Speaker 1: The quest for the three-peat has begun.
Speaker 2: Only four teams in Major League Baseball history have won
Speaker 2: three consecutive titles. The Dodgers are the favorites to become
Speaker 2: the fifth.
Speaker 1: This is World Champion Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: Here we go again.
Speaker 3: We're getting ready to run it back.
Speaker 1: To get in on the show, call 866-987-2570. And be
Speaker 1: sure to follow Dodger Talk wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Here's your host, David Vasang.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Dodger Talk. David Vasse, live at Comerica Park
Speaker 2: in downtown Detroit after the Dodgers beat the Tigers 2-1
Speaker 2: and Tarek Skubal's return to Detroit after being traded to
Speaker 2: the Dodgers at the deadline. We have phone lines open
Speaker 2: at 866-987-2570. We will hear from Skubal in a moment. Also,
Speaker 2: we'll get into the September roster expansion and And we'll
Speaker 2: get into some of the things that a guy that
Speaker 2: should basically not be saying much of anything these days.
Speaker 2: And that's Carlos Beltran. Also, where are all the Twitter
Speaker 2: trolls that I saw online after Dino Ebel sent Kyle
Speaker 2: Tucker tonight in the sixth inning and Tucker got thrown out?
Speaker 2: Everybody was trolling me saying, oh, why isn't Dino up
Speaker 2: here now to answer those questions? That's because... We don't
Speaker 2: need Dino up here to answer that question. I can
Speaker 2: answer it for you directly. So let's just put that aside.
Speaker 2: I don't see anybody with the guts calling in right
Speaker 2: now to ask me that question. But they could type
Speaker 2: on their phone. They could type on their computer and
Speaker 2: tweet and not have the testicular fortitude to actually ask
Speaker 2: that question directly. on a radio talk show after the game.
Speaker 2: So here it is eighth, sixth inning, one out Dodgers
Speaker 2: are down one to nothing. They have done virtually nothing
Speaker 2: offensively in the last four or five games. They had
Speaker 2: only scored one run in their last 20 and left
Speaker 2: 26 men on base at that point in time. And
Speaker 2: you had Kike Hernandez at the plate against the lefty reliever.
Speaker 2: You had Teoscar Hernandez on deck with Kyle Tucker at
Speaker 2: second base. So for all of you that have been
Speaker 2: detractors towards Teoscar Hernandez, did you really have faith Teoscar
Speaker 2: Hernandez was going to drive in or get the fly
Speaker 2: ball to score Kyle Tucker from third base if Dino
Speaker 2: holds him? I would say the chances at best are
Speaker 2: 50-50 these days. So that's number one. If you go
Speaker 2: back and listen to our show with Dino, he explains
Speaker 2: how he's thinking about not only the outfield arms, the
Speaker 2: scanner report on those outfield arms, but he's also thinking
Speaker 2: about who's on deck and the situation. And I'm sure
Speaker 2: he was looking at Teoscar Hernandez. He did not tell
Speaker 2: me that. I have not had a chance to talk
Speaker 2: to him, but... If everything that I've heard Dino talk
Speaker 2: about his thought process to Oscar Hernandez is on deck,
Speaker 2: there's not a great chance he's driving in the tying run.
Speaker 2: I would hope he would at some point. And tonight
Speaker 2: was a good start. He had a couple of hits and.
Speaker 2: He scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. But
Speaker 2: let's start right there. And then let's talk about Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 2: He was running hard from second to third. And then
Speaker 2: for whatever reason, after Dino Ebel gave him the green
Speaker 2: light to score, he looks at the right fielder. He
Speaker 2: looks at Ben Malgieri and he slows down. If he
Speaker 2: keeps running hard, if he keeps his head down and
Speaker 2: keeps running hard, he scores. He scores the tying run.
Speaker 2: So that's not on Dino evil. And by the way,
Speaker 2: Ben Malgieri tonight was his 37th game in the outfield
Speaker 2: in his major league career. All of it this season
Speaker 2: after being called up, that was the first runner he
Speaker 2: has thrown out this season. And that was a perfect throw.
Speaker 2: Is he going to do, is he going to make
Speaker 2: that throw nine out of 10 times?
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: It was the first time he had done it in
Speaker 2: his young major league career. So let's just get that
Speaker 2: out of the way. All right. That was the right move.
Speaker 2: I had no issues with Dino Ebel sending Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker has got to run harder and not peak
Speaker 2: at the right fielder. He's got to keep going. 866-987-2570
Speaker 2: is the phone number. I thought it was a very
Speaker 2: good performance also by the Dodger relievers, Evan Phillips and
Speaker 2: Tanner Scott in particular. Alex Vessia got away with a
Speaker 2: fastball right down Motown. Kevin McGonigal or yeah, it was
Speaker 2: Kevin McGonigal that sent that fly ball to deep center
Speaker 2: field 402 feet. Yeah, he was very lucky to get
Speaker 2: away with that in the eighth inning, but he did
Speaker 2: and the Dodgers come out on top two to one
Speaker 2: and Tanner Scott. with his 20th save of the season.
Speaker 2: Tarek Skubal tonight went six innings, allowed one earned run.
Speaker 2: It was an RBI triple to Max Clark, who was
Speaker 2: able to shoot it down the left field line to
Speaker 2: score that run on a 98 fastball. Skubal tonight, seven strikeouts,
Speaker 2: no walks. And I thought it was interesting. The Tigers
Speaker 2: television broadcast brought this up. They obviously know Skubal better
Speaker 2: than we do as far as pitch-to-pitch. And they pointed
Speaker 2: out that school bowl is throwing more first pitch changeups
Speaker 2: with the Dodgers than what he was with the, with
Speaker 2: the tigers, with the tigers. He only threw 12% first
Speaker 2: pitch changeups with the Dodgers. It's doubled. He's thrown 24%,
Speaker 2: almost 25% first pitch changeups. And he did that every time,
Speaker 2: first time through the lineup. So, There's some difference in
Speaker 2: game planning with Scooble from the Tigers to the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: I'm interested to ask him about that. Maybe somebody did.
