High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Phillies Walk It Off in Extras Against the Blue Jays

Episode Date: May 11, 2023

Jack Fritz reacts to the Phillies late-inning comeback win over the Blue Jays. Presented by Miller Lite. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meza, he's got it. Fires to second for one, on to first, it's wide! It goes away! Sosa's coming home! He's saved! The Phillies win it on a throwing error! As Bichette throws it away, and the Phillies walk off with a 2-1 win! Was that a World Series game, or was that a game in May? Who knows? Who cares? Phil's win. It was ugly, it was downright lethargic while Kevin Gosman was on the mound tonight. But they come back.

They grid it out. And frankly, if they're ugly, who cares? They got a win, a win they needed. And the Phil's are now one game under.500 after sweeping the Blue Jays at home. I know it's a two-game series, but who cares? They sweeping the Blue Jays at home. I know it's a two-game series, but who cares? They swept the Blue Jays at home. They won two games. They were started by Alex Minoa and Kevin Gosman.

That's a win when you can get that. Impressive win today. You needed it. Whenever you can take wins like that, you take them. 215-592-9494. It is the final out. I'm Jack Fritz. As always, the final out is sponsored by Regency Furniture.

Affordable, never looks so good. And what you heard right there was obviously the play of the game, which is sponsored by Mike's Amazing. The Mike's Amazing play of the game presented by Mike's Amazing, the official mayo, mustard, and vegetable oil of the Phils. How about that? Ruben Amaro Jr., the pinch hitter in the booth for L.A. today, comes in with some.

That's some big energy from Ruben in a May game. Ballpark was filled again. I mean, $33,000 for a Wednesday game in May, that's a good sign. Fans are still coming out in droves, and it feels like they're finally starting to understand that it's go time. And I'm glad they're not waiting until our 22 and 29. And today was a step in the right direction, even though the first seven innings were pretty brutal.

2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. If you're on your way home from the game, want to react, want to get in, would love to hear from you. How is the energy in the ballpark? Any takeaways you have from the game, would love to hear from you. Here's what I have today. Here are my two main takeaways from what we saw this afternoon down at Citizens Bank Park.

My first takeaway is that I think the Dodgers and Red Sox series were a wake-up call. I know they were bad. I know the Dodgers series was ugly. 36 runs in three games, coupled with blowing a 5-0 lead in the third game of the series. Ugly. And for a team with high aspirations

to go out and lay an egg against one of the better teams in the NL, that was disheartening. They come home off the off day. Frankly, that lineup they put out on that Friday night was just dumb. They were sitting two of their main guys for no reason. Marston Stott didn't play that night. Uncompetitive of the bats. Kind of felt like they were just waiting for the home crowd to kind of wake them up. And they just couldn't get it going. Saturday night, same thing.

And then Sunday, they make a switch to the lineup. They put Stott at the leadoff spot. They put Schwarber down in the five hole. I know they only scored one run today, but that's three straight wins with the new lineup. And I just, I had this feeling that they thought Bryce was coming back and that was going to fix everything.

And as we know in baseball, one player doesn't really change that much. You know, Bryce is great. Bryce's MV3, like, was unbelievable in the postseason. But it takes a village. It can't just be one guy. And what I've seen from the Phillies last night, which I thought was just good, solid, fundamental baseball from the offensive approach. I thought that last night was a grinded out, smart offensive plan.

Sunday in the finale of the Red Sox series, a good offensive showing. And today, it wasn't pretty for most of the game. We understand that. Kevin Gosman was ridiculous. It wasn't pretty for most of the game. We understand that. Kevin Gosman was ridiculous. I said it last night. It's either he allows seven earned or he's going seven shutout. And today they got seven shutout Kevin Gosman.

