It was bound to happen. In fact, it’s what every Dodger fan on the planet has been waiting three years for.

It wasn’t the beaning of an Astros player or a full-blown brawl against the same Astros team that cheated the Dodgers out of the 2017 World Series title by sign stealing, but it sent a message that needed to be sent.

That message was sent by 32-year-old Dodgers right-hander and Anaheim, California native Joe Kelly in the bottom of the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s two-game series opener against the Astros at Minute Made Park in Houston TX.

The message was a 3-0 pitch that went behind the head of 26-year-old Astros third baseman Alex Bregman for ball four. Bregman was a member of that 2017 trash-can-banging Astros team that cheated the Dodgers out of what would have been their first World Series title in 29 years. Instead, the Astros took the Series in seven games.

“It was a ball, obviously. It wasn’t my best pitch,” Kelly told reporters after the eventual 5-2 Dodgers win on Tuesday night. “I mean, it was ball four, and so I walked him. It’s never good to put a guy on when you’re leading the game.”

Kelly would go on to strike out Astros shortstop Carlos Correa to end the inning and got into a bit of an exchange of words with Correa as he was walking off the field, causing both benches to clear. Although no punches were thrown nor was anyone ejected, both teams received warnings from home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez.

“I mean, it is what it is. With us not playing the best baseball the first four games, being able to come out and win against that team, they’re a good team,” Kelly added. “I pitch competitively, and with the no fans here, it’s easy to hear some stuff.”

Asked about his exchange with Correa as he was walking off the field, Kelly said “I don’t remember the words.”

But there’s that “easy to hear some stuff” thing – including over the television broadcast, on which Kelly is heard telling Correa “Nice swing, bitch,” along with several other less-than-gentlemanly things; hench, the benches clearing.

Although some may consider Kelly’s exchange with Correa unprofessional and inappropriate, it did not result in a brawl, nor was anyone ejected. That being said, it most certainly did not come even remotely close to cleaning the slate of the sign-stealing cheating Astros.

What it did do, however, was further unite an already extremely close team. It also gave Dodgers fans around the globe exactly what they have been desperately craving for three years, without any potentially serious consequences.

Well done, Joe Kelly. Well done indeed!

Play Ball!

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