Halford & Brough in the Morning - Can The Jays Put Away The Yankees Tomorrow?

Episode Date: October 6, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat about Week 5 highlights with Too Deep Zone NFL insider Mike Tanier (1:15), plus they look to game three of the Jays' ALDS tomorrow with Sportsnet's Zach Worden (23:39), as the Blue Jays look to sweep the Yankees. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Spot down. It's kicked airborne. It is logging up. It is good. And the Bucks beat the Seattle Seahawks. Tampa Bay 38, Seattle 35. And the Buccaneers come from behind to the fourth quarter again and score the game winner with no time left on the clock.

The cardiac crew is alive and well. 7.04 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Halford and Brough, SportsNet, 6.50. Halford and Brub of the Morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Score a debt freedom hat trick. One, no more interest, two much lower payments

and three financial peace of mind. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program. Hour two is brought to by Jason Hamanuk at jason.morgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

Visit them online at jason.morgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech. footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Let's go now to the Power West Industries hotline. Our next guest comes courtesy the Clayton Public House. He's our NFL insider from the two deep zone. Mike Tanier joins us here now live on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650.

Good morning, Michael. How are you? I'm doing great. I know you guys are recovering from that heartbreaking loss yesterday. You can soothe yourselves by getting Baker Mayfield for MVP at plus 1,200. right now. Is that what the number's at? I, you know what? Yeah. I like Baker Mayfield a lot. I've kind of

I've come around on him because a couple of years ago I had this bit where I was saying like Mayfield stinks, the buck stink, they're a boring team. And that's when they went on that playoff run. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ultimately losing to Detroit. And now you look at him. I mean, that was incredibly. I've always loved him. I've always, yeah. I've always had faith

in him. Now, I've absolutely turned a corner and that was an unbelievable performance from Mayfield yesterday. I just have to say it. Yeah, I've always had faith in both Mayfield and Sam Darnold. I clearly knew that game was going to look like that yesterday. But, you know, Mayfield is the one who, oh, it's the fourth quarter, you need a score. He gets out there and gets that score. He's been doing it all season long.

What did you think? And I know there's a bigger sort of narrative here about second chance quarterbacks. It was really crystallized yesterday because you had Darnold and Mayfield, who were actually teammates on the second chance tour in Carolina. and it wasn't that they were just out there quarterbacking teams, two of the better teams in the NFC, they went out and put on a show. What does this say sort of bigger picture, longer term,

for a lot of other quarterbacks that are maybe stumbling in their current cities of employment that, hey, it's not the end of the world if it doesn't work out in one place, because maybe if you stick with it, it'll work out somewhere else. You're hearing around the league more and more coaches, more and more of the intelligency as saying, you know, the problem is we think,

these quarterbacks. These guys come in, first round of the draft, opt-end, go to a bad organization, they're impatient, they don't have the sprouting cast, and then they let these guys go. And everyone around the NFL is going to say it, but then when they've got their own quarterback who's struggling, you know, after three or three seasons, they're going to let them go. They're not going to do what, you know, what you think they might do if they really understand this, which is try to sign them to a mid-tier contract, give them the extra year, etc. So, you You know, if you're a team in the offseason who goes out and you get the Sam Darnel or get the Daniel Jones, these other guys who seem like their second, third chance, failed prospects, don't roll your eyes.

Because if the team around, the supporting castes around them, the coaching staff is good, you can get results out of these guys. We talk about them. We talk about Daniel Jones. Mack Jones on Thursday night going out there with Brock Purdy-Hurt and getting a third win for the 49ers. These guys aren't done. There aren't failures just because they don't succeed right away. sometimes the second and third chance of the ones that works out.

I do want to get to Daniel Jones in a sec because the Colts had a massive win and then, of course, what happened to Gino Smith and the Raiders. But before we get to that, the pick that Sam Darnold threw at the end of that game that ultimately set up Tampa Bay's game-winning field goal. Mard and otherwise fantastic day for Donald who had four touchdown passes. What did you think of that play in a vacuum? Because I think Darnold explained it as he was just trying to get rid of it and get it down to the ground, but it took a deflection

and ultimately ended up in the hands of Levanti, David. well that's the kind of brilliant blitz Todd Bowles throws at you that he was kind of throwing at the Seahaw game sometimes they were picking it up you know sometimes the Donald had to make a move and then make a throw you have Antoine Winfield coming as a safety unblocked through one gap he's unblocked because the offensive line's kind of out of position because there were three other guys who looked like they were going to blitz and then they dropped this is what the bucks do when you when they've run like you know we run 50 plays against

them they're going to get to you once in a while. Yeah, Donald does have to get that ball down, but again, it's tipped. It's going towards a Hall of Famer in David. It's unfortunate because it's the second time this year that Donald has a good game, has a chance to win it at the end, has a chance to come back, and like the best players in the NFL make a play on him. You know, Nick Bosa makes a play on him, and that's how that game ends. So you hope these things turn around for the Seahawks, turn around for Donald. But if they don't, you're in a situation where they're not turning some of these opportunities into victories, or not enough of them anyway, and it just turns into a problem that's

kind of perennial for the Seahawks. The Seahawks secondary was so banged up that, like, they're missing Witherspoon, they're missing love, even though Woolen gets criticized a lot, like, they missed him at the end of the game. I don't even know who they had out there, and neither to Baker-Freyfield, because he was like, I am throwing on these no-names out here. but how do you feel about I want to ask Mike how he feels about

the NFC West in general and maybe we can talk about that loss that Arizona had because if I'm upset as a Seahawks fan at losing that game to Tampa Bay I don't know what Cardinals fans are feeling like after losing that game to Tennessee yeah let's roll through it a little bit. Seahawks fans was like, what a heartbreaking game, but what a breathtaking shootout.

