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00:00And welcome in the early line here on this Tuesday.
00:05We appreciate you stopping by as we get ready, of course, for the final week of the Major League Baseball regular season.
00:13Kind of crazy to think that's where we're at, but it starts with a full slate here today.
00:19I'm Joe Ranieri alongside Adam Kaufman.
00:21And when you look at it, Adam, it's been six months now of Major League Baseball.
00:27Kind of crazy here.
00:28And it's all going to come down to this final week where we've got four division titles that seem to be, well, we have an idea on who might win, but not really.
00:42We do have a pretty decent idea of who's in the postseason.
00:46It's just a matter of what order they're going to end up showing in.
00:50Unless, of course, you are the New York Mets, who are trying to do whatever they can do to remain relevant here, because it's been a rough final month here of September for them.
01:04They went from, yes, it's going to be the Mets to now, if it ended today, the Reds, because of the tiebreaker, they won the season series, would be in the postseason.
01:16So this is a huge final week for the Mets.
01:20And the good news is they get to take on the Cubs, who quite honestly, tonight, Adam, have nothing to play for, although Horton is going for them against Peterson.
01:28Can the Mets put it together at Wrigley to get this done?
01:33Yeah, if you want to lean into the desperation narrative, why not take the Mets at plus money?
01:38But I would say Chicago is at minus 120 for a reason, and that is the superiority on the mound, as you just said, with Kate Horton on the bump.
01:46But it's true.
01:47I mean, the Mets have been going the wrong way, pardon me, for weeks on end at this point in time.
01:52They've lost their last two.
01:54That, with the Reds' five-game winning streak, has led to this tiebreaker situation.
01:58The only saving grace for New York is that you still have a half-dozen games to play.
02:03All these teams are starting their final two series.
02:06And like you said, we've got four divisions that are somewhat up for grabs.
02:09And the wildcard races in both leagues are still coming down to the wire for a couple of teams that are on the outside looking in.
02:16And so if ever there were a team to at least take a flyer, invest in New York at, again, you know, a plus money situation, knowing that, I mean, your season is quite literally on the line.
02:28Not to say you have to win tonight, otherwise you're done.
02:31You have, you know, many breathing room, per se, but you know that this can go game to game for at least the next couple, depending on what you do and what the Reds do.
02:40I don't think that the Cardinals are going to pick up three and a half games in six.
02:43But still, this is getting sweaty.
02:47This is, you know, a pressure time here for New York to respond.
02:51And you're also on the road, which is not easy.
02:54And the Mets have not been good outside of Citi Field this year.
02:58It's 31-44.
03:00And a Cubs team, to your point, they've locked up a playoff spot.
03:05They know they're going.
03:07They're, you know, the top wildcard team by a wide margin.
03:10They don't necessarily have anything to play for.
03:13I don't think they're going to lose that top wildcard spot.
03:16But if it is something that they concern themselves with at all, then you do need to kind of keep the pedal on the metal for at least the next couple of days to lock that in.
03:25Because you don't want to all of a sudden slip to number two if you go on a little few-game skid here.
03:30And all of a sudden, you're visiting a team, San Diego in this case, in the wildcard round as opposed to hosting the wildcard round.
03:38You want that home field advantage for two, three games, whatever it winds up being.
03:42So, you know, as far as the Mets, I could see the logic in making the investment.
03:47But if you're looking for me to sit here and tell you, yeah, you can trust New York, you can never trust New York.
03:52We haven't been able to trust New York in months.
03:54Well, the Mets are going to need help, and they don't control their own destiny.
04:01But Cincinnati does, since they own the tiebreaker, and they've got a game against these Pittsburgh Pirates, whose season has long been over here.
04:1029 games under .500.
04:13But, you know, the Reds have been one of the more inconsistent teams, to say the least.
04:18But they've battled Brady Singer on the mound.
04:21Johan Oviedo on the mound for the Pirates.
04:24He hasn't exactly been great since being reactivated off the IL.
04:28So, can the Reds at home at the Great American Small Park continue to win some games down a stretch and steal the Mets postseason?
04:38Well, not to sound, you know, lazy with this take, but I don't see why not, Joe.
04:44I mean, look, Cincinnati is a good home team.
