In a 2017 World Series rematch, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Houston Astros, 5-2, on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park. It was the first meeting between the two teams since the poster-stealing scandal that rocked baseball for months.
The Astros were sanctioned by MLB and shortly afterward fired manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow for their roles in the scandal, in which the Astros illegally stole posters using replay monitors and a “trash hit scheme” to signal his hitters at the plate. . MLB research found that the Astros used the scheme during the 2017 regular season and postseason and in the 2018 season, although some opposing players believe it continued longer. The Astros won that series in seven games.
As for the opening game of Tuesday’s series, the highlight of the night came in the sixth inning when Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly pitched behind some Astros hitters, including Carlos Correa, who caused a dust that cleared banks. Let’s analyze what we need to know:
The expected bad blood
Surely many of the Dodgers who played in the 2017 World Series still feel cheated, but there were no fans present to fan the flames and teams are strictly prohibited from fighting this season during the pandemic. As such, it would feel quite weak if a pitcher felt empowered to punctuate an opposing player on purpose. It’s just a very bad look. Still, there seemed to be tension. At first, this was Dodgers starter Walker Buehler addressing a few words to Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, possibly in an angry trade:
I’m not a lip reader and I can’t tell, but it doesn’t seem like he was exchanging jokes. Then the actual fireworks, several entries later.
Joe Kelly pitching for the Dodgers in the sixth inning: On a 3-0 count, he pitched a fastball behind Alex Bregman’s head and shoulders. The receiver was configured with a low target and outside. Bregman didn’t seem satisfied, but said nothing and ran to the first.
Michael Brantley followed with a penalty at first that forced Bregman to come out at second and saw Kelly covering first base. The two seemed to disagree and someone could hear Kelly yelling at the camera to return to the mound with an expletive (linked here if you’re curious).
Then came Carlos Correa’s bat. A curved ball flew over his head. Then an interior curve. Correa finally struck out and the cameras captured Kelly saying “that’s a boy, good swing!”
That led to a lot of yelling back and forth and Kelly could be seen making, frankly, some really childish faces in the Astros. I like this:
Banks cleared …
… but eventually the colder heads prevailed and no one really made contact with each other.
It’s unclear if there was any intent behind any of Kelly’s pitches (the corners wouldn’t be on purpose and he generally has a terrible fastball command), but it’s worth noting that Kelly was not personally handicapped by the 2017 Astros. He was not with the Dodgers. However, she was on the 2018 Red Sox team that beat the Astros in the ALCS. It is not that he is not close with his new teammates, we are just providing all the context that exists.
After the game, Astros manager Dusty Baker said, “Balls sometimes leak, but not that many in the big leagues.” (via Alden Gonzalez)
Baker also noted that shooting at a player’s head is “dirty” baseball.
Joe Kelly’s side seems to be that the pitch to Bregman just escaped. Via Dodgers beat writer Eric Stephen:
“It was a ball. It was not my best shot … It is never good to put a guy. I did not feel the best. It took me a while to get into my mechanics.”
As for the actual game, a few more things to bring.
Change of pace since last time
The last time these two teams played at Minute Maid Park was one of the most ridiculous and exciting baseball games I have ever seen. It was Game 5 of the 2017 World Series, which ended 13-12 in 10 innings. He concluded with a tee shot by Bregman, but he also had …
- Dodgers with a 4-0 lead in the fourth
- The Astros get four in the fourth to tie
- Dodgers add three more in the fifth
- The Astros score three to tie
- Dodgers take a one-run lead in the seventh
- George Springer immediately ties in the lower half
- The Astros get three more in the seventh to lead 11-8
- Dodgers get three in ninth to tie
- Bregman’s 10th single ends
There were eight doubles, a triple, and seven home runs as part of the 28 hits. It took five hours and 17 minutes and left in the middle of the night.
Tuesday was a different story. The pace was mostly fast and didn’t take much longer than an average league game.
The Astros had two runs early with a solo shot by Correa and then an RBI single by Correa, but a fifth of five Dodger runs gave us our final score. The races were only scored in three different innings. There was only one home run. The Dodgers’ fifth inning complete rally contained zero extra-base hits.
And there were no fans. All the contrast.
Young stars bullpen in the spotlight
The Astros have nine rookie relievers and five of them were at least for part of the season in Class A last year. Although the Astros had an early lead, the most likely outcome here was the Dodgers’ excellent and deep offense that took it to the youngsters and, indeed, it happened in the fifth, but overall it wasn’t a disaster.
Enoli Paredes was a disaster. He allowed one walk, fielder’s choice, and two singles.
After that, though, it wasn’t too bad. Andre Scrubb made his major league debut and, although he started running to start, he got a double play on the next batter to end the nightmare inning and finished with 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Nivaldo Rodríguez also made his MLB debut and threw two hits and one walk in two scoreless innings.
Dodgers bullpen blocked things
Walker Buehler has yet to stretch and was eliminated after 3 2/3 mostly fine innings, although he allowed both runs and that’s a 4.91 ERA. The bullpen took over there and completely shut down the Astros’ offense. Adam Kolarek, Brusdar Graterol, Joe Kelly, Caleb Ferguson, Blake Treinen and Kenley Jansen combined to allow a single hit in 5 1/3 scoreless innings. The only problems were Kelly’s two walks, really.
The first three Astros fought
George Springer, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman are the Astros’ highest-profile offensive players. Many eyeballs are on them this year after the signal theft scandal somewhat dominated the offseason. On Tuesday, all three combined to go 0-10 with Bregman’s two walks. I guess you could say that all but Correa really fought. They only had four hits and Correa had three of them with both RBI. Still, Springer, Altuve, and Bregman are its stars. On the season, Springer is hitting .050 / .174 / .200 while Altuve and Bregman are hitting an identical .222 / .364 / .444.
