‘They cheated’: Clayton Kershaw takes shot at Astros’ Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman
The Los Angeles Dodgers are just one win away from the World Series, but Clayton Kershaw still has the Houston Astros on his mind.
In a story published by The Athletic on Friday, writer Jayson Stark set the scene of being inside the Citi Field visiting clubhouse after the Dodgers beat the Mets 10-2 in Game 4 of the NLCS and asking players if they could think of better 1-2 hitters than those at the top of their own lineup: Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts.
“I’m trying to think of teams that I pitched against,” Kershaw told Stark. “Like the best teams. I mean, leadoff-wise, (Jose) Altuve and (Alex) Bregman were good (in Houston). But they cheated, so that’s not really the same.”
Stark’s story centered around the big night had by Ohtani and Betts on Thursday with the duo going a combined 5-for-9 with two home runs, five RBI and seven runs scored. Of course, Kershaw turned it to the 2017 Astros, who beat Kershaw and the Dodgers in the World Series.
A Major League Baseball investigation later found the Astros had been illegally stealing signs through a live video feed and relaying those signs in real time by banging on a trash can.
Altuve and Bregman have hit 1-2 in the Astros lineup plenty of times, but in the 2017 World Series, Bregman hit second and Altuve batted third. Of course, that team’s leadoff hitter was George Springer, who absolutely annihilated Dodgers pitching, tying a World Series record with five home runs in the seven-game series.
That World Series was particularly tough on Kershaw
That World Series was particularly tough on Kershaw, who won Game 1, but then was lit up for six runs in 4 2/3 innings in Game 5, which the Astros went on to win 13-12 on a Bregman walk-off single in the 10th inning.
That night clearly has stuck with Kershaw, who has taken shots at the Astros before this week. When the Dodgers visited Minute Maid Park in July, he told the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett, “I don’t like coming here. I don’t like rolling up and seeing the 2017 ring in front of their stadium.”
The 36-year-old Kershaw isn’t pitching in the playoffs, having missed most of the season with a shoulder and toe injury. He finished the year 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA in 30 innings.