Sometimes you got to tip your cap. I know it can be frustrating to watch, and I understand that. But that's baseball. You have to tip your cap sometimes to talented pitchers. Kevin Gosman is not a nobody. But late in games but late in games, late in games, they didn't just give up against, you know, Jordan Romano late. You know,

he's a top tier-ish closer in the AL, and I was just, I was proud that it wasn't just like, eh, we'll get him next time. No. Harper let it off. Castellanos had a great at-bat. Schwarber struck out and JT smoked the ball

the wall. Bang. It's a 1-1 ballgame. So I was proud of the way they grinded it out. There were some frustrating points. You know, Sosa did get the bunt done eventually, but it had to be a 1-2 count. In that case, why not just let Marsh steal late?

And then, you you know Bryson Stott and and and Stott is a guy he's not gonna hit for a ton of power uh we know that he's not a super big power hitter kind of guy and I know he's been in a cold streak gotta get the bunt down there and it's just it's shocking how many major leaguers just seem like they struggle with getting a bunt down but regardless regardless, this lineup with Bryce back, and once these guys hopefully start getting on a roll, it is really, really deep. So while the offense was not great today,

I felt like they really grinded it out. The Castellanos at bat I thought was great to help tie the game up. You just continue to have this feeling that he is back and he's working good counts. He's not chasing all the time. He is going after pitches early in counts to try to drive. And then if he swings through it, he's able to usually get it back to a 2-2 count and kind of take advantage of some missed pitches by pitchers.

But he's been great. And they did what they needed to do today. They got obviously lucky late, but who cares? Like that's baseball. They give them, and they take them away. That's the sport. But other things about waking him up is, obviously, our two aces. Aaron Ola, I thought, was good last night.

I thought the velocity was back up, and you hope that he is now rounding the corner after it was a slow start to the season. And, frankly, for me, I know what he did in Houston was great, but I thought tonight was Zach Wheeler's best start of the year. He only had one walk. He struck out seven, only allowed three hits. It was like, there's Zach Wheeler. Like, there's Zach Wheeler.

96, pitched through the seventh inning. It was kind of just kick your feet up and bang, there goes wheels. So I really do view now the Dodgers and Red Sox series as wake-up calls for this team. And my second big takeaway is this one's been building for a while, but they've got to get Trey Turner going. I know that he has a 10-game hitting streak going right now, and that's all well and good.

But at the same time, he's batting, I think, 250 during that. Usually with a 10-game hitting streak, guys batting 350 to 400, it's like one hit a game. I think he has one multi-hit game during the entire hit streak. And what is really killing them right now is he is 6-for-33 this year with Ron in his scoring position. I know he had the walk in extras, which is good. I was proud of him.

Way to work a walk. But 6-for-33 with Ron in his the scoring position and he's two for 19 in late and close situations um now that's seventh inning or later and i believe down by two runs at the most um so in in big spots just not doing what they need him to do and what they paid him to do so um the part of what is giving me hope with Trey Turner is that his numbers right now mirror pretty much exactly what he was doing in April and May of last year. And that was a year where he ended up with 20 some home runs, 100 RBI and batted over 300. So I fully expect a Trey Turner bounce back beginning hopefully soon, but I just can't stop thinking about

when they get Trey Turner back to being Trey Turner at the plate. They go Turner, Harper, Castellanos in the middle of a lineup, and hopefully June Schwerber shows up, and he's great. And then you get JT, and then Boehm hopefully turns it around, and then Marsh continues to be pretty good. But really, that heart of the order, Turner, Harper, Castellanos, is just going to be a bear for pitchers to go through. So you want to keep looking for reasons to not throw in the towel

on this baseball team. That lineup, when they get these guys going, is going to be downright scary. And I can't wait for it to happen, but I really hope it happens soon. 215-592-9494 if you want to get in, leave in the game, all your takes on what you saw down at Citizens Bank Park today. Let's start it off with Dave in Maryland. What's happening, Davey? Hey, what's up, Jack?

Heading back from the game, drove up, got some nice Diamond Club seats today, and great, great win. Just to see him battle the whole day. Sitting down there, Gaussman was just flat-out ridiculous. The first inning he threw a split, I think a Schwarber, and that thing dropped like three feet in the last ten feet to the plate. It was ridiculous. They were lost.

