The Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to eight games by defeating the Houston Astros, 9-2, in Tuesday’s series opener at Minute Maid Park. Clayton Kershaw was dominant in his first start at the ballpark since Game 5 of the 2017 World Series, allowing just one run on four hits with six strikeouts in 7.2 innings pitched.
“It’s a hard one to answer. I was kind of thinking about it, just what it felt like being there, pitching again after the World Series in 2017, and I don’t know,” Kershaw answered when asked if there was extra motivation facing the Astros at Minute Maid Park.
“I don’t really know how to express it. It did feel like a little more important game, but maybe that’s just because it was a full crowd. That was fun to see.
“To have a sellout crowd, max capacity again, get to have that energy the crowd was really, really into it. So that was a lot of fun. But motivation or not, it felt good to get the win, for sure.”
The Dodgers’ visit to Houston is their second since the Astros were determined to have electronically stolen signs during the 2017 season en route to winning the World Series in seven games.
L.A. felt they were cheated out of their first title since 1988, but nonetheless ended the drought three years later by defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2020 Fall Classic.
“I think that probably helped a lot,” Kershaw said of the Dodgers’ World Series win offsetting some negative feelings about 2017. “Anytime you lose a World Series, it doesn’t feel good. And then with everything wrapped around it, you don’t really have the closure maybe that you would want.
“So I think that in and of itself is a little bit challenging. But yeah, after winning last year, I do think that alleviated some things.
“I know for me it kind of lifted a lot off my shoulders that I had been feeling for a long time. You’re not going to change what happened in 2017, but 2020 definitely helped alleviate some of those feelings, for sure.”
Despite having won the World Series last year, Kershaw still doesn’t feel inclined to discuss how the 2017 season ended. “I’m still in that camp. There’s nothing you can change about what happened, so thinking about it, going through details and things like that, is probably not worth it,” he said.
“Everybody is going to handle it differently, and this is just how I deal with things. If I can’t change something, I don’t really want to go back and hash things out, so I’m not going to.”
Kershaw: ‘Entertaining’ to watch Kelly pitch at Minute Maid Park
After Kershaw exited his start with two outs in the eighth inning, he was followed by Joe Kelly in the bullpen. It was the right-hander’s first appearance at Minute Maid Park since sparking a benches-clearing incident last season.
Kelly was greeted with boos from the full capacity crowd in attendance, but didn’t let it phase him, as he needed all of four pitches to retire Jose Altuve to get out of the inning. “I always enjoy watching Joe pitch. It’s just very entertaining,” Kershaw said.
“Joe is just an entertaining person. No, I didn’t know Joe was coming in, but it got a little bit loud, so I figured it out pretty quick.”
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in our shows and giveaways, and more!
