High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Phillies-Padres NLCS Game 2 Reaction Pod: Missed Opportunity in San Diego

Episode Date: October 20, 2022

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phillies losing Game 2 of the NLCS live on Sportsradio WIP. 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

This is the High Hopes podcast. High Hopes! It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies. On Odyssey and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo, it is. Final out. Slash High Hopes recap of game two of the NLCS. I gotta tell you, Jack Fritz.

Jack Fritz, James Seltzer with you. For an hour till 10. Jody Mack coming up later. So we've been doing all these, you know, post-game pods. We were on after the clincher and I just, I felt so energetic, Jack. I've come on the air

and I'm so ready to talk about the Phillies. Less ready tonight. How you doing, pal? Yeah, that sucked. Like straight up. Pretty perfectly, it sucked. Straight up, that sucked. And I am not in no way, shape, or form doing the whole panic, sky is falling.

I am very, very glad that the Phillies are 1-1 heading home. And they're coming back to Citizens Bank Park, which anything we learned over the weekend is going to be a tough place for opposing teams to come in to win. Especially a team like San Diego. that play on the West Coast. There's a cute little crowd they had out there. And, you know,

I think that these next couple days are going to be awesome. But my concern is that you get a 4-0 lead on the road with your second best pitcher on the mound and now you're heading home and it's Ranger in Game 3, a possible bullpen game in Game 4, and then it's Zach Wheeler in game five on

short rest. So they missed the golden opportunity here to grab a stranglehold in this NLCS, and they let the Padres back in it. The simple fact of the matter is they let the Padres back in it. That's a game they should have won, and sitting here, yeah, I am disappointed they lost that game tonight. It wasn't very fun, and when you have your best pitcher on the mound with a 4-0 lead, that game's got to be closed out.

They let the floodgates open, and they weren't able to stop it. And that stinks. But they did what we asked them to do, which is split out in San Diego, and we would have taken that 10-0. Yeah, well, that's the funny part, right? Coming into the series, I think most of us said, hey, get me one in san diego i didn't expect them to sweep in san diego i thought they would win a one or two it's just jack that they

win the first game and they get the four nothing lead today and it's like oh my goodness here we go yeah you're sitting there at four nothing like this might be special and i still feel special you know i sat there last night thinking like they might really go to the world series and nothing's really having to move me off that. No team's going to go undefeated in their route to a World Series. They're going to lose games. It's just when you lose like that.

When you lose like that it just hurts a little bit more. Now, to their credit James, they had a crushing loss in Atlanta as well. Reese made that error that was a very winnable game. They came back and they just destroyed their Braves at home. You have to hope that they

bounce back in Game 3 and that wasn't a game tonight that just sucked the life out of them. Now, I don't think that's the case. I don't either. And frankly, James, I liked how they fought in the 8th. I know Reese hit the home run to make it 8-5. And they really did have a chance there for some momentum,

and Machado made a freak play. I mean, Machado's an unbelievable defensive player, a game changer. So I thought they had a little bit of momentum there. They didn't totally roll over, but when you have a 4-0 lead and Aaron Nolan on the mound, close that game out. Yeah, and that's what it comes down to. And again, it is funny because it is a tale of two nights.

Really, last night was magical. We all felt amazing about this team. And then tonight, the way they lose it makes it so frustrating. But I do agree with you. Look, this team outscored the Braves 17-4 at Citizens Bank Park. We were in that ballpark on Saturday. You were in it both nights. There was something special happening at Citizens Bank Park this past weekend.

I think it's going to be special again this upcoming weekend. And I think it's a massive advantage. Like, I think the Phillies actually get a home field advantage, which is something you don't really see that much in baseball comparatively. I think it is a big advantage to come back home. But to your point, look, they have Joe Musgrove on there. They're best pitchers pitching game three. That's scary.

It is a scary spot. Padres are a good team. You know, they are a good baseball team. They got a lot of talented guys. But again, like, I'm right there with you. My main feeling tonight, you know, I'm disappointed about the game, but my main feeling tonight is I'm not going to overreact to this game. They had a couple bad innings.