Speaker 2: He was at his locker moments ago on Sportsnet LA.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think I did a good job
Speaker 4: of keeping baseball baseball, you know, and trying to compete
Speaker 4: and give our team a chance to win. I mean,
Speaker 4: I think you kind of saw the emotions early, but But, yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean, I feel like I did a good job
Speaker 4: of keeping the game in baseball, but obviously this place
Speaker 4: is special to me.
Speaker 3: Did you have any interactions with some of your former
Speaker 3: teammates today, or will that all be saved for tomorrow?
Speaker 4: I went and saw a lot of them actually just
Speaker 4: now on the field. But, you know, just like the
Speaker 4: early kind of nods of respect stuff. And, you know,
Speaker 4: I threw a baseball at Fett before the game started,
Speaker 4: so he fielded it cleanly, so it was good to
Speaker 4: watch him do that. How close did you get to
Speaker 4: choking up during the montage when you turned your head
Speaker 4: a few times? Yeah, I mean, I think I did
Speaker 4: cry if you go watch the video. You know, there
Speaker 4: were definitely tears. And, you know, luckily enough, I was
Speaker 4: able to kind of make it to the tunnel before
Speaker 4: more happened, right? But, yeah, it's tough.
Speaker 1: It's tough.
Speaker 4: You know, this is a place I've known my entire
Speaker 4: career since 2018. So, but, yeah, it was special for sure.
Speaker 2: What did you think of the crowd reaction to you?
Speaker 4: You know, with the last name Scoob, you don't know
Speaker 4: if they're booze or they're cheering for you. So I'm
Speaker 4: going to assume they were cheering for me. And that's, yeah,
Speaker 4: that's all I really got to say about it.
Speaker 5: Tim, if you had tips, some nods to some of
Speaker 5: your former teammates before a few of the at-bats to
Speaker 5: compete against guys that you've been working with for so long.
Speaker 5: Can you walk us through the experience of a few
Speaker 5: of those at-bats, especially early since some of these guys
Speaker 5: stepped up?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it's fun, right? Competing against really good
Speaker 4: baseball players, right? It's fun to just go out and compete.
Speaker 4: And then obviously you know them personally. But the game
Speaker 4: of baseball is always the game of baseball. I think
Speaker 4: I do a pretty good job of just going out
Speaker 4: there and competing and having a plan and then just
Speaker 4: going out and trying to execute that plan as best
Speaker 4: I can. It was fun, though. It's weird seeing Dingler
Speaker 4: in the box for sure. That's a weird at-bat, obviously,
Speaker 4: with all the innings. But yeah, it was good.
Speaker 1: It was fun. Was it tough coming out after just
Speaker 1: 83 pitches? Did you want to go back out there
Speaker 1: for the 7th?
Speaker 4: Yeah, of course. You know, of course, I do want
Speaker 4: to go back out there. Some of those, I mean,
Speaker 4: those decisions are my decisions. Doc kind of came to
Speaker 4: me and said, you know, we got a long road.
Speaker 4: He said he's kind of pushed me recently. And, you know,
Speaker 4: you know. I don't know if play it safe is
Speaker 4: the right word because obviously I feel good to go. But,
Speaker 4: you know, we got a little bit more before we
Speaker 4: start pushing again. So that's kind of the conversation that
Speaker 4: I had. But, you know, I felt good to go.
Speaker 4: I felt like I was still in control of the
Speaker 4: baseball game at that time.
Speaker 6: There's like a pit in his stomach when he's going
Speaker 6: up against a former player.
Speaker 2: He looks at the calendar and it's not really something
Speaker 2: that he wants to do.
Speaker 6: When you know that this is coming up is this
Speaker 6: something where you're like just just put me down i want.
Speaker 2: To pitch in detroit or like you know what are
Speaker 2: those days leading up to.
Speaker 4: It like yeah i tried to just keep it day
Speaker 4: by day you know leading up to it obviously ever
Speaker 4: keep everything normal right you know don't make the game
Speaker 4: anything different than it is don't make the environment um
Speaker 4: any different you know try to just keep baseball the
Speaker 4: way i know how to play the way i know
Speaker 4: how to go out there and compete um but obviously
Speaker 4: it was different you know just coming here and Staying
Speaker 4: at a hotel is weird, right? But, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 4: it was good. It was good all around. These games
Speaker 4: are special. Obviously, we're in a different uniform still, but
Speaker 4: I have a lot of good memories on that field.
Speaker 6: Were you expecting to be so emotional when that video
Speaker 6: montage started?
Speaker 4: You know, I said I wasn't going to be, but
Speaker 4: I've come to figure out I don't really know myself
Speaker 4: that well. So, yeah, you know, it didn't catch me
Speaker 4: by surprise. The timing did. They told me 27, and
Speaker 4: it ended up being 37, so it was really close
Speaker 4: to first pitch, or like 35, 4, whatever it was.
Speaker 4: They told me 27, so I kind of figured it
Speaker 4: would be around anthem time. So the timing kind of
Speaker 4: threw me for a loop a little bit, but I
Speaker 4: think the emotions would have been the same, you know,
Speaker 4: regardless of the time. But, you know, I didn't, I
Speaker 4: don't know what to expect, man. I don't try to
Speaker 4: predict much. You know, I try to be pretty present
Speaker 4: with how I live my life.
Speaker 2: All right, Tarek Skubal after the game on Sportsnet LA
Speaker 2: and when that montage was played was after Skubal warmed
Speaker 2: up in the bullpen before first pitch and was walking
Speaker 2: back to the Dodger dugout. He had a white towel
Speaker 2: around his neck and you saw him give the chest
Speaker 2: bump towards the Tigers dugout after that montage, but he
Speaker 2: kept it together. And I go back to what Blake
Speaker 2: Snell told me yesterday. I said, hey, what do you think?
Speaker 2: The emotions? How is he going to handle all that?
Speaker 2: He said, I'm sure he'll have a lot of emotions
Speaker 2: before he goes out for first pitch in the dugout,
Speaker 2: but he'll be able to handle it. And he did.
