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It's overprotective about all the things that truly matter, and it's always prompt, especially to beiew with family, making your first choice to celebrate your dad Shhip UPS air with our money back guuarantee. exclusively at the UPS store US retail locations. Visit the UPS store dot com slash air shipping for cool details, Turns and conditions apply. Hi, I'm Greg Richard. It's hot out there. Chill out with a new air conditioner from PC Richard and Son. Thousands in stock, every size, every BTU. pllus, we guarantee the lowest prices. PC Richard and Son, the company you can trust Thanks for joining me on this Cleveland Baseball morning. The final from prorogressive Field in Cleveland, It's the Guardian splitting the series with the Chicago White Sox, two games apiece, a big four games set With the finale on Sunday, the Guardiianans losing a tough one seven to six to the White sock. I'm David Barris, lifelong Cleveland baseball fan and I want to talk about the actual game on the field, The thing I enjoy watching baseball being played. and Man, if we were doing this still as a daily podcast, you know, every game, I feel like I'd have a different tone because Obviously, the series starts fantastic. We have two walk off wins, progressive field magic is back. It's like there's so much to celebrate But when you add those into two losses at the end of the series, You realize that, you know Maybe Maybe the white socks Right now Right now at the All Star break or almost at the All Star break, maybe the White sox are the tougher team right now I gotta say, I gotta say, did it didn't It didn't feel like at any point over four games Cleveland controlled The game or the series Like What was our biggest lead ever Uh, in this series. was it was it one run? on uh or we were up to nothing. We were up to nothing in game one until they went off for three runs in the fifth. Uh so yeah, for two innings we led to nothing I mean, that is that Is that really like The most we ever led by So yeah, it never really felt like the guardian it's not like the white sock storm back a late against our bullpen and then we had to get a walk off hit in the ninth inning At no point in the series did it ever feel like the Guardians were really in control of things It felt like we could fight back. we we can come back. We can get back into it. We, you know ourur hitters had moments But there were plenty of times in the series where the White sox felt like they were in control And yeah and the Guardians were chasing them. So I don't know. It would have been a different vibe if we were doing this day by day, but when you take the series overall And we still got some work to do. We still got some work to do in the second half if we want to win this American Lague Central. I mean, obviously we're a game back in the division after this series U whereere we in the lost column though? So we're two we're tied in the win column forty seven games. We're two back in the lost column, which Obviously you know, if you can sit think of it that way. those aren't games that we can make up. You know, we have to hope the White Sox lose. if that's out of our control, the loss column The wind column isn int our control. so Uh yeah, there's still obviously plenty of baseball to be played, but That's where things stand right now. That's where my vibe kind of stands right now with this team they they got they got some work to do. They need to improve if they're going to be better than the Chicago White sox All right but also incredibly fun to have two walk off wins. We're definitely going to celebrate that because they're two fun moments We're celebrating. Also, we have All Star game news. They they've picked everybody for the All Star game. We know who made the team And might as well kick off with that. It's three Three first timers for the for the Guardians and two rookies making the All Star team Travis Bazana has made it as a as a reserve second baseman U obbviously behind the lead vote getter Ernie Clement who's going to be starting at second base Uh and then on the pitching side Parker Messic did make it as as the starter, the lone starter and u You know, Gavin Williams did not if we look at like I'm over on fangrass. if we look at war for our pitchers Parker Mesic is far and away having a better season than Gavin Williams. He's at two point nine war at this point Gevin Williams has only earned one point seven Uh Fip Parker Messic is better at u three point zero nine to three point eight two for Gavin Williams. ERA. He's a point lower at two point eight to three point eight nine Yeah, Parker Messic, I think and clear in way is the best starter right now for the Cleveland Guardians And he earns that all star game nod Uh, What is messic on the traditional stats Let me open up his individual page here so he is seeven in five now after after the series seven and five and eighteen stars U with the with that two point eight ERA. Um Yeah, what else can I tell you about? nine point two five Ks per nine to only two point seven two walks per nine. So having a pretty good strike out the walk ratio there. Yeah, Messic is having a great season and he pitches fearless. He pitches fast. He's aggressive And he's one of the best starters in the American League right now. So u good for him Parkeressic. I mean, he was competing think of it this way. He was competing with Logan Allen for the fifth starter spot in spring draining and frankly, if Logan Allen doesn't pitch terribly after the worldld baseball classic Parker Messic might have opened this season at AAA and instead He's start he's going to be not starting. He's going to be in the all star game. pitching in the All star game Incredible. And then Kate Smith 's been, you know, a dominant closer in the game. We know, you know, he had a blip there for a second. U let's see what he is. againgain, let's go to his individual page. and see his numbers. He had a blip there for a second but where he blew a couple saves But he's on pace to set the franchise record in saves. So Kate Smith is twenty six for twenty nine in saves twenty six saves and twenty nine save opportunities. He's also leading major League baseball and saves with twenty six saves. Brian Baker from Tampa Bay has twenty three. Riley O'Brien from Stain. Louis has twenty two. Johann Duron from Philly has twenty one And Mason Miller in San Diego has twenty one. So And Paul Sewald in Arizona has twenty That guy was terrible for us and now he's closing for Arizona. So clloser, it's a weird thing, man. It's a weird thing. Sometimes you got in it. sometometimes you lose it hard U as far as war goes He is third no. he is wayit on his sixth and relief pitching war U Louis Varlin from Toronto is at two point two U Mason Miller is at two point two. Joan Duron is at one point seven. Dylan Lee in Atlanta is at one point six and then Trevor McGill from Milwaukee is at one point five tied with Cid Smith there. So he's tied for fifth as far as war goes for relievers overall, but definitely And you're leaningaor Leagueaseball and saves, you're going to make the all star team. That's pretty pretty clear and It'd be interesting to see who's going to close if the American League has the lead U in the all star game would Kade Smith be the closer. I