These things happened. The Rams have to be like, wow, we were playing a scout team on Thursday night. Why did we come up so flat? Why did we keep the 49ers in that game? 49ers fans are like, ha-ha, wait until we get everybody back because, again, they were a scout team, and then they're going to start getting their players back probably this week. And the Cardinals, tear heavens. You can't take a 21-to-3 lead and then stop, and then goof around and do tortoise and the hair stuff. Cardinals are just embarrassing. This is a team that does not execute.

They do not follow through. They have a veteran coach. They have a veteran quarterback. They should not be making the mistakes they made. Obviously, they have the long run that turns into a touchback because a guy drops the ball in front of the end zone. You've got the interception that becomes a fumble that becomes a touchdown the other way.

Hey, those are big splash non-repeatable plays. You should have put the Titans away at halftime. You get to 24 to 3. You get to 27 to 3. that game is over. Cardinals fail to do it. Mary takes too many sacks. Defense just allows too many opportunities for the Titans to creep back into the game, and that is a rough team. So it's a tough division to prognosticate because everybody looks like they're a little better than their record right now except the 49ers,

but in three weeks, the 49ers are going to be the team that has at least half of their starters back, and we're not going to know what these other teams look like at that point. We're speaking to Mike Tanier from the two deep zone here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 6.50. I mentioned Daniel Jones earlier. I don't want to have another conversation about our Daniel Jones and the Colts for real. I just want to park that one for a sec. Because the team that they

took care of on Sunday, emphatically, the Las Vegas Raiders, 40 to 6, a game in which Gino Smith throws another pair of interceptions. Pete Carroll stands by Gino, says he's still his guy, doesn't bench him despite another horrific performance. He thought about it. He thought about it, but he didn't do it.

And I understand. pickets on his fourth team in 18 months. It feels like a mess in Vegas and a far cry from that preseason where we heard so much excitement and optimism about Pete Carroll and Gino Smith and Ashton Genty. It feels like in the span of five weeks it's all gone in Vegas. Yeah, and you know what? Gino Smith looks like Joe Flacco, who took the extra good arthritis medicine. That's kind of it right now.

He is making the same kind of mistakes that that Flacco. made, except he can move a little bit better, but, like, it's just not there anymore. You probably heard or saw Pete Carroll's comments about where he said, I'm not processing this very well. And that's sad. Yeah, I think we were talking last week about whether or not he could be won and done there. If he's starting to talk about, man, man, the magic is gone. I don't know how to handle being one and four. Pete, you don't have to do this. You can go retire. Some college will do what will give you a job. You can just, you know, be a recruiting guy and say, rah-rah, this boom-bah. I love you. I love you don't have to do this. I love you can't have to do this. I

look at that Raiders roster that, you generate so much optimism, and yeah, the draft class looks great because Janty and back and other guys that we really liked in Thornton. You start adding up, not just Gino Smith, but all the Devin White, Jamal Adams, Jeremy Chin, Alenden Roberts, these are guys that we know because we heard of them because they played for two or three other teams and kept getting cut. That's why we know who these guys are. So you say, oh, look at all this talent. these are a bunch of failed prospects they brought in.

These are a bunch of older guys, guys who played with Tom Brady in New England. That was a little bit of a while ago now. You look at the roster, you realize it's journeymen, it's older guys. This is the kind of stuff John Gruden used to do, and we made fun of them for it. Now Pete Carroll, Chip Kelly, and Brady and those guys are bringing these guys in, and I don't think that they're helping the Raiders turn the corner. Is the Raven season over? Excuse me, I was taking a sip of my soda.

You know, they're about to go one in five. I can't see them beating the Rams coming off a mini-by this week. Lamar Jackson will still be out. Cooper Rush is a mess. That offense is not designed for a journeyman pocket passer to execute it. Now, once they're one in five, okay, they get Lamar Jackson, Ronnie Staley, Kyle Hamilton, some other guys back. They can go a little bit of a run against a soft schedule after their buy-in week seven.

Now, that's great. What's the run going to be? Are we talking about 10 and 7? Are we talking about one of those seasons that Bengals used to have? It's like, oh, we started out slowly, but we went on and run at the end. That's kind of beneath the dignity of the Ravens.