04:46It's won, you know, it's 10 games over .500 at home.
04:49Obviously, it's put together this five-game winning streak.
04:51Before that, there was some mediocrity.
04:53There was a little bit of slumping, a little bit of up-and-down play, but now getting hot at the right time over the course of the final couple weeks of the regular season.
05:00As you said, Singer's a good pitcher, you know, for, like, by today's standards.
05:04And I don't mean he's, you know, going to flirt with a Cy Young or even an all-star berth or something like that.
05:10But he is someone that has a, you know, a sub-4 ERA.
05:16Solid, good for a starting pitcher, you know, back in an era that responds well to, obviously, pitching.
05:23And I think that, you know, you just, you need to, this Pittsburgh team sucks.
05:28Now, the offense has kind of come alive in the second half a little bit, which makes these games more competitive.
05:33But the pitching is not something you can rely on ever, unless Paul Skeens is on the bump, obviously.
05:38So, absent that, which you don't have tonight, as you said with Oviedo, I think it's a good spot to just continue to ride the wave here with Cincinnati.
05:46I know there are a lot of people that don't like to jump on streaks mid-streak.
05:51Like, you want to be on it from the beginning, I don't want to be on it, and all of a sudden it loses.
05:55Like, I don't think it loses tonight.
05:57I'd be fine hopping on.
05:58Now, if you don't like the minus 160-ish, I don't blame you.
06:03You could always parlay it with something else, some heavy favorite that you like,
06:06or even consider maybe a first five play and take it on the result, the run line, at minus half a run,
06:12just to win the first five, you'll get a considerably better number.
06:15You could do that as well.
06:17But I like Cincinnati in this spot.
06:20Yeah, I mean, the Cubs, prior to winning two games over the weekend,
06:25the final two games of that set against the Athletics, prior to that, they had lost 12 of 13,
06:31six of their last seven away from home.
06:34So it's kind of hard to say, ah, the Pirates are going to play, spoiler here.
06:39But Brady Singer has lost twice out of three starts against Pittsburgh so far this season.
06:44But he has been lights out for the Reds in September, just about a two ERA in his last three starts.
06:53So they're going to need him to show up big here tonight.
06:57So the Reds are at home.
06:59The Mets are on the road.
07:01You got to keep winning some games.
07:03And this is exactly what Rob Manfred of Major League Baseball wanted.
07:07Meaningful baseball in the final week of the regular season.
07:11What about the American League?
07:13Can the Tigers or the Guardians get it done?
07:15What about the Red Sox and the Blue Jays?
07:18We've got more to talk here as the early line continues on The Grid.
07:22All right, welcome back in the early line here on this Tuesday as the final week of the Major League Baseball season is here.
07:31Plenty still at stake for some teams.
07:35And when you look at the American League, my goodness, how have we gotten here with the Detroit Tigers?
07:42A collapse of epic proportions.
07:44And the Guardians, give them credit.
07:47They never really quit on the season.
07:50You know, got rid of some pieces there at the trade deadline.
07:54One of the best closers in Major League Baseball has been suspended in a gambling probe.
08:00One of their starters also.
08:02And yet here they are with an opportunity at home to really put the nail in the Tigers' season.
08:09I can't believe it, but they got Scooble versus Williams today.
08:13Are the Guardians just going to keep rolling here?
08:17Scooble hasn't been great down the stretch here.
08:21I don't think so.
08:23I don't think so tonight anyway.
08:25That doesn't mean the Guardians aren't going to keep rolling, overtake the Tigers at some point in time.
08:29I just don't think tonight is the night.
08:31I think ultimately, you know, Dries Scooble is a guy that obviously we expect to win the Cy Young Award
08:37by a pretty good margin over Garrett Crochet.
08:40So if you're going to do that, how about play like it?
08:42There's been inconsistency in Scooble's game.
08:45You know, last time out, the one run against the Guardians,
08:48these same Guardians that he's about to face over six frames, he was excellent.
08:52Game before in Miami gets roughed up.
08:55Before that, it's a shutout.
08:56Back-to-back seven-inning shutouts, as a matter of fact,
08:59against both the White Sox and the Royals in the AL Central.
