On Monday night, a little bit of old school baseball was present in the 3-1 loss the Arizona Diamondbacks suffered at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers. During the game, Ian Kennedy threw two purpose pitches at his opposing starting pitcher, Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw later retaliated with an inside pitch to Kennedy.
↵It stems from a season ago. Last September, Gerardo Parra hit a homer that he watched a bit too long (he pimped it). The next game, Kershaw plunked him and got ejected.
↵This time out, Kennedy sent the message back at Kershaw. He buzzed him high and tight and then threw a ball behind him. After the pitch behind him, Kershaw looked to the D-backs' dugout and smiled -- message received. Of course, that wasn't the end. He buzzed one in on Kennedy, which resulted in a warning for both teams.
↵After the game, when asked about it, Kennedy and catcher Miguel Montero were coy on the subject. Their reasoning for going inside? Kershaw's "long swing."
↵Recently, Phillies starter Cole Hamels ended up suspended for beaning young phenom Bryce Harper and then owning up to it.
↵Kennedy did it the right way. He threw at Kershaw. He made his point. Then he pretended like it wasn't on purpose. As absurd as it sounds, blatantly admitting you threw at a guy is not the way baseball works. Had Hamels done the same thing, he would not have been suspended.
↵With another game left in the Dodgers series and another one next week, what are the odds of another pitch being thrown to send a message? Based on Monday night, you have to think so.
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