It was two bad innings. Two bad innings. They've really only had three bad innings in the playoffs. You know, like, that's it. They're still 6-2 in the playoffs. They still, you know, again, outscored team 17-4, outscored the Braves 17-4 here. I am confident with them coming home.

But again, I understand. Tonight I think there are going to be a lot of angry Phillies fans after the way they blew that game. Yeah, and it's because it felt very old Phillies. It felt exactly like, it was like muscle memory. It was like, oh yeah. For as much as they've won games this postseason that I've seen them lose a thousand times, that game tonight was a game that I've seen them lose a thousand times that I felt like

it was coming. It was a little reassuring, honestly. This is my comfort zone. Yeah honestly it's like this is my this is my comfort zone just something you want to believe too much they throw that one out there and make sure that you're not believing in them that much but yes they lost the game um frankly it was a disappointing thompson game for me you know it was one of those games where you know he has been so good at having a feel for this team and to his credit you know i i think with nola he's just kind of trusting that he's going to figure it out but i

said at the beginning of the of that i was with you you did it's the beginning of the fifth inning like you got to get someone up um because you could you could tell at the beginning of that inning that nola was just a little bit off and looking at nola's start tonight um fastball occasion wasn't where it had been the last couple of starts. He was up a little bit. Didn't have the feel for his changeup. Like, changeup is the pitch. When you're a two-pitch pitcher in Major League Baseball, you're going to get hit, especially if you don't have overwhelming stuff like he doesn't.

Like, he has very, very good stuff. It's awesome, but it's not like 100 miles an hour, good luck trying to hit this. So his changeup was a bit off to me. And the thing that I found interesting in watching him was didn't use the cutter much. And I thought the cutter was a pitch that he was starting to get a good feel for and maybe tonight he didn't have it so maybe he didn't have feel for the cutter didn't have feel for the change up and it's one of those starts you know I am not pressing the the massive panic button on on Aaron Nola saying oh my gosh here we go again because I think he's done too much good and he's earned our trust a little bit

more than to totally freak out about a bad start it was a bad start and maybe you know maybe he's a cold weather pitcher you know i mean this whole idea that he only pitches well in the heat maybe he's a cold weather pitcher um but it felt like four nothing against the cardinals all over again in 2011 you know it's very very similar um and you know Soto a bad pitch selection to me he had him one two I would have gone change up away I know he didn't have feel for it so they put it right in his power zone um he ripped it down the right field line and then it just it's got to be a backbreaker that Austin Nola's the one that made it six four of course it was just crushing man it's got to be so crushing and and look, I'm with you. The next time Nola takes the hill, I will be confident that he'll go out and deal. But you could tell, like, from the jump, he wasn't the same pitcher he's been the last three starts.

The start in Atlanta, the start in St. Louis, and then the start in Houston, he just didn't have the same type of sharpness with his stuff. He wasn't able to control it as well. And it came back to bite him and it was frustrating. It was frustrating to watch. But again, I do, you know,

I, I, for me, at least the main takeaway is, is I'm not going to over, I'm not going to overreact to this. I'm not going to overreact to this. I think this team is still in a really good position.

Again, we wanted them to win one or two in San Diego and they won one. Like it is such classic Phillies that they find a way to make us disappointed when they went out there and did what we asked them to do prior to the series well and especially the reason why i'm definitely not in panic mode and why i still feel good is that we literally just saw this last week like that that was yeah exact same situation a very similar game than atlanta well they didn't score a run like they scored runs today um And I thought the offense looked decent throughout the day. And they still hit a homer, which is nice by Reese.

But they just did this. And in 2008, they lost game two of the World Series. You lose these games all the time. It's a bad loss. It's a brutal loss. But I also don't fault people that sit here being like, damn. We had a 4-0 lead with our ace on the mound. The back-to-back home runs that happened like that, that's letting the Padres get back into the game and making them feel a little bit of momentum.

