PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - POSTGAME: Is Ketel Marte’s ABSENCE Causing the D-backs’ Downward Spiral in Series Loss to Red Sox?

Episode Date: August 19, 2026

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ downward spiral continues as they fall to the Boston Red Sox 9-4 on Tuesday, dropping the series on the road. But the loss feels like much more than another game in the sta...ndings. With the Ketel Marte drama entering Day 2 and no resolution in sight, the D-backs looked listless and completely out of answers. We break down Merrill Kelly’s brutal outing, as he surrendered 6 earned runs in a start Arizona desperately needed. Gabriel Moreno briefly gave the D-backs and all of us hope with a grand slam, but the bullpen gave three more runs right back and slammed the door on any potential comeback. So, who is to blame for this one? And has Arizona finally reached the “all is lost” moment of its season? We dive into the loss, the growing Marte situation, and why the D-backs suddenly feel like a team in serious trouble. JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4 An ALLCITY Network Production SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix PHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/ Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX15 at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order! Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visit https://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotes Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 40% 2+ pairs of off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people. Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you! When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Arizona Diamondbacks drop a brutal second game to the Boston Red Sox and lose their third in a row. Of course, the Cattell Marte situation does not seem to be helping any as it enters day two with no resolution in sight. We're talking about all of this right now. Don't you go anywhere? Oh my God. I hate that song so much. Welcome in to another edition of the P.HNX.D. Backs podcast live, live from Studio K, presented by our friends. at Circle K. I want to give a shout out because at least they didn't let us down tonight.
Starting point is 00:00:46 At least they and Gabby Moreno came through for us. But the rest of this team didn't seem to on a night where the Diamondbacks lose game two of their three games series with the Boston Red Sox by a score of nine to four. They have now lost the series to Boston and they have lost their third game in a row. That's no welcome. That's no way to welcome my friends in. But welcome anyway to all of you into the PH&X Diamondbacks postgame show. I am your mayor, occasionally known as Derek Montia.
Starting point is 00:01:14 Your dog is here, but he is not a happy dog. He is not the D-Backs dog tonight. Occasionally known as a loser, fan of a loser team, is loser players, loser manager. Yeah, well, the Diamondbacks did lose 9 to 4, but you should still go watch baseball games. Maybe not this team at times. Maybe not this team right now, but they'll be back.
Starting point is 00:01:39 We'll be back. We will resist the masculine. urge to say we're back at some point. But this show is brought to you by the fine folks at GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code P-H-N-X for $20 off your first purchase terms do apply. Nate Cleveland is requesting an angry song instead of a sad song. That's a good, that's a good request. Look. It's like Lost Music 2.0 V2 and we have both and we have them sitting there for different moods. Yeah, different moves, different vibes. I crowdsourced the thumbnail tonight during our watch-along. That's something that you get to participate in if you
Starting point is 00:02:15 join us for the watch-along. Shout out to Ernesto for achieving the perfect watch-along thumbnail with the departed. Both the Boston reference, a fairly ominous sounding term, and definitely a reference to what's going on with Cotel Marte right now. And unfortunately, before we get into the game stuff, which I know none of you want to hear about, none of you are here to talk about the game. you want to scream about the game and you want to play the blame game. And we're going to get to that. Don't worry. But first, we do have to discuss, Damon, this Catelle Marte situation and how it's
Starting point is 00:02:49 evolved over the last 24 hours. I mean, one day ago, we did an emergency podcast following yesterday's 11 to 1 loss to definitely not discuss the loss, but to discuss more what was going on with Cotel Marte and to discuss where things were at. And as far as everything we had heard. You know, it was a very strange situation, but one we were concerned about, concerned about Cotel Marte's well-being and Cotel's family's well-being. And what we've received notice of since then is that Cotel is fine, at least for the most part,
Starting point is 00:03:26 but we don't know the extent of still what's going on with him. We do know that Cotell has been suffering left knee soreness, and we know that he was, he had missed timed due to it. This is an injury that occurred in the Padres series, and this was something that came up, not just after Cattell missed Monday's game, but this is something that came up prior to Monday's game. However, it does feel like the reason why Cotel missed Monday's game
Starting point is 00:03:53 and his left knee soreness are not related necessarily, and that these might be two separate issues going on. Nick Bacoro appeared on Fowell Territory today to give his thoughts on what, he has been told and what he has been reporting in Boston. And for the most part, yeah, I mean, people asking the question, why didn't Cetel Marte just get an MRI in Boston, considering that Fenway, I believe, has an MRI machine and there are some top medical facilities in that city. But Nick's clarification on it made a bit of sense. He said that Ketel most likely was not going
Starting point is 00:04:35 to play in this series. sending him home did make sense. But why did Kutel need to be sent home and what else is going on in regards to, you know, his overall situation? Now, we discussed this yesterday, and I think this sucks for anybody that's in the public eye in a way that Ketel Morte is because if this is something personal that you want to keep personal, but is something that needs to be taking care. care of that Catell needs help for if this is a mental health issue or something of that sort,
Starting point is 00:05:13 then, you know, you don't exactly want to put all of that information out there, especially if Cotel isn't ready to put it out himself or, you know, whatever. But the amount- It just needs to inform his employer. That's the problem is- Well, that dates back to the problem last year, right? Correct. And that's a standard that we're all held to. No, I think that the world is much more accepting of if that is, you know, and that's
Starting point is 00:05:37 speculation on our part. Like if this is a mental health thing that he's going through, I think the Diamondbacks would be pretty receptive of that, but you can't just not show up at the ballpark. You have to inform the people and the powers that be like Tori in this situation. Mike Hazen, your boss is that you're not going to be making it into work that day. And otherwise, it's just kind of unacceptable. It seems like he didn't let them know for the most part.
Starting point is 00:06:04 That was very clear. That was very clear. Yeah. And Tori has not, I mean, Tori usually goes to bat for his guys. Correct. And I do think overall that there is a bit of that going on here, which is why there is a chance that the Diamondbacks do know more about this situation than they're informing us of. But Tori does not sound like that is the case when he is being asked questions and talking about this, right? He sounds like he doesn't know.
Starting point is 00:06:32 And I also understand that when he is managing. a baseball game in a way city like this. There's a lot on his plate. So he can't really give too much of his energy right now to the Ketal situation, considering that he has to get the team prepared for this series where they're getting brutalized right now by the Boston Red Sox. And they are not prepared. They don't look ready.
Starting point is 00:06:57 They look distracted. They look like they have other things on their mind potentially. And when you listen to what Corbyn Carroll said yesterday, Derek, and let me find this exact quote because I don't want to misplace his words, but it sounds as though he's somewhat admitting that the situation was one that kind of got in the Diamondback's psyche, I guess.
