The Astros have addressed fans on the road throwing inflatable trash cans on the sector to mock their sign-stealing, trash can-banging system. During a 4-3 convert the Athletics on Wednesday, an Astros fan struck back. within the bottom of the eighth inning, a lover threw something that seemed like a block of cheese onto the sector ahead of the Oakland bullpen. The cheese – almost like the cheeseheads worn by Green Bay Packers fans – had a rat attached to the highest, alongside pictures of Mike Fiers and scrawled messages that included: “The rat has got to get hungry,” “Where have you ever been lately?” and “Come out and play ball.”
On the Astros broadcast, Fiers name wasn’t mentioned while Oakland bullpen catcher Phil Pohl ran on the sector to get rid of the block of cheese but AT&T SportsNet Astros analyst Geoff Blum said, “Throw some cheese out there, it’ll bring out interesting creatures that you simply want to trap.”
Fiers, who currently is on the 60-day disabled list, is that the former Astros pitcher who triggered big league Baseball’s investigation into his former team’s 2017-18 sign-stealing scheme by telling The Athletic how it worked. Since then, Fiers has yet to pitch against the Astros, leading fans to mention the pitcher is ducking his old teammates. Fiers has been out since May with an elbow injury and has made just two appearances all season. Last year, the Astros played Oakland 10 times within the regular season and 4 more times within the postseason, but Fiers never took the mound. Last September, the Astros, and Athletics played one another five times in four days, and Fiers still never toed the rubber.
The 36-year-old Fiers spent parts of three seasons with the Astros – including time on the 2017 World Series championship team, though he didn’t make the playoff roster. After the 2017 season, he signed with the Detroit Tigers, who he was with when he accepted his World Series ring from the Astros. The Tigers traded him to Oakland that season and Fiers has been with the Athletics ever since. He was a solid part of Oakland’s starting rotation in 2019, going 15-4 with a 3.90 ERA. In last year’s 60-game season, he started 11 games, going 6-3 with a 4.58 ERA.
