Halford & Brough in the Morning - Uh-Oh.

Episode Date: October 14, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss last night's tough loss for the Canucks (3:00), plus they chat with Sportsnet Blue Jays reporter Zach Worden (35:20), as the Jays go down 2-0 to the Mariners in the ALCS. 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.

You're listening to Haldon-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-na. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Polanco's relay to first, and the ball game is over. The Mariners are two wins away from the promised land. Sherwin, short-handed, and alone deeks with the forehanded scores. I mean, if I had the answer, you know, I would have capitalized on that and had a goal in a fist, but I don't know. There's a lot of crows pecking at our neck, but all you can do is spread your wings, keep flying high until those crows fall off and suffocate from the inability to breathe. Good morning, Vancouver. Six o'clock on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody.

It is Halford and is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Adon, good morning to you. Good morning. Lattie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. and breath of the morning is brought to you 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 an hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. You get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to live from the Kintech Studio, Kintech, Foot.

where and orthotics working together with you in step. Lots to get into on a Tuesday show. The guest list today begins at 6.30. Our good buddy, Zach Worden, is going to rejoin the show. Sportsnet.com associate editor, BlueJays writer, the Seattle Mariners took a 2-0-A-L-CS lead by routing the Blue Jays 10-3 on Monday in Toronto. Here are the numbers for both teams.

Prior to yesterday, 28 teams in MLB history won the first two games of a best of seven. 25 of those went on to win the best of seven. Where there's a number 29, will they be number 26? What are the numbers when they do it on the road? No team, no team in the AL or NLCS has ever come back from two O'Down after losing both at home. Just put that out there. I will talk to Zach about what the Jays can do to get back in this series,

or maybe they've just run up against a superior baseball team. It's possible. We're going to talk to Zach about that at 6.30. 7.30 BC Lions linebacker Micah Awee is going to join the program. Lions are back in action this Friday at home at BC Place. It's a 7 p.m. kickoff against the streaking Edmonton Elks. What? Yeah.

The Elks have won two straight, Jason. That's not a streak. They push their record to 7 to 9, Jason. Okay. They started 1 and 6, Jason. Somehow their playoff hopes are still alive. We'll talk to Micah about the big game coming up this week at 7.30. 8.10 this morning.

Note the start time. Landon Ferraro. Canucks analyst on SportsNet is going to join the program here. Tough night, tough, tough night for the Vancouver Canucks last night at Rogers Arena. They lost their second consecutive game, 5-2 decision to the St. Louis Blues. Not the way the team wanted to finish up at home before heading out on a five-game road trip. that begins Thursday in Dallas. We'll look back on a disappointing night at the Raj with Landon at 810 this morning.

Working in reverse on the guest list, as mentioned, 810, Landon Farrow. 730, Micahaway, 630, Zach Wharton, that's what's happening on the program today. Greg, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be.

What happened? Miss that? You miss that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.com. It was Jimmy Snuggierood.

They call him Jimmy Snipes. I never heard that nickname before last night. He scored twice. The Blues beat the Canucks 5'2 on Monday afternoon slash night at Rogers Arena. Okay, so, you know, they were a little rusty to open the season against the Calgary. flames and they won the game anyway handily too so no worries after game one excitement even we were nitpicking at some stuff but you know a little rusty and sure they they got dominated pretty badly by the oilers on saturday in edmonton but uh you know halfer that's a pretty good team in

emminton real good real good team they've been to the stanley cup finals a couple of times uh so no worries last night at home against st louis though right before a big five game road trip you know what i think that was a pretty worrying performance dare i say concerning with a sincere apology to keifer sherwood who played very well and that entire line played quite well so let's get it out of the way let's get it out of the way we're back to talking about piti again we had the no we had a nice summer we had a nice summer and we had a we had a training camp where we kind of talked ourselves into positivity remember that one one-timer? A one-timer on the power play, man?

Yep. You know? There wasn't really anything else besides that, but that was, who! What a one-timer, we will remember that. Elias Pedersen's turnover led to the Blues first goal. Pedersen was trying to shovel the puck back to the point, and he just plain old whiffed on it. The puck went the other way, and Jimmy Snuggarood,

one of my favorite names, eventually scored. I know Marcus Pedersen said that, He made a mistake on the play, too. He let Snuggaroot get past him. But that wasn't the Pedersen that we were focusing on then because the body language from Pedersen said it all. He hung his head when he turned it over and he hung his head when the blues scored.

It is hard to watch and it's only game three of this season. It's not really useful to pull a mountbruff. It's not really useful to say it's unacceptable or it can't happen. I don't believe he's trying to play poorly, and I don't believe he doesn't care. I think he is just mentally fried, and he's been that way for a year and a half now. He is in a really tough spot, and so are the Canucks as a result. Is it all about him?

