The Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers had the first socially-distanced benches-clearing incident as many expected something to happen between the two teams after the cheating scandal that rocked the sport earlier this year.
Los Angeles pitcher Joe Kelly threw some wild pitches at Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kelly first appeared to throw at Alex Bregman on a 3-0 count. He later fired a breaking ball near Carlos Correa’s head.
After striking out Correa, the two exchanged words and the benches cleared.
Houston manager Dusty Baker later revealed what Kelly allegedly said to Correa following the strikeout.
“What really enraged everybody was what he told Carlos [Correa] when he struck him out, “Nice swing b—h!” Baker told reporters.
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Houston beat Los Angeles in the 2017 World Series in a year that MLB says they stole signs. Kelly wasn’t on the Dodgers, but rather on the Red Sox in 2018 who also defeated the Dodgers in the World Series. That team also was found to have cheated as well.
Kelly denied intentionally throwing at Astros players following the 5-2 win.
“My accuracy isn’t the best,” he told reporters.
Baker wasn’t buying it.
“Balls get away sometimes — but not that many in the big leagues,” Baker said. “When you throw a 3-0 fastball over a guy’s head, now you’re flirting with ending his career.”
