The Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros played their series opener at Minute Maid Park without any sort of confrontation — notable considering Joe Kelly did pitch — which was a welcomed change from last season.
With the stadium open to full capacity for the first time this year, the atmosphere was unlike any the Dodgers or Astros had experienced since 2019. It added an intriguing layer to the highly anticipated matchup between teams with no love lost.
Though the game was largely played without issue, a delay did come in the bottom of the fifth inning when a bank of Minute Maid Park lights suddenly turned out. The MLB rulebook states the home team is not permitted to adjust lighting unless done so in the top half of the inning.
“We take our top half of the inning and interesting enough, the lights turn on at their time to bat,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his team’s 9-2 win. “Whatever. We just wanted Clayton to pitch and not keep him on hold for those guys to turn the lights off.”
Roberts and Clayton Kershaw both spoke with umpires before play resumed. Kershaw appeared to suggest he was not bothered by the change and preferred to continue pitching.
“If it was intentional, I certainly don’t think that’s gamesmanship,” Roberts added. “But I don’t really know.”
The change did little to benefit the Astros as they mustered just four hits off Kershaw over 7.2 innings. One was an Alex Bregman home run, but the solo shot didn’t come until the Dodgers had already taken control of the game.
Roberts enjoyed fans
Several Dodgers raved about having a full attendance for the first time this season, and that sentiment extended to Roberts as well.
“I knew it was going to be full capacity and obviously you know the opponent. It was really energetic,” Roberts said. “I think having Pantone 294 representing the Dodgers, that was fantastic.
“You heard them all night long and certainly the Astro fans. It was just really good energy. Just to kind of have that on both sides, I think both teams were really jacked up.”
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