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In the bottom of the eighth inning, a fan threw something that looked like a block of cheese onto the field in front of the Oakland bullpen. The cheese – similar to the cheeseheads worn by Green Bay Packers fans – had a rat attached to the top, along with pictures of Mike Fiers and scrawled messages that included: “The rat has to get hungry,” “Where have you been lately?” and “Come out and play ball.”
On the Astros broadcast, Fiers name wasn’t brought up while someone from the Oakland bullpen ran on the field to remove the block of cheese but AT&T SportsNet Astros analyst Geoff Blum said, “Throw out some cheese out there, it will bring out interesting creatures that you want to trap.”
Fiers, who currently is on the 60-day disabled list, is the former Astros pitcher who triggered Major 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 say the pitcher is ducking his old teammates.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: Mike Fiers calls Astros ‘another big league team’
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 in the regular season and four more times in the postseason, but Fiers never took the mound. Last September, the Astros and Athletics played each other 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.