Starting point is 00:07:21 He says, I think in full transparency, I think some of the players were probably thinking about the guy just out of care for our teammate, care for our brother, knowing that a member of our family was hurting in some way. Yeah. So it's, I mean, it's definitely affecting the way that they're approaching,
Starting point is 00:07:35 these games from a mental standpoint, and that's not good either. It's not. And I said it during the watchalong, but the only way that this team can press on is by treating it essentially like an injury to a certain extent, right? But you're still going to wonder, you're still going to have your teammate who you are very close with on your mind. It's easy for us as fans watching a baseball team to separate that. but these people are family to each other.
Starting point is 00:08:08 And, you know, that Kattel's well-being matters to his teammates. They are not angry about it. They are concerned. And all of this makes me concerned because it does feel like this is a bigger issue than something that's just going to kind of blow over in a few days. And it sucks. It sucks that Kattel right now is this is happening during. such an important time during this team's season.
Starting point is 00:08:37 And it's becoming, you know, a problem. Yeah, you mentioned Tori not really having a whole lot in the way of answers about this situation. I mean, how about this, Derek, from Steve Gilbert earlier today before the game. When DeBak's manager, Tori LeVille, was asked if he thought Cotel Marte would play again for them this year. He said, I hope so. We need him. He's one of the best players in the National League as far. as I'm concerned.
Starting point is 00:09:06 Again, he said, if Catell will play for the team again this year, he said, I hope so. I mean, that's really concerning, man. That was, I think, I've been concerned the whole time that it was a really bad situation. Once I found out Cotel was okay, I started feeling a little bit better about it, Derek. But after seeing this quote right here and not knowing for sure if Cotel is going to be suiting up for the snakes, again, this season when there's 35, plus games left to play and we're in a wildcard chase? I don't know, man.
Starting point is 00:09:39 That's really, really concerning. Nate said Nick also said Kattel is not that close with the clubhouse. Not from what I've seen. But I don't know. I mean, there is something to be said about everything that's factored in here with Katel's 24-hour period or 12-hour period. John Gamadour reported that Ketel was, in the team hotel lobby with people at 11 o'clock at night,
Starting point is 00:10:13 the night prior to missing the game. Then the next day, we find out that, you know, all of this with Marte happened, you know, pretty suddenly. What was another weird comment that Tori made was he had alluded to the fact that he knew something was up when he woke up in the morning. But he said he wouldn't go into that. So I don't know what that would be. I don't know if he was kind of, you know, said, you know, if that's, it's just for, like, when Tori says certain things,
Starting point is 00:10:49 I don't know if he's just speaking honestly in that moment. Like when he says, I hope so. Like, I don't, you could look into that far more than, then, and I think we are, but it could absolutely mean something, right? saying I hope so is a big red flag there. But it's also just something that like Tori might have responded, you know, from just genuinely. Like I hope so. You know, I hope he's okay and I hope he can come back to this team.
Starting point is 00:11:17 He's very important. Not necessarily like signaling that he is going to miss the year. But who knows? I don't know. I don't know. There is talk about, you know, that that he is experiencing personal, some personal matters. And the personal matters also involve him not. having any family member or anybody that's injured or anything.
Starting point is 00:11:39 So, again, there might be things, as some people are speculating on, involving other personal matters in his life, relationships, stuff like that. That's not even stuff I'm going to begin to get into, right? I know we're all human beings, and so is Cattel. So that's why I request, I implore some of you in the chat that are going in so hard on Marte to at least wait until we find out everything before judging. I'm not going to tell you to not be angry. And I think that there is something to be said about no matter what's going on in your life
Starting point is 00:12:13 sometimes, you've got to still show up for work and do your job. Or communicate to your bosses. Or communicate to your bosses what's going on so that there's knowledge and that they can have your back. It's not like this is a team that doesn't have their players back. That's another thing that like it's crazy to think that you couldn't confide in a manager like Tori. I will agree with every single person that doesn't like Tori because of the fact that he's too nice to his players. I will agree with you.
Starting point is 00:12:40 Like he is too nice to his players. That is by far both is one of his greatest advantages as a manager, the love that he has for his players and his greatest weakness for sure. But that is something that every single one of his players knows. So to think that they couldn't confide in Tori and let him know what's going on to the point that Tori truly doesn't seem to have any clue. what's going on with Kutel. Or at the very least he does and obviously isn't sharing any of that. He doesn't want to share any of it because it's far too personal. But Tori looked upset and not just angry.
Starting point is 00:13:14 Tori looked every time he's been talked to, he looked like he's been crying. He looks like he is emotionally spent. He looks like he has definitely been through it. Yeah. You know, and so whatever this situation is, I do feel like Tori knows more than he's telling us about, which is fine because sometimes personal matters need to stay in house. However, it doesn't feel like, it doesn't feel like you really knows because Tori's not doing the thing that Tori does, which is like back up his player.
Starting point is 00:13:44 And with some of the language he's using and some of the things that he's been saying, it definitely relays that he's frustrated and confused about what is going on right now. Right. And again, I don't know. That's the way that he looked while he was giving the postgame interview. after yesterday's game, I've never seen him look like that. I've never seen him look that upset about a loss. And I don't think it was the 11 to 1 loss that made him look like that.
Starting point is 00:14:11 Tori's had his ass kick plenty of times as a manager and never looked like he was crying. But Marte means a lot to him and he means a lot to this team. So I can understand that. But again, I said this last night. It doesn't feel like there's any positive resolution here, right? I mean, no matter what, it doesn't feel like the answer is. going to really feel like it, you know, is enough to have Marte abandoning this team right now when they're in the middle of a playoff chase.
Starting point is 00:14:43 And not only do they need him, but they don't need this type of distraction for this team right now. Yeah. I think that's like the part for like the the person in me that is very team oriented. And I very much am. It's part of the reason that I like working at PHNX is because we are a small crew, right? Like this is, and it feels very communal. Like, you know, we work with the same 15 people every single day, and it makes me feel like I'm, like, on a team with these people. And to let your teammates down, I think, is the part here that is the most concerning for me.
Starting point is 00:15:24 Because, you know, there is a way in which Catell could go about this entire situation where he wouldn't necessarily be quote unquote letting his teammates down. You know, like where you're getting out in front of it, communicating it, saying, guys, I'm not going to be here. You know, I'm going through this situation right now. But this blow up, it's the way that it was handled is kind of unacceptable. And I think that that's something that we definitely can say without knowing what the context is. Like I do agree with you, Derek.
Starting point is 00:15:53 We need to remove ourselves a little bit, step back and say like, we don't know what is going on right now, really and you know maybe maybe before we're quick to judge on on certain parts and aspects of it we should wait on on that kind of thing but i do think that when it comes to the communication when it comes to letting your teammates your bosses down like that's the type of thing where it's not acceptable in any workplace not let alone you know one that is a a professional baseball team where the team orientation is very important and you know the vibes of a locker room and a clubhouse and baseball are very important to the overall common goal, you just have to be better in that aspect of things.