That's beneath the expectations of the Ravens. So sure, they could wind up the sixth wild card or something like that along the way. They're in trouble. They have to do some soul searching about how to approach this season and how to retool because I think that Super Bowl window of last year and the year before has once again closed on them. Well, you know, you mentioned all the injuries,

he's on offense and Cooper Rush. Obviously he's not Lamar Jackson, nobody is, but their issues are on the defensive side of the football. And it's been like this since Mike McDonald left. Like Zach Orr, who by the way had to get a vote of confidence by Harbaugh after the game on the weekend, which means he's getting fired in a week. But you know, they've given up, they've given up 44 points in a home game. The most Harbaugh's ever given up at home since he took over the Ravens job. They're one and four for the second time in the 30 years plus that they've been a franchise, this second iteration in Baltimore. So this is historically bad for the team. But this goes back to last year where the defense

wasn't very good either. And the guy at the head of it, unfortunately, is the guy that took over for McDonald in Zachor. I do wonder if they're going to have to make some sort of ceremonial change at the defensive coordinator president just because it's so bad right now. Forty-four points of the Texans at home is embarrassing for the Ravens. Yeah, and I like the way you phrase it ceremonial. I don't know. schematically what to make of worse, especially this year, because of so many losses, because

Namde Madabuque, and some of his backups in the defensive line are gone, because they have a makeship secondary, because they really only have one really solid cornerback in Marlon Humphrey. He's been struggling. He's also been banged up. Nate Wiggins, who's like their other decent corner, has been in and out.

When you're that depleted as a defensive coordinator, you're left running vanilla schemes, and then those vanilla schemes look like they're going to get gashed. And some of the guys I mentioned are not coming back and some of the problems are not going to go away. So making a change of defensive coordinator, that seems like a reasonable thing. That seems like something that could happen for the Ravens. But I think the problems are now just endemic due to injuries due to the fact that some of the guys have

gotten a little older at some key positions where the Ravens aren't the team we thought they were going to be heading into the 2025 season. So we've talked about a few bad teams already. Vegas, Baltimore. Talked about the Titans a little bit. Although they got a win. So, too, did the Saints, they're a bad team, but they got a win on the weekend. That leaves the worst of the bunch. The only winless team in the National Football League,

the 0-and-5 New York Jets. They are a horrific, horrific football team. You know that they don't have a single takeaway through five weeks? Yeah. It's remarkable. And they're playing against teams like Dallas on the weekend. They're just slinging it around, daring them to force a fumble or have an interception.

Nothing's going right. I honestly wonder, if first-year head coach Aaron Glenn is going to survive the year because the Jets are that bad? It's very possible that he doesn't survive the year. And I think that, again, would be sort of ceremonial, sacrificial, inappropriate. This is a team that doesn't necessarily have the roster I'd like to have. There's still tens of millions of dollars in dead cap space on the Aaron Lodger's side of the ledger. But I don't want to... He doesn't want to what?

No, no. We lost him. Again. Again. It wants a show. Classic Halford & Brough move. What don't you want to do? I know.

I don't have to wait. You are listening to the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. We are talking to Mike Tannier. He is our NFL insider from the two deep zone here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. A reminder that Mike is a presentation of the Clayton Public House. Pre-game to post game, the Clayton Public House is your home of football. Catch all the action on 15 screens and two giant projectors. Visit them online at the Clayton Pub.com.

Mike, do we have you back on the line? I'm back and I was in mid-rant about the Jets is that correct? That's correct. It was a cliffhanger. We didn't know where it was going. I know where it was going. Winless 0-1-6. But keep going. We know where it's gone, but like I don't want to be like too supportive of Aaron Glenn. This team looks for an opportunity to quit like late in the first quarter. Like they look for the mistake that's going to be whelp. And then they disappear for a half. They disappear until there's like six minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Then they're gangbusters to like to make the final score look good, the pad, stats, they don't look like that they believe in themselves, that they believe in the system right now. So if the whole idea is that Glenn's a culture builder, we need to see that culture pretty quickly, because there's talent in this roster. They should not be winless, and they've got to turn things around

sometime in the next couple weeks. Mike, what kind of statement did Drake May and the Patriots make last night in Buffalo? You know what? May really, you know, he started out pretty shaky in that game. He came around. It was another very solid game for him.

Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Diggs had his revenge game. He looks like he's found his sea legs. He's back to where he was a couple of years ago before all the injuries. Very strong win. It looks like that team is coalescing. So when we talk about culture, the Vrable culture seems to be coming around. All the veterans they brought in are starting to make plays. These guys like Robert Spillane, who the Raiders gave up on, and Milton Williams and Diggs are making the plays.

So when you look at the AFC playoff picture and you start scratching teams off, okay, we can scratch the Bengals off, maybe we can scratch the Ravens off, these other teams that you can say, well, they're going to fall by the wayside. You can see it now. The Patriots are not one of those teams. They're a team that can stick in the bill's rearview mirror and still turn around and get that playoff appearance, maybe a playoff win, who knows, that can help boost both May's confidence and Vrabel's efforts to change the culture there in New England. Mike, before we let you go for real this time, not just draw. dropping the call. Set up Monday night football for us. It's the Chiefs,

and it's the three-and-one Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night. Right. And all eyes are on Xavier Worthy's injury. Apparently, he re-agravated it, or he got off the plane with some stiffness and swelling. If Worthy's good to go, chiefs should be the Chiefs that we saw last week where they look like their old selves.

