00:00Extra inning win for the Tigers.
00:04One game back of a playoff spot.
00:06What a season.
00:08Best run differential in the American League with a losing record.
00:11Yeah, it's been a season of ups and downs.
00:13And this upcoming week, John, it's the week.
00:18You're hosting the Guardians and the White Sox.
00:22Homestand all in division.
00:24And it's three apiece.
00:25You have yet to beat the Guardians.
00:29And this is, if you want to be taken as a serious team, you need to win both series.
00:35You need to win both series.
00:37I'm not going to, and would it be great to sit there and say, yeah, six out of six?
00:40Sure, that's possible.
00:42But you just have to take two out of three against the Guardians and two out of three against the
00:47Sox.
00:47Does it make up the entire ground to be first in division?
00:52No.
00:53But I don't, I'm not concerned about that.
00:55The division, to me, is irrelevant.
00:57If that happens, hey, we'll celebrate.
00:59It's nice.
01:00It's fun.
01:01But right now, it's simply, you are the first team out of the wild card.
01:05You're one back of the Rangers.
01:08Just take care of business on your end.
01:12Don't worry about what they're doing.
01:13You've got two division opponents.
01:15And they're opponents that you have struggled with this year.
01:18So if you want to be taken seriously, then go win a series.
01:24Right.
01:25Beating the A's and the Giants, not the litmus test.
01:30No.
01:30And to sit there and say, well, okay, you beat up on the Guardians who are now a half game
01:35behind you.
01:38So it doesn't signal that you're now a really good team.
01:42It just signals that you're better than an average team.
01:48But it matters because that team has been a nemesis.
01:50That team is in the division.
01:52That team is still fighting for a playoff spot right there with you within a half game.
01:56No, no, no.
01:57Make no mistake about it.
01:58Well, the Cleveland Guardians are not some rock star baseball team.
02:01It would be more meaningful to beat them than going out west and beating a bunch of garbage cans.
02:07A minor league team in a minor league stadium.
02:09Yeah, exactly.
02:11So what are we calling this week?
02:13Is this prove it?
02:15There's a playoff spot to go grab.
02:16I don't know how you want to phrase this for people, but this is an important week for the Tigers.
02:21And it's early in the morning, so the creative juices are still flowing.
02:24I'm not sure.
02:25I mean, I kind of think I did.
02:27Like, if you want to be taken seriously, and it's not a catchphrase.
02:30Yeah.
02:31But if you want to be taken serious as a serious baseball team, you have to win this series against
02:38the Guardians.
02:38And it's also the audition for the local fans of Max Clark.
02:42First chance to see him in person.
02:45Yep.
02:45Yeah.
02:46Look, it's a bit of a prove it spot.
02:50It's a last call.
02:52Like, if you're going to make your run, this is the time to do it.
02:55And I'm not going to, if they lose both series, it doesn't eliminate them.
03:02But if you want to be taken seriously, we said it last week, when are you going to buy into
03:07this team?
03:08It's now.
03:09This is the week to get people to buy in.
03:11Moving day at golf tournaments.
03:13This is kind of what this is, right?
03:14Sure.
03:14It's not Sunday at the Masters, but it's moving day.
03:17Like, hey, let's go.
03:18Let's pick it up.
03:19One foot in front.
03:20Go grab a playoff spot this week.
03:21And then you've got to hold it for the final six weeks.
03:23But let's go grab a playoff spot this week.
03:25You've done a lot of hard work just to get back here.
03:29Think about it.
03:30I told you, they are the closest they've been to 500 since May 6th.
03:33They've almost erased the nightmare of all nightmares the month of May.
03:38They're this close to erasing that nightmare.
03:40This is the week to go do it.
03:43248-539-9797.
03:45We've got open lines.
03:46Talk to Tiger fans.
03:47You're sweating it over the weekend, right?
03:49Friday night felt painful, leaving guys on base.
03:52Sunday, Tom's note, they've lost that game 10 times this year.
03:56Drew Summers gets the double play, and they win the game.
03:58You're looking ahead to this week, and it's so much riding on what they do in the next six games.
04:04And the last time the White Sox came, you swept them.
04:09So the biggest thing is the Cleveland Guardians.
04:13They have been the mental block for this team, the hurdle to get over in the regular season.
04:19Now, they've been able to do it in the postseason, but we're not even talking about postseason right now.
04:24They should, the Tigers, should be approaching this like A.J. talked about.
04:29Every game is game seven.
04:31They should approach this with the same mental aspect, the same mental exercise that they did last year in the
04:39postseason.
04:40Well, this started against Cleveland last year.
04:45Jim came in the Monday morning and declared the AL Central was over after they had that crazy wild pitch
04:50win with Trey Sweeney.
04:52Remember when he scored on the wild pitch?
04:54Was that McKinstry, I thought?
04:55Or McKinstry, and then that tied it with two outs in the ninth, and then they went in extras, and
05:00Sweeney hit a three-run bomb or something like that.
05:02And we all thought it was over.
05:03Cleveland was buried.