No, it isn't. But the forward group starts with him. The Canucks had one line going last night, the one with Sherwood, Ratu, and Baines. The top line wasn't good. The Coots line wasn't even close. The heat of line was fine because a line with Garland is never going to be terrible. And I say this with no disrespect to Sherwood and Garland because those guys do not deserve to be dragged into this. But if Sherwood and Garland are your best forwards, and right now they are heads and tails above anyone else,

you're not a good NHL team. Yep. And you know who played well for St. Louis? Pew Souter, who was on a line with Snuggarood and Matthew Jones. Joseph. The Canucks could have had him. They chose to go a different direction. Quinn Hughes did not play very well either. And you have to imagine his frustration level is already close to peaking three games into the season. We saw him smash his stick at the end of the Edmonton game. And let's face it, I think we kind of forced the good

vibes storyline of the preseason. I think that was us forcing those good vibes. We needed something positive to latch on to. So we talked about the new system and the freshness of Miller and Tocket, those toxic figures, not being around anymore. And of course, Coots was a good story. But in reality,

the top line did not look good in the preseason. And until the Canucks find some semblance of a top line, it's going to be really tough to win. That's just hockey 101. Because everything starts at the top, specifically.

with the top line center that again it's hockey 101 top line center good team has a chance heatel is already a stretch at two C coots is a huge stretch at 3C yep if your 1C isn't even close it's going to look like it did last night where the connects didn't seem to have any solutions or any purpose to their game and if they had a plan it wasn't working. And what happened last night has led to the conversation that you're probably going to hear until this team drops the puck again on Thursday in Dallas. And it's about the top guys on this team. And it starts oftentimes with number 40. And, you know, last night 43 was not good either. Quinn Hughes is minus three on the night. But when you talk

about the top guys, especially in a forward group that's bereft of talent overall and doesn't have a lot of depth down the middle. Your 1C is going to be called to the carpet and Pedersen played 14 and a half minutes at even strength last night. Ratu played 12 and a half. So they're almost getting equal deployment at evens, which is crazy,

but not when you watch a game play out. So I say all of this because Adam Foote was asked about his top guys following the game. We've got the question and answer period here. We've also got some audio from Jake DeBresk, who is one of those top guys. He's a top line guy,

on this team. And he hasn't done much of anything through three games, but we'll start with the head coach. Here's Adam Foote being asked about if he needs more from his top guys. Do you need more from your top guys? Well, you know what? It's early in the season. We're in game three and, you know, we're not

going to get into that. Like, you know, the top guys know, I'm sure they're thinking about their power player. You know, it's been three games and they want to get it going but we're not going to over analyze that at this moment. That ain't the right answer. that's not it and I'll tell you why you can't go up on the podium and say we're not going to talk about it and it's early and we're not going to overanalyze it when you're the one that deployed peterson for 14 and a half minutes at five on five so you've got to explain either that was a business decision on your part of the guy wasn't doing enough to warrant playing more than I think the answer would probably be to the latter he dumped what he dumped cane off the first power play unit put heidel up there right

Move Pedersen from the first line and put a heatle up there. So there were changes being made to that top group. And there has to be some level of analysis, I would say, or some deeper dive into it, because you're three games into the season. You've gotten nothing from your top guys. And as you mentioned already, your best forwards last night were Sherwood and we're Garland by a mile.

Not even really, like, close. By a mile, those two are your best players, best forwards. And it begs the question, what should be your top line? I think everyone knows who the top players should be on this team. And what's it going to look like on this five-game trip coming up, which is not an easy trip. Canucks start a five-game road trip Thursday in Dallas. Five games in eight days?

What's the record going to be when they get back? Quinn Hughes talked about wanting to get off to a good start, seven and three, six and four. It's kind of scary to think about how this road trip could go, the way they've looked in their first three games, you know, sat through it out on social media. They've had one good period. The third period against Calgary when they kind of pulled it together and Calgary was maybe feeling the game the night before.

And, oh, yeah, Calgary's not good. They're not good. So hopefully the Canucks can dig down deep and find something. You know, I think Adam Foote right now, like I fully agree with you. but at the same time I think he's like probably like

I can't come out after game three and rip my top players no I don't think it's not I'm not blaming you I think he's just like he's like I don't think his answer was acceptable either but I'm also trying to put myself

in his shoes and he's like obviously he knows the team is not looking good I mean his answer he was asked about the power play and he's like I think they just got

zip it around a little bit more. Is that the extent of the coaching that's going on? Guys just zip it around a little bit more and find your confidence. Well, you know, like this is obviously a group that, you know, especially some of the top players, they're not feeling it. Like, Quinn Hughes wasn't good last night either.

But, you know, Quinn Hughes, I don't want to say he gets a pass, but like it hasn't been a year and a half of waiting for Quinn Hughes to find his game. He was terrific last season. And we all know his ability, and we've seen it recently. Some of these other guys, like Brock Besser, he wasn't good after J.T. Miller was traded. Right.

