Astros' McCullers: Kelly throwing near Bregman's head was 'unprofessional'

Houston Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. believes Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly knew exactly what he was doing when he almost hit teammate Alex Bregman during Tuesday's tense game, which included a benches-clearing incident.

"Joe Kelly threw a ball behind Bregman's head on 3-0 on purpose," McCullers said Wednesday, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. "Not only did he take it upon himself to send a message, but he wasn't even a part of that team. We knew coming into the game he likes to go off-script. What he did was unprofessional."

Kelly was handed an eight-game suspension Wednesday by Major League Baseball for his role.

McCullers admitted on Twitter that he had an issue with the location of the pitch, not with Kelly throwing at Bregman.

"Did I say I had an issue with him throwing at us or with how he did it?" the pitcher wrote when asked about the at-bat. "Everyone knows if you want to send a message, there is a way to do it. A 3-0 (pitch at) 97 (mph) behind the head ain't it. Even the Dodger players will tell you that. Stop getting in y'alls feelings. I was asked a question."

He added: "He knew what he was doing. Dude making $10 million a year to throw a baseball. It is what it is. I said him throwing a ball at 97 (mph at someone's head) on 3-0 was unprofessional. That's big facts. Everyone (wants) to point out our mistakes but we ain't talking about that."

Carlos Correa's brother, JC Correa, also took to Twitter to express his thoughts about Kelly, who almost hit his sibling, too:

The two teams will meet again Wednesday. The ongoing series is the first time that both clubs have played each other since MLB determined the Astros cheated in both 2017 and 2018 after the conclusion of its investigation into the team's sign-stealing scheme. Houston defeated Los Angeles in seven games to win the 2017 World Series.