didn't even look to see what other Relievers made the team. So if Bri I'm assuming Brian Baker from Tampa Bay made the team with twenty three saves U So those are your top closers in the American League. Jacob Latz willll be next with the eighteent saves and then Louis Varlin from Toronto with eighteen saves. So I didn't see, you know exactly how many of those guys made the All Star team. but I got to imagine Kate Smith is probably in the conversation to close out the All Star game if we have the leads. So Awesome. absolutely awesome to three representatives there in the All Star game Shocking shocking that the rookie bazana is the only offensive representative in the all star game for the Cleveland Guardians, although when you look at the overall team stats, There's not really much else to choose from here. If you look at WRC plus, You know who your leader is in WRC plus right now Austin Hedges. That's right Your best. at run creating. On the team is Austin. Hedges. I can't believe I'm saying it myself The guys had a pretty good June, a pretty good July Uh yeah, he's playing very well right now And let me pull up his splits really quick But Bizan a second at a one thirty So Hedges at a one fourteen WRC plus fourteen percent better than Lague average. Rember hundred. WRC plus, league average is set to a one hundred Basanas at one hundred thirteen Chased a Loter is at one eleven. Rochio was at one ten. Ramirez was at one ten before getting hurt David Friryes actually out one hundred two Manzardo' at one hundred one. On how Martinez was at ninety eight before getting hurt, Stuart Fairchhell was actually a ninety six WRC plus, but we defefinitely is not That is skewed by by some other numbers there. He had a batting average on Balsd and play of six hundred, Jesus. But he had a one fifty eight batting average, but a four hundred seven on base percentage. So I guess he was drawing some walks struck in a lot of walks But he was slugging one hundred and fifty eight So that really use this WRC plus there, I guess Reese Hoskins is a ninety three. Calia Watson is at a seventy nine Kan' at a seventy seven. Schneeman' a seventy six Arius is a sixty nine Bailey's a sixty And that's everybody That's everybody you need to know U a couple of the guys that are now in AAA are thrown in there too So Aesome now So is there anybody else They really deserved it offensively. I mean The lototter had that strong start, kind of dipped a little bit. Obviously has a huge home run in this series, but I don't think made enough noise to compete in the outfield or in the DH category It also helps to be in the second base category, right? You know, Jazz Chisholm, Ernie Clement, Bazana himself There's not really that stiff of a competition at the second base position like there is in the outfield right now for the laauder U and Ramirez obviously being hurt it wouldn't matter, but It wasn't really probably wouldn't have been in the conversation of third base right now I think Junior Camanero is the third starting third baseman And the allar game for the American League is having an amazing season So yeah, I actually think even if Ramirez is healthy He might not have made the team. anyyways. so There you go. Bazana is our lone offensive representative Maybe a sign of you know, that pitching is the thing that's been carrying this team anyways this season and the hitting needs to catch up. All right. so that's the All Star game news Let's get into the actual game on the field. Let's get into this White Sox series. Obviously four games of baseball is a lot to cover, a lot to talk about can't do I can't do MVP for the series. I can't. Nobody was consistent over all four games. Nobody like had a dominant weekend. offensively, there were highlights everyvery game, somebody different was stepping up. So that's what we're going to do. We're going to do start of the game and we'll go through each one and try to pull a thread that I think is important because again, I don't think there's really a theme that carries through the entire weekend. Except for, you know, I think both teams struggled with runners in scoring position frankly. I think there's moments in both games where you know, these teams could have come through. And and done a little bit more, gotten another clutch hit But they they do leave likeike the Guardians. let's see here in the first game The Guardians go one for nine with runners in scoring position. They leave ten on base. Mewhile, the White Sts go four for fifteen with runners in scoring position. They leave seven on base. so I have plenty, plenty of opportunities right there Um you know, for them Uh Nar team gets I would say Really dominant starting pitching and any start like Sakoni is good for a while, but they they probably leave him in too long. He pitches into the sixth inning ends up he gives up three runs in the fifth that probably was enough for him, but he pitches in the six and gives up two more runs I think gives up a home run as he exits the game, right Um, in that u in that sixth inning to Chase Met Medroff U his seventh homers season. He hits one out to right field Bing inbraded Montgomery with him to make it a five to two lead for the White Sox So yeah, so yeah Both teams Both teams had their moments, but the both teams obviously left too many runners on base. There was also a sloppy defensive play throughout the series Uh Yeah, Cooper Egele was struggling more in left field U there their're infield kicked around a lot of balls. They had a lot of balls get through them U yeah, there was some there were some sloppy defensive plays throughout this series by both teams. So You know is it wasn't the cleanest series. It wasn't the neither team really stated their case for like being the dominant team in the American League Central. I think both teams still have plenty to work on. if they want to take this division like it's neeither team is there a perfect version of themselves in this series. but Obviously it was a fun series. like don't don't get me wrong. likeike with all the negativity I've kind of been saying at the beginning of the episode, it was also a very fun series like Very competitive. obviously walk off wins, a lot of big swings in momentum So you have that too So The Guardians get the scoring going in the third inning in this one. Bazana with a double into right field brings in Patrick Bailey a score Rokio then draws a bases loaded walk. u to make it a two nothing game. You get another situation where It's great to score a run there. Right Uh, you know, obviously the big hit there. you want to see a big hit With the bases loaded, your dynasty a big head, your dynasty a big crooked number. two is still a crooked number a two run inning is still a crooked number U so you'll take it U Yeah, it was walks. It was three walks Manzardo walk, Clele Watson walks to load the basis of two outs and then Brian Roccho walks And that Cooper Angle grounds out to end the threat U, Egl is struggling Like there's no doubt that Egle is absolutely struggling at the plate he leaves this series Let's see here. We always got to go to the end of the series. He does get a hit on Sunday, but also three strikeouts. He leaves the series batting zero ninety five with a three or three OPS. He's not drawing the walks. He's striking out a ton