With Los Angeles 5-2 up in the bottom of the sixth, Joe Kelly lit the fuse. The Dodgers pitcher threw a 3-0 fastball behind Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, before almost hitting Houston first baseman Yuli Gurriel and shortstop Carlos Correa on successive at-bats.
As Kelly struck out Correa, leaving two runners stranded on base and preserving the Dodgers’ three-run lead, the duo exchanged words as Kelly walked off the mound. The Dodgers pitcher mimicked a kid crying by sticking out his bottom lip, with the clip almost instantly becoming a social media sensation.
Correa failed to see the funny side of Kelly’s antics and returned the verbal salvo, which prompted both benches to clear. No punches were thrown but Astros manager Dusty Baker was involved in a heated conversation with crew chief Chris Guccione, while the officiating crew issued a warning to both teams.
The matchup marked the first time the two teams have met since a report from The Athletic released in November revealed the Astros had stolen signs and communicated them to their hitters during the 2017 campaign and part of the following season. The practice was in place when the Astros and Dodgers met in the 2017 World Series, which Houston won in seven games.
While Astros general manager Jeff Lunhow and manager AJ Hinch were suspended for the 2020 season and have subsequently been fired by team owner Jim Crane, Astros players escaped punishment. Crucially, the MLB also opted not to strip Houston of its title, citing the desire of not wanting to create a precedent.
Understandably, the Dodgers felt cheated and made their feelings abundantly clear during preseason.
“The history obviously is out there,” Los Angeles outfielder Joe Pederson told ESPN before Tuesday night’s matchup.
“Everybody knows what’s at stake and what happened. For being no fans, maybe sometimes the energy could be lacking a little bit. I don’t think that will be the case for this series.”
Baker, meanwhile, felt Kelly’s erratic spell at the mound justified the Astros’ reaction.
During Bregman’s at-bat, with the bases empty and one out, Kelly threw three consecutive balls to the Astros first baseman. The fourth pitch clocked 96.4 miles per hour and sailed behind Bregman, before Kelly threw four consecutive high pitches to Gurriel. The first two pitches faced by Correa were also high pitches, knuckle curveballs.
“Balls get away sometimes but not that many in the big leagues,” said Baker. “When you throw a 3-0 fastball over a guy’s head you’re flirting with ending his career. […]
“What really enraged everybody […] is when he told him [Correa]: ‘Nice swing b—-.’ What are you supposed to do then?”
Baker, however, denied the Astros had taunted Kelly prior to the bench-clearing brawl.
“We didn’t say anything,” he said. “We don’t start nothing. But we don’t take nothing either.”
Kelly wasn’t on the Dodgers roster in 2017 when Los Angeles lost the World Series to Houston, but tasted defeat earlier in the postseason as the Astros eliminated the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series.
The 32-year-old, however, insisted there was no bad blood between him and the Astros.
“When I was with the Red Sox we beat them in ‘18,” he said. “It’s one of those things that I pitch competitively. With no fans here, it’s easy to hear some stuff [from the opposing dugout] … there’s something they apparently didn’t take too kind to.”
