Carlos Correa backed up his word and America hates it

Carlos Correa and the Houston Astros don’t care if America hates them.

In Game 1 of the 2020 ALDS, Carlos Correa certainly backed up his trash can talk.

The Houston Astros took Game 1 of this best-of-five series over the division rival Oakland Athletics to the tune of 10-5 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Oakland may have won the AL West this year, but the Astros have a chance to end their bitter rival’s season, continuing to be baseball’s most reviled team of all time. Too bad Correa and the Astros don’t care what you think.

Are the Houston Astros the most dangerous underdog in the postseason field?

Given that it’s a best-of-five series between division rivals in ever League Division Series, anything can happen. Non-division winners like the Miami Marlins, the New York Yankees, the San Diego Padres, and yes, the Astros have phenomenal chances of advancing to their respective League Championship Series. However, Houston might be the biggest problem of the four underdogs.

Even though the Marlins have never lost a postseason series to date, they will have contain the high-octane offense of the Atlanta Braves and hope to plate runs off their starting pitching before Atlanta hands the reins over to its lights-out bullpen. With the Braves winning their first postseason series since 2001, it may not be Choketober in The ATL after all.

The Padres are the most fun team to watch in baseball, but they have to go up against the perceived best team in baseball in the Los Angeles Dodgers. Though there is a chance the Dodgers could play tight like the did a season ago in October, we have to believe ample postseason experience is on the side of the Boys in Blue and not quite yet with the upstart Friars.

As for the Yankees, they have more star power than the division rival Tampa Bay Rays, but anybody who has paid close attention to Tampa this year understands it’s going to take a valiant effort to knock out the No. 1 seed in the AL. Though the Yankees are well-equipped to do it, they haven’t been anywhere near as steady as the Rays, and that’s why they didn’t win the AL East.

So this all leads us back to the Astros. If any lower-seeded team is going to advance in the postseason to the League Championship Series, it has to be Houston. They have 1-0 series lead over an A’s team that might just be happy to advance for the first time since 2006. And even if we hate them, we have to respect Correa and his teammates’ ability and willingness to go for the kill.

Hate will only fuel the Astros’ fire as they look to put away the A’s in the ALDS in the coming days.