and not drawing walks. It's the same thing that Kalia Watson looked like in his first week But not really Cleo Watson like got over it in in like one series and then he was hammering Chicago in their ball park Cooper Engle doesn't seem to be adjusting as quickly to Major League pitching. It's been a week now and he's he's at a three and three OPS So u Cleo Watson leaves the series betting two hundred forty six with only a six hundred twenty two OPS. I think it's because he's not. drawing a ton of walks. I think but he is He is showing some power, like he is slugging a little bit. let me go to his individual page here and I could tell you was on base percentage and his slugging percentage So yeah, his on base is only two hundred seventy one But he's slugging three hundred fifty one So he's showing some slugging. Cleo Watson showing some power onlyly one home run, but I think he's got a bunch of doubles, right? Three doubles now in one home run. He's driven in nine runs, two walks to nineteen strikeouts. So Yeah, let's strike off show there Stealing bases six only bases to only one caught stealing. So he's been a little bit of a menace on the base path. I think that in this series there's one point where he steals second and third U So Cleia Watson is adjusting. he's showing you some of his game. Cooper Ingle is not yet. so. U a lot of you wondering what's going to happen once Ramirez and u U once Anal Martinez get healthy, the obvious move is Cooperingo going back down. like that's that's the first move. whichever guy gets healthy first U Ano Martinez took batting practice appare out of the walking boot. He took batting practice. the foot's feeling good. They still don't expect him back. Either guy back to after the All Star break. at least. So maybe maybe they were thinking like An how Martinez could go on a rehab assignment after the all Star break. But yeah, it's still going to be a week or two for those guys Cooper Engles the obvious move. likeike and I wouldn't send him down. I don't know if I'd send him down early U, you know, in favor of like a CJ Kfis or something like that. just because like the whole point of this is to get Cooper Engle experperience like let him feel major League pitching. let him see that leap Let them see that leap in pitching between AAA and the major leagues And some guys need two or three cracks at it to figure it out. Like some guys never figure it out Some guys need two or three cracks at it to figure out. They need to go back to AA A, get their confidence, keep working on the things they need to work on, laying off the pitches that they need to lay off you know, guys Guys paint the edges way better at the major leeague level than they do at the minor leag level. Like it's just it's another elite level of pitching that you've never seen before in your career. And Cooper Egleles got to adjust to it. So U I are you am I done with Cooper Eingle? Do I think he's cooked as a prospect? No. No, of course not. He may need to go back down Reset himself and try again Yeah for for another week. I think I could I can stomach another week and let him see another week's worth of right handed pitching and then see if he can figure things out. obviously defensively, we still need some work in the outfield too So we'll see how that goes Then it kind of falls apart for Sakoni getting back to this Friday night game. kindind of falls apart from in the fifth inning. he gives up a bunch of doubles. then gives up the home run in the sixth inning Uh how many pitches was he up to I mean, the final line is five innings pitch, nine hits, five runs, one walk to three strikeouts, the home run he finally gives up on his last pitch. It was up to one hundred pitches and was hard hit ten times So not his strongest start. He was trying to keep them in the game. They probably pushed him too far in this one. Daniel Spino actually comes in in relief. It gives you one and two thirds innings of relief, which is kind of awesome that he can go two innings as a reliever out of the pen. I mean, he was a former starter U obbviously after the injuries is still building up that arm strength, goes thirty five pitches and by pitching two innings gets the trip back to Columbus and they bring up Franco Oiman in his place. So I'm glad Franco Olliman's back. I'm sad that it's at the expense of Daniel Spino, but it's the kind of thing where we've seen it a hundred times, you know, thousands of times actually if you you are on that train between Cleveland and Columbus, if you throw too many pitches, if you throw thirty five pitches and we're not planning on using you now for three or four days because you threw too many pitches, you're going back to Columbus because we need an arm up here that we can use. So it's just that, it's just that situation, Not that Espino did anything wrong or anything like that and he'll probably be back in a week or two. Um, Andm actually the Guardianans Bullpen throws up zeroos after that. Armstrong with it inning in a third of shutout baseball, Tim Herron pitches a shutout ninth inning. U There were times that the bullpen looked fantastic like in this game and u in the Gavin Williams start that was Yeah on Friday. So the two games we win, the bullpen looks fantastic The two games we lose not so fantastic. They start giving up some home run. Tim Haron gives up a solo home run on Saturday. They give up two runs late on Saturday to lose that game And then, uh They do I mean, they they do pitch fantastic after byy leaves on Sunday. Holderman does give up one run. He gets into a lot of trouble with two hits and a walk And Sabrowski comes in, gets out of a basis load of situation, only gives up O run on on a fielder's choice gounder where Manzardo was charging, but I don't know. they said couldn't get the ball out of his glove, but for whatever reason doesn't go home for the force out decides to go back to first and get the sure out at first. So kind of made a gut call there but Sabrowski does get out of that situation and only gives up the one run. So Honestly Bolpen had himself a pretty good the Bolen overall had a pretty good series. They do give up two runs late on Saturday. They do give up the lead here on Sunday after the Guardians came back and tied it. but shouldhn't have been insurmountable like seven to six. The Guardians had opportunities in the eighth inning, especially of this game on Sunday, so Overall, the bullpen is really good and part of the reason why they're able to come back and have these big walk off wins in the U and Friday in the Thursday and Friday at night So in the sixth inning the Guardiianans answer back at least. It's a five to two game and they start to answer back How did they get everybody on in the sixth inning? So a leadoff single by Gabriellel Arius then walks the uantab Bazana so walks her Do their job. they're loading up the bases with walks. They're at least getting on base that way the water would ground out to first base. it would bring in a run, make it five to three. Another example of where at least you're not getting a hit with runners in scoring position, but at least you're being productive A at least you're doing something with runners in scoring position and getting that run home and manufacturing a run. If you do that enough, it does add up which is how they end