00:00Jansen what are you doing loading the bases oh man Tigers find a way good
00:04morning 97-1 Jim Costa John Jansen Heather Park Govan Greg behind the glass
00:09good morning there was I there was at no point last night in all nine innings
00:16where I'm like huh okay this is cool it just I always felt like how are they
00:22gonna blow this and I didn't want to feel that way because I was excited about
00:27the lineup I was I literally jumped out of my seat when McGonigal hit the
00:32double they take the lead and it just every single time no matter which
00:37reliever was in there I kind of felt like this I was never comfortable right
00:42Finnegan was kind of shaky summers kind of shaky Jansen very shaky tying run at
00:48the plate like come on man can we just put one away but you know what that's
00:52the beautiful thing about playing the Guardians and getting a win like that
00:57against the Guardians that was a huge hurdle for this team to get over now
01:01there's two more games but it's it just felt like a sigh of relief when it was
01:08finally done but it was fun the turning point of that game to me was Kevin
01:13McGonigal and what was the fifth inning yeah that two outs down the line double
01:19that gave him two runs that was hey we finally got to park or not we finally got
01:24to Tanner Bybee yeah we finally got to this guy where we're gonna be able to
01:27breathe for a second and all day long I was scoreboard watching what are the
01:34twins doing what are the Rangers doing obviously we're playing the Guardians what
01:38are the White Sox doing like all of those things I was I eye on everything going on
01:44that could possibly impact the Tigers and Rangers lost so that was that was a
01:49beautiful thing now they're only a half game back of that last spot in the wild
01:55card race tonight two and a half of the division tonight you grab it I mean that
02:00that's what they've set up here you talk about taking a breath and acknowledging
02:06like getting a win against Cleveland first win this season against Cleveland
02:11first win at Comerica Park against Cleveland since last May May of 25 and the
02:19first time they've beat Tanner Bybee I think since 2024 yes all correct yes theme yesterday
02:27was take a deep breath yeah with the Cade May's injury to today is like an exhale because
02:32okay these guys bleed too they're human yeah we can beat them and now you get Valdez all
02:41right what did we pay for a game like tonight gonna have to go out there and be the best
02:46version of himself from this year so I'd heard Dickerson last night he said it was 19 games
02:51that they'd average two and a half runs against that team wow now I still take the last night
02:55in terms of scoring runs they only had six hits right they got super timely hitting last night
03:00even torque to get the first run in uh tonight's the night though to get the 500 yep and we
03:08can all
03:09this stuff about this team and critical all year long the fact that they were 16 under and they get
03:15back to 500 and no team has ever made the playoffs that far under 500 they should be applauded for
03:21what they've done if they can do this tonight we'll see what happens I'm not saying they're doing big
03:26things in the playoffs if they even make it but that's a pretty damn big accomplishment I would say
03:30that's like a one in five NFL team getting back to six and six and giving yourself a shot yeah
03:36yeah
03:37that's a good comparable yeah no I'm not even thinking about like how they would stack up in
03:43postseason they sold at the deadline everything's gravy and the fact that they're in this is awesome
03:50and the fact that you mentioned timely hits when they had runners in scoring position who do you
03:58most want at the plate I want McGonagall McGonagall at the plate or Torres you know and AJ has told
04:04us
04:04for you know since since Torres has been here he's one of the guys that he can count on for
04:08a quality
04:09at bat now I know he struck out twice and so did McGonagall on the the pitch or the at
04:14bat where he had
04:15the high heater but then he came back and I I just I felt like it was okay you're gonna
04:21bring that high
04:22heat I'm gonna beat you by myself which he basically did and then plays at third base
04:28that scoopy made down the line and then the throw across the diamond like it was just beautiful and
04:34so the the two out double to score two was big yeah but how about the add-on runs he
04:42he also drove
04:43in the sixth run of the game and they needed every last one of those as we're sweating it out
04:47no I picked Jansen to be my x-factor I expected some of the some of the closing games to
04:53be like
04:53last night it's not going to be pretty with him but he is the best thing they have going out
04:57there
04:57in terms of ending a game last night it was a total mystery when the ball would leave his hand
05:02like
05:02where's it going I don't know we're gonna find out I it yeah it was just a roller coaster ride
05:10of
05:10emotions and fortunately like other than you know hey you're down one nothing or so you're tied one
05:20one and then McGonagall gives you a an opportunity to exhale and then you're holding your breath from
05:26the seventh inning all the way on last night kind of reminded me of the heyday of tiger baseball where
05:32the closers would come in and you would brace for impact like Papa Grande the late years oh boy I
05:38didn't know what I was gonna get night in and night out if it kind of felt like that again
05:44it did just
05:44get out of this jam we're squirming in our seat not another walk just throw a strike another high
05:50pitch and and what we thought was gonna happen yesterday happened right it was Drew Anderson for
05:55four innings and he has been much better as a starter still hold my breath every time he throws the
06:00ball
06:00but he's been much better and then you've got to use five relievers so what do you need tonight
06:06and tomorrow from Valdez and Montero you need to get seven innings out of them and I hope that they
06:14give seven quality innings because I don't know what AJ is going to do is he going to leave them
06:18in
06:18there because they've got to be innings eaters and hope that the lineup performs like it has in the
06:24last two weeks the nice thing is they have the off day Monday so some of these guys could throw