He wasn't good. And the Canucks can, you know, you can spin it all you want that the Canucks, you know, made a commitment to him and brought him back. Oh, yeah, what did they do right before they made the commitment? They tried to find other players and they couldn't do it. So they were like, okay, let's circle back on. Brock right before free agency opens or maybe right after free agency opens and we're like, fine, we can't find anyone else. Like, that's how it went.

It sounds mean, but that's how it went. And, you know, it's... Well, okay, that's a, there's a personnel issue for sure. There's a massive personnel issue. Now, the other thing, and I know, like, there are going to be people that are going to say this is way to, this is swinging way too negative after three games of the season. And that's fine if you want to think that way. teams have found lightning in a bottle and have shook things up.

The issue for me isn't necessarily even the wins and losses. It's the way that they've lost and the way that it has looked because at times, and the guys on the postgame show talked about this at length, it seems like a lot of guys aren't sure exactly what they want to do with the puck when they get it. And it seems like a lot of guys aren't exactly sure where they're supposed to be. Now, if that changes and one all of a sudden it clicks and this new size, style and system that Foote has implemented, like, I'm going to try and put this in layman terms. The things that Foote wants them to do, I think it requires a lot more nuance and a lot more thinking and a lot more decision making than maybe previous iterations of game plan and previous coaches.

And it seems as though when he tries to explain things, there's certain times of the game where he wants things pushed and there's certain times of the game where he wants things to be absorbed. And it seems like, especially last night, and, you know, sat and Bick were pointing this out, it seemed like there were a lot of times where Hughes, who had the puck on his stick a lot, didn't necessarily know where he was supposed to go or who he was supposed to be passing to. That really struck me in the third period.

Right. When they were obviously looking for offense and they needed some goals. And they would get the puck and the Blues had five men behind the puck. And the Canucks were like, it looks like the blues have 11 men behind the pot

and the question of the players was how do we break this down yeah and the answers were not forthcoming in the third period yeah look like it didn't look like they were any closer to solving it from the beginning of the third period to the end yeah I've I fully agree and I don't know again is that

I you know I'm always for the most part I'm like I'm a personnel person right like I I I systems are obviously important, right? And you have to have an idea of what you're trying to do out there. But it's also hockey. Like it's not as complicated as we make it out to be sometimes.

You need guys to make plays. You know, Connor Garland, right off the opening face-off, was making plays. Yep. Because. Garland and Sherwood. Because he makes plays, right? Like he's a worker and he knows how to get the puck. And, you know, I'm going to pick on. PD this morning. I'm gonna, because I, because I've been holding my tongue for, for a while now.

I don't think you, okay, just hold on this. Okay, no, no, I just want to throw something out there. Yeah. When Pedersen had the puck, oftentimes on the sideboards, and even when he tried to fling it back to the point, he wasn't trying to make a play. And I threw out on Twitter yesterday, he looks like a 42-year-old quarterback who's just like, I've lost my legs, so I'm just going to throw it from the pocket now. Sure. And you can't play hockey like that. You can't go out there and just be like, oh, I'm just going to sling some passes out

there, right? Like, you just give it to me, I'm going to say, it's not an alumni game. Like, that's how an alumni game looks, right? They're just like, I haven't put on the skates for 20 years, so I'm just going to go out there and make some passes. Let's go sling it. That's what we say in like old man hockey. We're like, I just want to, you know what?

I just want to go out there and make some passes. Sure. Like, you got to move your feet. You've got to do something. And you just go, go, go watch. Go watch the game again, if you can. The guy doesn't want to move his feet. And by the way, Rick Tocket got his first win on the season last night,

so congratulations to Rick Tocket. He's already at war with Mitchcoff. Did you see that? Mitchcoff showed up out of shape. Had an injury in the summer. I was laughing when I saw the whole, the audio coming out. Oh, did he have an injury in the summer? That was what they were saying in the afternoon.

Was it tendonitis? Well, that's what I wanted to, I was so close to replying on Twitter. I'm like, is it tendonitis? Is it his knee? Anyway. Paul texted in Canucks need to send Coots but down now. He's lost to shine already. Yeah, that's not on Coots.

Coots is an 18-year-old player that's not ready for the NHL. I mean, you know, if we're having truth time this morning and instead of like, well, let's try and force some good vibes time, Coots is not ready for the NHL. And it is insane. It is insane that he was out there on a line with Drew O'Connor and Jonathan Lecker-Mackie. Good luck Yeah, they got caved

Good luck They got caved in this time Here's here's a guy that was in the dub He's 18 years old He was in the dub a few months ago He should be in the dub now Put him with Jonathan Lecker Mackey Who like at five on five in the NHL

That's gonna always gonna be Matt That's gonna be a massive task for him Oh and who's gonna help you out Who's gonna help you out Two young guys Drew O'Connor Good luck No and they can't yeah

And he's looking around like I may be in over my head Well it's insane It's insane And the center position is such a struggle right now That they were forced to deploy Heidel Who as you point out Probably masquerading as a 2C to begin with

All of a sudden he's being deployed as a 1C And honestly if you looked at it last night of times You could have made the argument that Based on the deployment the way the game was going The Heel was their 1C and Ratu was their 2C That you could have made that argument yesterday Well that's 1,000% what it was Yeah and that's not a good sign

for anybody. Again things can magically change but at this point we're talking about magical solutions because I failed to see. All the Knotes have to do is find a 1C and a 2C and they'll be fine. That's all I've got to do. Well, find your 1C, find your 2C. The other part... Are there's easy to find? Yes.