Speaker 2: He didn't walk any batters tonight. He had seven strikeouts.
Speaker 2: in six innings for the Dodgers as the Dodgers beat
Speaker 2: the Tigers 2-1. And Tarek mentioned A.J. Hinch. I just
Speaker 2: want to say thank you on behalf of the Dodgers
Speaker 2: to A.J. Hinch for not intentionally walking. Freddie Freeman in
Speaker 2: the eighth inning with Teoscar Hernandez at third base. Two outs,
Speaker 2: tied game, and Mookie Betts on deck. Freddie facing a
Speaker 2: very hittable right-handed reliever, And Freddie delivered a base hit
Speaker 2: up the middle, and the Dodgers beat the Tigers 2-1.
Speaker 2: And we all know A.J. Hinch owes the Dodgers a
Speaker 2: lot more than that. 866-987-2570 is the phone number. Let's
Speaker 2: go out to Eddie in Pacoima. You're on Dodger Talk
Speaker 2: live from Comerica Park.
Speaker 5: Hi, Eddie.
Speaker 1: Hey, TV.
Speaker 7: I just wanted to say that all those Twitter trolls
Speaker 7: that were being on.
Speaker 8: You, 99.9% of those people.
Speaker 2: Where are you?
Speaker 3: Where are you, Eddie?
Speaker 7: Eddie, where are you? Are you like in the laundromat?
Speaker 1: Are you in the bathroom?
Speaker 7: Where are you?
Speaker 6: I'm right here.
Speaker 2: I can't hear you, Eddie. Eddie, you don't get one
Speaker 2: more thing when it sounds like you're in the washing machine.
Speaker 4: Sorry.
Speaker 2: 866-987-2570 is the phone number. Let's go out to Woodland Hills. Mike,
Speaker 2: you're on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Mike?
Speaker 3: I'm doing great. And I couldn't agree with you more.
Speaker 3: Dean Abel did the right thing by sending Tucker home.
Speaker 3: I mean, tail has not taken great at-bats. And certainly
Speaker 3: I think that was a reasonable factor to rely on
Speaker 3: on sending him home. I don't know if Tucker's glance
Speaker 3: back at right fielder made a big difference. He did
Speaker 3: make a good slide.
Speaker 2: It made a huge difference. He was coasting. He was
Speaker 2: coasting like he was going to stand up scoring, and
Speaker 2: he wasn't.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 3: I that's not what I saw, but in any event,
Speaker 3: I still think I was here. I call him.
Speaker 2: I was here, Mike. Mike, I was in the stadium
Speaker 2: watching him.
Speaker 9: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Okay. I was watching from the TV. So maybe you
Speaker 3: saw something I didn't in any event. I think evil
Speaker 3: made the right call. I think he assessed her right.
Speaker 3: I think it's important for the Dodgers to play aggressive
Speaker 3: ball because they need to have that kind of energy.
Speaker 3: And the last thing I would say is that, I'm
Speaker 3: a first-time caller, and my great-grandfather played for the Brooklyn
Speaker 3: Bridegrooms back in 18.
Speaker 5: Wow.
Speaker 3: I think he started with them in 1888.
Speaker 10: That's before they were an official major league team because
Speaker 10: by Dodger records, it goes 1890, the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: So that's even before that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he started with the Louisville Colonels. in 1886, and
Speaker 3: Brooklyn Bridegrooms bought him. And he played, I want to say,
Speaker 3: three years for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. Had a great record.
Speaker 3: He ended up dying from typhoid poisoning. And so anyway,
Speaker 3: there was a picture of him. There was a picture
Speaker 3: of him put up on the, I think it was
Speaker 3: last year, on the television. as if he was as a, uh, what, uh,
Speaker 3: early Dodger looked like Freddie Freeman. I don't know if
Speaker 3: you remember that, but they put.
Speaker 2: Up, but I know Joe Davis likes to give out
Speaker 2: birthday shout outs to, uh, old Dodgers.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So anyway, for first time caller and I just, you bet.
Speaker 3: Have a great evening.
Speaker 2: Okay. Mike, thank you for that phone call. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2: I mean, your great grandfather, I think he said was, uh,
Speaker 2: Brooklyn Bridesgroom. I mean, that's pretty impressive. And Dodger Blood
Speaker 2: going back a few generations there. 866-987-2570 is the phone number.
Speaker 2: Tonight's game brought to you by Modelo. Modelo, the mark
Speaker 2: of a fighter. Dodger's beat the tigers tonight, two to one.
Speaker 2: And I'm not going to say that the Dodger offense
Speaker 2: is back because they left a lot of runners out there.
Speaker 2: This could have been another one of those games where
Speaker 2: it wouldn't have had to be a nail biter, but
Speaker 2: it was the Dodgers left 15 men on base tonight.
Speaker 2: They were just four for 12 with runners in scoring position.
Speaker 2: Thanks to Miguel Rojas and Freddie Freeman coming up with
Speaker 2: the two most clutch hits tonight. Rojas, a pinch hit
Speaker 2: single in the sixth inning after Tucker was thrown out
Speaker 2: to tie the game. And Freddie obviously delivering with two
Speaker 2: outs in the eighth inning to drive home to Oscar Hernandez.
Speaker 2: But again, you're waiting for this Dodger offense to really
Speaker 2: explode and just when you think that, Hey, they might
Speaker 2: do it. They take a few steps backwards. I know
Speaker 2: last night was Chris sales night, but those two games
Speaker 2: in Atlanta, not a lot of team at bats tonight
Speaker 2: outside of Rojas, Kike Hernandez and Freddie Freeman. I thought
Speaker 2: Teoscar had better team at bats tonight, but outside of
Speaker 2: those guys, I didn't see a lot of team at bats.
Speaker 2: And As we've talked about before, it's one unit, one lineup.
Speaker 2: It's got to be together. And right now, we're seeing
Speaker 2: a lot of guys that are just worried about themselves.
