Martin Maldonado on Astros' ALDS Win: 'They Wanted Us, They Got Us'

The Houston Astros defeated the Oakland Athletics on Thursday to advance to the American League Championship Series.

The two AL West rivals haven't exactly gotten along this year, and after the game, Houston catcher Martin Maldonado provided commentary.

There's no love lost between the Astros and Athletics, with Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area explaining their feud in brief:

"It involves Mike Fiers and trash cans, Ramon Laureano and beanballs and brawls started by Astros assistant coaches. It more generally involves the Astros using illicit means to keep the A’s playing second fiddle in the A.L. West. There are more chapters we won’t rehash here, but they all express a simple point. These teams don’t like one another."

In sum, former Astro (and current Athletic) starting pitcher Mike Fiers played the part of whistleblower on his ex-team's sign-stealing scheme during their 2017 World Series title run. The Astros received numerous punishments for their roles, although no players received sanctions.

In addition, the A's and Astros got into a fight Aug. 9. Brian McTaggart and Martin Gallegos of MLB.com provided more details:

"Astros rookie pitcher Humberto Castellanos hit Laureano in the middle of the back with a 3-2 breaking pitch in the bottom of the seventh. Laureano, who was traded from the Astros in 2017, gestured toward Castellanos and exchanged words with him while walking down to first base. While Laureano was standing on first, he argued with Cintron and then charged the dugout.

"Neither Laureano nor Cintron were available for comment, but A’s manager Bob Melvin said the blame for the incident shouldn’t solely be on his player based on the offensive words that were coming from the Astros dugout. TV replays showed Cintron yelling at Laureano."

A's closer Liam Hendriks had also made it known that his team wanted to take down the Astros in the playoffs while also recognizing that it didn't really matter who they played.

"For us, it doesn’t really matter who we play obviously," Hendriks told reporters (h/t Jessica Kleinschmidt of NBC Sports Bay Area).

"As a vindictive kind of thing, we want to take out the [Houston] Astros, but I don’t care who we play as long as we beat them—that’s our biggest goal."

That did not happen as the Astros beat the A's 11-6 on Thursday to win Game 4 of the American League Division Series, giving Houston the round three games to one.

The Astros will face the winner of the New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers AL Division Series matchup.