You could see the looks on their faces in the box, but they just weren't hitting him. The best thing that happened was he threw 50 in the first three, and they got his pitch count up where he was in a 96 to 100 area, and Schneider took him out in the seventh, which was good. Our pitching was great today. Wheeler just looked fabulous. And then Castellanos' play out right again.

I don't know where that came from, but wow. That was a heck of a catch. Yeah, and if it wasn't for the late game of Ruggs, that's my play of the game. Like, that was a big spot. Matt Chapman drove the ball to the wall. Would have made it a 2-0 game. And the way that Gosman was pitching and the way the bullpen

for the Blue Jays has been, it was probably over. So Nick Castellanos, who before our eyes is turning into Nicky Gold Glove, it's been one of the more surprising turnarounds I can remember in Philly Sports Day. Like he is pretty good out there. His arm is still lollipop-ish. But when it comes to tracking a fly ball, I don't feel terrible when the ball's going towards Nick Castellanos now.

No, the other thing with the at-bat that he had in the ninth inning, just, you know, Fallon pitches off, Fallon pitches off, and then just, you know, find a way. I mean, that's what tied the game there. I mean, he gets out there, and then Schwarber strikes out, and then you never know what happens. Him just grinding that. And those are at-bats last year where that was three pitches

and a cloud of dust, and he's walking back to the dugout. And I'm happy for him just because he seems like, you know, just look at how he interacts with his son. He just seems like a genuine good dude. He can be a little prickly, obviously, but, like, you know, I think last year was just – I're you're seeing him as a person now and him as a player and he's a philly dude he certainly is dave and i appreciate the call and um not only happy for him but happy for us i mean we're getting back the the guy that we thought we

were signing last year um this is 2021 2019 cub uh nick cassianos. And he is just, you know, when he started to turn around, I think people were like, yeah, we'll see. Don't believe him yet. I believe in him. Like, I just, I flat out believe in him. I don't think this big swoon is coming. He's spitting on the right pitches. He's looking to launch on the right pitches.

It's not just little slap hits anymore that's causing his average to be higher. He's driving the baseball. And, again, that at bat in the ninth, that's something he's not even approaching last year. Now, I don't know if I can confirm or deny this, but I think the reason why the Phils came out so slow today was that the midday show was in attendance. So, Jillio Hugh, Kyle Quinn, they were all down there.

So, maybe the Phils were a little nervous with that being the first big outing for the new midday show. So I think we can chalk that up as just a slow start because of those guys being there. 2-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. It is the final out here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. On the other side, we'll get to the player of the game and, frankly, the player that could be a really important piece for a little bit here.

Who is it? We'll get to that, your phone calls, and a good injury update from Rob Thompson postgame. All that's coming up here on The Final Out. Welcome back. It is The Final Out here on Sports Radio 94. WIP is always The Final Out. It's sponsored by Regency Furniture.

Affordable never looked so good. Let's get to the player of the game. Brought to you by South Jersey Gas. Committed to providing safe, reliable, affordable natural gas. Make the switch at southjerseygas.com slash lovemyhome. And the player of the game for me today, yes, Wheeler was great. The walk-off was great. But that doesn't happen if it's not for Craig Kimbrell.

Craig Kimbrell pitched a scoreless top of the 10th, which it feels like in modern baseball with the zombie runner on second base, it's damn near impossible. And being able to do that, I think, is a testament to how quality his stuff is looking right now. Kimbrell was a guy that I was pretty out on when they signed him.

Looked bad to start the season. Got on a good streak there in the middle of the first three weeks of the season. Was a disaster. Was that out in LA? And I feel like everyone's like, well, there it is. Craig Kimbrell, bad. I'm just saying, between touching 99 last night and then coming back today

and still having that zip, generated a good amount of swing and miss, even with fastballs kind of down the middle or on the corners, and had a good feel for that slider curveball today. And with the injury to Jose Alvarado, now Rob Thompson did say postgame that they got good news on it and it was just a little bit of inflammation, but they're still going to kind of be cautious with him. You have to be. I mean, it's a guy who early in the season has already pitched a ton of innings,

and he's a guy that if you're going to stay in this thing and you're going to be hopefully coming down the stretch run trying to make a move here, he's a guy you're going to need. And Jose Alvarado has been great. And last year was great when he came back from the injury or when he came back from being sent down. But he ran out of gas in the LCS and in the World Series. He was great in game one of the World Series, but after that, it was just like, that's not the Jose Averado that we've seen for a good stretch here.