Starting point is 00:16:35 And there's so many unanswered questions still. And we're over 24 hours past the no-show at this point. And it felt like there was no updates today, really, besides, you know, that Kattel went back to Phoenix for the MRI, and that was confusing to a lot of people. I kind of understood it because I saw the writing on the wall when, you know, when he was coming back here to Phoenix, he wasn't going to play today. And regardless of the MRI results, it felt like his knee soreness or whatever
Starting point is 00:17:05 was going to at least keep him out of the finale, right? So since this is just two more games in Boston, sending him home actually did make sense. I do think, though, people had a right to ask the, why don't you just get an MRI like Nolan did, right there in Boston, right? But Ryan down here is right. We may never know what happened, depending on how personal this matter. might be. And more importantly, what I will say, you know, overall is you bring up a great point. You bring up like the office life that we have here at PHNX and the family that we have here at
Starting point is 00:17:39 PHNX. We've all gone through some tough stuff here. And I feel like at times one of the ways I've been able to get through some hard times in life is through the support of this man sitting on the other side of the Mac from me who's always been there for me both when we do this show. and personally, right? ESPO is another guy who I can say has always been a shoulder for me to cry on and has always been there for me in ways I could never
Starting point is 00:18:07 describe or tell people truly how much he's been there for me, right? So my point being is that like your teammates and your coach, your manager, like these guys are very close with you considering how much time they spend around you. I know people want to make claims about
Starting point is 00:18:23 Catell not being close in the locker room. You guys haven't been in the clubhouse. I'm not trying to pull that card, but I'm just saying I'm there an awful lot, and that's not what I see happening in the clubhouse when Catell is in there. I mean, we know that he's close with certain people in particular, right? Sure, but I think the perception is that... Cattel has his own crew. Cotell has his own crew.
Starting point is 00:18:45 Cotell has his friends and his family members. They come to almost every game. They're there all the time. They're hanging out pregame in the outfield and stuff like Cotel rolls with his own guys, whereas the other players considering that it's the, the way it is during a baseball season. They kind of have, they have each other mostly, you know. And so I could see Kattel not being close with guys based on that thing, that he always has, like, his crew. And I don't know if they travel with him as well, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do,
Starting point is 00:19:12 you know, and again, it's a way for Kutel to have people that he trusts and loves and, you know, whatever around him. But I still think that overall it's, there's an idea that when you're going through something that that's tough. If you are a part of a family in a clubhouse and a baseball team, that's more than just a job, far more than just a job. Even though you should still call out of your job, no matter what, even when you're a baseball player and let them know why you're not going to show up for work, it's also a good place to go when you need support and you need family and you need, you know, those guys
Starting point is 00:19:45 because you're going through it. Corbyn's answer from earlier. He literally said, you know, we're worried about our brother. Yeah. Well, Catell needs to reciprocate that and also, I think, worry about the people that care about him and make sure that they're in a spot to go do what they need to do while he's absent. Because this team that I've watched the past couple of days, they're just not doing the little things right as well. Not only are they getting their ass kicked, but, you know, like guys are stealing bases and you're not even even attempting to throw over. you know like no one's covering first base on that on that bun in the first inning
Starting point is 00:20:22 Merrill isn't getting dirty trying to get that guy out at home for the go-ahead run like it's all of it is just it's the it's lapses of a team that is not fully mentally concentrated on what they have going on in front of them I also want to caution people a little bit Derek before we move on from this conversation of people being like and I understand why this is the sentiment but someone said here oh yeah um this franchise will continue to be a joke if nothing changes after this. They almost can't do anything. It tells put them in a really,
Starting point is 00:20:54 really bad spot here where if they want to get rid of him, they have to preserve his value at all costs. So they're going to try to sweep this under the rug and make it seem like it's in nothing situation and get him back out onto the field as fast as possible for a quick resolution in the off season so that they can get back as much in trade value as they can for him because they're not going to just DFA him.
Starting point is 00:21:15 They're not going to release him outright. That's not what a smart baseball team would do here. So I think that, yeah, like the Diamondbacks, even if they're maybe considering trying to get rid of them after this situation, they're going to still try to sweep it under the rug as though they would if they want to keep him and put him back out there onto the team. So I just think that you're kind of going to get the same result from the Diamondbacks perspective both ways. They don't really have much other choice. Ernesto asked, are the other players allowed their own guys crew? Yeah, I mean, everybody's allowed to.
Starting point is 00:21:48 It's just a matter of choosing to do so and paying for other people to travel and things like that could tell does that. Other guys might not. I'm not necessarily paying for my friends to travel with me if I'm a baseball player. I don't need them with me that much. Maybe every once in a while. Maybe when we go play the A's in Vegas in a few years, I might bring them with me. But no other time do they get to come with me. Also, Jake Mora, I believe in the chat, was concerned about.
Starting point is 00:22:13 my Los Angeles shirt. This is a Los Angeles Netflix debut on Raw shirt, and I was wearing it more to Pop Damon because I told them about the fact that we had to sneak in line to get this shirt, and that's the only reason why I'm wearing it, but I bought it because it had purple and teal on it, and that's Diamondback's colors. So if that is any consolation to you, I hope that helps. But I think for the most part, we're going to continue to hear this Marte's situation develop. I know that people have skepticism about the MRI. I'm not like the Kutel had the knee injury before this happened. So that's not something.
Starting point is 00:22:49 And I do like Nick's answer on once again, Fowel Territory when he said, these two things can both be going on. His knee injury can be going on while also he is experiencing personal issues. And perhaps if he's going to take time off for one, you might as well get the other one cared for looked at or evaluated, right? If he needs to go back home for it, if he, I mean, if he doesn't, then there's no.
Starting point is 00:23:10 reason on earth why you wouldn't just get an MRI like Nolan Aronado did in Boston. Yep. I guess that's the part that, you know, is concerning from the MRI perspective is why do you need to go back to Arizona to get the MRI? They have MRI machines in Boston, Massachusetts. Right. Like I said, the reason why was because he wasn't going to play in the rest of the series anyway, so it might as well just go home.
Starting point is 00:23:31 Fair. Or he's dealing with the situation at home now or whatever. Zach said he looked fine when he played Sunday. Didn't he get taken out of that game early? Wasn't that the game he was removed from early? I thought it was. Cattel did leave, was it that game or Saturday's game? I'm not sure.
Starting point is 00:23:46 I thought he left one of the games early, but I'll double check into that. He did leave, though, with an injury, and it was based on him trying to range towards first base to get a ball that he missed. So that was Sunday. Yeah, that was Sunday, because it was the series finale loss to the Atlanta Braves.