Bryce late in the game, he's a chance to really kind of put a lot of pressure on the Padres. He grounds into a double play. Brad Hand hits Jake Cronenworth which is brutal insane like like brad you're you're a you're a 12 year major league vet at this point you know that's it that pitch in that situation is just awful um and especially because he's his job is to come in and get the lefty on the situation he has two outs in the fifth you can't use alvarado at that point it's too early it's it's the fifth inning brad hand has been one of their high leverage relievers so they use the high leverage reliever i know he's the two inning. Brad Hand has been one of their high-leverage relievers, so they used a high-leverage reliever.

I know the two ERA he has this year doesn't feel real because we've watched Brad Hand. But Brad Hand's going to make a pitch there. And then he has Stain and face a righty, and everything fell apart. Brutal, tough loss, but all hope is not lost. 215-592-9494. Get on the line now. We're going to take calls next segment. 215-592-94-94.

It's Jack Fritz, James Seltzer. It's a little high hopes edition of Final Out right here on WIP. Get on the line now. We'll take calls next. It's Fritz at Seltzer. We're coming right back. It is Final Out. Jack Fritz, James Seltzer with you until 10.

Jody Mack coming up after that, taking you through the night as we're reacting to Game two of the NLCS, the Phillies lose. It's just weird that they lost a playoff game. I got so used to just, you know, just handling business, winning playoff games.

I got used to coming on and melting down about how good I feel about the Phillies. Here I sit and a guy that I put so much faith in and Aaron Nola to have that performance today. It's like, it's like my faith in the world is shook. Well, and Topper, too. I mean, every single move Topper has made, every kind of switch he's pushed has worked out.

Every time we're like, move Hoskins out of the tool, boom. No, not doing it. Like, put Guthrie in right field, boom. Like, every single thing this guy does last night, don't take Wheeler out, boom. Like, every single thing this guy does last night, don't take Wheeler out, boom. Like, he has been on fire with the moves, and tonight they came back to bite him. The Nola call you were right about, bringing Brad Hand into that spot,

knowing that if he can't get Cronenworth out, you got Drury coming up, crush his left-handed pitchers. Like, there were multiple spots where Thompson just didn't have the magic that he's had, you know, really the rest of this playoff. Man, I really thought we were getting 2018 kora i mean 2018 kora i thought was the best managerial job i'd ever seen and and yeah i mean some listen baseball is a coin flip game you know and some guys sometimes players got to make plays and thompson can put these guys in positions to succeed and ultimately they're the ones have to make a pitch. Like Brad Hand hitting Jake Cronenworth on a 1-2 slider is whatever.

2-strike slider is atrocious. Like absolutely atrocious. And I know there was some criticism of that move. Some people would have rather brought in Alvarado at that point, bringing a guy that could come in and kind of shut the door right there. It was a high leverage spot without a doubt. Yeah, it's just in my opinion, it's early for that. And I want him for later in the game,

and you hope that it doesn't get completely out of hand. Now, he couldn't stop the bleeding. I mean, it went from 4-4 to what, 8-4? 7-4, 8-4 was later when Machado hit that. Right, 7-4, like out of nowhere. They scored eight unanswered runs on the Phillies pitching staff, which has been something that just hasn't happened recently. I just think that Brad Hand comes in that situation,

and you have to trust the guy who's done it before not to do that in that situation, the lefty-lefty matchup. Get the job done, and then you're out of the inning. It's still 4-4, and then it's go time. Then it's like we can bring in our high-leverage guys and go. Unfortunate move that didn't work out. And ultimately, look, it comes back to Nola. Like, again, in this case, Nola couldn't get outs with a 4-0 lead,

you know, in a spot where he needs to get outs for you. And that's what it comes back to. Now, good they have the off day tomorrow. Big, big. You know, the bullpen can be fully rested heading into Friday. The problem with what Nola did tonight, now they didn't end up using any of the high leverage guys, so that's pretty good.

You know, I mean, they used Robertson, which didn't turn out well. But they're probably going bullpen on Saturday, so you're going to need to use these guys again. But off day tomorrow, Ranger Friday, got to give them at least 5-6. Big time. So you're not using these guys again. But, yeah, that's when your starters go short. It changes the entire series because then you have to use more and more relievers.