So hopefully it's more precautionary. They'll shut him down for a little bit, give him a little bit of a break, and then get him back and get him rolling. But during the meantime, for however long that Jose Averado's out for, Soto, Kimbrel, and Sir Anthony are going to be taking down a majority of the late inning options for the Phillies.

Soto, I think, has been more good than bad, obviously. His bad is really bad, but I think he has shown some good quality stuff. Kimbrell, hopefully, this uptick that we've seen the last two days continues. And Sir Anthony, I feel pretty good about. So in years past, losing a pitcher like Alvarado, I think, would have been a disaster. And while, yes, it still stinks, I don't think it's totally detrimental with Soto, Kimbrell, Sir Anthony. Still should be able to hold a good amount of leads. And then you factor in Belotti's on his way back.

And I know he's bad at the beginning of the year, but Belotti was one of those guys last year that they trusted a lot. I mean, Belotti was a guy that they relied on in a lot of spots last year. So hopefully the beginning of the season was just the workload from last year to tough time bouncing back. He took a bit of a break, and now we can get Andrew Belotti back right. But the big addition now is gonna be matt strom you know matt strom is now a guy you could factor in to some of the alvarado roles he probably won't close games he finished out the game against the red sox on sunday

but matt strom now you have soto and strom that can get lefties out so while losing alvarado stinks it feels good knowing that they do have quality options out there to where this thing won't fall apart. And we've got to see more Brogdon, who has been pretty good this year. So it stinks, but good update from Rob Thompson postgame. Seems more precautionary than anything. They got a good result on the MRI, so that is good news if you're the Phillies. 2-1-5-5-9-2, 94-94 is how you get in.

Maddie's in Wilmington. What's happening, Matt? Hey, Jack. Coming back from the game, it was a mixed bag. There was a lot of good and some bad. I was super impressed with what I saw from every guy that stepped on the rubber today. Obviously, Gosselin was just shut down. Yeah.

And that was going to be tough going into it. He's a great pitcher. But Wheeler looked fantastic. I agree. This was the best I had seen him. Like Houston considered as well. Like this is just, I think, far and away his best game. Kimbrell again yeah you

were right seeing this out of him that velocity zipping it in at 97 today um following a game he pitched last night that's that says something this isn't just like a fluke one inning deal that I think that this might be what we're looking at in terms of his velocity. And if that's the case, I mean, as awful as losing Alvarado is, I mean, this makes it much more palatable. Yeah, and the thing about his fastball today was it had that old classic Kimbrel, like, rise to it, which I thought we'd seen a little bit, maybe like a week and a half ago, and then it just fell apart out of L.A. But I thought today was a really,

really good sign and a good step in the right direction. And when you lose a guy like Alvarado with how shut down he is, it is nice having a guy who is the, what, the active leader in saves. So hopefully he can keep this up and kind of keep this bullpen afloat. Yeah. And at the beginning of the year, like he was just not capable of locating off speed. And because fastball velocity was so down it just was a disaster um and now he's both have been fixed his velocity up and now he's locating his off speed so i see a lot of good from

him um on the other side i i don't know the exact number but i I looked up at the scoreboard in the 10th inning, and I saw it was combined 0-for-18 or 0-for-17 Marsh, Stott, Boehm, and Sosa. That's going to happen with your younger guys when you face pitchers of Gossman's caliber, but Boehm is the same guy that destroyed Alcantara earlier this season. I think these younger guys are capable of hitting any pitcher in the league um and it's just a little more concerning um given stops numbers in may and booms kind of slump um that they're not really putting it together uh when you need them to and i'll even lump turner in with that group obviously he's had struggles. But there are just so many little black holes in this lineup that seem to pop up when they're least convenient.