If not, watch out for this Jaguars team. They're a danger to themselves and others. They're incredibly mistake-prone. they make so many mistakes in the red zone and on third and one you think they called delay of game on purpose on third and one it's remarkable and yet if they can pull

themselves together minimize their mistakes and catch the chiefs again depleted at wide receiver this could be an upset for the jaguars a danger to themselves and others Mike that's why you're the best that's why we love having you on the program thanks for doing this today man enjoy Monday night football always pleasure enjoy your week

thanks buddy Mike tannier our NFL Insider they're a danger to themselves and others. I've often been called a danger to myself and others. Yeah, you're the Jacksonville Jaguars of Radio. I'm going to be watching the Jags pretty tough because that's the next opponent for the Seattle Seahawks. Having already beat the San Francisco 49ers going to San Fran last weekend and getting a 2621 victory. So that ties us nicely into one to watch tonight, one to watch presented by Limitless AV, Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual integration experts,

not Elaine Vino. It's audiovisual, Jason. That was A.V.'s nickname. Yes. Excuse me, Mr. Audiovisual. You have a question for Coach A.V. Okay. That was his fan club, the A.V. Club.

That's an internet joke. It's a good one, actually. It's also a dad joke. Okay, let's get serious here. The one to watch tonight. Trevor Lawrence. He will be the second most popular quarterback playing tonight behind Patrick Mahomes. It's going to be interesting to watch Trevor Lawrence play,

if only because, like his team, you don't really know what you're going to get. He has not been great this year, despite the fact that the Jags are 3 and 1. As a matter of fact, the last two games, just one touchdown pass to one interception, and the numbers are not especially good. He only threw for 174 yards in that win in San Francisco. That was a lot to do with the defense and the running game for Jacksonville. The game prior only completed 50% of his passes, no touchdowns in one interception. But again, the Jags found away.

to win the football game. It feels like we've been waiting forever for Trevor Lawrence to break out. And it feels like this just might be who he is as a quarterback. Well, he had a pretty rough rookie season. But you're like, whatever, so he's a rookie. And then in his, yeah, it was an organization is a disaster. But then his second season was, was very impressive. He had 25 touchdowns against just eight interceptions.

And people were like, oh, okay, well, you know, that's why he was first overall. And it's going to go. And then his third season? Less good. 21 touchdowns against 14 interceptions. And then last year, I know he missed some time with some injuries, but he wasn't very good. And the questions that already started, like, what is this guy? What is what is happening with him?

And like you said, and you can also say like, well, is it the organization or is it him? And they're going to be playing the Seahawks next, right? So it's a pretty tough stretch for them. They go San Francisco, Kansas City, Seattle. So we're paying close attention to one to watch tonight. Trevor Lawrence. That was a presentation of Limitless AV, Vancouver's most trusted audio-visual integration experts,

specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid workspaces. Book your personalized tour of their experience center today at Limitlessav.c.c. Okay, we are up against it for time. We're at the midway point of the show. We still have a lot to get to on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650.

Coming up on the other side of the break, We're going to get back into the Blue Jays talk. Zach Worden is going to join us, Associate Editor and Blue Jays writer for Sportsnet.ca. We talked to Zach on Friday before the Blue Jays and Yankees series got underway. My how things have changed in 48 hours. Cool little exercise here to talk to a guest on the bookends of the first two games of the ALDS because the Blue Jays had an unforgettable weekend.

The Yankees probably want to forget most of it. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance. Get your daily dose of Canucks Talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on SportsNet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. Swing and a miss. Trey is Savage, punches out Aaron Tys, his eighth strikeout in three and a third. You know, I was sitting in there thinking about the comment I made in their day where I said, I'm built.

this. And I was like, well, I better back that up. 7.31 on a Monday and back it up, he did. You're listening to the Halpert & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Halpert & Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Only a license insolvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no up-front fees. That's Sands. For more, visit Sands-Trustee.com. We are an hour two of the program with the midway point of the show. Zach Worden, Associate Editor, Bluejee. Jay's writer for Sportsnet. ThatCia is going to join us in just a second here.

Our two of this program is brought to by Jason hominick at jason. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason. com mortgage. So Yusavage has pitched for five different teams this year. Yep. Can you name them?

Yes, I can because they're right in front of me. Do it, buddy. Read them. Dunedin. Yep. Which is single A. Uh-huh. Vancouver, what do they call that?

Oh, and high A? Okay, so High A. High A. New Hampshire. Yeah. Double A. Buffalo. Triple A.

And then Toronto, which is quadruplea, otherwise known as the majors. He says, I think he said in a quote that, I know everyone in the organization. Yeah. Literally. He's met everyone. Yeah. The C's Vancouver Canadian social media had a post. with pictures of Trey Savage pitching for them.

