Speaking today on the Dan Patrick radio show, a day after his surprisingly effective start for the St. Louis Cardinals, former Red Sox pitcher John Smoltz said his new Cardinals teammates told him during warmups that he was tipping his pitches and helped him correct the problem. Smoltz said fellow pitcher Chris Carpenter was the first one to notice.

"If I've been tipping them in my bullpen, I've been tipping them on the mound."

Smoltz picked up the victory in his St. Louis debut, going five shutout innings, striking out nine and allowing three hits and no walks. He was 2-5, 8.33 in eight starts with the Red Sox.

Smoltz said he did not blame his former Boston teammates for his failure, saying that he himself was trying to hard to succeed with the Red Sox, but the comments about tipping pitches are sure to raise eyebrows, and the suggestion that Boston players should have noticed the same thing.

Of course, Smoltz yesterday was facing one of the worst offensive teams in baseball. His next start is against Washington, which beat Smoltz in interleague play.