Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw still holds grudge against Astros for stealing signs

The Los Angeles Dodgers' one-two punch at the top of their batting order was exactly the same in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.

Shohei Ohtani delivered an uppercut to left to put the game in front and hit a home run to put the Dodgers on top. In the fourth inning, Mookie Betts hit a two-run double. He then hit a roundhouse right with a two-run home run in the sixth that gave the Dodgers a five-run lead and effectively ended the game. Both times Ohtani walked in front of him.

For the game, the Dodgers' first two batters went a combined 5-for-9 with two home runs and five RBI, giving the Dodgers a 3-1 lead. The high level of performance from the top two spots on the roster prompted Jayson Stark of The Athletic to ask Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw if he had ever faced a batting order with that kind of double-barreled firepower from the start.

The one that came to mind was the Houston Astros' numbers 1 and 2, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman. But even with that compliment, Kershaw showed that he still holds a grudge against the 2017 team, as it was revealed that they had gained a significant advantage by stealing signs from the center field camera and relaying signals to the Astros' batters who told them what pitch was coming.

Houston defeated the Dodgers in a seven-game World Series in 2017. But Kershaw's recollection of the matter is not entirely clear. For one thing, Altuve and Bregman weren't the two best hitters on the Astros' roster this season. George Springer (who won the World Series MVP) batted in the lead, followed by Bregman and then Altuve.

Bregman and Altuve also didn't perform particularly well in the seven games. Altuve batted .194 with a .670 OPS despite recording two doubles, two home runs and six RBI. Bregman hit .233 with a .739 OPS, two home runs and five RBI.

But those numbers obviously don't matter to Kershaw. He remembers that the Astros broke the rules and probably took the World Series away from the Dodgers. (Kershaw was knocked down in Game 5, giving up six runs, four hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings.)

Even if Kershaw and his teammates take it a little more personally, it's plausible – perhaps even likely – that other players who faced the Astros in 2017 feel the same way. And they'll probably never let go of that grudge, just like many fans who view the Astros as baseball's supervillains.