The other part of... You just pick them up in free agency, right? Yes. The other part of all of this with you know, and I think I think this is how this has gone down is Foot was acutely aware of his personnel problems when he inherited the job

and it didn't get any better over the course of the summer like they didn't add anything at center their forward group didn't get a whole hell of a lot better I don't know what to make of a Vander Cain right now I honestly don't so he's trying to implement a style of play that maybe will masquerade or cover

some of the roster deficiencies and what's happening is through three games and it's early and there's still time to figure it out but it just feels like it's maybe there's too much going on or there's too many complexities or there's too many reads or there's too many different variations of versions of what they're supposed to do especially when trying to generate offense

and I think we saw it on the odd man rush goal that st. Louis scored yesterday where hughes made sort of like a jailbreak play to go like get off the blue line and you know get down and have a chance on goal yeah so much a cover for him no one did yeah that's I mean that's hockey that's what they teach in right yeah and they were caught and like cane They're diving in. They're diving in. Right. And Kane did like bust ass to get back, but he was one V2.

So there's problems across the shop. They've got a chance to sort it out. It's still early. It is. Yes. And there's lots of opportunities to amend things and make wrinkles and maybe even simplify the game. But last night, if there was one takeaway, it's not that the sky is falling and the chicken

little thing is that there's concern because, the top guys are giving them very little right now. Can we play the Jake DeBrasque audio in light of this, actually? Because DeBresk was one of the guys who called himself to the carpet and just said that his game flat out wasn't good. Did Elias Patterson speak after the game? He has an A, right? No. He's an A. He's part of the leadership group? He's part of the leadership group. Oh, the other guys went out and spoke, did they?

Oh, okay. That's interesting. And one of them was Jake DeBresk. Here's Jake DeBress now now following a 5-2 loss to St. Louis on Monday night at Rogers Arena. yeah i mean uh just got to find my game you know it's all it's three games in but uh it's frustrating to be honest with you um you know i i i just got to take care of my own um it seems like i um yeah i just got to play my game honestly it's it's cliche and it's uh probably not what i'm actually thinking i'm just saying it but uh i think at the end of the day in all fairness um you know i got to be a threat out there i feel like i haven't really been a part of anything so um you know and that's that's that's my that's my that's my fault. I have to be better on that. I can't allow that to happen anymore. And whatever

the line I'm with, it doesn't matter. I mean, if you look at all the lines on our team that have had good games, they use each other and they play with each other. And, you know, Rats's line was a great example tonight. They were their only line going. And I think they all touch the puck every single shift. They're out there. So I think it's a matter of just finding the right areas and the ice to go and playing the right way. He also went on to say that he feels like they're chasing the game a lot. The forecheck isn't great and their neutral zone breakouts aren't that great either. I was like, that's all the, that's all the facets right there. You hit them all. That's all. The fourth, so the offensive zone, not good?

Neutral zone, not great. Oh, okay. How about the defensive zone? Is that, is that, is that all right? I know, he didn't call it out. He didn't actually mention it, but he did say they're chasing the game a lot. What about the vibes in the room? How are those, Jake? Well, okay, before we want to break, I want to, let's put a bow on that because you, you mentioned earlier in the show, you're like, we, we were pushing this narrative that the vibes were good. And I was like, Well, that came right from the top. I think I said this about 15 times during the preseason that Jim Rutherford, who was on the broadcast last night,

once again, front and center in the face of this whole thing, he made it abundantly clear last year and then throughout the preseason and the off season that the chemistry rift that they had last year ripped the team in half and, you know, it was so dysfunctional and so damaging to the group that it sent their entire season askew

and now that the vibes were good that was like priority number one for this team was getting the vibes back and getting the positivity back and we all sat there and we're like okay if you say so we are willing as like a collective media and a fan base to embrace this new

positive vibes and good feelings and PDs put on 10 pounds or whatever at the same time we were like the top line doesn't look great in the preseason But, but, but, but, but vibes. But we were willing to accept the vibe check because the narrative that was put forth was that the Pedersen Miller Rift was so bad,

so bad that it threw everything off kilter last year. And now that it had been rectified and PD had a summer and Pete was able to go do those things, he was going to come back and the team was going to be better for it because of vibes. And did that mask a really kind of like meh, off season where they didn't add a ton of personnel to a certain degree it did

because people bought in and we sometimes you want to believe right sometimes you do want to believe that all it takes is camaraderie and chemistry and a couple extra team dinners on the road and everything's going to click but the concern that you're talking about

is that you see it on the ice and you're like they might these guys might all love each other they might be you know going up for beers totally a good time it might be a really tight unified tight knit room but on the ice it looks really disjointed and really funky right now

okay we can talk more about the Canucks in the 7 o'clock hour we've got an open segment there we're more of a kind of more of a Mariner's show now yeah totally to be honest with you yeah we're a baseball show but we're a Mariner's show