And it was like, this guy literally pitched at Nat Bailey in May. May 31st. The end of May. It was basically June. It's remarkable. It's a great story. And people watched him and they're like, that guy's good.

He should at least be in New Hampshire. Yeah. I mean, if you're striking out the dust devils with this regularity, surely you can go to New Hampshire. Anyway, we're keeping Zach on hold for far too long. For some more Jay's talk, joining us now, Associate Editor for Sportsnet.com, Bluejays writer, Zach Worden here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650.

Morning, Zach. How are you? Good morning, guys. I'm doing well. What a weekend of baseball? Always will listen to any Tray Savage talk, so happy to sit there and listen. But I appreciate you guys having it back on. How are you doing? We're doing well. And one of the things we said when we started talking about the Jays is that I don't think I have ever seen a series start so well for one team. I actually thought game one started too well. It was like, oh, they're going to, like, this is too good to be true.

And then when Aaron Judge came up with the bases loaded, none out, I was like, oh, here's where it all falls apart. Did you have that thought too, or did you think, man, everything's going well for the Jays, they're going to get through this? you know I think you kind of feel like there was maybe going to be a little bit of pushback from the Yankees at some point and I think you're right that that base of loaded situation for Aaron Judge was kind of the point where you kind of feel like all right here come the Yankees and obviously you know Kevin Gosman strikes out Aaron Judge and then Louis Barland comes in and finishes things off for them in that inning only allowing one run so they obviously kind of get through that situation and then outside of that inning it's like the entire two games was just completely Blue Jays dominated.

I think even looking at the two games, and it's just kind of historic proportions for the Jays where you're getting Trey Savage setting the franchise record for playoff strikeouts. You're getting Vladimir Giro Jr. hitting the first grand slam in Blue Jays postseason history. You're getting the team scoring the most runs scored by any team over a two-game stretch in the playoffs ever. It was every single thing that you could have wanted to go right for the Blue Jays

went their way. And it was just an incredible, like, overwhelming of the Yankees. And I don't think that you've seen that happen to, let alone any franchise, but like the New York Yankees for the Blue Jays to do that to them, I think was just, it was so impressive. And like you said, you know, it kind of felt like it was going so well. And there was going to maybe be a little bit of a turn. And that just didn't ever come in these two games.

So, you know, in studio here, we got, you know, two Blue Jays fan. We got two guys wearing Jay's hats. We've done it almost exclusively from a Jay's perspective and everything that went right and the historical stuff for the organization. First Grand Slam in franchise postseason history. Yassavage sets the strikeout record. I tried to do a little bit of like from the Yankee side of things.

We played some John Boy Media stuff. But I'm glad that for Sportsnet.com, you're on the what others are saying about what's going on right now, beat. It's up on sportsnet.com right now because I am curious what the rest of the baseball world is thinking. Because sometimes you forget, you're like, this is just the beginning of the journey.

Like, the Jays have aspirations to win another world series, and if this is the way that it started, it might have caught the baseball world's attention in a big way. What is the rest of the baseball world saying about what the Jays did over that weekend? Yeah, I think when you kind of look at it, you know, obviously the Blue Jays were the American League's top seat and the number one team in the division and all of that.

and it kind of seems like they caught people off guard. You know, I think you kind of look at up and down this Blue Jays lineup. And, you know, everybody knows Vladdy. Everybody knows George Springer. Even Kevin Gosson, to a certain extent, kind of has some national appeal. But kind of when you look at the rest of this roster, and it's just kind of a bunch of guys who, you know, have been cast aside by other organizations or kind of come up under the radar.

And I think kind of looking around like the Trey Savage thing, I think caught a lot of people off guard because they, you know, this is a guy who only had three major league starts and sure it's a guy who was a first round pick and an overall kind of a top prospect but I think when you see him coming onto the stage and going five and a third no eight innings I think that really kind of caught people off guard

and then you kind of look and I think the bar show stuff was really interesting too where he kind of goes four for five with four extra base hits and you know people just seem to kind of be really impressed by the depth of the lineup and you know kind of the stuff that we've been talking about and watching all season about how this Blue Jays team plays

and is basically employing this one through 26 attack, I think that's kind of the part that maybe most people were caught off guard by. How much did this weekend validate that approach? You're right, like there were the big stars at the top that were doing the business led by Vladia at the plate, but there were a bunch of secondary and tertiary guys chipping in with pretty significant outings. It's funny you mentioned Varsho.

I was like, we haven't even mentioned Dalton Varsho. And he hit the cover off the ball all weekend. We mentioned Alejandro Kirk once. He was phenomenal. He catches, right? Yeah, he's the catcher. Very good, Jason. Yeah.

Short guy. It is hilarious when you go through it. It's like this, this line, what they did all regular season, they rolled it over to the playoffs, and they didn't just roll with it. They thrived with it. Yeah, I think, you know, you kind of look at it yesterday, and they obviously kind of switch up the lineup for Max Fried, and, you know, they kind of get some of their writeies in there at the bottom.

