Paul Sancya/Associated Press
Detroit Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire offered his take Thursday on the recent incidents between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros that resulted in benches clearing and L.A. relief pitcher Joe Kelly being suspended eight games.
“It’s crazy. That’s out of hand, just let it go. It’s over with, it’s past, we have to move forward,” Gardenhire said on the Jamie and Stoney Show (h/t Will Burchfield of 97.1 The Ticket).
He continued:
“We got enough going on in this world with what we’re dealing with right now and trying to play this baseball season. That stuff, it’s not going to bring it back, it’s never going to change what happened. They paid for it, the manager paid for it and you just have to move forward.
“All that stuff, staying with it, ‘You did this, you did that,’ it doesn’t matter. There’s been a lot of stuff that’s happened in baseball that wasn’t good and you just move on, and that’s what I think should happen. That’s silly stuff.”
On Tuesday, Kelly threw behind Astros third baseman Alex Bregman and tossed a pitch near shortstop Carlos Correa’s chin in the bottom of the sixth inning.
After striking out Correa to end the frame, Kelly and the shortstop jawed at each other as both players walked to their respective dugouts. Benches then cleared, but cooler heads prevailed as neither side fought.
Bad blood reigns between the Astros and Dodgers, who faced off in the 2017 World Series. Houston won that Fall Classic in seven games, but MLB revealed in January that the Astros conducted illegal sign-stealing practices during their championship season.
MLB suspended manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow one season each, and Astros owner Jim Crane fired them shortly thereafter. No players were punished.
Ensuing apologies and fallout did not receive the best of reviews around the league, and numerous players (including Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger) bashed the Astros earlier this year.
L.A. beat Houston 5-2 on Tuesday and 4-2 on Wednesday in a 13-inning game that did not feature further issues between the two franchises.
The Dodgers are scheduled to host Houston on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13.
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