Speaker 2: And tonight, Shohei Otani had a lot of very uncharacteristic
Speaker 2: type at-bats. Striking out to start the game. Rounds into
Speaker 2: a 4-6-3 double play. Strikes out looking in the sixth
Speaker 2: inning with runners at first and third. Those are not
Speaker 2: Shohei Otani type at-bats. Let's go out to Costa Mesa. Rick,
Speaker 2: you're on Dodger Talk. How are you doing?
Speaker 7: Hey, it's so nice to talk to you. What do
Speaker 7: you think about being so uncoordinated and such a great
Speaker 7: broadcaster and Kiki's performance?
Speaker 2: Uncoordinated as far as going down the slide?
Speaker 7: Si.
Speaker 2: Okay. Well, yes. I mean, I felt like.
Speaker 2: I've handled that slide pretty well. The slide got me,
Speaker 2: no doubt. But as far as Kike goes, let's focus
Speaker 2: on him. Look, Kike Hernandez has had minimal at-bats since
Speaker 2: coming off the IEL, missing basically the majority of the season. First,
Speaker 2: coming back with that left elbow surgery that he had
Speaker 2: during the offseason. And then he comes back and injures
Speaker 2: his oblique right away. So including tonight, Kike Hernandez, who
Speaker 2: was a pinch hitter, only has 39 at bats. And
Speaker 2: I'm glad he brought that up. I know he was
Speaker 2: trying to be a clown to bring up the slide
Speaker 2: and all that. But he did bring up Kike Hernandez.
Speaker 2: And Alec Thomas has done a nice job. But I'm
Speaker 2: not a believer that Alec Thomas should be in there
Speaker 2: for every single right-handed pitcher the Dodgers face. On Sunday,
Speaker 2: the Dodgers will face left-hander Frambois Valdez. I'm sure Kike
Speaker 2: is going to be either at third or center field.
Speaker 2: But for me, Alec's call and Kike Hernandez should be
Speaker 2: getting more time filling in for Andy Paez. in center field.
Speaker 2: I know the Dodgers like the platoon scenario until Pa
Speaker 2: has returns, but Alex call has given the Dodgers some
Speaker 2: tough at bats against righties and lefties since the all-star
Speaker 2: break minimal opportunity. But Hey, if the Dodgers want October
Speaker 2: key gang, He can't go into October with only 50,
Speaker 2: 60 at-bats. He's got to get more at-bats. And to me,
Speaker 2: I mean, he was able to track down that deep
Speaker 2: fly ball off the bat of Kevin McGonigal in the
Speaker 2: eighth inning off of Essia. He gets great jumps off
Speaker 2: the ball. He just turned 35. He had his mom
Speaker 2: and dad and wife and family and friends out there
Speaker 2: in Atlanta for the weekend to celebrate his 35th birthday,
Speaker 2: but he Even at 35, you saw it tonight, he
Speaker 2: gets great jumps on the ball in center field. He's
Speaker 2: a really smart baseball player. And I just think that
Speaker 2: you've got to play him out there in center field
Speaker 2: more than they have. And I know he's not an
Speaker 2: everyday player, but his Alec Thomas and everyday player, because
Speaker 2: you're going to see more righties than lefties. I just
Speaker 2: feel like Alex calling Kike Hernandez, Kike, especially if you
Speaker 2: want him to be that playoff player, he's got to
Speaker 2: get some at bats. He only has 39 this year.
Speaker 2: 866-987-2570 is the phone number. Let's go out to Oxnard. Augie,
Speaker 2: you're on Dodger Talk. And by the way, Alec Thomas' arm,
Speaker 2: not very good. A noodle arm. Kike's got a cannon
Speaker 2: for an arm. So he can hold down center field
Speaker 2: with the best of them. Hi, Augie. You're on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: Sorry about that. I had to get all that out.
Speaker 8: Thanks.
Speaker 6: Hey, I agree with you.
Speaker 8: Thomas has no business starting over those two guys.
Speaker 2: Not every day. Not every day.
Speaker 11: No.
Speaker 8: Okay, that's what I want to say. I watch every day,
Speaker 8: listen to you every night. Do you think there's something
Speaker 8: going on? Not something going on. The Dodgers are not
Speaker 8: adjusting to change-ups the last three weeks. Hey, you do watch, Augie.
Speaker 2: You do watch. I was thinking that tonight, too, as
Speaker 2: I was watching Drew Anderson carve him up with changeups
Speaker 2: just the way Logan Henderson carved him up on changeups
Speaker 2: at Dodger Stadium. Remember Logan Henderson of the Brewers that
Speaker 2: Sunday afternoon? They had no answer for him.
Speaker 8: Yeah, and I see that they don't make adjustments in
Speaker 8: the box. They stand in the same spot no matter what.
Speaker 8: If it's 100 miles an hour.
Speaker 2: I agree with you. I agree. Guys are just so
Speaker 2: set in their ways that you don't see anybody move
Speaker 2: closer to the mound. You don't see anybody move back.
Speaker 2: I just feel like I've asked a couple of former
Speaker 2: players what they think about the Dodgers approaches to these
Speaker 2: to Logan Henderson in particular. They just said that they're
Speaker 2: they're looking at quadrants of the strike zone and they're
Speaker 2: not adjusting to a change up, which dives down. I mean,
Speaker 2: you got to be able to make those adjustments and
Speaker 2: not be so fixated on your quadrant of the strike zone.
Speaker 2: That's the feedback I've gotten. But I like you, Augie.
Speaker 2: You're paying attention. And yes, the Dodgers have had trouble
Speaker 2: against pitchers that throw fastball changeups. That's all. You know, tonight,
Speaker 2: Drew Anderson threw a little curveball here and there, but
Speaker 2: Logan Henderson, that's all he threw, fastball changeup, and the
Speaker 2: Dodgers had no answer.
Speaker 8: My question, I mean, I don't want to keep going on,
Speaker 8: but are the coaches that are watching the game, I mean,
Speaker 8: just say, hey, Dave, Augie, just go up there looking
Speaker 8: for changeups. He's going to throw you five changeups out
Speaker 8: of eight pitches. You know, they don't throw three fastballs
Speaker 8: in a row. Nobody does.