And it's like Isaiah kind of falafa. It's, it's mild straw. It's not guys who are supposed. supposed to be in the lineup for division winning teams, not guys that are supposed to be in the lineup for teams that are putting up 13 runs off of Sy Young candidates in October. Like, it is just incredible. And I think it totally validates what they did in the regular season. I know there was kind of some concern about, you know, if they're able to kind of sustain

the magic into the playoffs and if they were, you know, playing the right style of baseball. But I think that they, you know, they took it to the Yankees. You know, they were getting kind of the power that people were. concerns that might not be there. Obviously, Vladdy plays a huge part in that Varshot, or he Clement, it's a home run, which is, which is huge, especially kind of to open, open the floodgates against Reed there. And I think, you know, what they, they did is they took a good Yankees staff and they kind of, they kind of flipped them on their head and were able to kind of, you know, keep the, the foot on the gas pedal. And, you know, they were

kind of getting after every single Yankees pitcher this weekend. And I, I think that, for them to kind of show that their style is going to be here to stay in October. And, you know, I think that the brewers are kind of a good example of that as well. As, you know, people say that the long ball is kind of going to be the thing that prevails in October. And for the Blue Jays to kind of hit home runs like that and the Brewers to kind of come out and have like their huge offensive explosion, too, with a rally kind of validates that this style of play where you're putting the ball in play and you're making defenses work and making pitchers work is something that we are probably going to see a lot more. more of in the month ahead here.

So, Zach, in the back of your mind, how much are you like, the series isn't over yet? And if the Yankees find some life in game three, all of a sudden you're looking at a scenario where Schlittler would get the start for game four, and he's coming off a decent performance of his own. And then all of a sudden you're like, oh, wait, we're Toronto.

Things don't go well for us sports-wise. Yeah, you know, it's definitely there. I think you kind of look at it, And, you know, game three is going to be really important for the Blue Jays. I mean, obviously lining up a bullpen day in game four. And, you know, I don't want to say that the runs yesterday were certainly were concerning. But, you know, you gave the Yankees a little bit of life in the back end of that game with kind of your non-leverage guys. So their bats are probably feeling a little bit better as they come back home.

So, you know, if the Yankees win game three and they have a chance to, you know, let Schlittler take them out again. maybe, you know, kind of pitch them back to Toronto. I think that there's certainly, you know, kind of, it does kind of tickle at the back of your mind a little bit that it's definitely not over. And I think George Springer's quotes at the end of the game yesterday where he says, you know, we're going to New York and it's zero, zero. And that's obviously what you want to hear them say,

but they're going to have to kind of come out with that urgency, I think, against Carlos Rodon and try and deliver kind of the same performance. And I know even Rodone's quotes yesterday where he's talking about, you know, this is a lineup that you can't strike out. and it seems like they kind of, you know, hold a place in the back of his mind a little bit and concern him. So I think if they can kind of push early on this Yankees team, they're going to really, you know, obviously push them to the brink and, you know, we'll kind of see if the Yankees have the mental fortitude to respond if the Blue Jays punch first in game three. This is a bit of a luxury question for the Jays.

Was it the right move to lift you Savage in the sixth yesterday? Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I mean, of course, I think everybody would have loved to have seen him stay out there for longer. Yeah, slightly. Yeah, just a bit. Just a bit. There were like, there were a few people that booed, and then they were like, oh, I probably shouldn't boo right now. I should give him a stand.

Like, it went from like, you could hear the crowd reaction when the manager went to go pull him. It was like, no. Okay, standing ovation. Yeah, everybody was kind of thinking, oh, my God, here we go again. But then they looked at the scoreboard, and it was like 11-0. So they were like, okay, we can cheer here. But no, you know, I think at the end of the day, it probably was the right move just in terms of, you know, this is a guy who, like you guys were saying, you know, he's pitched at five levels this season. He's already kind of pushing what would, you know, be a natural pitch or inning limit for him coming off of, you know, his college season last year.

And, you know, having pitched already so much this year, I think you are. trying to save him a little bit for what else he can give you this October and, you know, even pulling him at the 78 pitches there, it really does give you the availability to bring him back for a potential game five if you need. So I didn't like necessarily totally hate the move. I kind of understand where they're coming from. But, you know, I think if you're, if the bottom or the back into your bullpen would have been able to kind of get through there and not force your high leverage guys to come in, obviously would have been the ideal scenario. But I kind of think when you're looking at the

group of guys that they brought in, you know, it wasn't the Louis-Varland, the Sir Anthony DeMangez, the Jeff Hoffman that were giving up the runs. It was kind of your 12th and 13th guys, so I wouldn't, you know, certainly or wouldn't really be overly concerned about those extra runs because, again,

if Justin Buell and Tommy Nabs are coming into games in this postseason, the Blue Jays are probably up by a wide margin. Probably lots of answers for this question, but we'll narrow it down to just one. which New York Yankee player or manager, I suppose, is facing the most pressure now. Oh, it's got to be Boone. You know, I don't think that there's ever been a New York manager that's kind of been hated as much as him.

