t be driven.”

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Angels confident Ervin Santana not tipping pitches