06:28again
06:29today I don't know if seven is expected from a starting pitcher these days I can he get them six
06:34six and set things up well and again they both better get them six and the score is going to
06:41dictate some of this too I mean if it's a one one run game two run game AJ's going to
06:45manage it like
06:46hey we're all hands on deck yeah we got to win this they're down four or five runs well maybe
06:50you guys
06:50gonna have to stay in a little longer just to preserve guys but I think the off day Monday does
06:55bode
06:56well and give them another chance I mentioned Kenley Jansen has been kind of kind of nerve-wracking last
07:01night you might not believe this stat since July 1st Kenley Jansen has only given up two runs in 12
07:10outings it's a 159 ERA he has five saves no blown saves starting to solidify last night didn't feel
07:20that way but starting to solidify he has pitched better Valdez has pitched better uh you know and I
07:27just mentioned Drew Anderson as a starter has pitched better like you you are getting these
07:31performances but what was what happened the last time Montero was out he didn't pitch as good as he
07:36as he has but you feel like the consistency will take over the his next start um so yeah you're
07:42starting
07:42to get some of the best versions of the guys that you signed and hopefully it continues for Valdez for
07:48Jansen uh and it just and and you you hope that that that Troy Melton just continues to be the
07:57guy
07:57that should win the Cy Young that won't yeah he just missed too much time this year but he's been
08:03as
08:03good as any pitcher in the American League he's been as good as any pitcher in in baseball in baseball
08:09doesn't have the strikeouts of some of the like the hosses and the aces but yes he's a guy I
08:13feel
08:14best about going seven innings like you talk about getting seven innings if you needed a guy to go take
08:17the baseball and go deep into the game I feel better about him than anybody on this team yep
08:21now he won't see Cleveland but they'll have him as part of this homestand when the White Sox come to
08:26town yep how about this baseball team man let's throw the number out they are so much fun to watch
08:33248-539-9797 how did you ride the roller coaster of emotions last night what are the roller coaster of
08:41emotions of this season as you wake up this morning this team is a half game back of a wild
08:47card spot two and a half back of the White Sox for the division and they get the White Sox
08:53for three
08:53games at the end of this week I would say I wouldn't believe it but two years ago we saw
08:59something
08:59miraculous too and this team has been incredibly bipolar we said it at at their low and their high
09:05they're a hard team to figure out and maybe you just surrender to figuring things out you just stop
09:11trying to figure things out no just show up at the ballpark turn the game on the radio turn the
09:16game
09:16on tv and enjoy what this team is doing right now who knows where it ends we need to start
09:22accepting
09:22this is who they are they're not the team from May there's clear reasons why they're not the team from
09:28May and the the lineup's completely different and it's there's encouraging potential returns I still
09:35like the idea of Carpenter coming back and being put in there Tork is benefiting his season stats are
09:42season high right now because of the lineup protection and look I still don't know about
09:49playoff stuff but they've they've got some things to toy with here in terms of maybe him coming back
09:53and making it better than with McKinstry in the lineup and then also back in bullpen you know what are
09:59they going to do with Flaherty is he the guy that goes back there and helps the bullpen I flew
10:04a lot
10:04out early in the year because he does have strikeouts and he's only facing batters one time
10:09yeah you don't have to worry about that third time through yeah I mean they've got some options here
10:14I think they're stretching out Drew Anderson in theory Flaherty could take the Anderson spot and
10:20then you move Anderson back to the bullpen but we haven't loved Drew Anderson in the bullpen right
10:24I mean if he's a better starter than he is a reliever a common sense says keep him there get
10:30you four innings and then maybe maybe that's back well yeah yeah maybe you it's a dual start you get
10:36four innings out of Drew Anderson and then do you get three or four out of Flaherty coming in after
10:42him that's just the thing they've got options like we've multiple options and I doubt JV helps them
10:50is he even going to pitch it'd be a bonus but it would be a bonus there's a back pocket
10:55yeah are they
10:56going to bring up Max Anderson what if they're in the postseason you don't run a five-man rotation
11:01anyway right so suddenly you can push extra starters into a bullpen that has been nerve-wracking I mean
11:07my goodness if uh you know Valdez has been pitching better and what's Job I mean if if Job is
11:15kind of
11:16like he was on Saturday you've got a pretty solid three-man rotation yeah that was a glimmer of what's
11:21to come 100 mile an hour heat first start back from Tommy John let's get to the phones Mike and
11:26Dearborn Mike good morning you're on 97.1 good morning let's go Tigers baby yeah man what an
11:34exciting you know team with the lineup that we've currently got I love having Torkelson down in
11:39like the seventh and the eighth spot feel a lot more confident now and Chuck McJesus just continues
11:45to come through man you know he's been a revelation man as a rookie he is one of the best
11:53players in all
11:53of baseball John you have the the war stat uh you know ESPN baseball reference war he's the number
12:00one position player in all of a second second and only to Pete Crow Armstrong yeah Armstrong war
12:05seven five Kevin McGonigal right now it's five six yeah that'll play look that's the difference when
12:11you play teams like Cleveland and it comes down to one at-bat two at-bats he delivered in multiple
12:15at-bats to drive in runs in a game that came down to the very last pitch of the ball
12:18game yeah
12:19and we'll get to the phones and then you got an update on a former lion yeah oh boy 97
12:2597.1 hey
12:26you
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