Soto Mojo do they still say that changing it up Tridens up baby the Mariners are up to nothing in the ALCS the Mariners go the Mariners are the Mariners are two wins away from their first world series appearance

in franchise history And the Blue Jays are not. We'll talk to Zach Warden specifically about the Jays, but we'll talk about the Mariners as well because we should tip our caps to the Mariners because that was quite a performance they put in Toronto, especially after going long in their series against the Tigers.

The Blue Jays are in a deep hole. Talk to Zach Wharton coming up next on the Halfordam Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Canucks talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. The stretch and the pitch,

Julio, swinging to drive, deep down the left field lines, stay fair. It is a fair ball. Goodbye baseball. Julio Rodriguez, with a home run, scoring Randy and Cal out in front of him,

and just like that. The mirrors have a 3-0 lead here in the top of the first inning. 633 out of a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Brub in 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 from fees.

To learn how, visit sands dash trustee.com. We are in our one of the program. Zach Worden, SportsNet Associate Editor, Blue Jays writer, is going to join us. Not in a moment in a little bit here for hour one. Hour one is brought to by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

I mentioned that Zach's not going to join us straight away here because it would not be fitting or fair to the Seattle Mariners to bring on a Blue Jays guest right away to talk about this series. It wouldn't. I know there's been some online discourse over the last 96 hours about who Vancouver should be cheering for in this series. People telling you who you should be a fan of, which is always a fun conversation.

I figure we should play it how anyone in this market should play it. That the team that is putting its best foot forward deserves its flowers. And through two games of this series, the Mariners have been outstanding. What they did Sunday and Monday in Toronto, when they look back at this run,

I think regardless of how the season finishes for the Mariners, that fan base has to be incredibly proud of, what they were able to do after winning that 15 inning game against Detroit on Friday night. I thought game one was, I don't want to say like an automatic win for the Blue Jays, but I was like, yeah, they'll win that one. You know who else thought that, I think? The Blue Jays? Yeah.

Especially when they let off with a home run with the first pitch. And then they're like, we got this one, right? I felt like, you're going to need more than that. I felt like there were, wow, everything's going our way vibes. Yeah. Not that we're going to win. Don't get me wrong. But everything was breaking our way.

I don't want to use the word entitled to win, but You know, Mariters go 15 on Friday night, their charter gets delayed going into Toronto, you've got this pen that's been extended, all working on short rest, and what do they do? That game last night, so let's, we'll park, because I'm sure you and Jamie talked about game one, that game yesterday,

you want to talk about taking some boxes as a team. First off, Polanco is a nightmare, Nightmare for the Jays right now. They don't know what to do with him when he's at the dish. He is carving him up and he's carving him up in big, big situations. He has a three-game, game-winning RBI street going. He's four-for-nine with five RBI in this series. First player in MLB history to have a go-ahead hit in the fifth inning or later

in three straight post-season games. So every time he gets up in a big moment, he's delivering. You know who hasn't done that through the first two games of this series? Flattie. At this stage of the playoffs, I don't think that you can rest on the laurels of what you did the series prior. You obviously can't. But to go 0 for 7 over the course of two games,

when the other teams meet of their order, when 3-4 in the Mariners lineup is Rodriguez and Polanco, and they're delivering like they have like J-Rod's had a very good series too. Well, he's, you know, because he was lost before. He was a nightmare in the Tiger series. Completely lost. And he's, and now who hasn't been good for the J-Rod's? is Bichette.

Yeah, they miss him. They miss them. They miss them. Here's the thing. Miss them a lot. They do miss them. They miss his musk, but mostly is hitting. I miss your scent, your hair. Maybe you should get an apartment somewhere.

We get bunk beds. Look, that's an important thing to bring up because the way that these teams are built, you've got to wonder if Jerry Depoto did a better job of building a team that was built for the postseason right now. because first off let's get away from the bats that bullpen has been phenomenal

and I think the biggest difference right now for the Jays between the ALDS and the ALCS is that they were able to get after the Yankees bullpen pretty much with regularity yeah right because you want to go back and you look at it I know they got after

heel and I know they got after freed in that series but the Schlittler game Schlittler pitched well and they were able to get after them And then other guys in that series in that Yankees pen, they were able to get after it. The Seattle Bullpen has thrown nine scoreless innings against the Jays. They've given up one hit.