I think kind of when you look around the calls for his head have kind of been consistent. And, you know, I think Judge is kind of escaping criticism a little bit. You know, he's kind of doing the thing where he's putting up numbers, but it doesn't really feel like he's impacting the game all that much. you know, he's kind of, he's collecting his hits, but the Blue Jays are doing a nice job of kind of keeping him off the scoreboard in terms of home runs and extra base hits. But I think to me, Boone kind of feels like if things end for the Yankees here,

he might kind of be the guy on the chopping block. And, you know, for them to kind of come into this year, there was a lot of, you know, or coming to this postseason, there was a lot of talk that, like, this is the most complete Yankees team in years. They have the rotation, they have the lineup depth. They have, you know, the bullpen was kind of, rounding into form at the end of the year. They kind of seem to have everything going and for it to kind of go down in flames the way that it has here the past couple days. I think Boone is kind of

going to be the guy who is the scapegoat if they do have to go that way. And, you know, he certainly hasn't managed his way into any wins or into any conversation that I think would kind of keep him in that dugout going forward. Well, it's been a very eventful 48 hours. And I know that we talked to you on Friday and we said we wanted to do this exercise with Zach where we talked to someone the Monday after a weekend like that. I know that the Jays have a ton of postseason memories and two world series and some unforgettable

moments, but what they did over the course of this weekend, you know, regardless of how the series goes, I know it'll change the narrative some if they don't close this out and they blow it, but what they were able to accomplish this weekend and the first grand slam in postseason history for the Jays, the Savage start. Those are going to remain for

a long time. So we want to thank you for taking the time to do this today and Friday, Zach. We'll probably be calling you again. so keep your phone on and enjoy the rest of this week and the game's coming up. Hey guys, any time. Always enjoy coming on

and I appreciate you guys bring me back. Have a good one. Thanks, Zach. Appreciate it. That's Zach Wharton from SportsNet, Blue Jays writer and associate editor

here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. So it's pretty interesting that you know, the Js and their approach at the plate the fact that they just don't strike out much, right? And it's like,

people should have thought of that not striking out I get I get why the people are skeptical to the approach No no no I'm I'm not saying it's skeptical I'm saying it's It's interesting because okay

I know what you're I didn't frame this the right way Suarez came up to the plate yesterday for the Mariners at one point in the game and the broadcasters were like this guy doesn't care if he strikes out every swing is about

sure going for a home run right and he was swinging for the fences correct me if I'm wrong here but that has become the dominant philosophy in major league baseball right the metrics point to it being the most effective way to swing hit home runs yep right yep get launch point drive the ball out yeah teams have one way have won the Blue Jays way before though right

Kansas City wasn't that kind of their MO about a decade ago didn't strike out you can put the ball All in play. What you're talking about can be slotted into one of the nine million different arguments that's gone on in recent years with baseball about the analytics and the metrics versus gut, feel, and instinct. And, you know, we're going to play the way we want to play regardless of what the numbers is it, is it an alternative strategy?

Yeah. For when, like Kansas City, they're not the big spenders. So they're like, okay, we're not going to get the big home run guys. maybe we can do it this way. It's definitely, and the Jays were probably like, okay, well, you know, Vladdy just hasn't been hitting home runs. Like he had that one season where he had a bunch of home runs. Maybe he's not that.

So maybe this is the approach. Because we talk about, and you talk about all the time, having an identity and how important that is, you can build your lineup around like, we don't strike out. Like watching the Mariners, so, I think one of the more frustrating at-bats they're talking about Josh Naylor a lot in Seattle and not in a positive way

he came up last night I think it was the second inning and everyone's like okay just you gotta take you gotta take scoble like you gotta see pitches because you want to get his pitch count up and get him out of there as soon as possible extend at-bats foul off pitches

he's like first pitch swing grounded out to first and you're like okay well now scubal that's just and And again, the broadcasters were like, how much when you were pitching, how much did you love when a guy would swing at the first pitch and grout out? It's like, it's amazing, right? The Js take the approach that they're going to make it really difficult for the pitchers, and they're going to have to work hard to get every out. Yeah, and it's been their M.O. all season long. That doesn't guarantee runs, though.

That's the only, that's the only risky thing about playing that way is you can grind a guy to death and still have a zero on the board. And they have 18 relievers in the pen ready. to pitch one single. No, no, I understand. It's a great debate, though. Well, here's the thing. I remember having Shulman on in May or June. I remember I was like, I love bunting.

I want to talk to Dan Shulman about bunting. And I was like, and I tried to, you know, relay the idea that if you're going to buy into this team mentality that one guy sets the table for the next and they just keep setting the table for the next guy. And that's your entire, like your only table setting. You're not waiting for this big payoff. It's like, let's just keep this going, right? Let's keep getting guys on base.

Let's keep grinding them down. Let's keep, you know, bunt, slap singles. Let's get a guy's on and let's try and advance them. Eventually, you just wear teams down. Now, the crazy part about what the- Even better for the Jays is when they actually, like, load the bases and Vladie. See, do something with it.