Speaker 2: I think the hitters have got to move up. move
Speaker 2: off their stubborn line of thinking. And I think they've
Speaker 2: got to be their best hitting coaches and compete in
Speaker 2: the batter's box. Thanks for the phone call, Augie. Call
Speaker 2: back anytime. I love Oxnard too. 866-987-2570 is the phone number.
Speaker 2: We're going to take a timeout here on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: When we come back, we'll get into when rosters expand,
Speaker 2: when the Dodgers return home. Also, I'm sure you know
Speaker 2: there's a lot of Tigers and Dodgers connections in this series. Besides,
Speaker 2: Tarek Skubal will connect the dots on all that as well.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers beat the Tigers tonight 2-1 on AM570 LA Sports.
Speaker 12: Hi, this is Freddie Freeman. This is the home of
Speaker 12: the back-to-back world champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Don't miss a
Speaker 12: moment of the Quest for a three-peat.
Speaker 8: Go ahead and run 90 feet away for the Dodgers,
Speaker 8: but two out in a 1-1 game.
Speaker 1: First pitch, Freeman.
Speaker 7: Scolds it into center field to give the Dodgers the lead.
Speaker 7: Jumps all over the first pitch from Wagusbeck to score
Speaker 7: to Oscar Hernandez, and.
Speaker 2: It's 2-1 L.A. AJ Hinch chose to pitch to Freddie
Speaker 2: Freeman with the go-ahead run 90 feet away, and he
Speaker 2: paid for it. Freddie Freeman drives in to Oscar Hernandez
Speaker 2: in the eighth inning with two outs, and the Dodgers
Speaker 2: beat the Tigers tonight 2-1. Daniels Jewelers, they present the
Speaker 2: home run forecast all year long. For your chance to
Speaker 2: win a $ 50 Daniels Jewelers gift card, visit am570lasports. com, use
Speaker 2: the keyword HOMERUN, and to your name you could win
Speaker 2: Daniels Jewelers Own the Dream. Let's head back downstairs to
Speaker 2: the Dodger Clubhouse to hear from Freddie Freeman on Sportsnet LA.
Speaker 2: First pitch fastball, were you sitting on that?
Speaker 12: Sitting on strikes. Plan doesn't change. But I'm just thankful
Speaker 12: that I... Swung it one over the play instead of
Speaker 12: one that almost hit me tonight. I did that a
Speaker 12: few times, but no, I mean, scoops was great. Uh,
Speaker 12: bullpen was great. Uh, Miguel, huge pinch hit. Um, and
Speaker 12: didn't score as many runs as we wanted to, but
Speaker 12: there's a lot of positive tonight that we can take
Speaker 12: into tomorrow.
Speaker 2: How difficult has it been offensively recently?
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 12: I mean, we're just going up and down. It's just,
Speaker 12: we put together a few, few games in a row
Speaker 12: where it looks like us. And then there's a couple
Speaker 12: of games where we run into some good pitching. You
Speaker 12: got to get, sometimes you got to give the other
Speaker 12: side of this credit too, but, We know we've got
Speaker 12: a good team, good offense, and hopefully we can start
Speaker 12: clicking in here shortly.
Speaker 10: You're creating opportunities pretty consistently, but not coming up with
Speaker 10: that big hit.
Speaker 6: What does that tell you about where you're at?
Speaker 12: Sometimes it can be even more frustrating for an offense.
Speaker 12: We keep getting those guys. We keep getting those opportunities,
Speaker 12: but ultimately we've got to cash those in. That's what
Speaker 12: we haven't done in the last few days, but we're
Speaker 12: all optimistic around here. If we can keep creating those
Speaker 12: opportunities at some point, As good as we are, and
Speaker 12: we know we've got a good offensive group, we'll get
Speaker 12: those hits. But we've got a pitching group that we have,
Speaker 12: keeps us in games like that. They've been keeping us
Speaker 12: in it the last, I would say, three, four, five weeks.
Speaker 12: As an offense, we've got to get going. We know
Speaker 12: it's crunch time, and hopefully we can get hot here
Speaker 12: going into the playoffs.
Speaker 11: In that frustration especially like the first four or five
Speaker 11: innings tonight and how important was it for like you
Speaker 11: said like Tarek to kind of keep you guys.
Speaker 12: There in that spot I mean I don't think in
Speaker 12: game we're not frustrated I think after the game you
Speaker 12: just think about like man we had a lot of
Speaker 12: opportunities but in game you're not thinking about the frustration
Speaker 12: you're trying to figure out our next wave maybe an
Speaker 12: adjustment for yourself to get going you know I was
Speaker 12: battling myself all game there's foul ball after foul ball
Speaker 12: and that third at bat I was getting frustrated just
Speaker 12: because of I had some pitches that I could poke
Speaker 12: into left field and I just kept fouling them off
Speaker 12: so It's not more about frustration of not getting it.
Speaker 12: It's just, you know, I'm thinking about that. You're just
Speaker 12: trying to figure out a way to get it done,
Speaker 12: and then maybe after the game you can be frustrated.
Speaker 12: But scoops was great. We got two runs. Miguel, Kike,
Speaker 12: big pitches, even though Kike's got thrown out at home,
Speaker 12: but still. some massive hits and some massive opportunities that
Speaker 12: we can take into tomorrow.
Speaker 11: How much did you guys just kind of feel like
Speaker 11: the occasion of him coming back here and the emotions
Speaker 11: that went into it for him?
Speaker 12: Yeah, I mean, you guys have been around him for
Speaker 12: a couple weeks.
Speaker 4: He's always talking.
Speaker 12: He's in it. You wouldn't even know he was coming
Speaker 12: back for the first time.
Speaker 8: He was talking to everybody.
