Wednesday’s game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros did not have the drama of Tuesday’s possible headhunting and bench clearance, but the bad blood of a World Series won by cheating was still evident.
It was never clearer than when Dodgers’ affable color commentator Orel Hershiser dropped an interesting analysis after José Altuve struck out looking at a fastball in the fifth inning.
“Guessing is harder than knowing,” Hershiser said after Joe Davis speculated that Altuve might have guessed another pitch was coming.
It is not difficult to guess which illegal poster theft system Hershiser might be referring to. He was also not alone in noting the Astros’ performance optics after an offseason that exposed his admitted deception in the 2017 regular season and offseason.
Not the best series for the Astros.
Both games in the two-game Dodgers-Astros series in Houston ended up being just what the Astros critics expected, as the Dodgers were victorious every night. Wednesday’s game ended in the 13th inning thanks to rookie home run Edwin Rios in the 2-run homer.
Dipping into the box score provided even more juice to hit the Astros. Many, including the Dodgers ‘Davis, noted that the Astros’ top three hitters were hitless in both games. The implication that the Astros suddenly fight after an MLB investigation into their illegal signal theft is clear.
The Dodgers kept Springer / Altuve / Bregman at 0-for-20 in the 2 games.
– Joe Davis (@Joe_Davis) July 30, 2020
Of course, even going beyond the fact that drawing radical conclusions from either game is a foolish exercise, such tweets ignore Astros 2017 members who performed decently. Shortstop Carlos Correa was 5-for-9 with a homer in the series (plus a now-infamous strikeout), while first baseman Yuli Gurriel was 2-for-7 with three walks. It’s also worth noting that MLB determined that the Astros’ junk system ended in 2018, though we don’t know for sure if the team simply didn’t switch to a different system.
Overall, the Astros clearly fought at the plate, but then again, we’re talking about two games.
From the publication of that fateful story in The Athletic, it was clear that the Astros were heading to a season in which fans of the other 29 teams would happily receive all their struggles. The coronavirus pandemic caused the team to avoid the booming boos that awaited them in true road games, but that hatred never went away. And the odds are good, it won’t go away anytime soon.
It was a good series for the enemies of the Astros. (AP Photo / David J. Phillip)