Yeah, Matt. And I appreciate the call. And you're right. I guess my thing with the lineup is it's just very rare that everyone's hot at the same time. I think we have this notion that that's something that happens a lot. It doesn't really happen. Some guys are hot, some guys are going to be cold. Hopefully the cold guys can get a hit every once in a while and keep the train rolling.

But in the cases of Marstead and Boehm, yeah, they're definitely not as hot as they were at the beginning of the year. But at the same time, Harper's back, Cassianos has been good, JT's been good, and Schwarber, I hope, is coming around. So while the young guys got off to a hot start, the older guys did not. Now the older guys are starting to come back around, and now hopefully the younger guys can come along with them. I will say this, that I think Stott is still working good at bats. He wasn't great today. Didn't get the bunt down. Whatever. That happens. It's frustrating to watch, but whatever. I still think he's working good at bats, and I still want to keep him at the

top of the lineup regardless. I mean, they've won three straight with it. Just stick with it. Marsh smoked the ball last night for the double. That was a good sign. Hopefully he is coming back around. And Boehm, the thing about Boehm is it's been, I think, since the – he had a lot of home runs in the first two weeks of the season and hasn't had one since. So it feels like he's kind of reverting back to the driving the ball into the ground thing, Whereas what made him so exciting in the offseason and his spring training and the beginning of the season was that he was finally lifting the ball. So hopefully he kind of gets this thing righted and gets back to driving the

baseball because that's what made the beginning of his season so exciting. But yeah, I just think that the young guys hopefully will catch up to the old guys and it'll be fine. But there's no denying that they are in a bit of a downturn right now. And it happens. You know, the league saw what their adjustments were this offseason, and now they're adjusting back. So it happens.

They're young hitters. They'll continue to develop, continue to grow. And hopefully within the next month, they get back to being a lot more like we saw in the beginning of the season. 215-592-9494 is how you get in on the other side. I'll run through all of your phone calls, but also we'll look ahead to the Rocky series. Hopefully a get-right series,

but going out there has not exactly been the best thing for this team. Either way, we'll break that all down next here in the final out. And let me tell you about this. Because FanDuel is back, always. And the NBA playoffs are here, and you can turn crossovers into cash with FanDuel in partnership with Valley Forge Casino. Just visit

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And Jordan Poole, three threes. How many legs to that? It's only four legs. But $10 pays out $500. $500. So I can't wait to place that. FanDuel Sportsbook is the official partner of 94WIP. I really like the FanDuel app.

There's no better place to bet all the playoff action than America's number one sportsbook. Just go to FanDuel.com slash Fritz and sign up to get $150 in bonus bets when you bet your first five bucks. FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. The pitch. Swung on. Line to left field. Varshow came in. It's's over his head it goes to the wall harper's coming around third he'll score into third is castellanos and jt ties it up

with one out in the bottom of the ninth it's a 1-1 game how about that from jt welcome on back it is the final out of your on Sports Radio 94 WIP. As always, the final out is sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good. Jack Fritz hanging out with you here. Final segment here before handing things off to the rest of the night here on WIP. And JT, I mean, maybe just don't throw a million sliders over and over again if you're Jordan Romano.

You know, maybe mix in a fastball. You got 96 in your back pocket. Just throw it once in a while. But still, a good moment there. A good comeback win. A gritty comeback win. And one of those games that they needed. It's okay to win ugly.

Not every baseball game has to be perfect. I thought last night was a good, solid, fundamental baseball win, regardless of the Sir Anthony miscommunication in the seventh and it becoming close. I thought they played good, solid, fundamental baseball last night from the offensive side. Tonight was more ugly. A ton of strikeouts.