Speaker 12: Like I told Kirsten on the field, during my knee drills,
Speaker 12: he was out there talking to everybody. It's We call
Speaker 12: him the opposite of Kirsch on start days. But, no,
Speaker 12: I think he embraced it. He left everything he had
Speaker 12: for this team, this organization, multiple Cy Youngs. He left
Speaker 12: it all for them. I think that's why he got
Speaker 12: a lot of cheers. I know I'm sure during the
Speaker 12: game they weren't too thrilled with all the strikeouts he
Speaker 12: was racking up. But, you know, it's hard to boo
Speaker 12: a man that gave you everything he had every five days.
Speaker 2: Seven strikeouts for Tarek Skubal in six innings tonight. That
Speaker 2: was Freddie Freeman who drove in the go-ahead run in
Speaker 2: the eighth inning on Sportsnet.
Speaker 6: LA.
Speaker 2: 866-987-2570 is the phone number. Wanted to get to the
Speaker 2: Dodgers September roster. As you know now, you can't just
Speaker 2: call up all of your 40-man roster. There are roster
Speaker 2: restrictions now where you can only call up one additional
Speaker 2: pitcher per and one additional position player. Right now, rosters
Speaker 2: are at 26. On September 1st, they expand to 28.
Speaker 2: So who are going to be those players? Well, let's
Speaker 2: start with the guys that are hurt. First and foremost,
Speaker 2: Justin Robleski. I would imagine that he would be coming
Speaker 2: back sometime during the upcoming nine-game homestand because after the
Speaker 2: Dodgers left Atlanta, Robleski is was headed to join Oklahoma City.
Speaker 2: He told me he's scheduled to start tomorrow for the
Speaker 2: OKC Comets, and he's eligible to come off the IL
Speaker 2: the last day of August. Edwin Diaz, who has traveled
Speaker 2: with the Dodgers under the watchful eye of strength coach
Speaker 2: Travis Smith and pitching coach Connor McGinnis, has been working
Speaker 2: to get his arm slot where it needs to be,
Speaker 2: getting stronger. Diaz is eligible to come off the second
Speaker 2: day of September, which is Wednesday. the second game of
Speaker 2: that series against the Cardinals. So Diaz could be one
Speaker 2: of those pitchers that is added to the roster on Wednesday.
Speaker 2: Robleski at any time could come in and take the
Speaker 2: spot of anybody from Kyle Hurt to Seth Halverson or
Speaker 2: just added if Diaz is not activated right on time. Also,
Speaker 2: position player wise, Will Smith is going to come back
Speaker 2: when the Dodgers return home. He could be activated on Tuesday.
Speaker 2: That seems to be the line of thinking that Dave
Speaker 2: Roberts has been conveying to us. the last week or so.
Speaker 2: So the other part of this equation is James Tibbs III,
Speaker 2: who the Dodgers acquired last trade deadline along with Zach
Speaker 2: Earhart for five starts of Dustin May in Boston. Tibbs
Speaker 2: has had an incredible year at AAA. His OPS is 966.
Speaker 2: He has 27 home runs. His batting average is 295,
Speaker 2: but the most important part for this 23-year-old outfielder is
Speaker 2: he's left-handed. And Teoscar Hernandez, for the majority of this season,
Speaker 2: has struggled against right-handed pitching. He's only hitting about 235
Speaker 2: against right-handed pitching. Would the Dodgers consider calling up Tibbs
Speaker 2: and platooning in left field? Um, that I'm sure is
Speaker 2: being discussed, but there's part of this that is affected
Speaker 2: by the pending CBA, uh, renegotiations or labor deal. That's expiring.
Speaker 2: Tibbs is not on the 40 man roster. And my understanding,
Speaker 2: some teams that are in this position where they want
Speaker 2: to call up a player that's not on their 40
Speaker 2: man roster in September are hesitant because of this new
Speaker 2: pending CBA and what it may look like. So, uh,
Speaker 2: That's part of the equation as well, but honestly, if
Speaker 2: all things are equal, I would be in favor of
Speaker 2: calling up Tibbs and giving him opportunities against righties in
Speaker 2: September in left field. 866-987-2570 is the phone number. Dodgers
Speaker 2: beat the Tigers tonight 2-1, and like I said earlier
Speaker 2: in the show, I'm in favor of Kike Hernandez starting
Speaker 2: more in center field along with Alex Call because Alec Thomas,
Speaker 2: he's a nice player, but there was a reason why
Speaker 2: the Diamondbacks let him go. He can cover a lot
Speaker 2: of ground in center field more than, I guess, Kike
Speaker 2: and Alex Call, but his arm's not very strong. Offensively,
Speaker 2: he's hit the ball hard at times. I'm not saying
Speaker 2: he should never play, but I feel like Kike Hernandez
Speaker 2: should get more at bats in center field. because you
Speaker 2: know the Dodgers are going to call on Kike in October.
Speaker 2: Let's go out to Pasadena. Jeff, you're on Dodger Talk
Speaker 2: live from Comerica Park. How you doing, Jeff?
Speaker 1: Hi, David.
Speaker 6: Thanks for having me on. It's a pleasure to be
Speaker 6: with you tonight.
Speaker 2: Hey, thank you.
Speaker 6: Thanks for being patient.
Speaker 3: You bet.
Speaker 6: I think this is an important win for the boys today.
Speaker 6: Kind of stopped things. They played some real baseball. I
Speaker 6: liked when Ben Mortbett laid that bunt down. That was,
Speaker 6: I think, good. We don't see enough of that. And
Speaker 6: we're going to need to produce runs going forward. I
Speaker 6: think that's good.
Speaker 2: That was huge because if he doesn't lay down that bunt,
Speaker 2: Teoscar doesn't get to third base. So you're right.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 6: I think that is a key part of the game.
Speaker 6: We don't seem to be doing enough of that. I'm
Speaker 6: talking to my buddies and we're all big fans and
Speaker 6: have been for many, many years. And I just can't
Speaker 6: figure out the Kyle Tucker thing. I guess he's been
Speaker 6: a great ball player. His numbers have been great. But
Speaker 6: we were sitting down at breakfast this morning. We were
Speaker 6: doing a little bit of math. He makes $ 60 million
Speaker 6: a year. And so far this year, he's had 102 hits.