Starting point is 00:24:04 So anyway, I will say overall this sucks, and it's unfortunate. that hopefully that's all all we can hope for is the best in every possible way but most importantly the best for the diamond backs the diamond backs need to get things back on track and again this sucks that they're stumbling during a time where the fillies and the Padres don't seem to be stumbling and aren't slowing down at all in any way shape or form so we got we got to we got to get things back on track and again this team needs to focus on the results they have been able to overcome so many injuries and losses and shortcoming, short coming, short coming setbacks, everything,
Starting point is 00:24:43 everything, Damon, this year, that it just, it sucks that this is the thing that now is tripping them up. It's taking the train off the tracks for sure. I mean, and you were playing, I mean, it's so, like, ridiculous that this is coming off of, like, one of the highs of the season after beating the Braves in that series in Atlanta, where, you know, like, I know, Derek, you're, like, trying to caution people after the loss in the finale and be like, we still. won the series. Don't, don't worry about it. And that's how I was feeling like, man, you know,
Starting point is 00:25:11 this team, what, what an opportunity, you know, to go into Boston and win another one and, you know, just kind of start building some momentum again as you get into the late stages of the season. And, like, it's almost comical. Yeah. How many things have gone wrong since then. Yeah. You can't make it up. Little did we know when we were cautioning people to not overreact of what would be coming. A nuclear event? was about to go down in the form of Catelle Marte not showing up for work.
Starting point is 00:25:42 Which, Derek, I forgot to say this on the post or on our, yeah, our post game last night, our emergency post game. How ironic that Catell not showing up for work made me and you work double. That's crazy. We had to do extra show that day. We had to work a double shift.
Starting point is 00:25:58 The millionaire. Because Cotel Marti doesn't come to work. The millionaire gets to take the day off where, and then the couple, Joe Schmo's got to go do a little bit of extra work now. Thanks a lot, man. Awesome. Damon hates when I pull the curtain back too much, but I, meanwhile, have to move money
Starting point is 00:26:15 from my savings to my checking account just to pay for the parking in this building right now. So that's a whole other thing. Don't even get me started. It's fine. No one from PHNX watches our show anyways, dear. So we could divulge company secrets and get away with it. That's true.
Starting point is 00:26:28 But I did scream at an inanimate object today. And Damon did, too. Damon screamed at the same box that I did that we had to get that stupid little ticket out of it. We're crazy in different ways, Derek, but we're cut from the same insane person cloth. Oh, you're so cut from the same crazy person cloth. Let's take a quick break, and then let's talk about this game, even though neither one of us wants to or anybody in the chat wants to. We're going to do that on the other side of this break.
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Starting point is 00:29:26 Arizona Lottery, love to play. Must be 21 or over to play. Well, Damon, got to get into, obviously, Merrill Kelly, having himself another terrible start. And I want to preface this by saying that, you know, Merrill, Merrill's a veteran of this team. He has stepped up in some of the biggest games for the Diamondbacks when they needed him the most, especially in high leverage situations, playoff games, all of that.
Starting point is 00:29:52 But tonight they might have needed Merrill more than ever, and he just wasn't there for them tonight on the mound. It was another terrible start for Kelly. Diamondbacks found themselves down three immediately after the first. inning. I think they went down one, two, three, and the first themselves offensively, and in the bottom of the inning, Kelly starts things off with a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases with no outs to start things off. Great. Great start. He did strike out Wilson Contreras. I'm going to say that a few more times before this episode's up. But then he allowed Adley Rushman to reach on a two
Starting point is 00:30:28 RBI single that put Boston up two to nothing. And then they added another run on a sack fly by Caleb Durbin to make it three to nothing after one inning. In the second, he gave up a single on a walk, but Noah runs. But then in the third, the diamondbacks actually found themselves with a lead, a four-three lead, thanks to Gabby Moreno's Grand Slam. And Merrill started the inning off looking strong. I was saying stupid things on the watch along, because he struck out Contreras once again to lead off the inning. And I was ready to be like, old Merrill's back. the Meryl that gives up a few runs early, but then just dials it in and is just lights out.
Starting point is 00:31:09 And he very much was not that. Because the very next batter, he gave up, Damon, the most pathetic foul pole home run to Adley Rushman to tie the game up at four. And I don't think I've ever seen Damon as disgusted with a home run as that one. And I still think he does not believe that it's a home run. I need it proven to me.
Starting point is 00:31:29 Like I, like Chad. He watched it with his own eyes. We all did. Did we not? Was it not, did it not land 50 feet to the right of the right field foul pole? That's, I guess that's where my- Stupid ballpark is positioned. It's a dumb ballpark.
Starting point is 00:31:44 I don't care. I know it's a story. Is it positioned in a wraparound cul-de-sac-ac-like manner? Because I don't understand how that's a fair ball. Like, can we talk about how that's a fair ball for a second? Oh my God. It was so stupid. It made no sense.
Starting point is 00:31:59 Like literally the only reason why I knew it was a, a home run was because of the way that the crowd was reacting that was right there in that section. Adley ran around the bases. Well, that, yeah, obviously. But I'm just saying, like, you know, the crowd basically. I mean, but you look at the, you look at the, the flight path of the ball as it's going over the foul pole and it goes over the foul pole. Well, I don't understand what's like, where the proof is that that 100% was fair.
Starting point is 00:32:25 Yeah. I guess maybe it would have hit the foul pole if it was, if it was flush heightwise. But again, I'd love to see proof of that. Yeah. As of right now, I'm just being told that that home run was a home run. And my eyes are telling a different story. I'm just kind of flustered with this. Because, again, like, your team picks you up.
Starting point is 00:32:51 They give you a lead after two innings, right? Merrill's been, I mean, it's so bad right now. And I mean, and then it was just one thing after the next. It wasn't even, like, the home run is a home run. but what I don't get is what happened with Durbin. Durbin singles reaches on a ground out second, advances on a ground out to second base. Then he steals third base,
Starting point is 00:33:16 no throw, no attempt to keep him at second, no nothing. Nobody defensively on the diamond seemed to care that Caleb Durbin steals third base. Because they have two outs, right? You got to worry about the man at the plate, not the man running around the bases. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:33:30 until you throw a wild pitch, and then that man running around the base and scores without a single goddamn hit being hit. And still, still, the Diamondbacks get a lucky bounce where McCann is able to wrangle the ball up, even though it looked like it was going to go farther away than it did, makes a throw to Merrill Kelly, who makes a half-hearted effort on a day where he doesn't have it at the plate.