But Kevin Gossman was also really good. And shout out to Kevin Gossman, who just admitted post-game that the Phillies have the deepest lineup in the NL. So we take that. But either way, gritty wins like that, ugly wins, who cares? That's baseball. And it's going to happen to you, and it's going to happen against you. So this is one of those days where it helped them out,

and they need that when you're one game under.500 and fighting to get back into this race. Blake is in Narberth on the final. What's happening, Blake? Hey, Jack. As you just said, that was not the prettiest win. But after the way the homestand started against the Red Sox and coming off that bad series against the Dodgers,

it looked like it could have been really catastrophic. But to finish with a winning homestand against a really deep Blue Jays lineup, one of the best teams in the AL, and against their top two pitchers, is something that this team should be proud of, and it's a good accomplishment. Totally. And, you know, especially because it started off good. They went Houston and then disaster against the Dodgers. They got one against the hot Red Sox team.

To finish out a tough stretch like that by taking two against two of the better pitchers in the AL, it's good. It's a good start for what has been a tough start to the year. And this win, it reminded me parts of it like some of last year's team. They rallied around each other and lifted each other up, and they struggled early against Gosman. The Shadows didn't help, but the team didn't give up. They kept fighting, and that's why they won.

And it's whether it be Wheer his great outing the bullpen crimble of course castellanos is great catch really good at bat and then in the ninth and then tosa continuing to run all the way even when it looked like that double play was done he continued to run and reminded me that dodgers game where muncie bob with the ball yep and of course so so again in game one of the wild card against the Cardinals. Same type of play. Diving head first just before the tag. And that was a good heads-up play by Sosa to win this game. Yeah, it was.

And it's funny because he slid the exact same way. And shout-out to Vlade for making an inaccurate throw from 90 feet away. I mean, he hit a spot one time, Vlade. What do you got on Billy Falter, Blake? Yeah, so with the road series coming up, we never do well on course field unless Johan Camargo is coming back, and he's not. So I think that could be a tough series.

Hopefully we can win two there. But they skipped Bailey Falter's start in course field, and maybe that's a course field thing, or maybe they just don't have confidence in him. I'm not sure. But if Nick Nelson is healthy, the way Bailey Foster has pitched so far, and I was mildly confident in him coming in. He did well last year.

The way he's pitched so far has been atrocious. And Nick Nelson, I'm not saying he's going to be Roy Halladay in his prime, but if Nick Nelson can give you five innings of three-run baseball, six innings, three-run baseball, that's better than what you're getting from Bailey Falter so far, who has been flat-out terrible. All right, Blake. Appreciate the call. Apparently what they said, why they pushed the start back,

is because they want to see if they can get an uptick in velocity with the extra rest. We'll see. I just think that he has a better chance surviving in San Fran than he does against the Rockies in Colorado. So I think that's kind of what it was. Nick Nelson, you know, I like him as a long man. I think sometimes he's good. Most of the time, I don't really trust him.

He doesn't have the command I usually like to see from one of my starters. So, you know, hopefully to come down to Nick Nelson or Billy Falter sounds like a bad spot to be in. But hopefully Ranger comes back this weekend and kind of stabilizes it. Speaking of the probables this weekend, and they're going out to Colorado, which has been a house of horrors for this team. It just feels like they go out there and games just get ugly and they lose ugly. Maybe it's making up for getting me to the plate boys and, and helping them out with a tarp and Oh seven, you know, it's all coming back to us.

I mean, just a couple of September's and like 18 and 19 that I know I, that Jillio was doing the final out and it was just like the most disappointing possible outcomes. It felt like it was always Colorado. I feel like it was always Velasquez and Colorado. That was just leading to just nightmares. And the Philly season collapsing in front of my eyes.

So it has not been great going out to Colorado. But, you know, we know the Rockies aren't that great. It's get-writable. It should be get-writable. Hopefully they go out and do the proper things they need. They have an off day, so it's not like they're flying out today, got to play tomorrow. They get a day to acclimate to it all, whatever.

But there's no time to take a step back after what was a good two-game series over the Blue Jays. They face, so it's Tywin Walker on Friday versus Gomber. You know, Tywin Walker, it seemed like they might have found something there that could work with the amount of splitters he was throwing. We saw how much the splitter was working for Kevin Gosman today. They told Tywin Walker before his last start, hey, we're going to start throwing that splitter all the time.