And, look, thank God the bats have been hitting again, even though they didn't get the job done today. They did put up a five spot. That will win a lot of playoff games for you. And they hit in Citizens Bank Park. And thank God Gibby gave him two innings. How about that, buddy? Gibby, never giving up a run in the playoffs.

That's what we do. Zero ERA. Big game, Gibby. 2-1-5-5-9-2-94-94. If you want to get in and react to us, with us to game two of the NSCS. Let's go to Phoenix and talk to our guy, Jim. What up, Jim?

Hey, boys. How are you? Ah, could be better, Jim. Got to be honest with you. Could be a lot better. Could be up 2-0 right now, Jimmy. I hear you. Sorry I don't have the normal energy I do.

I'm finishing up a 14-hour day. Yeah, Jimmy, I feel you, man. I've been getting the energy from the wins, too, Jim. I said to Jack on the ride over here, I was like, normally at this point I'm like frothing at the mouth to talk, and now I'm just like, I want to go to bed. Yeah, we're going to be okay, guys. Let me throw some stuff at you here that you probably will remember

from the earlier series. Musgrove doesn't scare the Phillies at all. We went against him when he was much hotter in the season. He hadn't even been beaten yet. We tagged him with his first loss of the season. He's pitching much better than he is now. There's a couple of things. Don't be surprised if our manager or one of the coaches or something tries to throw him

off his game a little bit and have the umpires check his ears for the game. I wouldn't be surprised if the fans were earmuffs and stuff like that. If there's one thing I'm pretty confident in, the fans will be ready for the ears situation. No doubt. They'll be ready for the ears. They'll have some salve with them.

They'll get to him like nobody's business, but the Phillies are going to come home and they're going to hit and they're going to hit and they're going to hit san diego's not getting out of there they're not returning home wow i love the confidence yeah oh i just have seen the team play i mean i saw him play against atlanta who's twice as good as san diego and i mean they embarrass the braves they outscored him 17 to 4 and uh watch for um just keep an eye on this they haven't named the starter yet my gut feeling tells me Falter is getting the start well yeah it was a weird it was a weird comment from Thompson where he actually said it's going to be the same type

of thing as game four last time but it might be a different starter definitely weird that he threw that in there for sure yeah you were on that too yeah I just think they're going to throw the left hander to neutralize the left-hand hitters. So I think that's it. And Falter, the reason he didn't start against the Braves is because they kill left-handers. San Diego doesn't do that. So I think he goes four, and then they piggyback probably Syndergaard back behind him, and that probably works out well for us.

But I just think that our fans will have us so revved up. San Diego hasn't seen anything like this on the road. And Jim, great call. And yeah, look. I disagree. I mean, New York wasn't like this. Are you serious? Are you kidding me?

Nothing is like this. I have never seen, again, I watched one at home and one there. And there it's amazing. Obviously, you're there. I'm telling you, Jack, watching the game at home and one there. And there it's amazing. Obviously, you're there. I'm telling you, Jack, watching the game at home, I have never in my life watching baseball heard a pop as loud as that stadium. Never. I'm just saying that, first off, I hope you're right.

This is not. But it's not like the Mets fans aren't Northeast sports fans. You know what I mean? The Padres went there and won three games. I feel like Mets fans were checked out, though, man. They didn't even sell out game three. They didn't sell out a deciding game at home in the playoffs, Jack. Well, that's because they're losers.

We're at $600 tickets for these games in Philly. Like, come on. Well, the Mets definitely were a little tight. The Mets fans were a little tight. They just choked away a 10-and-a-half game lead. I think Mets fans went into that, like that down on their team, out on their team, whereas Phillies fans are coming into this and did come into those two games at home jacked up and ready to roll, man.

I do think it'll matter. Yeah, well, the crowd will 100% be a factor. I just think that Musgrove pitched a dominant outing in New York, which I don't think is the easiest place to come into. I'm not saying the crowd's going to own the game, but I do think it is an advantage for the Phillies. I do wish it was Snell pitching here.