up coming back in this game, right So that's two examples of not getting a hit with runners in scoring position, but being able to get a run across. Of course, you don't need to have a walk offff win if you can come up with a big crooked number here in the sixth inning, but hey, we'll take it the seventh inning probably the highlight that gets that gets buried here is David Fry solo home run makes it a one run game in the seventh inning. He goes one hundred to two point nine off the bat. twenty eight de relaunch angle three hundred eighty seven feet. would have been home run in thirty out of thirty ballparks Nice to see David Fry pulling that ball in the left field again Uh I was really worried about him. I was really worried about Fry. I was even considering when Ramirez gets healthy, like maybe Fry is the guy that gets sent back down. But like we said, his WRC plus was what one hundred two. Um, yeah. So he's he's finding w six home runs He's finding ways of being productive Uh yeah, his ISO is only at a one seventy nine. ISO is isolated power where they like take singles out of it and they just look at your Isolated power. The most powerful in that team would be Anj Martinez at the two hundred four ISO and Ramirez at one hundred seventy nine and David Fre one hundred seventy nine. So he has been I guess one of your better power hitter still. you batting average to eleven on basase is three hundred twenty two and slugging is three hundred ninety So does that give them a seven U seven twelve OPS. ye He's finding ways to stay productive for me. So I'll give David Fy that. And this is a huge home run here Let's go to the matchup. Let's see what pitch he got to hit this one out off of Brandon Iert U it was a fastball right down the pipe. He turned on a fastball U This fastball is not very fast ninety point five ninety one mile hour fastball was in a hitters count a two one count hadad to come after him with a fastball and paid for it. I mean, this is elevated middle of the plate and David Frery smacks it. for a home run the left So they make it a one run game. The Guardiian still have some work to do though in the ninth inning and it's a walk that sets them up A leadeadoff walk by Rese Hoskins, Cea Watsonon fly out and here comes Brian Rochio pulling it down the right field line. ninety eight point four miles per hour, thirty eight degree launch angle of three hundred and eighty feet would have only been a home run in nine out of thirty ballparks I gotta imagine that's like ballpark dimensions kind of things. I don't know The angle is the same The angle should be the same down the right field line no matter what ballpark you're in, right? I don't think the angle from home plate to the foul b is that is consistent in every ballpark. I don't know why this wouldn't have been more thirty out of thirty. I mean, hit it three hundred eighty feet down the right field line. How many right fields are like four hundred feet deep? Maybe it would have hooked foul in other ballparks. I don't know. Maybe that's what Stackcast is trying to tell us either way in progressive field It's a home run So Brian Roccho, let's see what the matchup was for him U off of Grant Taylor, first pitch. Fastball ninety nine point three miles perour. It's elevated. It's out over the plate. It's on the outer half of the plate near the top of the strike zone But he jumps on this elevated fastball and pulls it down the right field line Dry a pinch rununner Sneeman comes in to score with him and it's a walk off home run for Brian Rocchio. It's a party for Brian Rochio U yeah, awesome. I mean Rokchio has been an unsung hero of this season Let's see where Rkchio leaves the series batting Rkchio didn't he get Yeahah he did had the day off but he does pinch hit. for Patrick Bailey late and comes through with a hit late in the game So he ends the series betting two hundred seventy six with a seven hundred forty two OPS. againgain WRC plus he was what fourth on the team right behind Chase Laoter at a one ten That's a solid one tenth. as same as you're getting from Jose Ramirez right now So that is Pretty fantastic from Brian Rochio I wonder what his career WRC plus is throughout the seasons Uh, He was in his rookie season in twenty twenty three. was a sixty four WRC plus. The last two years. he's been in the high seventies, seventy nine and seventy seven and now he's up at a one hundred twelve WRC plus. wasas that different than the Yeah, for some reason, they had him at a one hundred ten WRC plus when I'm looking at the Guardian' page. but when I look at his individual page, he's at a one hundred twelve WRC plus U So maybe that team page isn't updated with yesterday's stats. So yeah, clearly his best his strongest offensive season. In fact, this is the first offensive season where he's at a positive number for his offensive war numbers Usually his defense is carrying him and his offense is a negative number They do split that up here on fangGraphs. There's offensive war, defensive war, then your overall war, which is not just adding the two numbers together It's a total recalculation when you do the overall war. So He has had positive seasons, but it's been bolstered by his defense. And this is the first year with the offense of the defense are coming together. He's at a two point eight war right now. He's having a pretty strong season. In fact, if I go back over to the team page He is leading the team in war. So overall value right now for you are getting it from Brian Rocchio U And again, at one point, I wondered why he wasn't in the All star game conversation. We'll see if they could start calling up reserves For the All Star game, you know, guys are hurt and stuff like that You know one thing we didn't talk about with the All Star game was that just the Toronto voting base is insane. Like Toronto is clearly manipulating the system thats country of Canada is kind of taken over the voting system, the fan voting system That's the reason Erning Clement is the number one vote getter in the American League. It's the reason why Vladimir Gurero Ji. was got the start at for first base, even though he's having a terrible season by Vladimir Gurero Jr. standards. So yeah, and he's not playing in the game because his back's been hurting him all season U Who knows? mayaybe if some other guys sit out, maybe Rkyo sneaks in there as u as a, you know, as a reserve, but he's definitely having a great season So Rko with a big walk off win here. It's a party at progressive field. That was a good feeling. That was a really good feeling Thursday night to get that walk offff win And, you know, start of the day has to be Brian Rocchio with the walk offff. It was huge Um Bazana also had a really strong offensive game going two for three with two wonks. So he's on base four times with a double a run driven in. and a run scored himself So a strong offensive day from Bazana. But you know, you get the big walk off to run home run, you got to get startar of the day, right Bailey also with a multi hit game. You know, we talked about how hot Austin Hedges is right now. Bailey has really turned it on here in July, like in June and July He has hit a lot better since coming over from San Francisco and then right now in July, both catchers are are on fire. They're really cooking Insurance isn't