Here's a thing. The Jays, everyone said the weakness of this approach was that they don't go yard enough. The Jays went almost a month without a multi-run homer the last month of the season. In two games, this on Saturday and Sunday, and I said this stat earlier, and it still blows my mind. In two games, the Blue Jays hit more home runs, eight, then they struck out. Seven. And that is, it's a statistical

anomaly. You can't expect that to happen all the time. But think about that for a sec. You've hit more home runs than guys have struck out over the course of two nine inning games. That's not generally how they work, though. That's not how the Jays operate. That's what I'm saying. That's why this weekend was so incredible. If I thought the Jays were going to get out of this weekend up to O in the series, I'm like it's going to be low scoring, nail biting. Maybe they can get to the Yankees pen in game one and grind out some runs late. And then maybe they chip away at Max Fried and they can get them out of the game early.

That was the blueprint. Never. Never did I think that they were going to put up 23 combined runs. They've been getting dominated by starters. Like the starting pitching has been just rolling over the Blue Jays the last. and Freed and the rest of the Yankee staff did a really good job of shutting down Boston in that three game series. I mean

I don't know. Freed was great. Schlittler was great. And by the way, nice little touch too is that the Savage story has now completely, completely overshadowed the Schlittler story. Right? Yeah. And for a variety of reasons. Like one,

it's more recent. Connolly Early was like, I thought it would be about me. It was not. Was not Mr. Early. By the way, he looks like a hockey player. Connolly early? It looks like a 12-year-old hockey player. Yeah, he's got a bit of Brock Besser and a bit of Taylor Hall in that face.

I'm going to read the first two paragraphs of a piece in the New York Post. There are 26 players on each side, hundreds of pitches thrown in each game, and incalculable subplots and subtleties that determine whether the Yankees or Blue Jays win a baseball game. But maybe it can be crudely boiled down to this,

which is what the New York Post likes to do. do. The Blue Jay's best player in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stepped up with the bases loaded Sunday and delivered a grand slam. The Yankees best player in Aaron Judge stepped up with the bases loaded Saturday and struck out. Is Aaron Judge going to hit 500 or over 400 in the postseason and get absolutely ripped for it, absolutely lambasted for it? That's why I asked Zach that question. I thought he was going to go with Boone and he did but I said what Yankees is under the most pressure right now and it's like it's 500 hitter Aaron Judge

but look at his slugging percentage sure well down because he's kind of a singles guy now that's what he is he's a single single single single warning track power they've been saying it for a long time can we also he he's not right physically in the field no that was they're picking on them the var was it was Varsho that hit the triple right

they took it away from them yeah called it a double at an air. Why do you think I'm calling it a triple? Because I know that it was a triple. But, you know, he bungled it though for sure. Judge can't throw. He doesn't have a great glove. That being said, he's the greatest modern living hitter. And I know Rally had an unbelievable year. I know there's other guys in the conversation. But Judge is the best hitter over the last, what, five, seven years in baseball. And it's really not questioned. But in the postseason, especially this post season, it, you know, it's all these things. It's like, what have the Jay's done?

to kind of overshadow the Yankees. We talked about Yassavage overshadowing Schlittler. Well, in the first two games, the hired gun for the Jays, Vladdy, has completely outshined whatever judge has done. And, you know, it's,

the Yankees problems start with their pitching. I don't think there's any question about that. The pitching has been atrocious through two games. The pen hasn't been good. The starters haven't been good. You throw your ace and he just doesn't have it in freed. So I think the number one problem has been there pitching.

But you can throw judge in there and to a lessor, you can throw the managerial decisions by Boone in there as well. I want to read this text from Tim Insouk because it's pretty funny. And he says, listening to Brough talk about the Mariners batters in comparison to the Jays,

I'm laughing slightly as the Jays clearly had a strategy to jump on Max Freed first pitch leading to multiple big hits, including home runs. And I replied to him, every baseball argument is a never-ending circular debate, right? Like, we can be like, no, you want to be a home run team.

But what if you were a don't strike out team? Yeah. What if you're both? Yeah. You got to- You got to jump on those first pitches. Unless you ground out to first, then you should have been more patient. It's true.

You know? It's very results-driven sport. I don't you guys realize this? It's whatever strategy works is the best strategy. Yeah, that's how I like to think of it. It's like, which one won us the world series? It's the same thing with like either leaving pitchers in there or pulling them out, right? But that's why it's so good because it's so black and white.

There's a right answer and a wrong answer, but you don't know which one it is. The strategy that works best is the strategy that works best. All right, we got to go to break. When we come back, we got Satyar Shah for some Canucks. Talk. Lots happened for the Canucks this weekend, including Friday's 3-2 overtime win. Conner Garland with the heroics over the Evanton Oilers. But before we go to break, I need to tell you about the BC Lions. It's another season of hard hits. Heated rivalries and non-stop entertainment. The Lions are on their way

to the playoffs for tickets. Visit BCLions.com and get ready to roar as one. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.