I think this place would have smoked Snell. Oh my god. We would have gotten in his head and just crushed him. And I will say, last week after they lost in Atlanta, which is also Wednesday and they had the off day Thursday, it felt like a lot of the fan base had the proper reaction. And by the time Friday rolled around, people were just revved up.

And, I mean, if you're a player on that plane on the ride home, you're like, we get to go home to our people. Yeah. And I think you get excited about that. And if you're a player at home on that plane, you know you blew it today. Like, you know you were the better team out there for the majority of baseball, and you blew it. So I do think that they do know that they can beat this team,

and I think they're coming home. And, look, we heard what the players said after being here. Like, it was clear. Every single one of them was blown away by it. I do think that they're going to have an extra little juice coming back here. Yeah, my hope is that they didn't wake up Machado and Soto. Well, yeah. That's a concern, Jack.

That's a concern. Believe it or not, pretty good. Both pretty good players. Now, the rest of the lineup hasn't scared me. It's not great. Yeah. It hasn't scared me. Like, Cronenworth has done nothing to put fear in me.

Like, honestly, the third batter I'm most afraid of in their lineup is – Josh Bell. Oh, I forgot. Yeah, he's the worst because he just crashes them. Yeah. I was going to say Austin Nola. Sure, which is crazy. Which is not even his fight.

I mean, Brandon Drury didn't play yesterday. Yeah, just don't pitch a lefty against Brandon Drury ever again. 215-592. Put that in your analytics. There it is. 215-592. 94-94. It is final592-9494. It is final out.

It's Fritz. It's Seltzer. We're coming right back. It is final out. Jack Fritz, James Seltzer. You don't have the same buzz on your it is's tonight, by the way. I know. What do you think?

I know. They lost. Honestly, that is the biggest just pure feeling that I have is after these wins, I am elated. I am energetic. I can't go to bed. I honestly want to go to sleep right now. No offense to anyone. I want to go to bed.

I'm tired. That's how I feel. I'm all drained right now, Jack. Well, it's been such an exhilarating postseason run that, you know, you get one of these stinkers every once in a while. I know. And it's just like, well, that wasn't as fun. I know.

Because this run has been, first of all, it's been so unexpected. Oh, my God. Out of nowhere. It's something that, you know, even if you ask us, and maybe Jim and Phoenix, the most positive Phillies fans maybe on the planet, we were like, listen, just win a series and get me a home playoff game, and I'm happy. Getting a home playoff game was the only thing I was looking for

heading into this postseason. We just wanted to end the drought and then get a home playoff game. That was it. That's all we were asking for. But now the expectations have been raised. And I legitimately sat there last night. And part of the job is telling people how you feel. And how I felt last night was, we're watching a team that's going to go to the World Series.

And I still think that. I still feel good about where the team is at. So that's not going to change that. But you lose a game like that. And it just it's so deflating um and to do it in that spot and to do it up for nothing with no law on the hill and to have really good you know positive momentum early in that game like the the Padres had no juice it carried over from last night like the beginning of that game it carried over the Padres were giving it to... The Padres were doing everything they could. The Padres and the Sun

were doing everything they could to give the Phillies a game. I wasn't a big Sun guy. They... The Padres had no juice. They were let back in with two home runs, and they started believing. When a team starts believing, then they start doing what they did, which is put up eight unanswered runs on you.

That stunk. Again, I mentioned in the first first segment but i liked how they battled back in the eighth because i think those kind of things carry over as well they didn't just lay down they didn't just say okay we lost ours let's go back to philly they got a run they had a little rally momentum going the double play happened and it kind of just killed all of us yeah and look again i do think the juice that they will get knowing what it's like at CBP, they will be excited to play in front of that crowd. I mean, they said it.

Reese was like, I want to do this again. I do think CBP will make a difference again. 215-592-9494. Let's go to the Northeast and talk to Joe. What up, pal? Hey, James. Jack, how are you? Joe, how are we?