05:04And ever since then, the Tigers have not been able to score on Cleveland, hardly at all.
05:08They hardly scored that series, by the way.
05:11They have not been able to score on Cleveland really over this three-year period, and the only time they
05:17did was the game three last year when they won the advance to the ALDS.
05:20This year, they've scored 11 runs in six games.
05:24This series specifically, I'm not worried about Chicago.
05:27We're talking about that until this series is over.
05:29Tigers' offense needs to show up in this series.
05:32They need to score runs on Cleveland.
05:34Cleveland's given up five or more runs, eight straight games.
05:37That's their strength pitching, but they haven't been pitching well lately.
05:40But they're going to be lined up for this series, aren't they?
05:43They're throwing some good arms.
05:44Yeah, Bybee's kind of weird.
05:46Yeah, but he owns us, right?
05:47That's kind of his thing.
05:48But the other two, Griffin and what's his name with an M?
05:53Can't think of it.
05:53Oh, the rookie.
05:56Parker Messick.
05:57Yes, yes, yes.
05:58Not Meadows.
06:01Collectively, the Indians are lined up.
06:03They're going to have to pitch well.
06:04And the Tigers, you know, they're two best pitchers, maybe.
06:07It's a lot to put on Jobe right now.
06:09But Melton's not pitching this series.
06:10Yeah, they're not going to get Melton or Jobe in this series.
06:12The matchups are Bybee against Drew Anderson on Tuesday.
06:17Griffin against Valdez on Wednesday, the Battle of Lefties.
06:20And then the series will wrap up with a day game on Thursday.
06:23Messick against Montero.
06:25How does this offense that's blossomed since they really went on the road?
06:28It did a little bit at home last time.
06:30But this new lineup play in Comerica Park, there's just so many unknowns.
06:33And I got to see the offense do it against a team that's owned them.
06:37Odds to win the Central right now.
06:39Still the White Sox, then the Guardians, then the Tigers.
06:43And I think a big part of that is because the Guardians are the proven commodity.
06:46They've won the division the last couple seasons.
06:49They have.
06:49And they've owned the Tigers.
06:52Absolutely owned them.
06:53In the regular season.
06:55And so it's, you got what you needed to get out of Valdez the last time he started, you know,
07:04against Seattle.
07:05You were able to get a good start, a quality start out of Drew Anderson the last time he went.
07:11Now it's only going to be four or five innings.
07:13So it's going to, we're not calling it a bullpen day, but you are going to tax your bullpen today.
07:21Tomorrow when they take the deal.
07:22Tuesday night, yeah, Comerica Park.
07:24And I expect the ballpark to have some great crowds.
07:26Because again, this team is whipping people into a frenzy.
07:28They're picking up some real momentum.
07:30They've done a real job here to get back into it.
07:33And now they have a chance to take their spot in the postseason this week.
07:37You know, we look around at each other and we've been wondering who's going to buy back in.
07:40Who's going to be the one that looks at that swimming pool and says cannonball and jumps in.
07:46This is the week where we're all going to be in the pool if they do their business.
07:49And I mean, if I was going to sit there and say, okay, not winning the series, but not
07:54sweeping them, it's always hard to be excited when you lose the first game of a series.
08:00You should have the advantage when Valdez is on the mound in game two.
08:05You should have the advantage when Montero is on the mound in game three.
08:10I don't know that you have the advantage when Drew Anderson takes the mound tomorrow night.
08:14Now, Bybee has not been great, but he's always been good against the Tigers.
08:21I'm going to stress though.
08:23So, you know, Bybee sub four ERA and again owns us.
08:28Don't sleep on Parker Messick.
08:30He leads their team in ERA, two five ERA.
08:32I'm not sure we have the advantage when he's throwing opposite us.
08:35I'll tell you what, I have, and maybe it's just perception, I have confidence when Keiter
08:41Montero takes the mound.
08:42He's earned that.
08:44And I like his competitive nature when he takes the mound.
08:50I like the fact that he's calm.
08:52He gets out of situations.
08:55And it's just, and maybe it's perception.
08:58Valdez pitched, or I'm sorry, Anderson pitched fine when he started.
09:01And maybe it is a mental preparation for the game starting versus coming out of the bullpen.
09:09I've never done it.
09:10I can't tell you what it is, but it seems like he's better in one aspect or one opportunity
09:18than he has been out of the bullpen.
09:19I believe the guardians will be pitching the player with the lower ERA in each of the next
09:24three games.
09:25Okay.
09:26Well, and what did I say last week?
09:27You're going to have to average five runs per game.
09:30If you get five runs per game against the guardians, I think you'll win spotlight on
09:36the offense.
09:37That's what it is.
09:38Two, four, eight, five, three, nine, 97, 97.
09:40And we know how important bullpen is in one run game.
09:42So that can't be an issue either this week.
09:44Excited to get things going Tuesday night at the ballpark coming up next.
09:48He speaks about his future and us in Detroit.
09:52Seriously.
09:53He just keeps talking.
09:54It's 97 one.
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