Starting point is 00:33:55 He makes a half-hearted effort. There he did it in the first inning, too, on covering first base for a hit as well. That's one of those first singles that he allowed it to start off the game. And like that was frustrating, man. Tim Tawa charging too hard and not staying over there, not letting Meryl pick up that ball and throw it over to Tawa. But this, he was so close to tagging Durbin out.
Starting point is 00:34:18 They actually kind of had him dead to rights. And Meryl just doesn't want to get dirty. He doesn't want to lay it out for the, the tag and give everything to save a run from scoring and maintain a four-run lead? Well, that was not a four-run lead, but a tie game. A four-four-tie. Yeah. Excuse me.
Starting point is 00:34:37 I mean, it's inexcusable, truly. Like, not, and, you know, if you don't have your best stuff, again, there comes a point where you're hurting the team so bad that we need to talk about moving on from you, but it's more understandable, right? Like, you know, if you're going out there, you're throwing pitches, you're in the strike zone. You know, tonight he was and he walked four guys, but. You know, like you're just getting beat because you're not pitching well. It happens.
Starting point is 00:35:03 But when you're not pitching well and on top of that, you're just not showing effort on the little things. I mean, that is just so inexcusable from my perspective. If Merrill is flying to the plate there, it's 100% an out. 100% it's an out. Yeah. But the problem is that he's, you know, he's pitter pattering his feet as he's going into there because he doesn't want to make contact with the runner and he doesn't want to get his pants dirty and it's just you can't have it especially not when you're pitching like
Starting point is 00:35:38 shit and it's a four four game and you still have a chance at that point and honestly like ever from that moment it was just domino effect it really was from the moment merrill stepped on the mound in the first inning but your offense was able to make a game of it until merrill got his his opportunity to blow it open again like that. Merrill and Zach making $40 plus million off this team this year is one of the greatest heists in American history. I thought us taking those prospects from the Rangers was, but looks like the Rangers got the last laugh on us when it comes to that.
Starting point is 00:36:16 But I will... I mean, you can't meet two of just utter disaster signings. And unfortunately, Merrill's on the team next year, too. Let's come. Just don't. Just don't do that. Don't do that. I don't need to get more upset.
Starting point is 00:36:29 We'll have time to get upset about that. There's no. He's not. Yeah, exactly. Like, shut up. Yeah, where we're doing. Good. Anyway, let's talk about how much I hate Mickey Gasper for a moment.
Starting point is 00:36:40 Can we? Can we? Mickey Gasper, the ninth hitter in the Boston Red Sox lineup. Their DH. There's nothing worse than when a nine-hole guy just owns you. Mm-hmm. And you're like, oh, man. On base four times tonight, two for two with two walks and a home run.
Starting point is 00:36:57 Oh, and by the way. way. He has four career home runs and three are off the diamond backs. Oh, God. It's just the worst. Uh, he, Merrill walked Gasper in the fourth. That's why I bring it up. But no more hits were made. He didn't score then. Uh, but in the fifth, a contraris double and a walk of Adley Rushman once again, who seemed to own him tonight, uh, ended his night. And if we take a look at Merrill's pitch chart, oh my God. You don't even. even want to look at it. Oh, God.
Starting point is 00:37:35 We talk about command and control on this podcast quite a bit. And Merrill had neither of those tonight. Command being more about being able to throw your pitches in the strike zone, but not necessarily where you want them. Control being about actually being able to throw pitches in a strike zone and make competitive pitches. There is a lot. there's a lot of white in the middle of that zone, I guess, which is a good thing.
Starting point is 00:38:04 Not in the middle of the zone, upper part of the zone. Merrill's fastball could not hit the zone. I told Damon, I thought, based on my observation during the game, that it looked like he was overthrowing it a little bit. His max Velo tonight on his four-scene was 94.7 miles per hour, and his average was 92.3, which I believe was up for the season. Not a lot, but still showing that his. average. I mean, it's 92.1 yearly average so far, but 92.3 is where he was at. And again,
Starting point is 00:38:37 it just feels like that was it, right? In a lot of good outings by Diamondback's pitchers, I actually tend to remark about how they took something off of their fastball. And usually that's why you see them commanding it so thoroughly. Throwing it as hard as you can is great, but being able to throw it exactly where you want is how Paul Seewald had a career. So, that's not what Merrill did tonight. And again, he did get four whiffs on his four seam. His change-up, he threw the four-seam 40% of the outing and his change-up 28% of the outing.
Starting point is 00:39:10 That was the primary pitches that he threw. And I mean, even the Adley-Rushman, I think it was the Adley-Rushman home run. It was a change-up that was like a foot below the zone. Like it was exactly where Merrill wants to throw his change-up. But Rushman just went way down to get that. I don't know if it was, that might have been the, that might have been the single, the RBI single that he had actually there that put them up to nothing.
Starting point is 00:39:35 But regardless, Merrill just didn't throw a lot of his secondary stuff tonight, his sinkery through 13%, slider 9%, cutter 7%, curb ball 3%. Didn't seem to trust any of that stuff, didn't seem to trust anything other than his four seam and his change-up, and was not able to land most of those pitches in the zone for where he wanted to land them. Merrill has two strikeouts, and we've said it time and time again. Circle K strikeout meter deserves better. It fills us up, you know? It fills our tanks up of gas.
Starting point is 00:40:06 We should fill it up, but we don't. Not this season. Two strikeouts tonight on the Circle K strikeout meter and a whole lot of energy and heat being emanated from that thing. It's old. It's been around for like 25 years, so it's not its fault. But we're not getting rid of it. It's too expensive to replace at this point.
Starting point is 00:40:26 But Damon, again, We needed Merrill tonight. We needed Merrill and he didn't deliver for this team. We needed Merrill to be his best. And I know that's easier said than done. Merrill is a person too. Merrill is a person that's probably upset or concerned about his teammate, Cotel Marte. So it's easier said than done to sit here in this seat and judge and say you should have been better tonight.
Starting point is 00:40:52 But I will say that Tori has looked me personally in the eye before and told me that these guys are, big boys, they're athletes, they are professionals, they should come to the ballpark ready and prepare to go every single day. And while I will admit that part of that is his job to do, I will say he's right. And you can't get too down about something that's happening to one of your teammates. In fact, I would rather, instead of his teammates being sad or concerned, I would rather they were as mad as this chat was. Because I feel like if this team was mad, they would be playing differently. And maybe that's what they need to be.
Starting point is 00:41:32 Maybe they need to be man. But again, the offense didn't do much, and the bullpen didn't do much to help them keep this game any closer. It was another night where the Diamondbacks needed that as well. They needed their pitching staff to step up for them. This team was out hit or outscored 11 to 1 on Monday. They needed their pitching staff to step up tonight. You got Loisicaa that went in there and did his job.
Starting point is 00:41:54 He gave up one hit and one inning of work. But Ginkle gave up a home run. He gave up two earned runs. He gave up three hits, and he was not good tonight. Taylor Clark didn't help any. He gave up two hits in an earned run himself. He also walked about her. He did have a strikeout.
Starting point is 00:42:08 And all of this ruined Justin Martinez's return. This was just Day Martinite. This was supposed to be a celebratory affair. Our Justin Martinez, our beloved Justin Martinez returned to the mound. He did have one inning pitched. He did walk one person, but other than that, had himself three outs and got out of that eighth inning. He got serenaded by the Boston crowd singing Sweet Caroline.
Starting point is 00:42:34 That felt right. It felt like there should be singing when Justin Martinez returned to the mound. We weren't going to get that at any other ballpark. But still, otherwise, just kind of a terrible night all around here from the pitching staff. And that's even on a night where J. Mark returned to the mound. But I'm with AZ cards nerd. Can we get the hell out of Boston? Please.
Starting point is 00:42:57 Let's get out of that Godforsaken stadium and never come back. But we need to take a quick break. And on the other side of this break, I'm not done wagging my finger at the offense. We're going to talk about their terrible day at the plate. But one guy was very good. And that's that guy that's been good all season long. Gabby Moreno, we're going to give him his flowers on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere.
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Starting point is 00:46:18 With the tricolor there is special. It's so sick. It's so sick. And that was like one of those hats that you get with, the special ticket options. Correct. Again, don't miss out on those. But again, I'm not done yelling at the offense because they didn't do much tonight,
Starting point is 00:46:32 Damon, and I don't love it. This team does drop to 66 and 61. They have lost three games in a row. And overall, they were held to just seven hits with the majority of those coming as mostly, if not completely harmless until the big third inning when Gabby Moreno finally was able to make us all smile for five whole men. We had five whole minutes of smiling. But by God, was it the greatest five minutes in my life?
Starting point is 00:46:59 Go back and rewatch that portion of the watch long. If you really want to live. It was fun. If you really want to just feel what joy is like, because we had not felt that in the last, I mean, 36 hours and it felt good to feel joy again. But I mean, even when, you know, Pardomo walked to lead off the second inning, Diamondbacks immediately hit into a double play. That seemed to be the case all night long.
Starting point is 00:47:21 Whenever they would get someone on base, it was just one. It was just one catastrophe after the next to clear the bases of any base runners. They only score in that third inning, and they do so with two outs. And it starts with a Ryan Waldschmidt single that broke up. Rangers Warrez is no hitter. That was followed by an Ildemar Vargas single, and then Corbyn Carroll was hit by a pitch, which we very much do not enjoy. But it did load the bases, and then Gabby Moreno, in what we called a legacy at bat,
Starting point is 00:47:50 delivered in the biggest possible way. He hit a grand slam, his 10th home run of the year. It went 428 feet, 104.2 miles per hour, right to center field, right over that stupid wall. And we still lost. It was, Damon, the Diamondback's sixth home run or sixth grand slam this season. Nolan Aronado has two of them. Corby and Carroll had one. and you all remember one time when we did a watch-along where Tim Tawa also had one.
Starting point is 00:48:28 Yeah, that was one of the greatest moments in my life as well. It was San Diego Padres. It was the Mexico City series. That was a Tim Tawa legacy event. But regardless, that's what we got for you. That's the offense. Because after that, the Diamondbacks didn't do much. Like I said, seven hits total, and three of those hits came in the third inning.
Starting point is 00:48:50 and this offense once again just look completely listless. And again, they have not played well at Fenway, a place where they came into the series having won three games straight. And they were six and, oh, in their last six games coming into, or six and one coming into yesterday's game. Now they are six and three, and they have won three of their last five. They continue to not do well in this series against Boston. and it's understandable overall.
Starting point is 00:49:22 But again, this has been a disastrous week when Corbyn Carroll, we started the week off with Corbyn Carroll being named the NL player of the week last week. We haven't even had a chance to talk about that. I mean, Carroll hit safely in all six games, hitting 409 with a 15-19 OPS, three doubles, two triples, two home runs,
Starting point is 00:49:45 three RBI, four walks, and a stolen base. Can we get that Corby and Carol back in this series because we need them. And man, it's just, it was just an unfortunate day offensively for this team when it really did feel like they'd finally gotten to Ranger Suarez. You know, they go down one, two, three in the fourth inning. Corby and Carroll walked in the fifth. But again, he was then picked off attempting to steal second base
Starting point is 00:50:11 and just nothing seemed to go right for this team. In the sixth inning, I believe it was. we had Pardomo doubling and then Tim Tau was singling and that was the closest that the Diamondbacks got to essentially scoring again. They had runners on the corners with one out. Jordan Lawler, who has not looked good in his return, was called out on strikes and then James McCann lined out. And then again, Jose Fernandez singles to lead off the following inning and Ryan Waldschmidt hits into the double play. Another one, two, three inning. And it felt like the innings were starting to, no quote, quicker.
Starting point is 00:50:46 the at bats were starting to get worse and Rangers Suarez just started cruising at one point. I think he had like a five-pitch five-pitch inning and again it's just it was just a bad night. It was a bad night and you can tell it's hard to say that there is not you know a hangover here for this team from this Catelle Marté news and everything that's been going on
Starting point is 00:51:08 even in the ninth inning James McCannes singled and then Jose Fernandez ends the game on grounding out into a double play, which was just such a fitting end to the way that this game felt to watch it. There was a few double plays in this game, if I'm not mistaken. Oh, God, yes, three. Yeah. I think the Diamondbacks hitting the three double plays tonight.
Starting point is 00:51:26 Really good stuff. Ryan Walshman was great defensively. He continues to save runs for this team. He's awesome on defense. He's so fun. And clutch. And he was one for three tonight and wasn't part of the problem. You know, but he did it into a double play.
Starting point is 00:51:44 And I guess I'm wrong. He was kind of part of the problem. Everyone was part of the problem. Nobody had themselves a multi-hit night. Everybody had one hit. And again, you had Carol going 0 for two with a walk. You had Perdomo going one for three with a double. He also had a walk.
Starting point is 00:52:00 And again, just a bunch of other mostly harmless lines. But I don't think I need to say this. I think it goes without saying that Gabrielle Moreno is our King Snake for tonight's game. There is not another single human being on the Diamondbacks 26-man roster that desert. it. Not even consideration. Gavvy won for three tonight with a grand slam home run for RBI and a walk. Well, we're going to take a quick break and on the other side of this break, we are going to take a look at the numbers from this series, but most importantly, we're going to play the blame game. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the PH&X Diamondback show. Well, Circle K is the best, and they power, they fuel our watchalongs. They fuel us. They fuel our bodies. They fuel our cars and they're the they're the best place for you to go get yourself something to drink
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Starting point is 00:55:10 Terms do apply. Again, create an account and redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download the game time app today. Damon, what time is it? Game time. Oh, that's a sad game time. Sorry. Sorry to game time. That's a man that doesn't want to go to any baseball games right now. I'm going to a concert tomorrow sponsored by our friends at game time. Not sponsored by, but courtesy of the friends at game time because I did buy through them. And that'll be take my mind off of this. I'm going to a concert tomorrow. I'm going to horrific, awful, terrible baseball team. Are we going to the same concert tomorrow? Are you going to the Rufus DeSoul concert tomorrow night? I'm going. I've already talked about that on the show. Yeah, I think it just is finally here. It is finally here.
Starting point is 00:55:50 I'm attending a different concert. What do you, what are you seeing in the, the jitterbugs? Don't do that. Don't do that. They were real popular back in the 50s. Don't do that. Don't do that. We'd all get out on the floor and do the jitterbub.
Starting point is 00:56:04 Don't make me a hundred years old. And you'd go ask a pretty lady if she wanted to do it with you. I don't like that. Then you'd have to go to her father's house. It's actually a hit band called Little Stranger. You wouldn't know about it because it's too. like inside an indie for you. Sorry.
Starting point is 00:56:21 You don't know their music. You're too, you know, radio-orientated and all that kind of stuff. Anyway, let's talk about the numbers from tonight's game. Do we have by the numbers? I don't want to look at by the numbers, but just throw them up on screen real fast.
Starting point is 00:56:35 I mean, just, I mean, like literally, we'll just put them up. That's the numbers, nine to four. That's it. I'm not doing this with you. I'm not doing this with you. You don't want to look at the numbers. You made Damon make that whole graphic just to put it up on screen for that short of time?
Starting point is 00:56:52 That seems unfair. Do you want to put back up? Oh, God, that's bad. That's bad because it's not that bad. How did the Diamondbacks have a harder hit percentage or higher hard hit percentage than the Boston Red Sox in this game? Answer me that. Explain that. Look at the XBA.
Starting point is 00:57:12 Yeah, that's gross. 356 to 228. Ugh. And hey, at least they use their challenges. They didn't put any aside for their grandchildren's inheritance. So thanks for that, even though James McCann just totally, totally used one just to be like, well, screw it. I'm going to use one even though I know it's totally wrong. They also only had three extra base hits to the Diamondbacks too, and that's also frustrating.
Starting point is 00:57:38 How did we lose this game nine to four with the Red Sox only having three extra base hits to our two extra base hits? and we are the team that hit the grand slam. I'll tell you how. Four walks by Merrill Kelly. Allowing a lead-off base runner in damn near every single inning that he pitched. Yep. If not every inning. Yeah, you had the pitch from the stretch every single inning.
Starting point is 00:57:58 And I don't think people realize how that impacts a guy, especially on a night when they don't have it. I mean, typically Merrill has been, at least in his Diamondbacks career, has done a really good job of limiting the walks. Because his number one trait, I feel like, is his command. and his control in particular. He didn't have it tonight. No, no, he did not.
Starting point is 00:58:19 Six walks total for the road size. And if he's going to walk people, like, it's just over. There's no chance Merrill Kelly walking guys is going to be a successful pitcher. So that's your story of tonight. But I guess it's not the full story, Derek, because we have to play the blame game. Make me a god on the I-17 freeway.
Starting point is 00:58:47 Turn them all on. Just turn them on everyone on. No, I'm not. going to do that because defense doesn't really well I don't know that Ildemar Vargas missed that caused and Merrill not not trying hard on two and James McCann not throwing a guy out at third base or not even attempting to do it nine runs on 13 hits pitching four walks by Merrill six walks total pitching make it brighter make it lighter make it take up the entire screen pitching definitely put us behind tonight I almost don't want to blame the offense because I feel like a hypocrite, as I've said at times, if you score four runs in a baseball game, you should be able to win that baseball game. If you score five runs in a baseball game, you should be able to win. The problem here is that this came in a bunch in what felt like almost like a situation the debacks lucked themselves into in the third inning. You know, you had two outs. It doesn't even make sense that that's when they scored their four runs with two outs in the third. But, you know, again, that that's what good baseball team. do. They find an opportunity. They find a chance to score and they take it no matter how many outs there are and especially once they smelled blood in the water there with Ranger Suarez hitting Corbin and kind of having the bases loaded and that whole situation like creeping up on him
Starting point is 01:00:06 suddenly out of nowhere. You know, Gabby did not miss, but it's hard not to blame the offense when you hit into this many double plays and you don't have a real, you had one other scoring opportunity the whole game. You had one other chance where you had runners on first and third with no out or one out and that's that's the closest you really got to to making a dent in this deficit and coming back. It just, I mean, I would rather it was one of those games where they left as I screamed about many times, 15 runners on base rather than this. Because this, once again, this is not the Diamondbacks team that was on a role there in Atlanta. And, and has been over the last month since July 9th.
Starting point is 01:00:51 This is a completely different team, and it's hard not to have, you know, think that Catell, Marte's absence and what's going on has been a huge factor here. If the Diamondbacks just lose these two games without this drama and with Catell on the field, I don't even know if we're panicking as much, right? Is that safe to say, Damon?
Starting point is 01:01:18 Yeah. I mean, it's just two losses. It feels a lot worse when Cotel, is nowhere to be found. He's literally MIA right now. Well, and it feels worse because this team played so poorly, and then you have a something to blame it on, a cause,
Starting point is 01:01:32 something that you can say is a distraction that's causing them not to play their best baseball, right? So it's like those two things, you know, come together when you don't have your best player on the field and you feel like it's a distraction to your team. But we're lighting up the offense light, so hit turn on batting. I wish there was like a way to like make one brighter
Starting point is 01:01:49 than the other and whatnot because obviously pitching is in more impactful, but I do think the offense does deserve some of the blame. You convinced me on the defense. So, yeah, I mean, Merrill made two huge defense bears. I know that's on him as a pitcher, but still, it's the defense. You got Vargas just botching a ball and letting a run come in. You know what I mean? Like, again, he made some great plays, and I will stick up for Vargas.
Starting point is 01:02:14 You remember, I made Damon apologize to him constantly over the things he said about him. But still, there were a few mistakes like that, even though there were all some great defensive plays made in this game by Ryan Walshmidt and others. Last but not least, it's the light everybody in the chat wants us to turn on. I'm not going to pretend like that's not something I already know. But Damon, Tori's attitude in the post-game press conferences and the way this is impacting him is so noticeable. So noticeable. How could the team move on if Tori is obviously wrecked by what's going on with Cattel?
Starting point is 01:02:53 Right. I mean, again, we don't know what Tori knows. We don't know what information he has that might make him more emotional or make him more upset on Cattell's behalf. I don't know if he's just emotional because talking about how much he loves his players when one of them is going through something that he does, you know, it's like a, like I described on the emergency podcast. It's like your son and you're concerned and you're, you have a myriad of emotions. You have a bunch of things you're feeling about this guy missing time. You're worried about him. You're a little upset with him. You're confused, like all of that stuff, right? But, again, a manager's job, especially during the regular season, is to press on and to keep his troops directed and locked in, especially when they are engaged in the kind of race and battle for a playoff spot that this team currently is.
Starting point is 01:03:50 So it's hard not to blame Tori. And I'm going to because he should wear this one. He needs to, I don't, demon, I don't want to say toughen up. But what he needs to do is approach this in a much more business-like fashion. And he needs to find a way to communicate to the rest of the guys that are in that clubhouse. How are we going to get on the same page and win this next baseball game? Because, yeah, that is his job, is to get people and the rest of the players firing on all cylinders with what they have in the locker room. And I think that this season has been a really good look at Tori and his ability
Starting point is 01:04:29 to manage when maybe there's a lot of injuries and you don't have your A roster most of the season, but this is not necessarily that same positive reflection on that because it does feel like this team is a little lost right now without Cattell. And it feels like Tori is not really contributing to getting them out of that place. It also feels like Merrill Kelly probably shouldn't have made it out of the fourth inning at all. or that should have been the end of his day. Very true. He had given up five run runs at that point
Starting point is 01:04:56 and he only put on two more base runners in the six to, or in the fifth to compound it and add an extra run. Boston didn't do this in the same fashion that Diamondbacks did. They did it with base running and singles and doubles. In fact, they diamond back to us tonight is what they did. Damn. Because they did it in the same fashion that we've done it to so many teams in the past.
Starting point is 01:05:18 They did it without a ton of extra base hits, but they did it while going four, for 13 with runners in scoring position and getting the most out of their roster. I mean, Sogard was two for three tonight. William Contreras was two for four tonight. Adley Rushman, two for four with three RBI. I mean, you got, and then the bottom of the lineup guys. You got their eighth and ninth hitter getting on base tonight, Damon, six times,
Starting point is 01:05:45 scoring three RBI and a run. You're not going to win many baseball games like that. No, you're not. And more importantly, I think that they're kind of. comes a time where you can show emotion and show support for your players. But Tori's constant answers of, I don't know and I'm not sure and I don't know if he's going to play again this year, it's not helping. It's just not helping the situation. I know he wants to be honest. I know he wants to. And I know that's the kind of person he is. But there's some cases where it's,
Starting point is 01:06:23 you're just better served not sharing that information. It takes me back once again to Mike Hayeson kind of explaining that. And Mike Hayeson basically saying, if I tell you on all the players that I was going after that I missed out on, what good does it do me? It just makes me look like a failure as a GM. And he's 100% right. And there's a good reason why sometimes information should be kept in-house
Starting point is 01:06:43 or your attitude on this should be very, very much. We're still waiting to hear back. You know, stick into certain answers. and not really revealing as much of your true feelings as Levalho has revealed about this situation. I feel like Tori's interviews have made me panic more than anything. Nick will tweet something out that brings me back down to earth. Steve will bring in something else that's kind of like,
Starting point is 01:07:09 okay, things are okay. And then I watch a Tori LaVallo interview, and I cry and eat ice cream and wipe my nose and snivel. But anyway. Tori's probably eating a lot of ice cream since the Ketel situation has gone down. to make that ice cream connection from the World Series. And I did, and I regretted it the minute that those words came out of my mouth. But Damon, everybody's to blame.
Starting point is 01:07:30 Get me off this billboard. I'm hot up here, and I need to get out of here. I want to go home. I don't want to talk about this game anymore. And hopefully what we're doing tomorrow is talking about the Arizona Diamondbacks, salvaging this series and avoiding the sweep and also turning things around a little bit, right? I mean, I know this is a bad, bad time. I described it as if,
Starting point is 01:07:53 this was a movie, this is the all is lost moment. For those of you that have studied plot, you know exactly what I'm talking about. But, you know, we got to reach rock bottom before we could get back up and be heroes. And that's where we're at right now for sure. But if the team somehow finds a win to split this overall road trip and come home three and three, if you look at it that way, it's not nearly as big of a disaster. However, the biggest disaster is what's going on right now with Catelle. Let's hope he's healthy and let's hope that just overall we can get him back on the field because even though I know so many people are upset with him, he still is one of the best players in this organization and the Diamondbacks are not as a good
Starting point is 01:08:37 of a team without him on the field. Shout out to I'm tripped out for your super chat. Thank you so much. He said our AZ Sports today, Corbyn's phone interview, he actually gave a hint as to it might being family problems. And again, there's things like that that are far too personal for us to even speculate on, let alone begin pondering if that's the decision. But I think we can all agree that when we are having maybe our own world crashing down around us, it's hard for us to go on in life. And if you've ever, if you've never experienced that, then you're a very lucky person.
Starting point is 01:09:13 But at the same time, I think we can also all agree that you need to communicate better with your bosses, your employers, your job. No doubt about it. Yeah. No, literally no doubt about that. There's no reason why, you know, like, it seems like certain reporters and such no more than even Tori does. And that's, that's not good.
Starting point is 01:09:33 That's not good. But we got Brandon fought on the mound tomorrow. So if you needed hope, there's your hope. And let's hope that Brandon fought can be big game Brandon once again. Because I just talked about needing Merrill Kelly. We need Brandon fought more than we've, than ever, than ever. More than oxygen.
Starting point is 01:09:50 We need a Brandon fought outing where he goes out there and he shoves and he gives this team length and keeps the score minimal as he's done for every one of his outings since he's returned from AAA. Peyton totally really good pitcher on the other side. It's going to be an incredible pitching matchup. So we will be back with a postgame show tomorrow after that one and I'm sure we won't overreact to the outcome of it. Yeah, right. You're not watching the show if you believe that. that. But anyway, we thank you guys so much. We love you. We appreciate your time. As I've said, so many times before, your time is your most valuable commodity. Be careful who you share it with,
Starting point is 01:10:27 and thank you for sharing it with us. You can follow me on social. I'm at cap underscore caveman with the K. Damon is at Damon Dog with the D-A-W-G. And as always, we're all Damon's dogs, bark, bark. Our show is at P-H-N-X underscore D-Backs, but all roads do lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Thank you guys so much. Appreciate you. us and sticking with this team. We'll be back tomorrow with another postgame show. Until then, try to have a good night. Let's watch some baseball in the morning and hopefully let's get another D-Bex win. Until then, appreciate you. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun anytime other than right now.

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