Okay, you know, one thing, we have to be ahead going into the ninth inning because, you know, most of the times we're not going to hit Hayter. Okay, so, you know, it's sort of like when he was with the Brewers. You know, you had to stay away from, was it Devin Williams and him, you know, and the way he's throwing the ball, you know, we can't be behind. Tonight's game, you know, on the postgame, Thompson was saying, they asked him about was it too early to bring in Alvarado, and he said, oh, yeah, especially since he pitched last night.

Well, that was the better reason to bring him in. Cronenworth, he didn't move out of the way for that. He knew it was a breaking ball. He took the pitch and moved it on to Drury, okay? And then so you had right-handed batters coming up. So suppose that hand doesn't get him. Well, then he's got a face Drury and he's got a face Bell. And so you bring in Alvarado just for that one batter, all right?

And now you've got a 4-4 game with four innings to go. You've still got Eflin. You've still got Dominguez. You can use Noah Syndergaard for an inning. And, Jack, you know, I'm sorry, James, you know, your show talks about this guy, such a big deal. Robertson is a batting practice pitcher. That's why Machado hit the home.

He's not hot. He hit an infield single today. He hit the home run off the batting practice pitcher. We can't have him in tough situations. So, you know, like tonight, Brogdon looked better, didn't he? Yeah, but Joe, I mean, think about it. And good call. In the St. Louis series,

Robertson looked better than Brogdon looked in Atlanta. And Robertson is coming back from the injury. He didn't look totally right tonight for what it's worth. No, he made a bad pitch to Machado. He hung a pitch that Machado didn't come close to missing. For as much as Kyle Schwalber didn't miss the night before, Machado didn't miss on that pitch. I just disagree with the Alvarado thing.

I'm not bringing him in in the fifth. I understand looking back. It was a high leverage spot. Looking back, hindsight being 20-20, yeah, sure, I would have brought Jose Alvarado in to make sure it's not seven four out of nowhere but in the moment for as much as i don't trust brad hand and for as much as his era is too like brad hand is a high leverage reliever he's a guy that's made a lot of big outs in major league baseball he needed to make a two strike pitch to jake cronenworth he needed to get a slider over and not hit him.

Do your job. Like do your job. That's the fifth inning. That's not a spot where I need to bring in a guy that closed out a game for me last night. If I had a Dodgers bullpen. Yeah, sure.

If I had these bullpens that are just loaded to the tees with everything I need to get a job done, then yeah, bring in a superb option there, but we're dealing with what they have here and i i just i think brad hans find that situation i really do 215-592-9494 it is final out with jack fritz and james seltzer a little high hopes edition well of final out low hopes tonight but you know the hopes are still high high hopes annoyed, annoyed hopes. There you go. I like that. Annoyed hopes.

That is good. All right, 215-592-9494. If you're on the line now, I see who you are. I will get to you next segment. Don't go anywhere. If you want to call in, 215-592-9494. Jody Mack coming up at 10 o'clock. We've got you until then.

It's Fritz and Seltzer. It is. An aggressive return. Final out for you. I did that for you, buddy. Also, High Hopes, it's Jack Fritz, James Seltzer. We got about 10 minutes to go. Not quite. Jody Mack coming up next. Let's get some calls in before we get out of here.

Is that nice to know that there's still the Phillies every once in a while? It felt like a different team. Reassuring. Yeah, it's a guy. They're still there. I know how to handle this. Well, because honestly, we're getting to a point where I was like,

I trust this team way too much. Way too much. Obviously, last night, that just working out in the ninth inning, the Boehm error or miscommunication. It's like, oh, here we go. And then they just got the job done. And all the games in St. Louis and Game 1 in Atlanta, you know, it was nice that they still have the ability to lose a baseball game

in painful, painful fashion. Again, I feel comfortable. Yeah. This is our homeostasis. But everything's fine. Everything's fine. 2-1-5-5-9-2-9-4-9-4. Let's go to Egg Harbor Township and talk to Steve.