They haven't been able to hit anybody. I mean, Bizarro's been fantastic, but you could go down the list, brash to everyone else. The Jays haven't been able to manufacture anything. Everything that they were able to do against the Yankees, extend at bats, foul off pitches, put balls in play. They haven't been able to do it against the Mariners. And here's the other thing, the biggest difference

that not a lot of people are talking about between the Yankees series and this series. Yankees made mistakes a lot. They made them base running. They made them in the field. They made fielding decisions, straight up errors like the Chisholm won in game four. The Mariners aren't doing that.

The Mariners aren't shooting themselves in the foot. They're not giving extra outs, extra bases, any of this. You're playing clean baseball. They're pitching phenomenal. And here's the thing. The Js have actually done a couple things well over the first two games of the series. Like yesterday despite how bad you

Savage's start was, and he did settle down after that rough first inning, the Jays did a really nice job of getting that back to 3-3 and getting after Gilbert. And they knocked them out early. Like if you were to, I mean, I don't know, you jump in here at any point, lad. I know you're kind of down on what's happened after the first two games, but

through the start of that game, I gave the Jays a ton of credit for coming back from 3-0 down and getting Gilbert out of there. I thought that was a positive. After that, it was a nightmare at the plate they had nothing going nothing I don't know if you can just blame Vladie it's been the whole

it's been the whole team and I you mentioned it before earlier when I came in at the start of the day and I just I don't think you know you can really pin it on one individual because even if the pitching through like a one one run game you're still not doing that well

are the Mariners are more complete team than the Jays well now you're getting to the important part because we had that conversation Believe it or not, we did talk about the Mariners during the regular season and we kind of were like especially after what they did the trade deadline, right? And we were like, they're a very complete team

and we would have conversations like if Castillo could find his pitching manager and not that's happened, but we were kind of like I think we were like I think they're a more complete team than the Jays but it's always like, yeah, but they're the Mariners. was also, they're a little streaky, and I think the guys that are streaky are on

hot streaks right now, which certainly helps the cause. Polanco, I think, is the, at the forefront of that, right? He's, look at his splits from this season. Amazing first month. Yeah. Terrible rest of the year, and then an amazing last month and an amazing playoff. The Js are a streaky team, too. One is doing well at the right time.

One's not. The streakiness and the roster construction aside, the biggest thing right now is the bullpen difference. Like, the Mariners were able to go to theirs. On short work, Like, I think Bizarro pitches every game for the Mariners, as far as I can tell. And he doesn't seem to get tired. And Schneider went to his yesterday, and I know there was some pushback about whether or not he should have lifted you Savage when he did.

But he went to it, and none of it worked. Varland didn't work. Came in and gave up the home run to Palago. That didn't work. Barlin's been very disappointing. Varland is, you know, the best thing that he did was get the start in the bullpen game, which is pretty well documented. But outside of that, he's been touched up pretty good. And it has not been a great postseason for him.

and Schneider likes going to him and he likes how hard he throws and he likes what he brings but statistically speaking it has not been a great postseason for him okay we got Zach Worden from SportsNet I did just want to get that out there that look the Mariners deserve

a ton of credit for what they've done and there's no shame in saying they might just be the better team of this stage at the game there's only two teams left in the American League right and you got the two best teams from the regular season maybe the Mariners are the better team

we'll ask that question of Zach Worden and more he joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650 morning Zach how are you Good morning, guys, doing well here. A little bit of a different vibe around this Blue Jays team than the last time we talked, but I appreciate you having me back on. No, thanks for coming on, and we appreciate you taking the time.

We'll start, like, let's start with the Mariners side of things here, because they have been incredibly good over the course of these two games in Toronto. You know, even if you took away what happened on Friday night where the, you know, the staff and the pen was extended through the 15 innings, it would still be impressive what they did. But to do it in the wake of that, it's a very, very, very, very good baseball team, and I think they deserve credit for that. Yeah, 100%.

I think, you know, they deserve a ton of credit for the way that they've come in, and, you know, it looks like they weren't affected by that 15-in-game at all. They, you know, come in and look like they're fresh. They look like they're ready to go, and they've done a great job. I think their pitching staff of really kind of attacking this Blue Jay's offense, where, you know, sometimes

teams might be a little bit scared to throw strikes to the Blue Jays because they're, you know, so free swinging and ready to put the ball in play, and you know, the Mariners have done a really good job of just kind of putting the ball in the strike zone, working around the edges and forcing the Blue Jays to make soft contact and, you know, really limiting what kind of damage that the Blue Jays could do.

I think, you know, you look at it through these two games. The Blue Jays have two extra base hits, and it was George Springer's lead off home run in game one, and George Springer's lead off double in game two. Like the Mariners have done a great job, I think, for the most part, other than Logan Yover yesterday, yesterday of staying away from the heart of the plate and being able to kind of limit the way that the Blue Jays are able to. to put the ball in play and, you know, limiting the traffic that they've had on the basis.

