The American League Division Series between the Houston Astros and Oakland A’s will have extra meaning for Oakland.
The A’s beat the Chicago White Sox on Thursday to advance to the ALDS against their AL West rival. There is some bad blood between the teams, leading A’s closer Liam Hendriks to feel extra motivation.
Asked about the Astros, Hendriks says the A’s want to stick it to them as much as they can and show who’s the top team in the AL West.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) October 1, 2020
Hendriks expressed a similar thought last week.
“As a vindictive kind of thing, we want to take out the Astros,” Hendriks said last week. “But I don’t care who we play. As long as we beat them.”
So why is there extra motivation? The Astros were found to have cheated in 2017 (at minimum). Oakland A’s pitcher Mike Fiers, a former Astros pitcher, is the one who served as the whistleblower in the case. He has taken some backlash since then.
The A’s have Fiers’ back, and they also want to get back at Houston for cheating. Game 1 of the ALDS between the teams is scheduled to begin on Monday.
The Houston Astros are confirmed cheaters and deserve an asterisk. Send that message by wearing our Houston Asterisks T-shirt! You can buy it here:
