Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Dodgers Tie the Series & Mets Advance! | 904

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

Use code JOMBOYPLAYOFFS10 for 10% off on your next purchase at SeatGeek* https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/JOMBOYPLAYOFFS10 *up to $25 offHead to https://www.pikkit.com and use code JOMBOY on sign up today!Go to http://shadyrays.com and use code TALKIN for 50% off 2 or more pairs of polarized sunglasses.Get the booking.com app today and book your postseason travel! https://bit.ly/3ZhFtfL++++++Timestamps:  0:00 Intro2:15 Mets Comeback to Beat Phillies 4-1 and WIN the NLDS21:20 Dodgers TIE the NLDS in San Diego with Blowout Win31:25 Detroit Shuts Down Cleveland AGAIN to take 2-1 ALDS Lead44:40 Yankees Win a Must-Win Game 3 in Kansas City  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball. We got one team that's punched their ticket. Three teams fighting to get in. It's Jolly Olive, Wally Pip. See you later. Matt Beerling, it always was you, maybe. Jeff Alton. Lendoran.

Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball. This one's brought to you by Seatgeek. As always, Code John Boy Playoffs 10 for 10%. off and you know what you don't even have to use it right away the computer will save it for you we're in 2024 jolly i don't know if you know that i knew computers can save the code use it whenever you want whether you're trying to go and sneak off to an nLCS game without telling your bosses whether you're just trying to go to a play or something like that ckeek as you covered yeah i blew your spot up that's crazy

we had to start the episode with something hot seat geeks got you covered 10% off use code john boy playoffs 10 jolly olive are you are you going to get the key to the city in new york or what dude new york met's biggest fan most famous fan doing it the metts are firing i'm happy to have you on this show how are you feeling right now i feel like we entered some kind of different timeline like I stepped on a blade of grass or I stepped on a bug and it changed the course of history and we're living in a timeline we're not supposed to be living in Trev I'm on cloud nine my love my voice has been gone for like 10 days straight because I've just been yelling every night because every night this team does something different and first team to punch their ticket to the

CS crazy you know first uh shout out talking Jake I don't even know we're talking Jake is that's fine we got you to fill in I forgot to mention obviously Bieber's on the ones and twos getting the job done I guess we'll start we have to start with your Mets against the Phillies and you could say yeah they're a surprising team but I don't think that's accurate not anymore Jolly like they have been on this track record I mean they've had this track record for months now of being one of the better

teams in all of baseball. You can say even for the last three weeks, you know, them coming back against elite bullpens, it's nothing new. I mean, what happened yesterday with Francisco Lindor as they end up taking down the Philadelphia Phillies, his grand slam against the bullpen, that's just par for the course for the Mets right now. And that's just got to feel really good as a fan. Yeah, I mean, it's really empowering to, you know, go from not believing that this team is doing all these comebacks to expecting that they're going to happen. You know, like in the first game in Philly when they were down one nothing, I was like, Philly didn't put us away.

I feel like we have something in there, something in the tank. And then the eighth inning came around five runs. They kept them honest in game two. Philly, I think, played really well. They were lucky to get away with that win because the Mets, you know, offense kept them honest. But in this game, dude, it was just, it was the crowd at City Field was a damn waiting to burst between the bases loaded up. opportunities in the first and the second. No dice there. Philly scores, but they don't really hit the ball hard. You know, it's within reach. The base is loaded again in the sixth. And then

Francisco Lindor hits what is, in my opinion, the biggest home run in city field history, the loudest that park has ever been, the most impactful hit in that stadium's history. And in an era of like players bat flipping tossing the bats, and I'm not saying don't express yourself. I think that's great. There's something about Francisco. Condor running around the bases with no expression whatsoever. That is just stone cold, man. Stone cold. I have a little bit of a different take on that.

I think he's bought a little too much into this, like, thing where he's a stone cold killer. What's his nickname? Mr. Smile. He just forgot how to smile. Oh, smile when the job's done, Treve. It's all business, baby. He's stealing the Royals from 2015's mantra. Easy with that.

I don't know. Yeah, so look, I guess we kind of have to reverse engineer this thing. We just already gave away what happened. If you're watching this show, I'm assuming you already know what happened. Mets advance to the NLCS four games as their first NLCS since that 2015. First time they've clinched any postseason series at City Field. Mark Viento said after the game he's addicted to spraying champagne on his friends, which I totally get, bro. told me too i've been looking for that man i've been looking for that fix um so yeah i agree with

you i think that this is you know you if you looked at the game and said okay yeah francisco lindor finally came through for the metz um in the what was that the sixth inning six inning they had so many opportunities it was just a matter of time you talked about ranger swares you know getting through those first two innings bases loaded both times iglesias with a rough a bat there and you know it you knew eventually if you continue to put pressure on this team that they were going to come through and that's exactly what happened and i think on the flip side there if you want to talk about the fills i mean they just offensively weren't enough and i don't think you can really point to the layoff for that i don't think the Phillies would

want you to point to the layoff for that i think really the mindset for them was we got beat by a team in a short series. They think they have a they don't think the Mets. Nick Cassiano said as much after the game. They don't think the Mets are a better team

but they said they beat him during the series. He was very complimentary and gave the Mets their flowers and it was a great interview. But I think that's how the players are approaching this. Like man, we had the team. Yeah.

Everything was there. We just got outplayed. whether it's because the Mets are hot or it's just a five-game set. Whatever it is, they did. They got outplayed. And you could talk about their bullpen turning into a pumpkin.

But I think really the credit just goes to the Mets who have found something. And maybe that's not even fair for the Mets. And maybe you can articulate this a little bit better than I can. But I don't think it is any, more like some Cinderella story. Like I think they've found a really good roster here, a lineup that, you know, up and down

can do damage. So I don't think we're seeing some team that just is getting lucky and hot. I think we're seeing a very good baseball team right now. Yeah, I mean, including playoffs, this is the best team in baseball since June. And it's, it's that, I find that stat interesting because the Phillies in the second half were a 500 team, but the first half, they were on pace for, I think, 110 wins. Like, they were the team of 2024. It's a long season.

Things change. And I agree. Like, I want to do a little bit on the Phillies before we go full Mets because there's going to be a lot of talk there. One, I think the Castiana's quote that got pulled out of that interview, it's tough because I think everything else is very complimentary. The Phillies players have a lot of mutual respect for their opponents. I think the fans represent a different kind of symbol.

Like, you know, that's how they identify. themselves and they take pride in that. Philly's players throughout this entire series were exchanging complimentary. It's not Bryce Harper because he's a little locked in. He's a different beast. But there was no animosity between the teams even though it's a division rival kind of thing. For Philly,

I mean, go up and down the lineup. Kyle Schorber hits the leadoff arm run against Senga in game one. Then he goes one for 15 the rest of the series. Boom, one for 13. March, one for 13. J.T. Romuto, O for 11. Like you got, the Mets got Nick Castiano's hot by, you know, throwing him a bunch of fastballs and Bryce Harper's Bryce Harper. But everyone else got neutralized. And that's the identity of this Philly team, the boom offense that can put together big innings in a flash.

And they never really got that inning in this entire series, even though they won game two. With the bullpen, I thought Topper in the first, honestly, two games did nothing wrong. I think he pushed all the right buttons. his guys just didn't get the job done. I think the biggest moment in this game wasn't even in this game. I think it was yesterday in game three, or two days ago now. 62 game, 9-fitting, Mets are up, they've been up, they have all the momentum. Topper brings in Estavis, his closer, who he only used to face Lindor.

To face Lindor. Lindor doubles often, but that's not the point. The point is that you exposed your best asset to the other team's best. hitter. And you never know what is going to come of that. Sometimes it's a basis-loaded opportunity the very next day with the entire season on the line. I don't know that you can, you know, directly link one thing to another, but I got to think it helped Lindor in that at bat because he had already seen the 100-mile-per-hour heater. Estavis threw him four, two of them in the same spot, and he got the second one. I really think that was the only mistake Thompson made the entire

series. Everything else. It was just, the Phillies just came out a little bit flat, and that's that. I agree with you. I mean, yes, if you do see a guy, you know, the night before, two nights before, the information that you gather from that is huge, especially we're talking relievers here where, you know, you only get to see them four or five pitches at a time. And if you're at the plate and a guy has a fastball like that, like once you see it a few times, what do we always say about major league hitters, man? If they can get on time, they can, if guys are throwing 110 miles an hour, it doesn't matter.

guys will get on time to it. If it's not in the right location, which obviously that pitch was just middle, middle. Like, he's going to hit it, dude. So I got some more numbers for you. You talked about the Phillies offense. The five through nine hitters went eight for 69 in this series. Phillies bullpen.

They allowed 16 runs in the four game set. And then lastly, I think you kind of have to tip your cap to Ranger Schwarz, who, you know, stepped up, pitched in and out of traffic, got the job done when he needed to get the job done. He has a 1-4-5 career post-season ERA now, over 37 and two-thirds innings pitched, man. Trevor, let me ask you some. And he did not come into the playoffs, particularly pitching well.

But the bright lights came on, and he answered the call. And yeah, I think that's, you know, to put the Phillies to bed here. You know, they're going to go visit my twins in Cancun. where do you go man because I think you have the core there you're going to have to replace some innings in the bullpen as some of those guys are free agents

does Dave Dombrowski put the pedal down to the floor and say I need to go improve my bottom half of the lineup do I need to go get better bench bats like whatever it is I referenced this on baseball today and whether it's fair or not but having Cody Clemens in there

you know, first and second in the last inning against Edwin Diaz. I mean, I don't know if that's, I don't, no shots fired at him. But like, does Dave Dombrowski want something different in that situation? I think with his track record, yes. Like, I think there might be some turnover there. I think the core is intact enough. But, you know, they're not getting any younger, Jolly. They're not getting any younger.

And this is a team that I truly believe. And I picked him to win the World Series. I think the last two years just has not come to fruition. They've gotten into these playoffs as the wildcard team raging hot at the end of the year. Then this year they played a different type of game and it just hasn't worked out. They went from World Series loser to NLCS loser to now NLDS loser. They're going the wrong way. I assume there's some significant changes coming, but at the same time, they still have a core there.

Yeah, I mean, things are going to change in Philadelphia. I mean, Dombrowski has been down this road before. The 2012 Tigers went to the World Series and lost. The 2013 Tigers went to the CS and lost. The 2014 Tigers got swept in the D.S. And then the 2015 Tigers didn't make it at all. I think Dombrowski needs to rewrite history here. And it starts with change one way or the other.

I do agree they still have a talented core that, you know, won 95 games. Like, that's not nothing. They won their first NLE's title in, I think, a decade. They just didn't get the result they needed at the end. They still have a fearsome starting rotation. I was going to ask you, because I couldn't get my co-host Jerry Blevins to agree with me. I think it's insane that Zach Wheeler didn't get used on short rest in your potential elimination game. I know that he threw 110 pitches.

I know it's three days rest, but it's the NL. Siam. It's Zach Miller. Where do you bring him in? I think you piggyback him off Ranger. You get four good innings out of him. You can't trust your bullpen. They gave up 16 runs.

that's what you said, right? Why use them for five innings when you can use them for two potentially? Because you know Zach Lither's going to give you good work. And then you figure it out in game five when you get there. But you got to get there. I don't know. I don't disagree with you. And I believe Topper came out and said that Wheeler was going to be available.

And it was all hands on deck, as it should be for an elimination game. I honestly didn't really think about that. It was the only thing on my mind when Hoffman came in. I was saying, thank God, but why is Wheeler not in the game right now, you know? You're saving him for a game five that may never come. Do you start Wheeler then, or do you just hope that the Phillies get off to a massive start that you don't have to use them? I guess that's the top process. I still think you start Ranger because Rangers have proven postseason performer.

You trust that your bats are going to come through eventually. And then, you know, if things go awry, like they kind of did for Ranger because he threw a ton of pitches, you bring in Zach Wheeler for three innings. And then you have Christopher Sanchez on full rest for game five back. home where you like him. So I was really confused by that. I was thankful as a Mets fan that we didn't have to see him again. But regardless of all of that, regardless of the nuances of the game, the Phillies lineup,

I think will look largely the same. I think that bullpen is going to get an overall, like he said. But it's weird. This team is talented. How much can you change? Do you think, what's Alec Bone feeling like right now? He was struggling. He was struggling.

struggling. He had some hits taken away from him. Mark Vantos made a few good plays on him throughout this series drives in a run and then in the 8th inning hits the ball down the right field line. It's clearly a fair ball. It gets called. It would have been 4-2. That's a completely different

type of ball game there. If you're Alec Bohm, you made some miscues in the field as well. Your head has got to be spinning. I feel like the game kind of sped up on him a little bit And then also he was getting no breaks I mean it was like an all time He almost must be relieved

I mean this sounds stupid But he almost must be relieved that the playoffs are over Because it was a lot There was a lot going on for Alec Baum right there Like a lot of them It was a Murphy's Law type series for him And everything that could have gone wrong for him did And I know that like

He is the younger piece of the position player core But he is going to be 28 next year Like he had his best season. He came up short towards the end. If Philly is thinking about change, there are guys available at that position. So it's something to keep your eye on. It's something he got asked about right after the game,

which was palsy by whatever reporter asked him. But yeah, I think Philly's fans are, it's going to be interesting because they love this team. They love the players, the characters of this team, but it's hard to imagine them putting together something like they did in 2022 if they just run it back again. So we'll see.

I don't know. Let's give the Mets a little bit of flowers. We do need to move on and you guys are still in it. So we're talking about the Mets plenty on this show. Jose Kintana, 0.5-Sev ERA over his last eight starts. That's the playoffs and the regular season combined. More stats on him. He's gone five plus innings pitch with zero earned runs

and three straight postseason starts. Dog. The only pitcher with a long. or such streak is since 1913 as a whitey Ford like what are we doing here people thanks Dalton for those notes what are we doing here people crazy uh shoot man I mean again like you know in May this would be surprising what we're we're talking about now but canton has been good minaya's founded everything is just really it's everything's coming up Mets man give them their flowers then we'll move on

Yeah, I mean, those three Southpaws, Mania, Kintana, and David Peterson, since the elimination game, wildcard game three, 24 and third innings, one earn run. I mean, it's really easy to win games when you've got starting pitching and bulk guys that are performing at this level. That doesn't even bring in Luis Severino, who had a great game to start until the very end where he gave up back-to-back home runs. The Mets are getting pitching at the right time. Their stars are hitting, and I think that's the difference for every postseason team.

Like the Yankees fans are a little bit on the edge of their seat right now because they haven't gotten Soto and Judge to go yet. Not saying that they won't, but it hasn't happened yet. With the Mets, Pete Alonzo has three playoff home runs. Viantos has two. Viantos just set a record for hits in a division series by a Mets play. He's a stud, man. Nine for 16, five extra base hits.

We already mentioned Lindor, Nimo's hitting 333. When your best four players are hitting like your best four players and your starting pitching is giving you zeros, it's hard to lose any game. The Mets feel like they can do anything right now. The only thing that was holding them back was a bullpen on short rest, and now they're getting three days rest.

So this team has to be feeling amazing that they won this series in four games. They don't have to go back to Philadelphia. They have their eyes set on California, and they get to just kick back and watch as the Padres and Daughters fight for their season tonight or tomorrow night. But yeah.

Tomorrow night, yeah. No, I'm happy for you. I'm happy for Mets fans because, you know, it didn't look pretty at the beginning of the season. But you've really found a sustainable, in my opinion, a sustainable recipe for success. And you mentioned Mark Vientos. I think he needs as much credit as anybody. I know we talked about Lindor a lot this season, MVP-type season. I get it.

But to have a team go the way the Mets have gone, you need to have guys. like that step up. Yes, absolutely. I mean, it was in AAA for the first six weeks of the season. I know, dude. Finally got a real shot. And I mean,

from the get-go, he looked the part this year. So I'm happy for him. Happy for you guys. Again, we'll talk about the Mets plenty more. If you want more Mets talk, tune in to Shay Station.

We've been up one like... Yes, if you want the in-depth Mets Mets freaking porn, go to Shea Station and check it out. Jeff. Jesus. We're going to get,

we'll probably stay with the National League here. We'll talk Dodgers Padres, but I'm assuming that we have an ad rig. Can I tell you about something first? Is that right? Yeah. All right. Perfect.

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I'll either scan the QR code on the screen or head to P-I-K-K-I-T.com today. Great way to track what sports and players you're up or down on. Thank you to Pickett. Back in the nick of time is Trevor Poof. Very nice. Let me get situated right here. Where are we going, Poppy, you know? We're going down to my second city, San Diego.

Where I got to be honest with you, Jolly. Dodgers end up winning, 8-0, kind of a nothing game. That is not what I expected in San Diego. I thought the Padres had all the momentum going in the world. There's some interesting pitching decisions that we'll get into.

But Mookie Betts setting the tone early as he's tried to do in every single game. If it wasn't for Jerks and Profer, he would have done every single game, pretty much. This one was kind of just an onslaught of Dodger offense, nonstop. They scored in the first,

the second, the third, in the seventh, and then the bullpen game worked out exceptionally, which was, I'm sure, very scary for, Dodgers fans because if there's one thing they're critical with it's Dave Roberts in the handling of a bullpen. So when you're talking about a full bullpen game in San Diego

against the team that's had all the momentum in the world, Dodger fans were not expecting much last night and you know what? When that's the case, usually in sports, something else happens and it did last night. Just an excellent showing for the Dodgers. They head back to Dodger Stadium now. and who the heck knows what's going to happen in game five. I think we should start with Schilt's decision to throw Dylan Cease on three days' rest.

I think that's an interesting one and one that in hindsight doesn't look like it really was smart. Obviously didn't work out. The other options would have been to start Martin Perez and have your bullpen ready to go, and then game five have cease Darvish. He elects to go a cease

who not only is pitching on three days rest but prior to that his last start I think he had was it 10 days rest? Something like that like a really long layoff has a start and then three days rest really up and down strange for a pitcher

so I think that's one decision that Schilt's probably regretting now. Yeah I mean it's the other side of the double-edged sword where we talked about, why didn't the Phillies use Wheeler? Well, this is something that can happen when you go on short rest. And I do think the Dodgers just have a beat on Dillen Seas.

Like even in his first part, he didn't look great. Like, Shohei caught up to that fastball, you know, at his eyes or wherever it was. But the optics of this game looked very Padreous favored. You had the Dodgers, you know, going to their bullpen, the Padres pushing out the guy that they acquired to be their ace. coming off a win where the guys are, you know, bopping in the clubhouse, Ken Rosenthal's ban from asking us questions,

we're hitting bombs, we're talking shit. That's crazy, by the way. It's crazy, but they had all the juice in the world, you know what I mean? I just, I didn't have the script of this game going this way, especially considering that the Dodgers have not been a great road playoff team in years. This was their first road playoff win since 2021 against the Giants,

that game five check swing. That was the last time they got the job done on the road. to win in this way with no Freddie Freeman in the lineup to still put up eight runs to use eight different pitchers to get the job done. None of them giving up runs. This completely changes the trajectory of this entire series, a series that I thought was going to end with this game.

I really don't know now. Yeah, I mean, the podgers aren't scared to go into Dodger Stadium. They've shown that, you know, the pitching plans now, are kind of up in the air for the Dodgers. You know, they have Yamamoto, they have Flaherty. They can, Dave Roberts after the game, has been pretty non-committal about it. He's said they could run the same formula

and go bullpen game again. So basically it's all hands on deck and then the Padres will go to U.Darvish and have their pen ready to go as well. It's going to be, it's going to be awesome. And I really do believe now with one game, it's going to be star versus star. Like whose stars are going to show up?

Is Mookie going to continue to be who he's been in this series? Is Shohay going to have a big homer or a big a bat? Are we going to get the Tanner Scott Shohay match up in a big situation? You know, what's Tatee's going to do? Like I think this is, the stage is set, bro, in Hollywood Jolly, for what could be an all-time classic game. I really hope it comes down to that because this series has been a ton of fun, even though we've had two of the games now be eight-run differential.

They have 10-2 Padres win now in 8-0-0-Dodgers of victory. It still feels like it's been a heavyweight bout, and we're about to get, like, one final classic round. Yeah, I mean, I got two things here. One, this is the best rivalry in baseball right now. Like, I know that there's history with other rivalries, but right now this is the most hot button. Like, you want to tune in to watch this game,

even if you're a third-party fan. Two, I really think, and it's going to be a bigger discussion if they lose game five, that the Joe Musgrove injury threw a wrench in everything for San Diego. Because I think this is his game if he's healthy. And then CISCO's Game 5 with Darvish, that piggyback combo, everything changes with no Joe Musgrove, who's a proven playoff performer who had a great playoff start before he got hurt. I don't think it's affecting the mojo.

of the team, I just think that their path to victory in this game got so much simpler with him as an option. And it's something that they're going to need to overcome. But game five is just going to be must watch television. I mean, there's no way you can not tune into that game. I'm really glad that my team's not the one in the game five because I would be uneasy for the next 48 hours. But I am glad that we are getting a game five because I think it's going to be great for baseball. Yeah, I thought no doubt that the Mets Phillies was going to go game five. In my mind, I just seemed like that's how I was going to go. of taking care of business. I think the Dodgers in this game

show the ability to score in a bunch of different ways, which is really important for them. They have a mooky hitting the homer, Will Smith getting in on the action with the homer, Tommy Edmund has a squeeze bunt. Gavin Lux has been putting up good at bats this entire series

and really, you know, since the All-Star break, he's been good for them. I think he's been and can be a difference maker for the Dodgers. And then the podres just out. That's a good sign too. I think that is that his first hit of the playoff series or second hit something like that he's been putting up good at bats though um podgers just need to flush it I don't think they care

about this at all if you're a projarez fan yeah you wanted to close it out at home uh but I think you're still feeling as confident as you can in a winter go home game yeah like this team is seems like they're built for the big moment the loud crowds I'm curious to see that man after what happened in Dodger Stadium the last game with how the bleachers were all over ProFar and Tatis. It's going to be crazy. Are they going to employ the same type of mentality going into that jolly? Is Fernando going to be air-humping the stands? I don't know, man.

Some guys thrive in those very hostile environments and the Padres employ a lot of those dudes. So I honestly, I still like their odds. And I mean, this game was eight nothing. Like obviously it's a blowout one for the Dodgers. Both teams have the same amount of opportunities with runners in scoring position. Dodgers went five for nine. Padres went 0 for nine. Sometimes you have a day like that.

The Mets had a day like that too. They went two for 11 in one of the Brewers games. Sometimes you just don't have it on a certain day. That doesn't mean you're down and out. But if I'm the Dodgers and I'm coming back home and I've seen what my crowd can be like in the earlier games, I'm feeling pretty good about my chances in game five. I'm so curious to see how the pitching is managed. I think Schilt has a clearer vision.

He's got you who had a good start, and then he's got his bullpen. For the Dodgers, you have two options for a starting pitcher. You can go to your bullpen early. What are they going to do? Dave Roberts, like I said, when we started this to talk about this series, not really known in L.A.

for his awesome bullpen managing skills. He did it yesterday. We'll see how that goes, though. But yeah, I'm, I can't wait for this, man. Game 5 with this heated rivalry, like you said, it's, it's, hopefully it lives up to the hype. And I don't know if it can because it's going to be absolutely hyped. Can't wait.

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promo code talking 50% off two or more pairs. They're the best. Thank you to Shady Rays. We're not going to talk about the Yankees Royals just yet, Beams. We're going to save that one for last. We'll go to, well. AAL matchup, the real showdown. Everyone knows the ALE Central is the best division in all of baseball.

Everybody knows that. Three teams still in the playoffs. We'll go to Detroit, where the Tigers take a two to one lead in the ALDS against the Guardians, three nothing victory, another quote unquote bullpen chaos game for the Tigers. You know, Jolly, I do hate that term. I don't know if you know that. You're not a fan of bullpen chaos? I am a fan of the active bullpen chaos.

I do like what Hinch has been able to do. I like that. I've talked about that before. I think this might be a step in the direction where a lot of teams want to go. Yeah. I said this before. I think if a team could have 12 pitchers

or 13 pitchers on the roster that could go three innings, like that's what they would prefer. keeps the cost down. You're not paying starters necessarily. And, you know, teams don't like third time through the order. They like one time through the order. And that's the number support that. So I, I like seeing it from one team. I wouldn't want all of baseball to do that. I don't think it's good for the game. But anyways, bullpen chaos has worked out. And it's been, it's, it has been pretty impressive. And I think it takes this special group of guys to really buy in, especially the way the AJ Hinch uses them, because, it's not you know their

closer or their high leverage guys are literally entering the game at any given moment. It could be in the second inning. It could be in, you know, they could start one game and close the next game. It's really all about matchups for him which is nothing new. I think he's just taking it to the next level.

So I don't like the bullpen cast's name. I do like what he's been able to do. So you have to give AJ some credit. I'll come at you a little bit. I'll come out of you a little bit. You know what? Because what the Dodgers did last night,

I don't consider that bullpen chaos. I consider that a bullpen game. And something I say often as a fan when I'm like rooting my team on, I'll say win this pitch. I'll say win this at bat, win this one. A.J. Hinch is not trying to win the game. He's trying to win every single at bat. And yesterday, I think, was a really good example of A.J. Hinch,

deploying his guys and winning every at bat and just completely sucking the life out of that Guardian's lineup. I think a lot of the discussion will unfortunately get latched on to J-RAM because the postseason narrative is building a little bit for him now. A couple of warning track flyouts, that's tough. But overall, A.J. Hinch is just, right now he's dancing circles around every other manager that's in his path. And he's got the talent on his team to get the job done. And it's very unconventional.

And I think they've earned the right to call themselves chaotic. So he has, I think that's a good, the main point is he has the roster to do it. He has the guys to do. I mean, the guys coming out of this bullpen are filthy, old vesp, bobrisky, Holton, like, you can go on and on with these guys. Like, they are nasty, so that helps. You know, your managerial decisions get a lot easier when the guys that you're putting out there are good and getting the job done. You know what I mean?

So, you know, this one was interesting because he did make. Stephen Vote decide on some things early on in the game. And I don't think that vote was necessarily wrong in making these decisions. They didn't work out. You know, he took his shot there, you know, pinch hitting, Uensky, Noel, big Christmas for Will Brennan, you know, had him in to face a lefty. You know, Will Brennan against lefty is not very good. He wants to get that match up.

The problem is the rest of the game now, you're going to have Noel facing right-handers, which is exactly what AJ Hince wanted. doing that again for David Frye, or excuse me, for Manzardo, getting him out of there, putting in David Frye, same thing. I know David Frye kind of got a ball taken away from him,

but my guy Matt Veerling later on the game, but, you know, Hinch forced, I guess, not not a force, yeah, he forced Vote to make decisions. Vote took his shot early in the game, because both these guys,

that's how they approach managing. That's how these rosters are built. You're talking about AJ Hinch, wanting to win matchups. Steven Vote does the exact, same thing. They pinch hit a ton. You know, he uses his bullpen effectively. Obviously, they've, you know, had one of if not the best bullpen in all of baseball throughout the year. So they approach the game very similarly. I think the one problem, I can't believe we're just talking managers right now.

That's kind of what the series has been though, you know? That's something new for me. It's crazy. I think the one problem is, you know, vote has said like he doesn't matter if he knows it's an opener or whatever. He'll stock his lineup according to who is the starter is. So when you're doing that and you put a bunch of lefties in your starting lineup because Kater starts the game, you're opening yourself up to having to make those decisions early on. If Hinch decides, hey, Kater, one innings all you got, which was what happened yesterday, then, you know, here comes the chess match. And yeah, AJ Hinch won it. But for the Tigers, Riley Green gets the RBA single in the first. Matt Veerling, sacked Fly, gets it to 2-0,

Spentartorkelson makes it 3-0 in the 6th, and the Guardians just weren't able to muster anything against that strong Detroit Penn. Yeah, I mean, Vote tried doing it back to Hinch too. He used Tim Heron in the fifth inning to get Carpenter out of the game. Kerry Carpenter, I think is probably the best hitter on the Tigers outside of Riley Green. But like you said, he's the best hitter on the Tigers.

I think he's the best hitter, even if he's a platoon guy, because that home run yesterday was two days ago. Point being, with lineup construction, I thought that was a really good point by you, because Hinch didn't have to go to his bench as much this game. He went to Andy Ibaneas later in the game, but for the most part, his guys stayed in. And getting ahead early was massive in this game, too,

because I think it allowed Hinch to deploy his kind of opener plan. I think if they don't score in the first, you might see Montero a little bit longer, but because he got that matchup, he got the lead, he deployed his bulk guy, and then he got to execute the plan that I think he had in mind as plan A for this game. But at the end of the day,

the Guardians have to get it done, man. I mean, Stephen Kwan. Stephen Kwan has an OPS of 1,000 right now. No one else is above 700 in their main lineup except for Brian Rokio. So you have you guys, you have essentially your bread guys in the lineup getting it done and no one in between. Ramirez and Nailer. That's what it comes down to.

It comes what we just talk about with Soto and Judge, with Alonzo and Lendor, with the top of these lineups. When it comes to playoff time, it's all about the stars, baby. Like, that's just the fact of it. And if your stars are not getting it done, it's really hard to win these ball games. But so the problem though is, and Chris Rose has been alluding to this. And it's almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy for this guy right now. He's been so down on this team all year.

Forever. And he's talked about obviously the lack of offense. And eventually the bullpen can't, you know, hold every single team to no runs. They've gotten some good starts here. Tanner Bybee had a good start for them. But it is, you know, this is an offensively challenged team. That's the bottom line. And if you don't have to pitch to J-RAM or J-RAM, you know, you know, it has a little bit of a scuffle in a series.

There's not a lot behind him, especially when you have a team that's throwing the pill the way the tigers are. So it's going to be, I mean, I think that that's it. And it sounds simple and it sounds like, okay, well, obviously, but the guardians need to score some freaking runs. And that is not their strong suit. They haven't scored in 20 innings. And they just gave.

20 innings straight, they have not scored. The Tigers threw their second shutout in a row. it's their first time in the postseason with multiple shutouts. This is one of the strongest Tigers pitching staffs we might ever see. And it's full of guys whose names you might have learned a week ago, but that's just the sick nature of baseball sometimes. And now the Guardians back against the wall, you have nine innings to adapt to save your season.

That's it. I think we might see a little bit more sense of urgency as far as, you know, are we bunting early on in the game to try to get that one-run lead? I mean, I know what the numbers say and the data people do not like that and you want to play for the big inning. But there are times where you got to have feel for the series and what your team is going through. And dude, that game is so big too because now scoobble is going to get game five regardless if it goes there. Like the tigers are fully in the driver's seat of this series now.

Yeah, I mean, so you, Josh Naylor, Lane Thomas in the top of the second back-to-back singles and then you just have three straight flyouts. Like we probably need to bunt a guy over and try to get that the run back and get back in the ballgame. You're not an offense that scores in bunches. So when you get a chance, you really have to push across that one run and just keep chipping away and approaching your offense like that. Steal some bases, be aggressive. I just don't think you can sit back and say, we're going to have a crooked number. Like that's just not who your team is. So you have to understand that maybe.

we'll see a little bit different of an approach, but they're going to have to do it again, probably against the same pitching concept tonight. There's no starter listed. Cleveland's going with Bybee, who, you know, they have to feel pretty confident there,

but it's going to be another. I've checked the probabilities like pretty much every day for playoff games. I think I've seen the Tigers list a probable starter once. And it's, it's scoble. They just, I mean, they don't,

they don't care. They don't care. It's awesome. And, it's going to be interesting to see man because when you have Scoobel I mean the way he's throwing the ball right now you have two victories in a series

I mean he looks built for this stage a very good chance for two victories and in a five game set that's 66% of your wins Charlie that you need and then in a seven game set I mean it's like being able to count on that having that ace

is is the bullpen cast going to hold up all year long dude we're freaking one win and then another series away from finding out. Dude, I'm calling the series for the Tigers. This guy, Terrick went into Minute Maid and shut down the big bad Astros in his first playoff start ever and it was nothing to him. He already threw seven shed against the Guardians.

I think there's no way they can win game five against them, even if they get there. There's no way. I got to look at the schedule. So, so let's see if they win game, if the Guardians win tonight, scoble goes game five, that will be on Saturday. day. First game of the ALCS will be on Monday. So they kind of need to win this game to set them up to pitch game one. You get him game one. You get him game four. And then game seven he comes in. Maybe he pitches three times in a series lookout. We're getting ahead of ourselves,

but like I'm really curious to see what the Tigers do in a seven game set. Obviously, this plan works really well for three games. And now we're seeing even five games. seven game sets a long way to go with one starter that you trust but the tigers are on the verge man all right we got one more game to cover and beavers is very excited to talk about it but i think you got something to talk to us about i'm going to need him to contain that excitement okay because i need to talk to you about booking.com first this episode of talking baseball is brought to you by booking dot com the official accommodation partner of major league baseball booking dot com booking dot booking dot Yeah, yeah.

Thank you very much. With the MLB postseason upon us, it's time to explore those U.S. cities you've always secretly wanted to learn more about even your baseball rival cities. Are the Yankees and Royals rivals? Probably not, but I want to go to Kansas City for some barbecue.

Why not? Man, I'll make the trip. It's so good. With hotels, bed and breakfast, vacation rentals, all that good stuff, and more on booking.com. You might just find your perfect stay for this postseason, even if it's in your baseball rivals city. So no matter what team you're rooting for,

booking.com can make you a fan of any U.S. city. The right stay can make you a fan of any city, even your baseball rivals. Book today at booking.com and download the booking.com app. A little personal ad. I use booking.com to help book my trip to Italy this year. It was really easy. They made the process seamless. I was terrified of planning a trip that big. They made it really easy. So I highly recommend them from a personal jolly standpoint. Get the booking.com app today and book your postseason travel with the link down below. Thank you to booking.com. How great is Italy? I want to go back. Not in the summer.

Not in the summer. It was way too hot. Yeah, it's very hot in the summer. September, I'm there. Italy is something else. If you haven't been to Italy, go to Italy. You know what? A lot of Italians like the Yankees.

That's true. You know what I mean? I think that's true. I love me some Italians. Gosh, I'm starving right now. Okay. Here we are. And excuse me, the Yankees go up two to one on the Royals.

They end up winning this one, three to two. Jean-Cardo Stanton was the player of the game for the Yankees. I mean, he was flashing the wheels in this game, flashing the power. Still, you know, obviously a great effort from the Royals. I don't think this series to me doesn't feel like it's over. Like you thought or you think that the Tigers Guardian series is over. You know, John Carlo in the fourth, he gets the RBI double, makes it 1-0, 1-0, 1-Soto. the fifth two nothing.

We're like, okay, is this going to kind of get away from the royals? No, they have an answer back inning. Kyle Ispole and Michael Massey tie the game up for them. And then it was the abat of the game. John Carlos Stanton going up against Bubik gets a slider and freaking crushes it. And there are some numbers with Stanton in the postseason right now that I mean he's becoming an all-time Yankee great with these postseason numbers.

I think he kind of got to start there in a series and really in the postseason where, you know, Aaron Judge really hasn't been a factor the way Yankee fans want him to be a factor. Here is our guy John Carlos Stanton who sometimes seems like he's running with one leg and then sometimes he's stealing a base off Salvador Perez. I don't know what's going on, but he's absolutely coming alive exactly when they need him to. Here me give you some stats on him, Jolly. Here's the,

oh, no, this is the stolen base. Unbelievable. I got to see the jump that he got. It was ridiculous. He was there. They weren't holding him on. Yeah.

The first base one was playing in front of him. And he's like, I guess I'm just going to steal. Here we go. That's a crazy thing. Like, what are we doing here? Hey, he got that.

His burst was not bad there. That was not a bad burst. It was a good first. athlete, no one knows about his legs. By the way that Bob Kossis talks about, Jankarlastan, you'd think that he like needs a wheelchair to get around, dude, it's crazy. No one

knows what's going on with his legs. They look fine to me. Here's some stats on him. First of all, he recorded his first stolen base since August 3rd of 2020. It's over four years. His homer was the first Yankees go-ahead Homer in the eighth inning or later since Raul Ibanez

in 2012. Game three of the AL Diaz. His 633 career slugging percentage in the postseason with the Yankees is the fourth highest career postseason slugging minimum 75 postseason plate appearances. Fourth in Yankee history.

He has 12 homers in 30 postseason games as third most in Major League Baseball history. There's the homer. A Stantonian blast, if you will. And as I mentioned, Judge, right now, one for 11 in this series. The one's an infield senior One for 13

Took the words out of my mouth, BPD Yeah, the one is an infield single I know he smoked a ball to wit yesterday That got caught That was when things go wrong A couple balls hit hard Couple long flyouts But ultimately

Outs you know Yeah 1114 in the first inning Was judges hit Or batted ball to Bobby Whitt Yeah I mean I don't We shouldn't assign it to only Aaron Judge I know that's the big narrative right now

With the I think he has the highest strikeout percentage, minimum 200 play appearances in the postseason, and then, you know, you hate Aaron Judge. I hate him. You didn't realize you were a certified hater. It's crazy that it's both AL MVP candidates. Like, it's both of them. Like, Bobby Witt deserves to be lumped in this conversation, too, because the Royals are

getting part of this done without any production of the guy that basically carried the offense for most of their season. And he, I think, looks a little more wrong than Judge does. Judge has been hitting balls well. He's been getting out. some of wits at bats have been pretty perplexing in my opinion. But again, the story of this game is not them. It's John Carlos Stanton and the Yankees' bullpen especially.

That's going to get... The bullpen's been great. That's going to get lost in translation because the bullpen is the reason they've won two games in a row here. Or, excuse me, game one in game three. Clark Schman, I thought, did a pretty nice job. We're into trouble in the fifth inning. But finding a role for Clay Holmes where he's comfortable and can be Clay Holmes

is massive for this team. I think Yankee fans have forgotten that when Clay Holmes throws his sinker more than his slider and not just throwing his slider exclusively, he's a really good pitcher, even with the shot of Yankees' infield defense. He goes one and a third in this game. Tommy Canley's come up really big for them after kind of a shaking end to the season. And then Luke Weaver, 15 straight fastballs to end the game. Here's a pitch. Hit it.

You can't because I'm better than you. Luke Weaver has that mojo right now going for him. I think the Yankees recalibrated their bullpriced. at the perfect time to get right for the playoffs. Because I think if they were stubborn and they stayed set in their ways. Well, they were stubborn for a long time. If they waited literally any longer, I don't think they could have done this. But I'm saying you would have seen these implosions in these important games where your

stars aren't producing. It would have been a really bad scene in Yankee land. Now you're getting clutch performances instead. You're set up for game four and game five with starters so you can trust. The Yankees are in a really good spot. This was a must win game for them. This was a must win game. I don't know if you know.

this, but I usually work with a couple of Yankee fans on this show. And I was hearing a lot about Clay Holmes and we got to make a decision. We got to make a decision. And they did. They waited very, very long. And then all of a sudden, out of freaking nowhere, they find a guy like Weaver, who's been phenomenal. Yankees bullpen zero earned runs in the last 18 and two-thirds innings. Wow. 18 and two-thirds. When the offense isn't going and you have to rely on something, they've found something to get the job done. I think, you mentioned Bobby Witt. I mean, Vinnie Pascinto, I know he's playing hurt right now.

He hasn't showed up. And really, the Royals offense has relied on those three guys. It's been Witt. It's been Pascantino and it's been Sal Perez. Sal's been okay. But this isn't, again, this is like the guards. This isn't an offensive juggernaut team. They can score in different ways.

And I think that is a point now that I want to get to. The eighth inning, Bobby Witt, Jr., gets on first base. And we do not. see him attempt to steal. They're down by one run. And I know like he's stole a lot of bases. The stolen base percentage isn't great with him. He has been caught, you know, thrown out

quite a bit. But that's a, he has to steal there. He has to steal there and he ends up not stealing and there ends up being a base hit, which he would have scored on. And instead it's first and third and

we don't, they don't score. I just, I don't understand the decision there. And I think it cost them a chance to win the baseball game or at least get back into it. Yeah, I got a few things here. One, the Yankees' backstop situation is pretty susceptible to the stolen base. I was a little perplexed by that too. Two, Bobby Witt, Vinnie P., who was playing Hurt, make that note. And Sal Perez combined to be four for 37.

That's a 108 batting average from your two, your three, and your four hitters. It's really hard to win baseball games that way. last thing. I hate to twist the knife in Phillies fans. This is the difference though right now. The Yankees were in a very similar spot to the Phillies. You can liken them. The Phillies had Nick Castellanos playing the best ball of his life.

Right now, John Carlos Sand is playing his best ball of the year. But that's really it for both these lineups. The difference is the bullpen. Bullpen is so important in October baseball for shortening games and getting starters off the hook. The Phillies didn't have that and it lost them. four-game series. You could say that, I feel you.

The numbers will suggest that, but I want to give the Mets more credit. The Yankees are playing the Royals. The Phillies were playing the Mets. I'm talking about two different offenses, bro. I agree with that. I agree with that. Yeah.

So I just, I can't, and Royals fans, let me know if I don't know about something. Because Bobbyway gets on there, Sal ends up getting the knock. that would have scored him. But instead he's just sitting at first base. The Royals lineup, all the other guys,

I mean, for the most part, they're doing their part. Like, Mikel Garcia had a four-hit game. Michael Massey's been great at the top of the lineup. Michael Garcia has been talking some shit on Twitter, too. Kind of great. I mean, I didn't have this series as the one that people were going to be jawn at each other. I think Jazz said yesterday,

they never booed the bad player. They never booed the bums or something, which was pretty funny. Oh, man. I hope this one goes five games too, honestly. So we have it set up. You know, there's a game tonight. It's Garrett Cole versus Michael Waka, a rematch of game one.

You know, Wauke has had, I mean, if you're talking about getting Aaron Judge going and him being a difference maker, Waka's had his number. Throughout his entire career, I think it's in Beaver's the numbers. You might have them that's like a one for... Regular season. He's one for 18, and I don't think it improved in game one. So... Yeah.

Obviously, you have to give the upper hand to the... the Yankees, they're up to one in the series, they have Garrett Cole on the mound. But I just have a feeling, Jolly, and tell me if you feel differently. I don't think the Royals have been, you know, outmatched by the Yankees so far. I mean, if they came out today and won a four to three ballgame, I don't think anybody would be

surprised at all. This has not been a Yankees team that has really just taken control of anything just yet. So even though they are up two to one with Garrett, Cole on the mound. Usually I'd say that's a recipe for game over, series over, let's move on to the ALCS. I don't really have that feeling yet. Yeah, I mean, there's two sides of the coin here. One is that Cole pitched in game one didn't look sharp, but I think he was on like 10 days rest or something in the number show that when Cole gets extra rest, he's not sharp. I think in this start, he will be better. Two, I mean, you have one run game in game one,

two run game and game two, one run game and game three. Like these have all been very tight contest. The Yankees were, I think, lucky to get that game one win between the error by Volpe, a couple replay calls going their way that might have not gone their way in other instances. I don't know. But the point is, this is a really important game for the Yankees to win because if they go to game five back at Yankee Stadium, it's Rodon versus Regens again. And they have struggled against lefties all year long. That's been the narrative. Even though Reagan's didn't look great in that start, they got them out pretty early and then lost to the bullpen. it's going to be a tough watch for Yankees fans to see Carlos Rodan with the season in his hands in that game five.

So this game is imperative to win on the road for them. They have their ace on the bump. Got to get the job done. All right, man. Two games tonight. We have Yankees, Royals at 8 Eastern. We have Guardians, Tigers at 6 Eastern. Do we get game fives?

I hope we do. I want I'm it's greedy of me and I'm on the other side. You say no in tigers, yes or no with Yankees, Royals. I'm saying yes. You think so? I think so too. I think we get at least one game five from both series or both leagues and that's what I want, man. It's winner go home games for both teams.

It's there's nothing like. Series has a little bit of juice too like I'd be for it. I know BPD wouldn't but you know. Yeah. All right. Well, we'll be back tomorrow. to recap the games tonight. I appreciate Jolly filling in for us.

Jake, where are you, dude? Like, where the fake are you? No one's seen him. Wally Pip. Get out of here. Chick-sooks. Aaron Judge is going to go off tonight. He's going to crush the Waka narrative.

He's going to hit a freaking grand slam. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Just this once I'll let you do. I was good. I was good at this episode. I left the bias.

Mark Vientos. You ever see me and Mark Vientos in the same room? My style guy. The chain, man. The chain.