09:04And so, you know, here it's just Scooble needs to be Scooble.
09:08This is a guy who has an ERA barely above two.
09:12Again, he's been one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, Joe, here, obviously.
09:17And your stopper needs to be your stopper.
09:19This is six straight losses.
09:21And, you know, say what you want about how well the Guardians have been playing.
09:25And they've been exceptional.
09:28I mean, they are a team that deserves to be in the postseason.
09:31But by the same token, it has been a monumental collapse out of the Detroit Tigers,
09:37really going back to the All-Star break.
09:40This has not all happened just in the last couple of weeks.
09:43This team has been really bad or very inconsistent and downright not good
09:48for a stretch of months at this point in time.
09:52So I like the minus 150.
09:55I know it's a lot of juice, but I like the minus 150 on Detroit to win this game tonight.
10:00And for, again, the Tigers' best pitcher to be their best pitcher and to just stop the bleeding,
10:07get the win, allow themselves to refocus a little bit.
10:10What happens after that, we'll see.
10:11You don't have anybody else in the rotation that rivals Scooble, obviously.
10:15But I like him to get the job done.
10:16Tigers were up as many as 10 games as of September 3rd in the division.
10:23And now that is not the case.
10:26Final six games on the road for them in this spot.
10:30So kind of shocking.
10:32But, you know, in the other part of the American League,
10:34the Red Sox now are taking on the Blue Jays.
10:37Blue Jays still trying to clinch here the American League East.
10:42The Yankees still trying to be relevant as well, maybe possibly overtake them.
10:47And just like that, the Red Sox are trying to cling on to a wildcard spot.
10:52Giolito versus Gaussman here tonight in Toronto.
10:56What are you thinking?
10:58I've got no feel for this game, Joe.
11:00This Red Sox team, you would like to think, and maybe there's some Red Sox bias for me,
11:05you'd like to think that this team would figure out a way.
11:08The reality is over the last several weeks at this point, couple weeks, three weeks,
11:14they haven't been able to hit.
11:15They're not driving in runners to scoring position,
11:17except when they come in flurries when they'll put up a touchdown and a random inning.
11:21But generally speaking, a lot of futility on the bases.
11:24And the pitching has taken a step back.
11:26You know, even Crochet has not been as sharp.
11:29Baio has not been as sharp.
11:30Giolito, who's on the mound tonight, as you said, not been as sharp.
11:34Now, this is a very important series for both these teams.
11:37The Red Sox are hanging on for dear life to a playoff spot right now with teams right on their heels.
11:42The Blue Jays, you know, who had a pretty good lead, not a 10-game lead,
11:46but a pretty good lead there in the American League East trying to hold on to this division.
11:50But the Yankees have been playing so well that this thing could go south.
11:53I mean, if the Red Sox, I don't think this is going to happen.
11:55But let's just say the Red Sox sweep this series.
11:58All of a sudden, Toronto's probably not leading the division anymore.
12:01You're probably at second place in the Yankees.
12:03And all of a sudden, you're focused on, boy, are we going to even host a wildcard round?
12:07Or is Boston going to overtake us for that in the final three games?
12:12So the Blue Jays really have to take one here, if not two, to maintain their division lead right now,
12:18the way New York has gone.
12:20It'll be interesting.
12:22Final week of the regular season is upon us.
12:26Again, going to be fun to watch, whether or not the Red Sox can clinch that postseason berth.
12:32Blue Jays, magic number is four.
12:35All right, welcome back into the early line here on the Sports Grid Network
12:40as we look to wrap up another edition here.
12:43Joe Ranieri alongside Adam Kaufman.
12:45But, as customary here on each and every show,
12:50we do like to give a public a chance to chime in.
12:54And maybe, just maybe, we'll either back them or fade them.
12:59So let's check it out here with today's fade the public poll question.
13:11All right, and we are going to stick with Major League Baseball here, Adam,
13:15because, let's face it, the regular season is coming to an end this week.
13:19But there are a lot of questions about who is that American League MVP going to be.
13:25It's been Aaron Judge, it feels like, since before the season started.
13:30But there's no denying that, well, Cal Raleigh has certainly, you know,
13:35made his name known, his presence known here.
