Dodgers: Did Joe Kelly intentionally hit Jake Marisnick for Astros revenge?

As Seth, played by Jonah Hill in the 2007 comedy classic “Superbad”, once said, “People don’t forget.” And it seems Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly is certainly “people.”

On Tuesday night during the Dodgers-Padres series opener, Jake Marisnick stepped into the box with two outs in the top of the eighth, hoping to get some sort of rally going.

Kelly did the job for him and directed the Padres’ outfielder to first base … with a 98 MPH fastball straight to the shoulder.

At first, many thought nothing of it. Kelly is notoriously wild, and even broke a window in his backyard after failing to hit an insanely sizable target. But upon closer review …

Is Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly still on his Astros’ revenge tour?

Hope you remember Marisnick was a member of the 2017 cheating Houston Astros! There’s no way to truly decipher if this was intentional or not, but based on Kelly’s previous behavior toward the Astros and the subsequent trash talking he’s delivered about them to the media, we certainly can’t rule it out.

Even in a two-run game?! Guess that’s just what the Dodgers think of the Padres at this point, too.

Marisnick had a career year back in 2017 when the Astros were found to have orchestrated a wide-ranging sign-stealing scandal using technology. He hit .243 with an .815 OPS, 16 home runs, 35 RBI and 20 walks in 106 games. Everything except the RBI were career-highs in a season where he’s played in 100 or more games.

Leave it to Astros fans, though, to seek out a game that has nothing to do with them, whine about Kelly’s wild pitch as if they have any attachment to Marisnick (who was nothing more than a part-time player for them), and then claim the Astros are living “rent-free” in his head when this occurred after midnight eastern time.

Wasn’t it Carlos Correa who showboated at Dodger Stadium after hitting a solo home run off Kelly to cut the Astros’ deficit to … 7-3 with two outs in the eighth inning?

Perhaps everyone’s forgetting Kelly also hates the Padres? Maybe his goal was to kill two birds with one stone here and create controversy among self-righteous Astros fans. Either way, he’s gotten their attention again, whether it was intended or not.

So who’s got the free rent??

Dodgers: Joe Kelly takes shot at Padres fans with latest instigation

Los Angeles Dodgers reliever pitcher Joe Kelly is famous for starting beef and he's now done it with the San Diego Padres.