What up, pal? What's going on? Yeah, you know what? I understand we lost today. And, you know, let's go to Egg Harbor Township and talk to Steve. What up, pal? What's going on? Yeah, you know what? I understand we lost today. And, you know, let's face it. San Diego's not going to lay down. They're a pretty good team. They took out the best team in baseball this year, the Dodgers, in four games.

So, I mean, you've got to give them some credit. You can see NOLA didn't have it today. I was telling my son when it was 4-0, I said, look, I said, NOLA's hanging some balls. I said, so if these guys get on a ball, this could be a ball game. I didn't really expect to lose, but I'm satisfied with 1-1. We're coming home. If we

got to go back to Nolan game six out in San Diego, he's not going to have that kind of game again, I don't think, not the way he's been pitching. I'm satisfied with 1-1. Especially because he has pitched so well out in San Diego the last two years. Now it's only two starts. But the start last year, he went 82 thirds and no hit baseball before allowing a back-breaking home run to Jake Cronenworth and struck out 11.

His start earlier this year, he struck out 10 over seven innings out in San Diego. Today felt more like an aberration than the norm with Nolan. He just didn't have his stuff. He's a guy that needs his stuff to be a great pitcher. When he doesn't have it, he's not going to be as effective. His stuff's not overwhelming. He just didn't have it today, Steve. And it sucked.

They blew it a 4-0 lead, but it's not the end of the world. Exactly. I agree with you 100%. I mean, I expect to take two out of three in Philly. I don't expect it to end in Philly. I don't expect to sweep them. I think it's going back to San Diego, and I think we can win it out there.

Love it, Steve. Yeah, I said Philly's... Preferably lose Saturday night. Yeah, lose Saturday night. That's the one we want them to lose. I thought they were going to win six before the series. Like, my prediction for the series is Philly's in six. It's so funny how, you know, that first game

and coming off the two games at CBP, it's like you just forget. You're like, oh, yeah, I thought it was going to happen this way, but as soon as they lose the way they do, it's like, oh, no. I know. I don't think it's going to happen like this. I will say, as someone that, I mean, I experienced a game five, so I get it.

Experiencing the fills in a game seven sounds terrifying. No one. I mean, that's one of the craziest Phillies factoids or nuggets none of us have ever experienced it because the Phillies have never played a game seven before. Well, I mean, the Phillies have only been around for, what, 130 years? You would think, 125 years. You would think at some point maybe you play in a game seven.

Oh, wait, we never make the freaking playoffs. Yeah. Well. It is crazy, though. Like, that is a crazy just nugget for a team that's been around as long as the Phillies. They've never played in a game seven. Could this be the series, buddy? Sounds excruciating.

Let's go to Newtown and talk to Rich. Hey, Rich. Oh, hey, guys. Richie, what's up, brother? I'm all over the place. I got a lot of things. Let it out, pal. Let it out.

Give us your things, buddy. So, three for 11 with runners in scoring position. I know they put up five, right? But we have some big spots where we could have chipped away at that eight runs. And it was really one bad inning, just like against Atlanta. You know, one bad inning led to the loss. So we go back home. I would love it if they sweep them, that we don't have to, you know,

sweep at home so we don't have to go back out there. But if they don't, I still have faith that they're going to take it in at least seven. But I don't know. I don't know. I got a little nervous feeling the September Phillies again tonight. Well, that's what it felt like, man. Again, that's what it felt like. They blew a 4-0 lead. It felt way more like the Phillies we know than the Phillies we've been watching for the last two weeks.

That was familiar tonight. And, James, you were at the game on Saturday, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, it was incredible. Yeah. So I think that's as close as we're going to get to Game 7 right now anyway. You know, if we get to Game 7, would it be in? It would be in San Diego.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I meant if we go to the World Series, too. No, we would be the away team in the World Series, too, because we had the worst win in both those teams. Yeah, and Rich, good call. Look, you know, again, I can't get past the fact that even though I thought it would go six, I'm just so demoralized from tonight's game that it's like. Well, again, if it's going to go six, they have to lose another game.