13:38And then, now when you look at the price of each, I mean, it's kind of 50-50 here.
13:44I voted for Aaron Judge because I just think the media markets are different
13:49and Aaron Judge will continue to get the headlines.
13:53But what did you think?
13:55Because the public is not agreeing with me here.
13:58They like Cal Raleigh to get the award, or at least should be getting the award.
14:04What do you think?
14:05So I voted for Aaron Judge also,
14:08simply because I think that's the way it's going to play out.
14:11I think, like you said, there's the influence of the media markets.
14:14Now, if I were to acknowledge the other side, which again, obviously seems to be the public
14:19vote, and played the devil's advocate to the Aaron Judge, it's, you know, there's voter
14:24fatigue, judges won before.
14:27I think this is not, you know, a Vegas odds thing.
14:30This is not an algorithm.
14:32These are humans who have opinions that vote for these awards.
14:36And, you know, they like seeing new blood.
14:38They like seeing a catcher pop off the way that Raleigh has with all of these home runs.
14:44And to, you know, I think most notably, take Seattle potentially to a division crown.
14:49It's not locked up yet.
14:50But as we sit here right now, a three-game lead on the Houston Astros, I think if we look
14:55at, you know, this stuff matters, Joe.
14:58I, you know, it's, it's, this isn't like Alex Rodriguez of the Rangers on a bad team, but
15:03with an incredible season winning an award, these guys are kind of in similar situations.
15:08Statistically, they've both had very, very good seasons, great seasons, and are playing
15:13for teams that are fighting for division crowns.
15:16I think if you see one of them win the division and the other one is in the playoffs, but falls
15:21short of a division crown as a wildcard team, I think that is going to be something that
15:27maybe is a, a, a bit of a deal breaker for a lot of people out there for voters.
15:31So if Seattle should happen to win the West and the Yankees fall short just behind Toronto
15:37and they get the first wildcard spot, you know, I think that will have some people sway
15:42and lean toward Cal Raleigh.
15:44And so that's something to watch for down the stretch here.
15:46But if New York is able to overtake Toronto and I don't know, there's a speed bump.
15:51By Seattle, or even if there isn't a speed bump by Seattle and New York just does enough.
15:56I think at that point in time, you could see judge again because of the comeback from where
16:00they were.
16:01All right.
16:02Well, we got, uh, we got more major league baseball coming up today.
16:05So let's check out, uh, what our buy, buy, buy best bets look like tonight.
16:15All right.
16:16I'm going to start here because I'm going to go with the Toronto blue Jays and the Boston
16:21Red Sox game in a pretty good pitching battle here tonight between Giolito and Gossman.
16:28And listen, it has not been a great stretch for Toronto offensively.
16:33Uh, they finally won a game against the Royals, uh, over the weekend, but they have not exactly
16:38been punching runs across.
16:40They're already in it.
16:42The post-season that is they got a little more work to do to win the American league
16:46East, but this feels about as playoff atmosphere as it's going to get, especially for Boston.
16:52I'm going to stick with the starting pitchers, Gossman, Giolito.
16:56I'm looking for fewer runs under four and a half tonight in the first five for me.
17:01And how about you, Adam?
17:02Something tells me you're going back with Detroit here, aren't you?
17:05I am.
17:07I think Tariq Skubal and the Tigers get the job done.
17:10I've seen a lot of people out there in the space investing in the minus one and a half,
17:14right around plus one 20 for Detroit.
17:16And I don't blame people for doing that.
17:18If you don't want to lay the juice and you think that the Tigers are going to win decisively,
17:21I'm just not willing to get there.
17:23I would go with the minus one 50, play it a little bit safer, allow for just the one
17:28run victory.
17:29Skubal has dominated the guardians over his last nine meetings, three and one, one six,
17:33five ERA, a whip right around 0.8.
17:37It's a must win for a slumping Tigers team.
17:39Your best pitcher needs to be your best pitcher here.
17:42I expect him to be the stopper, Joe.
17:44Yeah, I am with you there.
17:46It's now or never.
17:48Great job, Adam.
17:49We appreciate you stepping in as always the early line.
17:53We're back again with a few new tricks tomorrow here on the grid.
17:57Enjoy the games.
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