Nothing will ever make the anger towards the Houston Astros for their cheating in the 2017 World Series go away – absolutely nothing. But what we witnessed on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX, in the first non-COVID-19-restricted game in over a year certainly helped, albeit only slightly.

When it was first reported that the COVID-19 restrictions were going to be lifted for the two-game series between the Dodgers and Astros at Minute Made Park on Tuesday and Wednesday, you pretty much knew that it would be a very large crowd. And then when word spread the Pantone 294 Dodgers-based fan group was going to be there, you knew that it was going to be a very loud large crowd.

…and it was.

“It was really special to see that many Dodger fans there,” Dodgers ace and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw said after his brilliant performance in his team’s 9-2 pounding of the Astros on Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 34,443 – a good many of whom were wearing Dodger Blue. “Everything that’s happened in the past has affected them just like it’s affected us, too. You can feel it in the way they cheer and the way they go about it. It was a good feeling tonight to have them there.”

“It was nice,” Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner said. “A couple of the guys, around the second, third inning, I think it might have been Luxie (Dodgers shortstop Gavin Lux) said ‘Man, it feels like real baseball again with the full stadium.’ You know, we knew it was going to be loud, we knew it was going to be energetic, but it was really cool seeing how well the Dodger fans travel and how loud they were, and it definitely helped.”

“I knew it was going to be full capacity – obviously, you know, the opponent – and it was really energetic tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame. “I think that having Pantone 294 representing the Dodgers, that was fantastic, you heard them all night long, but certainly the Astro fans. It was just really good energy. So, just to kind of have that, kind of on both sides, I think that both teams were really jacked up tonight.”

As for that Kershaw guy, all he did was allow only one run on four hits with no walks and six strikeouts in his 7.2 innings pitched, to notch his seventh win of the season, while lowering his ERA to an impressive 2.94; needing only 87 pitches (57 strikes) to do so.

“That’s a great team; they swing the bats well, especially against left-handed pitching,” Kershaw said. “They don’t strike out a lot, so just getting quick outs, try to put it on the ground the best I could.

“It’s a tough opponent, so you just have to try to make quality pitches and not worry about striking guys out. And fortunately, they hit ’em pretty much all to Luxie tonight, so that’s good,” Kershaw added.

Pretty much all to Luxie indeed. On the night, the 23-year-old Kenosha, WI native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2016 out of Indian Trail High School in Kenosha had eight assists in 10 total chances, with one throwing error.

Well done, Dodger fans; especial Pantone 294.

We heard you.

…loud and clear.

Play Ball!

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