Speaker 6: So that's $ 588, 000 per hit.
Speaker 2: Well, do you want me to go with the technicality?
Speaker 2: I could do the sarcastic technicality. Tucker got a $ 50- something
Speaker 2: million signing bonus. So technically, he's not making that much
Speaker 2: in salary. But I get what you're saying.
Speaker 6: 46, 46,000 signing. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: So he leaves a lot to be designed in a
Speaker 2: lot of ways this year. And it's been a big adjustment,
Speaker 2: bigger than I'm sure he even thought it would be.
Speaker 6: I sure hope that he gets it together. Look, I'm
Speaker 6: a fan and I hope that, that for all of
Speaker 6: us and for the club that he, he plays like
Speaker 6: the person he was paid to be. And that's, that's all.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you a question. If Kyle Tucker comes
Speaker 2: up in a playoff game and delivers a, a clutch
Speaker 2: hit to help the Dodgers win a playoff game. Maybe
Speaker 2: when a playoff series is all forgiven from the regular season.
Speaker 6: Is all forgiven. Yeah. I mean, of course, you know, we,
Speaker 6: we all want, we want him to succeed. It's just
Speaker 6: frustrating as fans to watch day after day and game
Speaker 6: after game. It just doesn't. And I don't, you know,
Speaker 6: I don't know his style of play. He lopes around
Speaker 6: the outfield. Maybe that's how he plays. He runs. He
Speaker 6: did the part of this thing of when he didn't
Speaker 6: score today. Nobody talked about when the ball was hit,
Speaker 6: which was clearly going to get in the gap back there.
Speaker 6: He ran back. He took two steps back to second
Speaker 6: base before he started to go third.
Speaker 2: Well, I've seen him take steps like that going back,
Speaker 2: but tonight I thought he did a pretty good job
Speaker 2: of running right when the ball was hit. I felt
Speaker 2: that way, Jeff, but I couldn't believe that he slowed
Speaker 2: down after he rounded third base. And I think that's
Speaker 2: the biggest issue for me, Jeff, You can understand a
Speaker 2: guy going through a year like this year, especially when
Speaker 2: you look at the home road splits. But what you
Speaker 2: can't forgive is the lack of hustle, the lapses on
Speaker 2: the bases, the lapses on defense. Those are the things
Speaker 2: that I think you and other fans are rubbed the
Speaker 2: wrong way by.
Speaker 6: I think you're right. We want him to succeed. Let's
Speaker 6: get that straight. We want this club to be the
Speaker 6: club that we know they can be.
Speaker 2: Everybody does.
Speaker 6: There's been a lot of support.
Speaker 2: By the team to try to help him succeed. He's
Speaker 2: got to be able to get out of his own
Speaker 2: way and succeed at this point, Jeff.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you and I agree. Thanks a lot for your
Speaker 6: time today, David.
Speaker 2: All right, Jeff. Thanks for the phone call. 866-987-2570. Yeah.
Speaker 2: You know, it's not by a lack of effort by
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts, the coaching staff, Dino Ebel, the outfield coach,
Speaker 2: the hitting coaches. They're all trying to connect to see
Speaker 2: how they can help Tucker turn his season around. And
Speaker 2: I feel like Tucker is starting to, you know, change
Speaker 2: the routine change, be a little bit more open-minded than
Speaker 2: what he has been the majority of the year, but
Speaker 2: it's up to him. And I, Gary Sheffield, a guy
Speaker 2: that I respect, should be in the Hall of Fame,
Speaker 2: said last week at the Pump Dinner that he believes
Speaker 2: Tucker is going to finish the season strong and come
Speaker 2: up with some big hits in the playoffs. At this point,
Speaker 2: that's hard to believe, but I think that's the only
Speaker 2: thing you can hold on to if you're a Dodger fan,
Speaker 2: that they are going to the postseason, and he's not
Speaker 2: getting benched. He's going to have an opportunity to play
Speaker 2: and to come up with some hits, some plays. to
Speaker 2: help the Dodgers try to achieve that three-peat, and that
Speaker 2: was the line of thinking when they signed him. It
Speaker 2: just hasn't gone that way so far this year. Speaking
Speaker 2: of Hall of Fame, Carlos Beltran somehow got the votes
Speaker 2: of the writers to be in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: You know what's so funny is these writers, they're so
Speaker 2: sanctimonious about guys that use PEDs, and I could tell
Speaker 2: you there's a lot of speculation already about some guys
Speaker 2: they have voted in that there's a lot of cloud
Speaker 2: of suspicion around. But nonetheless, their line of thinking is
Speaker 2: if you were connected to PDs, you were cheating. So
Speaker 2: how did Carlos Beltran get into the Hall of Fame?
Speaker 2: Because he was one of the ringleaders, if not the
Speaker 2: biggest ringleader of the Astros of 2017, stealing their way
Speaker 2: to a World Series championship. How do you How do
Speaker 2: you explain that if you're a Hall of Fame voter
Speaker 2: and you allow Carlos Beltran to get into the Hall
Speaker 2: of Fame? And can you believe with how Carlos Beltran
Speaker 2: has been connected to the 2017 Astros? I mean, after
Speaker 2: everything got exposed, the Mets said, you can't be our
Speaker 2: manager anymore. It's incredible that A.J. Hinch is allowed to manage,
Speaker 2: but Carlos Beltran's not. I mean, Hinch was the manager.
Speaker 2: He was in charge of all that. But nonetheless... Carlos
Speaker 2: Beltran should probably lay low and be thankful that he
Speaker 2: is in the Hall of Fame. But being Beltran, he
Speaker 2: decided that he would go after former Dodger, former Philly,
Speaker 2: Chase Utley on the Mets SNY network out of nowhere.
Speaker 1: You know what?
Speaker 9: I think he had a great career.
Speaker 2: Not a big fan.
Speaker 9: In the game of baseball, you could play hard. But
Speaker 9: when you play dirty, it's a different element. You can
Speaker 9: play hard.
Speaker 1: I play hard.
Speaker 9: I slide hard. But I try to keep myself down.
