To the victor go the spoils, and on Friday the Houston Astros celebrated the first World Series championship in franchise history with a parade through downtown. The Astros outlasted the Los Angeles Dodgers in a thrilling seven-game series that conclude in anticlimactic fashion.
Yu Darvish struggled in a second World Series start, and the Astros jumped out to a 5-0 lead by the second inning. Lance McCullers Jr. was backed by Charlie Morton, who allowed just one run on two hits over four innings.
The performance allowed Dallas Keuchel, who started in Game 5 and was warming up to pitch in relief in Game 7, remain in the bullpen. He also started in Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, surrendering a home run to Chris Taylor on his first pitch of what went for a Dodgers win.
The following night, Vin Scully was part of a ceremonial first pitch. Rather than throw it himself, Scully called on Fernando Valenzuela to take the honor.
While Keuchel said he enjoyed the pregame ceremony, he also felt it to be long, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com:
Weirdly, Keuchel asked about Vin Scully pregame ceremony at Dodger Stadium: "I thought it was really cool. I thought it took too long."
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) November 3, 2017
The comment is likely to put Keuchel on even more rocky standing with the Dodgers fan base. He previously criticized Charlie Culberson for his reaction to hitting a home run in a Game 2 loss. Keuchel’s remark struck some as odd, considering the Astros’ celebrations.