I'm just letting you know. That's the point. We have to handle another one of these losses. We're handling it really well so far. I think we to lose another game. I'm just letting you know. That's the point. We have to handle another one of these losses. We're handling it really well so far. I think we're doing pretty well. I got to be honest. And I think that, you know, as you sit here, it's frustrating they lost, and I totally get that.

But there's just been a level of trust that I think that you should have in this team. They've consistently bounced back when they've lost. They have been a resilient team. All year, really. Outside of a couple weeks in September. In the ninth inning in game one in St. Louis, they came back from 2-0 down. They lost the game

in Atlanta. They came back. They destroyed the Braves. They have bounced back from stuff before. They've stayed in game. It stunk. It stunk. They lost that game. It really did. Little things could happen that changed the outcome, of course. And if we make some pitches, then it's a completely different game. But one bad loss.

Yeah, and again, to the caller's point and to the point we made before, it was really a bad inning. Like, he gave up those two homers, but it was really one bad inning that completely submarine the team, which is the exact same thing that happened in Atlanta. An inning just goes the wrong way, and it submarine the team, which is the exact same thing that happened in Atlanta. An inning just goes the wrong way, and it's submarine the game. More innings that they have played, the Phillies have been the better team. I think they're the better team than San Diego.

Tonight, just things kind of didn't go their way. All right, Jack, we're out of here in a couple minutes. Jody Mack's coming up next. Quickly, looking ahead to Game 3, where is your head at? What are you expecting out of Ranger? Obviously, we know about the crowded CBP. Where is your head at for Game 3? I have trust in Ranger.

I do. I think he's going to go out and pitch a gem on Friday night. I have a really, really good feeling about him heading into the game because the last start in Houston, that was coming off of the celebration. Yeah, throw that out the window. We'll give him a pass. But his location was not the same down in Atlanta. He was walking a ton of guys.

Five walks, man. Yeah, for a guy that is a command guy, that was shocking. And for a guy, we came in thinking he's so cool, calm, and collected, like this won't be a problem for him. And it did get to him. Yeah, I just think that he's probably thrown two bullpen sessions since his art in Atlanta. I think he's going to get it right. he's a guy that i trust in in big moments we talked a lot about how we trust

him and um he looks like a guy that you can trust in a playoff series and a playoff start and i think that being with the home crowd behind him will get him energized so i feel good about him joe musgrove terrifies me like just straight up terrifies me I think his stuff is gross I think he pitched in a hostile environment in New York and pitched really well in that spot the ear thing will be funny to see the fans deal with it if Joe Girardi is the manager I bet he would check

his ear you know just because he's a dork so I don't think the Phillies will do that but I feel good about Ranger I really do legitimately Legitimately feel good. He was pitching really well before the Houston start. He didn't have a good game down in Atlanta, but I think he's thrown a couple bullpens since then. And I think he's going to be ready to go.

And that crowd is going to energize him and have him even more fired up. Yeah, I hope so. And look, I'm excited for it to come back to the bank, just to experience that, to see that again. It was the coolest thing I've ever been a part of. So I do feel really confident with them coming home. But again, Game 3 is massive. Game 3 is such a big, big, big game for this team.

All right, coming up. And the last thing, the thing that I like the most, James, is that they've never won a series where they don't win Game 1 in their entire history as a franchise. So they got Game 1. There it is. That's all that matters. You're right.

Yeah, they can't lose now. Excuse me. I'm giving out the phone number for Jody. All right. Jody Mack is coming up next. Thank you to Tucker Bagley producing the show. Thank you to everyone who called in. Could not do the show without you.

Again, check out our pod, High Hopes Podcast. We'll be doing pods after the game on Friday and obviously through the weekend and all that. And check us out on Sunday. We'll be on after the game on Sunday, which now we can say is needed. We're like, we'll be on Sunday if needed. It's needed. Could be a clincher.

Could be a clincher. We'll be on there. Look, last time we were down there doing a game from the stadium, it was a clincher, so that bodes well. All right, again, thank you to everyone who called in. Thank you to everyone who listened. Coming up next is Jody Mack. Thank you to Jack Fritz.

I'm James Seltzer. We'll talk to you guys later.