Speaker 9: Sometimes he did things that the way we look at it,
Speaker 9: we felt was dirty. And that's my opinion. And I
Speaker 9: bet you will find many opinions like that in the game.
Speaker 9: So it's not only my opinion.
Speaker 1: But I play hard.
Speaker 9: But I try not to hurt nobody. There were times
Speaker 9: at home play where I had the catcher in front
Speaker 9: of me for me to kill the catcher. But my
Speaker 9: goal is not to kill the catcher. My goal is
Speaker 9: to try to score the run. You know, if you're
Speaker 9: trying to break a double play, then, you know, slide
Speaker 9: into the bag. And if you want to pass to
Speaker 9: the bag, through the bag, make sure you stay holding
Speaker 9: the bag. But when you change your route or your
Speaker 9: path to hit somebody, that's not clean.
Speaker 2: Oh, okay. The guy that cheated with trash cans in
Speaker 2: Houston is talking about who's clean, who's not, the right
Speaker 2: way to play the game. How about this, Carlos Beltran?
Speaker 2: Sit this one out.
Speaker 1: All right?
Speaker 2: You're in the Hall of Fame. You should be happy
Speaker 2: and grateful. You should sit this one out. And why
Speaker 2: you're all of a sudden bringing up Chase Utley? Hmm,
Speaker 2: I don't know why. Maybe because on the East Coast, especially,
Speaker 2: there's a groundswell for Chase Utley to be elected to
Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame and join you in Cooperstown. Now,
Speaker 2: I'm not saying what he said hasn't been told to
Speaker 2: me by opposing players that played against Chase Utley. There
Speaker 2: were a lot of guys that took exception with the
Speaker 2: way Chase Utley played and the way he would slide
Speaker 2: into second base. There's no doubt about it. But how
Speaker 2: about this, Carlos Beltran? Sit this one out. When you're
Speaker 2: talking about clean and cheating, you are right at the
Speaker 2: top of the list of what the Astros did in 2017,
Speaker 2: cheating Chase Utley and the Dodgers and the Yankees of
Speaker 2: fair and balanced and non-cheating games. Now I'm a big
Speaker 2: believer the Dodgers still should have won that World Series
Speaker 2: in 17 if they don't blow game two. They're up
Speaker 2: 2-0 going to Houston even with the cheating. Alex Wood
Speaker 2: wins the game because he was three steps ahead of
Speaker 2: what the Astros were doing. They come back home probably
Speaker 2: win game six in a 3-2 series lead and the
Speaker 2: cheating is defeated but Nonetheless, what Kershaw did in game five,
Speaker 2: it was incredible how those Astros were not swinging at
Speaker 2: his sliders, Maeda's sliders. Ridiculous. And we all know how.
Speaker 2: And Carlos Beltran was at the very forefront of the
Speaker 2: cheating of the Astros in 2017. So, you know, I'm
Speaker 2: not going to see everything he said there about Chase
Speaker 2: Utley has not been said, you know, in the baseball circles.
Speaker 2: And if he's referring to Chase Utley sliding into second
Speaker 2: base with Ruben Tejada in the 15 NLDS, I got
Speaker 2: news for you. Ruben Tejada was so far out of position.
Speaker 2: He had no business doing that wacky type of play
Speaker 2: and he got hurt because of it. Not because Chase
Speaker 2: Utley was trying to slide with intent to hurt Tejada.
Speaker 2: So if he's talking about that, he better get a
Speaker 2: little more educated on that play, but you know, the
Speaker 2: other place that he's talking about. Yeah, I've heard that before,
Speaker 2: but Carlos Beltran should be the last guy calling out
Speaker 2: chase Utley for anything. He should just be very happy.
Speaker 2: He has a plaque in Cooperstown.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry.
Speaker 2: When I saw that, I got really, I got upset
Speaker 2: and somebody has to say something because You know, these
Speaker 2: writers that vote for some of these guys into the
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame seems very hypocritical and contradictory. And Carlos Beltran,
Speaker 2: he may not have used PEDs, but he certainly cheated
Speaker 2: the game in 2017, as far as we know. All right,
Speaker 2: that'll do it for us on Dodger Talk. Chase Utley,
Speaker 2: I'm starting to believe that he should be in the
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame. And I want him even more now
Speaker 2: in the Hall of Fame after what Carlos Beltran just
Speaker 2: said on SNY. All right, tomorrow, Snellzilla. I'll be happy tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Snellzilla on the mound. Snellzilla Saturday. 18 innings since coming
Speaker 2: off the IL. 21 strikeouts. He has dominated, and I
Speaker 2: don't expect anything less tomorrow as the Dodgers and Tigers
Speaker 2: hook up for a day game. Our coverage begins at
Speaker 2: 9 a.m. First pitch at 10-10 on Snellzilla Saturday. Rick
Speaker 2: Monday and Steven Nelson will have the pleasure of being
Speaker 2: on the call for the two-time Two-time Cy Young Award winner.
Speaker 2: And I'm sure my guy Sam at Downey Hyundai, he
Speaker 2: is foaming at the mouth to try to get Snellzilla
Speaker 2: in a Downey Hyundai. But I'm not sure that's going
Speaker 2: to happen. He'll just have to settle for Snellzilla taking
Speaker 2: a ride in the Ioniq 9, beautiful blue Ioniq 9
Speaker 2: that Sam at Downey Hyundai has hooked us up with.
Speaker 2: All right, thanks to Collin Yee back at our Burbank studios.
Speaker 2: Thanks to Dwayne McDonald out here late night at Comerica Park.
Speaker 2: And thanks to you for listening. In case you missed
Speaker 2: any of the show or our pregame conversation with future
Speaker 2: Hall of Famer and the Dodgers all-time saves leader Kenley Jansen,
Speaker 2: you can find it on the iHeartRadio app. Once again,
Speaker 2: the final score from downtown Detroit, the Dodgers and Scoobles
Speaker 2: return to Motown, beat the Tigers two to one. Have
Speaker 2: a great rest of your night. Be safe.
Speaker 1: See ya.