one size fits all. That's why drivers have enjoyed progressives name Y your prrice tool for years now. With the name Y yourour prrice tool, you tell them what you want to pay and they'll show you options that fit your budget. So whether you're picking out your first policy or just looking for something that works better for you and your family, they make it easy to see your options. Visit progressive dot com Find a rate that works for you with the name Y your price tool. Progressive Casualty insurance company and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law Granger knows, when you're a procurement manager for an office park You're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners Light's about to fail, filters ready to clog, HVac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind Count on Granger for quality products, easy reordering, and twenty four seven support. Call one eight hundred Granger, click Granger d. com or just stop by Granger. For the ones who get it done Let's move it over to Friday night's game and again, the walk offff magic continues. This time we got to go to extra innings. once again, the Guardians do jump out to a lead, but it's only a one nothing lead. againgain, the Guardians never felt like they were really like in control of this game Uh Bazana gets it started with a single drives in Gabriel Arius to score Austin Hedges moves up to third on the play. Um, There you go, hit with runners in scoring position. Let's see what they were overall on a day. They They were actually five for eight with runners in scoring position, but they did leave eight on base Five or eight, that' honestly impressive. they only score four runs. What else happened? What was the fifth hit with the runners in squareing position that didn't score a run? Well, I guess that would be W that be in the tenth inning because I think there is a single in the tenth inning, but the runner only moves up to third before Co Watson hits them in. So maybe that was the fifth hit with runners in scoring position But it's walks again setting things up. So man, the White sox pitchers did themselves no favors here Arius with a walk Austin hedges with a walk despite a catcher's challenge It stays a walk Kwan with a sack bnt and moves him over, sets him up for bazana. I'm okay with that to score the first runs of the game and it's your number nine hitter Moving guys over with nobody out and Quan like unknown bunter I'm actually okay with that one Uh And then Bazana, you're setittting enough for the top of the lineup and Bazana drives the run in. So perfect. All right, job well done. David for I would hit into a double play and their threat U they would come back then with three in the fifth Uh Wh who's pitching for Cleveland in this one this is Gavin Williams one. So the weather is starting to turn. There's this huge storm about to absolutely hammer the entire Northeast Ohio region And it's bearing down in progressive field. The wind is going insane and Gavin Williams is just trying to get out of the fifth inning like please let me get out of the fifthingning. The tarp was coming on the field. Like it was it was coming on. the guys were there. They were ready to go. They get two singles from Medroth and Peters. They get a sacr bun from Jacob Gonzallees setting up Antonacci U he hits into a fielder's choice out. I think they throw someone Is that the one where they throw someone out at home There was definitely some thrown out in the infield at home in this series But he's just trying to get all he's got to do is get through Vargus and he gets out of it and instead he hangs one to Vargas. It was a breaking ball that he absolutely hangs. Vargus hits at one hundred six point three miles per hour, twenty nine degree launchgle three hundred seventy four feet down to the to the left field home run porch, thirty out of thirty ballparks. It didn't matter what the wind was doing. this ball was ticketed for the for a souvenir. And u Yeah Vargas u gives the gives him a three to one lead twentieth home run on the season. like he's he's crushing for the White Sox. They got a bunch of twenty home run hitters on this team. They hit bombs the White Sox do partart of the reason why they've been so good and in first place is that offense is legit. And I mean, they've collected these guys through You know, these big trades that they've made the last few years and they've suffered for this But they're being rewarded just just like we saw the Houston Astros go through in the in the twenty teens It's now happening with the White sox like they suffered for a long time But all those trades they made are finally paying off with some of these guys So yeah, then after the home run, then the tarp comes on the field U so u Who came Alam I came in to kick things off right? Yeah Alama goes inning in the third, gets Cal Tal out and then pitches the sixth inning as well So it kind of turns into a bullhead game because Gavin Williams can't even make it through five innings before the tarp comes out And Alaman Hunter Gaddis, Colin Holderman, Kade Smith and Eric Sabrowski throw up zeros. Meanwhile, here comes your guuardiian' offense storming back in the seventh inning They have their response. Austin hedges Uh with a big hit. in the seventh inning. It starts again with walks. Reese Hoskin walks one out Manzarda strikes out Rcchio with a walk Schneamen with strikeout. So now two outs runners in scoring position Austin hedges with a single, drives in Reese House the store Rokchio stops at second and then Kan drops one down the left field line bloops one in there drives in Rokia to score This is one where Antonacci overruns it a little bit. anotherother sloppy play by by a White Sox defefender So it does allow Hedges to move up third and quant to move to second, but Bizano would strike out. They couldn't drive in the go ahead run there in the seventh inning. So instead it stays a tied game at three to three. a classic bloop single by Stehven Kine down the left field line. sixty eight point one mile per exX of velocity, but he pits it into a no man's land spot nine ninety expected batting average So a perfect spot there for KQan And it drives in the run Um Great job there. So we end up going all the way to extras. Nobody can really get anything done here in the eighth or ninth inning U the white sos go one to three in the eighth and the ninth. you at least get a two out walk from Rce Hoskins in the eighth, but then Menzardo strikes out. You actually get a runner on in the ninth inning with a drop third strike but can't do anything with it. Austin hedges with two out strikes out but gets on with a wild pitch And then Kuan flies out to left. He tried to go down that left field line again, but Antonucci was ready for him And you go to extra innings So the hardest thing man to get out of that first inning Uh get out of that top of that tenth inning. Without giving up a run. Sabrowski is fantastic strikes out Randall Gritick Grichick challenged. But let's actually go to these matchups here because these are some pretty awesome strikeouts by Sabrowsky Uh yeah, it was clearly in the strike zone. so I don't know what Gritchick was challenging. Maybe just was embarrassed that he struck out U Oh no, he challengeed the one at the knees. Okay. He So he did challenge a