And I think, you know, another big thing, which was Bryce Miller going six innings for them yesterday. I think that's something that is going to impact the entire series because, you know, obviously they're coming off that 15-any game where they had to use so many pitchers and for him to, you know, go in there on short rest and throw six innings and kind of give their bullpen a break with something that you felt yesterday where they were able to go to their bullpen in the fourth inning because they didn't have to use those guys again and again in game one. and then, you know, have them kind of tired again for game two. Are Gossmann and you savage their best starters?

And if they are, where does that leave the Blue Jays going to Seattle? I think they are. I think it leaves them in a really tough scenario. I think obviously T-Mobile Park in Seattle is, you know, such a pitcher-friendly park that you feel like, you know, at least there's probably some positive regression coming for Shane Bieber. And, you know, Max Scherzer really looms large in all of this. I think, of course, you know, you never want to go down 3-0.

So the Bieber start is going to be so, so important for the Blue Jays. But, you know, it leaves them in a really tough spot going into these next two games because, you know, the Mariners have such a deep pitching staff where it's George Kirby and Luis Castillo and Brian Wu over these next three games. And the Blue Jays are going to kind of be stringing it together and hoping you get a better start from Shane Bieber than we've seen from him in this postseason and his last couple times out. and, you know, if he's able to win, then you're really putting a lot on Max Scher's or in a game four

when you're down 2-1 and trying to avoid that game three, or if you're down 3-0 in Max Scher, there's the guy that's trying to save off elimination for you when he, you know, hadn't looked very good over his last 25 innings. I think he was 25 earned runs over his last 25 innings in the regular season. So, you know, those are two guys with really good track records, obviously, and you feel pretty confident that they are going to kind of rise to the moment. you know, what we've seen from them the last couple times out

and the way that the Mariners are obviously swinging it right now, there is going to be a very big challenge for both of those guys to try and at least get the ball back to Gosman-Indie Savage in a potential game five and six scenario. We're speaking to Zach Wharton from SportsNet Associated, our Blue Jays writer here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Who's been the most impressive performer for you, Zach, through the first two games in this series?

Yeah, you know, I don't know how you can't say Jorge Polanco. It's crazy. Like just crazy, you know, the way that he's kind of come up in all these clutch moments. You know, I think you kind of look at the overall staff and maybe they're not that impressive. But I think every single hit that he's had is kind of come in a big moment. Obviously, yesterday, the three-run home run off Barland. I mean, it was like a 99-mile-per-hour fastball low and away.

And he pulls it to, you know, just the exact perfect spot in the park where that ball gets out. You know, obviously in game one, he has the single down the line off Brendan Little. Obviously, you know, even going back to where he has a walk. walk off it, like, just so impressive the way that he's been able to come through with the runners on and give this Mariners team a spark. You know, after the game, they're saying that they're calling him George Bonds now. So, you know, very impressive the way that he's kind of come through in big, big situations and obviously doing it from either side of the plate.

I think, you know, the way that the Blue Jays have kind of worked around Rally and Julio, obviously, both of them had big swings of their own. But the way that Jorge has kind of stepped up in that. in that clean-up spot of the lineup has been huge and has really kind of been a really big difference maker for Seattle in this series. What have you thought of the managerial decision specifically with his pitching staff

that John Schneider's made through two games? Yeah, I didn't love the Gosman move in game one. I thought Gosman had looked pretty good and looked like he was kind of cruising. And obviously, you know, he gives up the home or he gives up the walk. And then you go to a leftie for Polanco who has hit left, he's better than he's hit righties this year.

I get that, you know, they kind of wanted some more swing and miss by bringing in Brendan Little, but, you know, it's not like Brendan Little has exactly been a, you know, a statue of consistency this year. He's been kind of, you know, it's kind of what he does. You know, he's going to get you some swing and miss because he's not really in the zone all that much, and then the curveball kind of will bounce away like that from time to time. So I think it was interesting that they decided to go to him in that spot.

instead of maybe giving Gosman one more hitter and then maybe going to Littleford Naylor who was on deck or or something along those lines. I think that was something that is certainly worth discussing. And then yesterday I think the Savage thing

he clearly didn't have his best stuff yesterday and the velocity was falling off, you know, inning by inning. So I was actually kind of surprised that they ran him back out there for the fifth. So when he allowed the two base runners there, it kind of wasn't a huge surprise. I think, you know, as fastball was down to like 91, 92 in that

inning. So, you know, I think that that would probably be a move that I thought maybe they were going to make a little bit sooner. And then, you know, you go to Marlins, who now has given up a few home runs like that. This postseason has been a little bit disappointing. You know, he's a guy who throws 98, 99. Obviously, he can get it up to 101. And he doesn't get a ton of swing and miss with that pitch. So, you know, tough spot for him to come into. And obviously, tough home run to give up there, but I think, you know, for for Schneider's parts, it seems like he, you know, it's kind of, kind of in between right now. And, you know, it's obviously tough when guys come in and give up home runs and give up go ahead hits. But, you know, I think, you know,

