Angels Fans Taunt Astros, Throw Trash Cans On Field During Monday Night Win

(CBSLA)- The Los Angeles Angels handed the Houston Astros their first loss on Monday night, 7-6, taking the first game of the series. While the result on the field was a good one for fans, the bigger story was the reaction from those in attendance at Angel Stadium to the opposing team. Monday night saw an inflatable and a real garbage can tossed onto the field as some Halos fans let their feelings about the Astros cheating methods be known.

The two garbage cans made their way onto the field during the sixth inning of Monday night's game, the second of which hit the warning track with Astros second baseman Jose Altuve at the plate.

Why garbage cans? It's a reference to the findings of MLB's investigation into allegations of the Astros cheating several years ago which found that Houston players would alert batters to what pitch was coming by banging on a trash can near their dugout. The report, released in January of 2020, came out before the pandemic hit causing last season to be a shortened one played in empty stadiums without fans.

That left fans unable to express their displeasure with the Astros in person. Now, with fans allowed to return to stadiums this season, we're beginning to see the full extent of the feelings towards Houston's transgressions. On Monday night, the trash cans were just part of the jeers directed towards the Astros. As ESPN pointed out, fans held signs saying "Yo, you guys need an extra buzzer," "Astros Can't Hang", and "Had A Funny Sign Planned For This Week But The Astros Stole It!"

Astros manager Dusty Baker addressed the hostility from fans after the game and said that he wished fans would "leave it alone" after the organization paid the price for the cheating.

"You can tell the amount of hostility and the amount of hatred in the stands. How many in the stands have never done anything wrong in their life? We paid the price for it. How many people have not cheated on a test or whatever at some point in time. I mean it's easy if you live in glass houses, but I don't think anybody lives in glass houses," said Baker. "I think that sometimes we need to look at ourselves before you spew hate on somebody else. It's a sad situation for America, to me, when you hear things -- I mean what are the kids supposed to think in the stands? And some of them are kids that are following their parents. It's sad to me. People make mistakes. We paid for ours, and I wish they'd leave it alone."

The Astros schedule has had them out on the road to start the year first with a four-game series in Oakland and now a two game set against the Angels. Game 2 of the series is set for today with first pitch at 1:07 p.m.