As much as they may want to move on from the sign-stealing scandal, the rest of the baseball world will not let them.
Their apologies five months ago were largely deemed insincere -- illustrated by the spring training war of words between the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger and the Astros’ Carlos Correa.
Even if those apologies had been respected, the Astros were still going to get beaned this year.
Retaliation is a known part of the sport, ironically as common as sign-stealing itself.
With the COVID-19 pandemic delaying Major League Baseball’s season, shortening it to 60 games, and requiring corresponding divisions from the American and National leagues to play each other, the perfect storm developed.
Astros and Dodgers, with no audience besides media members and team personnel, at Minute Maid Park for the first time since Game 7 of the 2017 World Series.
The World Series the Dodgers feel was stolen by the Astros.
Joe Kelly pitched for the Boston Red Sox that year, so his team had also lost to the Astros in the American League Division Series.
Now in his second year with the Dodgers, Kelly became the first pitcher to do what everyone has been saying pitchers across MLB would do to the Astros this season.
With a 3-0 count to Alex Bregman in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s game, Kelly zipped a 96 mph fastball behind Bregman’s head.
After the game, Kelly said “it wasn’t my best pitch.”
Bregman took his base without reacting.
Michael Brantley grounded out Bregman, but was safe at first. Kelly walked Yuli Gurriel on four straight pitches, three of them fastballs at more than 96 mph. One of the fastballs and a curveball were tight and inside against Gurriel.
With Carlos Correa at the plate, Kelly threw six straight curveballs. The first one sailed over Correa’s head as he ducked.
“Balls get away sometimes, but not that many in the big leagues,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said after the game.
Correa swung at the last four curveballs, missing at one, fouling off two and missing badly on the out pitch.
That’s when, according to Baker, Kelly said to Correa, “nice swing, b----.”
“And see, what are you supposed to do then?” Baker said.
The Astros manager wanted the officials to step in earlier, probably when Bregman was thrown at, maybe when a couple of pitches to Gurriel were close, but definitely before it boiled over with Correa.
“What upset me is that the umpires warned us," Baker said. "Why don’t you warn him? He’s the one throwing the ball and he’s the one who started this mess in the first place.
"I didn’t like it all.”
Correa chirped back, as Kelly mocked him and the benches cleared.
Both teams were warned after the dust settled. No punches were thrown.
To Baker, the Astros did nothing wrong. He called it “dirty baseball” to throw at someone’s head, but expressed skepticism in the league addressing it appropriately.
“I didn’t anticipate that. I didn't think that you’d throw over a guy’s head, three balls and no strikes, especially one of our more important guys,” Baker said of the pitch against Bregman.
“If you’re gonna throw at somebody, you don’t throw at the head.”
The Astros led until the fifth inning, when Framber Valdez gave up three straight singles to load the bases. Dodgers catcher Will Smith lined out to right field, and the respect for Josh Reddick’s arm kept Corey Seager from tagging home.
Rookie reliever Enoli Paredes entered the game and walked Mookie Betts on four pitches, scoring the Dodgers’ first run.
A throwing error to home plate by Alex Bregman scored the next Dodgers run, followed by singles from Justin Turner and Bellinger.
Andre Scrubb, another rookie reliever for the Astros, walked Chris Taylor with the bases loaded to give the Dodgers a 5-2 lead.
Carlos Correa hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot in the second inning to give Houston a 1-0 lead. He singled on a line drive to center fielder Bellinger in the fourth inning.
Correa also had a double off Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning, but no one around him could do anything with it.
Bregman, who was 0-2 and walked twice, tried to avoid any discussion about the skirmish.
“I don’t know if he was or if he wasn’t,” Bregman said when asked about Kelly throwing at the Astros.
“Some words were exchanged, and we just went out there.”
Bregman wouldn’t say whether he expects more retaliation this season. He knows it’s out of his control.
The Astros aren’t backing down.
As Kelly walked to Dodgers’ dugout to end the sixth, still chirping with Correa, it was the Astros who followed him.
“We don’t start nothing,” Baker said. “But we don’t take nothing either.”