reading what guy's stuff has, or guys stuff was doing at the time, I think, you know, both times it was, it was a little questionable whether it was too late or too early. So no one's calling the series over, although this is a pretty daunting task that the Jays have in front of them, having to win four or the next five and having to do it a lot in Seattle. Is it possible, is it possible that at the end of the day, the Jays might have just run up against a team that's built a little bit better for this? Yeah, I think, you know, you look at the way that the Jays played in the Yankee series, and it kind of looks like just a completely different opens and, you know, the way that their lineup was slugging, I think, in that Yankee

series has kind of been the big difference. And, you know, I think that if the Blue Jays are playing like that team, then it's a totally different conversation. But they've just kind of been, been shut down by the Mariners who, of course, have a deeper pitching staff, I think. The Mariners, you know, you talk about, like,

how the home run rules in October, and the Mariners have out homered the Jays through these two games. And I think, you know, maybe they are like a little more traditionally built for October. But I think that you know the blue jays are of course built well and we've seen that this team has had you know such such a great season and had so many comebacks and

I think that their kind of identity at this point of the season has been you know that they're never out of it they're always in games obviously with so many comeback wins I think they had the second most wins following a loss this season and obviously they didn't do that last night but you know I think that they've kind of got one last chance to prove to us here for game three that that is kind of who they are and to kind of lean on, you know, they think that their clubhouse is kind of their superpower. And, you know, they've got one last chance to lean on that and hopefully, you know, bounce back and put together a better performance in game three. I mean, the one issue with, when you stack up the Yankees

series to the Mariners series from the Jay's perspective is that the Yankees did give them a lot. Like the Yankees, the Yankees made mistakes. The Yankees had an inferior bullpen. You know, there were moments where it felt like the Jays were pouncing on top of everything. deficiency that the Yankees had. Then they roll into this series. It's like, oh, those deficiencies that we exploited last series, they're just not around this time. Yeah, yeah, 100%. I think the Mariners are more fundamentally sound than the Yankees. I think that's, you know, safe to say at this

point. You know, yeah, and the Blue Jays were doing a really great job of kind of taking advantage of everything that the Yankees gave to them, and they haven't, you know, had anything to really take advantage of against Seattle. they've, you know, it, you know, to a certain point, when you kind of look at the Yankee series in the game three loss that the Blue Jays had, where the Blue Jays make a bunch of barriers, it kind of feels like they beat themselves. Yeah. But in these last two games, you know, it does feel like the Marriors have beat them, which is kind of a huge difference and then something that we really haven't seen happen to this team this year. And, you know, I think when you look at the way that the Mariners have played them, it's a lot tougher than the way that the Yankees have played them. And they obviously have a really good game plan for the Blue Jays hitters, you know, kind of.

especially the middle of the lineup where they've held, you know, Vladdy, Barso, Barger, all those guys hitless who are really, really important pieces as we saw in that ALDS. So, yeah, I think, you know, when you look at the Mariners, they've done a good job of kind of being solid and, you know, they're never really taking the foot off the gas pedal and there's never, there's not really a spot where the Blue Jays have been able to kind of jump on any mistake. So I think you're right that that has kind of been a huge difference between the first two series and for the Blue Jays to kind of solve that, I think they're going to,

going to have to, you know, do a little bit more of their own work to, you know, put their, or, you know, force their game plan on the Mariners. Zach, this was great, man. Thanks for taking the time to do this. Series gets back underway tomorrow, 508, first pitch from Seattle. Enjoy it. We'll see what happens. But thanks again for this.

Sounds great. Appreciate you guys having me on. Always great chatting. And this is fun. Thanks so much. Yeah, thanks, buddy. Appreciate it, Zach Wharton here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. Okay, we got an open segment on the other side.

so we can talk about anything you guys want. Text in to the Dunbar Lumber Text Line 650-650. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and Reno Warriors. I know you're a Reno Warrior, Halford. Sure am. For over 50 years, that's almost as old as me. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at Dunbarlumber.com. Over 50 years, that is older than me.

That's awesome. I'm so young compared to Dunbar Lumber. I want to talk about some of the other stories around the NHL. We can talk about the Canucks, and we can talk about the Blue Jays Mariners series. But thank God for the Buffalo Sabres, man. Thank God you guys are around. Yeah.

I'm going to read a passage from an article in the Athletic about the Sabers' O'N-3 start. A passage. A passage? A passage. A passage. A passage. It's like going to do a reading.

Do we have to snap after anything? Gather around, my children. Children, if I tell you a tale. From the book of Harrington? No, who's the writer? Matthew Fairburn for the athletic, who we've had on the show before. His book of Fairburn. It is, it's pretty funny when you compare it to the Canucks.

And the two sad club teams in the NHL, well, they're doing their thing. I also got a text from a Toronto hockey writer, and I won't say who the writer is, but I will tell you the question that he asked me. as the Leafs are off to their own challenging start in Toronto. You're listening to The Halford Ambrough show on Sportsnet 650.