- Houston cheated on way to beating LA in 2017 World Series
- Players confront each other despite Covid-19 protocols
The Houston Astros are trying to put their sign-stealing scandal behind them, but it seems as if the Los Angeles Dodgers have their own thoughts on the matter.
The benches cleared on Tuesday night during the Dodgersâ 5-2 victory over the Astros in the first game between the teams since it was revealed that Houston stole signs en route to a 2017 World Series championship that came at Los Angelesâ expense.
The fracas occurred after Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly threw high-and-tight pitches to Astros stars Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa in the sixth inning.
âBalls get away sometimes but not that many in the big leagues,â Houston manager Dusty Baker said. âWhen you throw a 3-0 fastball over a guyâs head youâre flirting with ending his career.â
The Dodgers had a 5-2 lead after a five-run fifth when Kelly, who was with Boston in 2017 and also faced Houston that postseason, threw behind Bregman for ball four. Bregman grimaced after jumping to avoid being hit, then trotted to first base.
There were two outs in the inning when Kelly threw an errant breaking ball over Correaâs head. Correa, who homered and finished with three hits, took off his batting helmet and stared Kelly down before continuing the at-bat.
Kelly struck out Correa, then stuck out his tongue and made a face in his direction. Correa started walking toward him and the players exchanged words, prompting the benches to clear in the first such incident of this pandemic-delayed season. There was plenty of yelling and crowding, both of which are outlawed as MLB tries to play a season amid the pandemic, but there was no pushing or punches thrown.
Baker said things really got out of hand because of something he said Kelly told Correa after the strikeout.
âWhat really enraged everybody … is when he told him: âNice swing, bitch,ââ Baker said. âWhat are you supposed to do then?â
Baker was asked if the Astros said anything to provoke Kelly.
âWe didnât say anything,â he said. âWe donât start nothing. But we donât take nothing either.â
Kelly denied that he purposely threw at the Astros. He was asked if there was any added motivation Tuesday since his Red Sox team lost to Houston in the AL Division Series in 2017.
âNo. When I was with the Red Sox we beat them in â18,â he said. âItâs one of those things that I pitch competitively. With no fans here, itâs easy to hear some stuff [from the opposing dugout] … thereâs something they apparently didnât take too kind to.â
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wasnât sure if Kellyâs errant throws were retaliation for Houstonâs cheating.
âI really donât know, to be quite honest,â he said. âI know he got behind Bregman 3-0 and lost a fastball. I really donât think there was intent behind that. I think those guys took a little bit of offense. Even the one to Correa, that was a breaking ball that just backed up.
âObviously the expectation going into the series that things were kind of escalated maybe a little, I donât know if prematurelyâs the word, but thatâs kind of what happened.â
Houston were punished by the commissionersâ office in January for the sign-stealing scheme, which led to the firing of general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch. But many players around the league were unhappy that no players were disciplined for their roles in the cheating.
This post originally appeared on and written by:
Associated Press
The Guardian 2020-07-29 13:04:00