legit on the edge pitch. It was the second It was the second strike. they one of the knees then he goes u fastball away and he lays off and comes right back with the fastball down the middle and blows it by him at the knees locks him up actually. Maybe he was expecting that breaking ball from Zabrowsky. He can't take the bat off his shoulders with two fastballs at the knees. So strikes out Rando Grichick on fastballs. Then Junior perezes up and gases them with three fastballs blows one by them for a called strike at the top of the zone and then two fastballs to the outside of the zone. He follows one off and then again, he must have been thinking Sabrroski is going to go breaking ball against me Now that he's in a pitcher's count and he just blows another fastball byy him at ninety five miles per hour can't take the bat off the shoulder. So two strikeouts stranding that guy at second base and then Antonaci. Uh would fly out again, just fastball after fastball it doesn't mix one slider in. going with that fastball. He's pitching them away the leftty and andonachis pitching him away finally comes up and in with one and gets him to fly out to chase the laer and right field So Saprowski works through that tenth inning. Unbelievable. Bazana they're pitching him up and away. everything is up and away doesn't change the eye level actually goes off the plate And away and off the plate and shoots one through a huge hole on the left side. Kan moves up to third. It's It's hit too hard and they're not playing that deep in left field for Banna. So Kan can only advanced a third, but a good job by going off the plate and taking the hold that they give you U, and then it brings up Klele Watson And first pitch takes it right back. It's a two seam sinker against the Lfty And it's at the knees. It's kind of down and in, but he takes it right back up the middle at ninety seven point two, finds the hole in the middle of the field, Quant comes in to score and we're celebrating Calle Watson So he's getting mobbed there, the rookie with his first walkoff hit. a, they' they're yanking on his jersey. They're they're beating them up there in the middle of the field in a good way. And I think it was Reese Hoskins leading the celebration But Clear Watson, that's got to feel good. Y first walko win in extra innings. Uh yeah, it's all it takes, man. just finding some gaps on the infield it we talk about this all the time, the guuardians make offense look really hard. They really make scoring runs look hard So when they make them look easy with a couple of hits through the infield like yeah That's all it takeakes sometimes pututting the ball in play finding those gaps Kalia Watson is celebrating the walk offff. By the way, the on the Thursday night game, I kind of buried one of my highlights, which is maybe Uwood's best home run call I've ever heard of make. likeike I know Underwood's got a few home run calls that he does. And we all love Hamilton's home run calls But when Rkchio hit that home run down the right field line when that thing hit off the foul ball U Underwood goes goodbye. goodood night Unbelievable Beautiful H Run call right there I love that. I love that. I should be on a t shirt right now. Goodbye, good night Unbelievable and then silence and then he lets the moment hang right there. He lets it all play out on the field Let's you hear the crowd roar. It It's a really one of undernderwood's best home run calls. he's ever had in his career. and I know he's had some Oh bad. Well, I guess he hasn't had any playoff. He didn't get the call playoff home rununs, right? It's always a national broadcast. So yeah, he gets these progressive field regular season moments and he's had some good ones, but this might have been his best So I definitely wanted to give a shout out to Underwood there for that home run call U So they go MVP. We got to our star of the day with pinch hitting Coliga Watson. I mean, come on you get the big hit and extra innings, although I actually, you know what start of the day probably needs to be the bullpen as a whole to come in after the rain delay and just throw up zeroos Uh Yeah, but you know, we can't give star of the day to five different guys. We got to go with Co Watson for his first walk off hit Ny Then we get into losses. Parker Messic is strong U so is Sean Burke U Burke has eleven strikeouts to no walks. Messic over six inies pitch Messic goes five innings, gives up one run, three walks and three strikeouts, not as sharp ne hundred pitches, he's hard hit seven times Burke on ninety five pitches was only hard hit four times the heck was working for Burke in this one is four seam fastball He had eight strikeouts just via his four seam fastball, which was coming in hot. The average is ninety four point eight on the season. He was up to ninety six point two with his average on Saturday Um his highest whiff rate pitch by far, eight whiffs on that pitch. It's a thirty four percent whiff rate total thirty seven percent CSW total if you add in nineteen called strikes So yeah, Burke was just coming at him with the four seam fastball U Where was he locating it U kind of pounding the out u the outside edge to our left here of hitters and Coming in on our right hand hitters just the left side of the plate Um Yeah, he was really attacking over there So u Yeah for for Parker Messic, not as strong of a start obviously, but only gives up the one run He was also doing good with his four seam fastball. All three of his strikeouts came via the four seam fastball, although not a high whiff rate day. He only had four whiffs on forty eight swings Um, so that's not typical for Parker Messic, usually his changeup is getting you a couple more whiffs than that and it's woring fastball So yeah just could not get the swing and miss. I think he said post game. just didn't feel like he had his best stuff. So he was just up there battling and battling and just tryrying to get to put in play and trust his defenders. and yeah he does that. he gets through five strong innings Again, the bullpen falters in this one. Harron gives up a solo home run in the eighth inning U Mhesta gives up a couple hits struggles in the ninth inning but gets out of it with one run given up But yeah, the Guardians notot much offense to show in this one They did have seven hits. Let's see what the runners in scoreory position. situation was in this one U the guards go over eight with runners in scoring position. That's That's not good. They also weren't drawing the walks in this one. obbviously I told you Spke didn't give him any walks. The bullpen didn't either. didn' get a walk until the ninth inch U But in the other games, it was walks that were setting up all those rallies in Thursday and Friday. So you're not getting the walks, you're not getting guys on base, not really setting up the rallies that well Yeah Hedges is your only offense. He's got the big sola home run. Hedgie goes Ao for his home run. What inning was that in? That was in the fifth inning h ends up going u where is it? with one out, one hundred and one point two off the bat, twenty four degree launching of three hundred and eighty eight feet would have been home run only two out of thirty ballparks. interesteresting. onlynly progressive field in LA Angels Stadium It does go into the u into those