So that could be their new plan there. Hopefully he stays healthy. A lot of splitters just usually leads to some injury concern, but whatever. Walker hopefully can kind of right the ship here and become someone you can rely on rather than dread starting a game. Ranger makes his return on Saturday, which I can't wait for. I can't wait to see Ranger again. Try not to go into it with too big of expectations,

but Ranger's a guy who I think that when he gets back and when he gets rolling, it's just going to be especially with the pitch clock, especially with how fast he works, I feel like he's going to have one of those hour and 45 minute complete games. I feel like consistently he's going to get them in the 6th, 7th, and he's going to give this bullpen a bit of a rest. He's traditionally had a

rubber arm, so I hope he gets back to that. Either way, Ranger cannot wait for him to get back on the mound for this team. They need him. Like they need Ranger back. He's going up against Feltner who dominated the Phillies here a couple weeks ago. So hopefully they can kind of get, get him back on Saturday night.

And then on Sunday, we got Nola versus Kyle Freeland. So Walker, Ranger, Nola should give you a chance to go at least take two of three out in Colorado, but we know how those games traditionally go. So I just have a, So Walker, Ranger, Nola should give you a chance to go at least take two of three out in Colorado. But we know how those games traditionally go. So I just definitely have a little bit of a fear of Nola on Sunday

with this series being split 1-1. But regardless, no negative thoughts. It took two straight from the Blue Jays. Josh is in Voorhees. What's happening, Josh? Hey, Jack. What's up? What's up, brother?

What do you got for me? I just want to say thank God for the pitch clock because I was at the game and the first couple, the first seven, eight innings, very boring. But thank God for the pitch clock. Yeah, for sure. I mean, the pitch clock kept that game moving along. And ultimately, like, Gossman was in such a rhythm, I'm not even sure the pitch clock.

Pitch clock or not, he was getting it going, so whatever. But yes, it was definitely a quick game. I said it was going to be a 1-0 game. I thought Wheeler and Gosman were both going to go at it, and they did just that. Great outing by Wheeler. He had a James Harden-esque game, and it was really great to see finally another great start for Wheeler.

Yeah, and hopefully the Red Sox start where they had the unfortunate incident in the first inning, they had a 10-minute delay. Maybe that got him off of a rhythm, and he would have been pretty good that night. But either way, two out of the last three starts against a Blue Jays lineup that's really good, even though Springer wasn't in it today, and an Astros lineup that is pretty good, is hopefully continued steps in the right direction for Zach Wheeler. For sure, for sure.

And you said it great. Winning both games with Gosman and Manoa on the mound, those are the two Blue Jays aces, and we won. So it's definitely two big wins. And you said that the player of the game was Craig Kimbrell. Obviously, you can make a case for Zach Wheeler being the player of the game. But Nick Castellanos, you know, dark horse, but not player of the game was Craig Kimbrell. Obviously, you can make a case for Zach Wheeler being the player of the game. But Nick Castellanos, you know, dark horse, but not player of the game

today. He had that big catch, obviously saved the run in the middle innings and had that big hit in the later innings to move up the runners and get that tying base runner home. So, Nick Castellanos, I mean, he's having a great year and it's great to see. Yeah, Josh, I appreciate the call. I mean, Nick Castellanos,

MVP of the team right now. He had a stolen base today, his first of the year. What can't he do? What can't Nick Castellanos do? He's making great plays in right field, hitting the ball out of the ballpark, hitting over 300. Whatever. The guy's a machine. Now he lays off pitches. This is exactly who we thought we were getting, except with

good defense this time. Shout out to Castie. Shout out to the Phils. Big comeback win today. And one they needed. I don't care how ugly it is. You take those

anytime you can get them. That's going to do it for me here on the final out. Obviously, I'll be back tomorrow with Marks and Reese.

And then Friday night, I'll get you set with leading off heading into Phil's Rockies. Nick Earnshaw produced this portion of the program.

Tom Kelly, TK, is on to lift your spirits. Coming up next here on Sports Radio 94 WIP.