Time may heal all wounds, but that hasn’t happened yet for the Dodgers, who still feel the sting of the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal that many feel cost them a World Series title.
“I don't know if I'll ever fully get over it,” catcher Austin Barnes said prior to Tuesday’s opener in Houston. “I mean, winning [in 2020] helps, obviously -- if we never won a World Series, that would have been pretty hard to swallow. I’m not trying to go too deep into it, but we could’ve won two World Series.”
Playing in front of the largest crowd Minute Maid Park has seen since 2019 -- and with plenty of Dodgers fans in attendance -- Los Angeles opened the two-game set with a 9-2 win, its eighth consecutive victory. And Clayton Kershaw had a great deal to do with it.
Kershaw’s most recent appearance at Minute Maid Park, Game 5 of the 2017 World Series, was also one of the most painful nights of his career. In a wild, back-and-forth slugfest, the left-hander was charged for six earned runs, getting chased with two outs in the fifth inning. Kershaw didn’t know it at the time, but a big part of why he struggled was because his opponents knew what was coming.
“The last time he took the mound here, we don’t need to recap that,” manager Dave Roberts said. “For him to come out here, throw the baseball the way he did, [I’m] really happy for him.”
Facing former teammate Zack Greinke on Tuesday, Kershaw struck out six in 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in his longest start since August 2018.
“What it felt like being there tonight and pitching again after the World Series in 2017 … I don't really know how to express it,” said Kershaw. “It did feel like a little more important game, but maybe that's just because of the full crowd … the crowd was really, really into it, so that was a lot of fun. But motivation or not, it felt really good to win tonight, for sure.”
The sole blemish on Kershaw’s line was Alex Bregman’s home run in the seventh inning, a line drive into the Crawford Boxes that would not have been a home run in any other ballpark and had an expected batting average of just .160. Otherwise, Kershaw was nearly untouchable, surrendering just four hits and no walks.
“[He] threw it where he wanted to throw it, got ahead and then he just executed,” Bregman said of Kershaw. “His slider was super sharp and late. He executed good pitches and we didn’t really put anything together. I mean, he’s one of the best ever. He’s pretty tough.”
Kershaw’s been notably efficient this season, and no more so than on Tuesday, when he exited with just 81 pitches thrown. Both Kershaw and Roberts cited a long top of the eighth inning and Kershaw’s upcoming day-game outing on Sunday as reasons for him leaving despite such a low pitch count. Besides, by that point, the veteran had done his job, and the bullpen -- including known Astros antagonist Joe Kelly -- were able to make L.A.’s sizable lead stand.
Kershaw insists that it does no good to revisit 2017, since he can’t do anything to change what happened. But he also doesn’t deny that the experience impacted him. And the fact that so many Dodgers fans were present to see his statement performance on Tuesday night gave a personally significant evening for Kershaw an added layer of meaning.
“Everything that's happened in the past has affected [the fans] just like it's affected us, too,” said Kershaw. “You can feel it in the way they cheer and the way they go about it, and it was a good feeling tonight to have them there.”