seats in front of the Bullpens there U I think undernderwood screwed up this home run call. He called them the cheap seats in right field Those are not cheap seats. Those seats in front of the bullpen right there are an expensive ticket at progressive field. So I don't know what is I get the cheap seats and left. The bleachch seats are the cheap seats, but the seats in front of the bullpen there are pretty expensive seats. So Yeah, either way Hedges with the only offense in this one with his solo home run. Quant would actually triple after that but they can't drive him in to score part of that over eight with runners in scoring position They had a bunch of stolen bases in this one too. This is the game where Watson steals two bases, but they leave him stranded Uh, so uh Yeah, the guuardians. Uh just don't bring the offense for the fourth of July and don't and end up with a three to one loss.. So despite a good Parker okay Parker Messic start and despite Austin Hedges providing the offense, they can't get much done. This is like Austin Hedges does not do this very often. I was looking at his spray chart You have to go way back, I think to his San Diego days before you can find a shot where Austin Hedges goes Oo with a home run. Now this is a right center field. It's not like a full Oo shot. It's, you know U Yeah, twenty twenty five all pull down the left field line, twenty twenty four all pulled down the left field line twenty twenty three here one home run down the left field line U twenty two, they're all clustered down the right field line. Dt have a double off the wall in right center field. Um, twenty twenty one a bunch down the left field all in the left field. U twenty twenty Hes one to dead center field. actuallyctually watch the highlight in this one. We're talking dead center field. This was it was weird to see a highlight from the twenty twenty season. Remember, that was the COVid season. So all of a sudden you realize like there's no fans in the stands. It's like manufactured noise being pumped into the stadium weird stuff. and then twenty nineteen. he's finally got an opposite field home run here U So yees, you got to go all the way back to twenty nineteen to a San Diego Padre days Which then makes you realize like when you go back and look at his numbers, he was a pretty decent home run hitter when he was with the San Diego Padres in twenty seventeen, he had eighteen home runs fourourteen home runs in twenty eighteen, eleven home runs in twenty nineteen He was that twenty twenty the twenty seventeen season He has got his most at baths, most playate appearances that he had in his career at four hundred and seventeen playate appearances. They really leaned into him. has a catcher. The banning average is only two hundred and fourteen, but he slug three ninety eight So it wasn'tjoying a lot of walks at that time U twenty three walks to one hundred and twenty two strikeouts, but He was a pretty decent Bat there in the San Diego lineup with those eighteen home runs in twenty seventeen. Obviously has not repeated anything like that since coming to Cleveland, most home runs he's hit his ten home runs since he's come to Cleveland or since. I know we traveled around a little bit in twenty twenty three But yeah, Hedges does not go Oo very often. So definitely this home run is an outlier for his career N And then to get through this long episode, you know, an incredible game, a credible slug fest here in in Sunday's finale, but the Guardians just come up one run short. They just don't have one more punch in up right? This is a slug fest where it's whoever lands that last blow And it's the White sox landing that last blow U they come out and score early against you Kyle Tal with a two run home run to jump out to a lead for the White sox And Byy did not have a good start. He They said that the rain delay Thr him off, but he ends up giving three home runs in this one gives up six runs over fornings pitch U, you know, you got to step up to the plate and the white sox use an opener in front of Pedi. So maybe using an opener would have helped. U Tanner Bbe here because he just wasn't ready to start this game when the time finally came to start this game h the outfield if you didn't see the the entire outfield mning track was flooded. So the whole ground screw was out there just working and adding more dirt and mopping and Whatever they can do to squeegeeing, whatever that thing is to get the puddles clear the puddles in the warning track. and make us safe to play. So that added to the delay By was not ready When they came out of it. So he gives up the two run home run to Kyle Tal goes one hundred four point six off the bat, thirty out of thirty home ballparks to be a home run. But then the Guardiian' offense responds Bana with the lead offff double. Cleo wants him to fly out, but then Chase a lototter my God gets an inside pitch and goes one hundred seven point five off the bat, thirty one de re launching four hundred and twenty five feet also would have been a home run in thirty out of thirty ballparks Um, yeah, D lototter hammers this thing And I know D Loter doesn't consider himself a home runun hitter U, he's he I think he think sees himself more as like a gap hitter When he does get a hold of one, my God does he have power? likeike he has raw power So ye, I mean, that's kind of what they the reason they split it up, right? There's raw power versus like in game power Like a guy can hit thirty home runs, but, you know,, you know, just gets them all just over the wall hits some to the right spots in the mallpark and you going end up with a twenty five home run season. But then you get a guy like the Ler up here, it might only end up being a ten, fifteen home run season in the end. The ones he does hit four hundred and twenty five foot ball Bombs So yeah, they finally come inside with a pitch to chase the loter and he delivers Tristin Peters with then with hit a solo home run in the right back on the top of the second inning, makeake it a three to three game His fifth homeer the season also would have been twenty six out of thirty ballbarks, sorry, twenty six out of thirty Um then the Gardians have no answer in the bottom of the second, a couple singles But they turn things back over to the top of the lineup and they can't do anything with it in the third inning, the White sock start to pull away U B attendee with a single drives in Vargas a score And then Montgomery with a home run into right center field U his was U let's see here. Where to go Montgomery's was only nine out of thirty ballparks. It was one hundred nine point seven off the bat though. So it's kind of a missile, twenty degree launch Igle three hundred ninety feet. againain, nine out of thirty ballparks, But it makes it at that point a six to three game and you're really thinking yourself Man these guards, it's not looking good. likeike if you're starting pitching is falling apart. I don't know But a few wnings later, they put together a rally, chase a lotder with a leadoff single Manzardo with a fielders's choice gets on an error, I believe by the short stop. I believe my Montgomery puts Manzardo on and then Gabiarius steps up and he turns on one pulls it in the left field. We're used to seeing Gabriel Arius go oo with his home runs. He usually hits his out to right center field, but this time he pulls one one hundred eight point six off the bat, twenty three degree launch angle four hundred forty six feet eighty three point eight swing speed, obviously thirty out of thirty ballparks. I think they said it was the second furthest hit home run by a Gardian this season. I mean, he destroys this thing. So okay, where were all these home run balls located U let's go over to the pitch chart Let's go to the home runs And let's flip things over to the batters. And so Tels was an outside cutter middle of the plate though right at the belt and outside cutter and he actually goes oo with it and hits it off the left field Tristan Peters was a cutter down at the knees that he jumps on for his home run and then Colson Montgomery was a fastball away that he pulled similar style to what Brocchio did on Thursday night, a fastball elevated away And then when you go over to the Guardians home runs, Chase the Lotterers was a fastball high and tight turned on loves those inside pitches And then same thing with G AS. it was a sweeeper, a hanging sweeeper, middle Middle height right at the belt, but it was on the inner half of the plate And he again turnurns on it and absolutely smokes this ball. So those were some monster home runs makes it a six to six game. Unfortunately, right back in the top of the sixth inning The White sox have an answer. Antonucci grounds out to Calanzardo Um Yeah, this is the one with the bases loaded where he decides to get the out and in the end it would cost the guuardians U I mean, Holderman getting into the basasees load of situations is what really cost the Guardians Manzardo makes the decision here to get the sureer out figures one run. what can it hurt? Well, it hurts. It hurts. The Guardians have no answer for it in the bottom of the six despite a leadoff walk for Kan They go one to three in the seventh. They do have a rally going in the eighth a one out single by Rkchio. David Freed draws a walk behind that. Bazana hits into a force. Bazana hits into a force out and then Watson would fly out to end the threat. So That was their best chance of coming back. They go one two, three in the ninth and they're done and the White sox tie up the series. D we say what they were with runners in scoring position in this one Guardians for four for thirteen. Honestly, four for thirteen isn't terrible They do leave eight on base. Watson with two more stolen bases in this one an with a stolen base in this one. They were trying. They had power. They were stealing bases. they were back to drawing a decent amount of walks three walks in this one Fedi was pretty good after the opener. He goes five in a third innings, eight hits three runs to earned onene walk for strikeouts. So yeah, they cut down on their walks finally the White Sox did and they were able to have success. We did have ten hard hit balls off fei after eighty nine pitches Um Yeah. and on the other side By obviously giving up three home runs as's just not good enough to get the job done. Um So yeah. so the White sos tie up the series Star of the day in this one probablyrob chased a lotter Uh Yeah, the big two run home run. I don't know A lot of guys had huge offensive games. Arius was a two hit game. Schneemen actually has a two hit game Bailey and Rcchio combined in the eighth spot for a two hit game U So it kind of hard to say, but Chase the Lers home run. likeike we needed to see that from him. It was a great way to start the game. And we need our third, you know, the number three hitter in the lineup three hard hit balls on the day. I'm giving him star of the day for Chase a Laoter right there. All right This has been a very long episode. Let's turn things over to your emails. Be you threw in a lot of emails here. Jeff with the G got in early. He said Hi Davy, two great wins so far this series. although I would love a blow a blowout win one of these days, but that's just not guards ball, I guess. Rkchio's walk off blast was awesome, but why did vote leave Slate in for the sixth? He was already at ninety three pitches and it was hotter than bllazes. Yeah, that was another thing We've been battling it again, we've been battling a heat wave all over the country, but It's been it's been cooking here in Cleveland and yeah, he did, I don't know I don't know why here. I don't know what the bullpen situation was the rest situation in the bullpen from the series before So I don't know, he felt like he needed to leave him in for that sixth inning and it did not work out He said Espina was great and helped save the bullpen. Nice to see Fry hit a homeer two Bullpen was awesome again Friday night and allowed for the guards to win in in the tenth, needing only one run. Watson continues to look good now that he's settled in Who do you think goes down when Martinez returns? Yeah, it's definitely Egl. You know it, Jeff U fingers crossed for two more wins this weekend did not happen Jeff with a G U All right next up was Jared Sent me the snapshot of the Guardiian box score with Austin Hedges was at two for two at that point in the game U he said best hitter in the lineup or best non injured hitter on the team Jared was being a little facetious here, but he's right. we showed you Austin Hedges actually is based on WRC plus the best hitter on the team right now, which is Kind of scary, right A little bit scary U so thank you for that, Jared. Dan in the Bronx jumps in. He says, Hey, Davy at the beginning of the season, who had a Guardians White Sox rivalry on their bingo cart Wonderful, entertaining, though sometimes frustrating baseball all weekend, a split in a close four game series between these two teams seems about right A a couple of observations, Ingle is not ready for primeime and Watson is. Great to see Rkchio blossom into a leader And I wrote it in May and that's even more true today. Daniel Simz hands down the best utility player in the league. Yeah, he really gam play defense Anywhere you stick them on the field, right? Dan, you got that right his back his back goes very hot and cold So we have to deal with that But defensively, he's solid wherever you put him. So this kind of what I'm talking about. likeike Dan's Dan kind of was like, I feels like you were okay with the split. like you're enjoying the rivalry between the guards and the White Sox. You didn't feel like they were that far out of our league Whereas I was, you know, I was feeling a little bit let down that the Gardians didn't seem to be in control at any point over these four games. You know, they got some wins but didn't really feel in control at any point But I appreciate the point of view, Dan And then last but not least, Bob and Highland Heights, he says treading water. We could have won all four or lost all four So he's kind of in that same boat where he's like kind of feeling okay with how the series went He said I'm cheered by the belief Jose and Anhal are doing well and are hopefully both may be back after the All Star game. Hopefully that will be the end of the Cooper Ingel experiment. Frankly, we would have been better off adding Nolan Jones if he was still with us, Pete Halpen or CJKfis Yeah, you know what? Maybe they would have given us more, Bob, but we needed to see. We needed to give Cooper Engle a chance and maybe Maybe this failure