00:00We are going to get this fan base hyped up on a Saturday morning.
00:03Why? Because the Cleveland Guardians forced a deciding game five of the ALDS at home tonight,
00:11eight o'clock, against the Chicago White Sox.
00:14I know I'm pumped. I'm sure you pumped.
00:16Jax, I know you in there pumped.
00:18The city of Cleveland, they pumped.
00:19I told you I prefer them being in red jerseys.
00:23I wanted to be a sea of red in the crowd.
00:25I wanted to be a sea of red on the field.
00:28I want, finally, for this team, because neither team has been able to capitalize on home field advantage,
00:35to be able to seize the moment because they have all the momentum, close this series up.
00:39They definitely have all the momentum.
00:41And think back to that game four in Chicago the other night.
00:46It was a night game.
00:47So that crowd really got behind the White Sox.
00:50And they couldn't do anything with it.
00:52Because in the sixth inning, the Guardians came through in such a major way.
00:56And they had that offensive explosion for really the second straight game.
01:00And it does feel like right now, Earl, we have all the momentum in this thing.
01:04Carried into tonight.
01:06Start hot tonight with that home crowd behind you.
01:08You're going to have Gavin Williams out there.
01:10There's been a lot of conversation in the last 24 hours about Stephen Vogt and his decision to play Gavin
01:16in that game four out of the bullpen.
01:19But it's going to be an all-hands-on-deck effort.
01:21It's game five.
01:22It's win or go home.
01:24It's win and go to the American League Championship Series, where you could be just four wins away from World
01:31Series baseball back in Cleveland.
01:33Like, it feels like a high-stakes morning in Northeast Ohio, doesn't it?
01:37Yeah, absolutely it does.
01:38And I think, like, you know, when you talk about Gavin Williams, I've spoken to a few people that are,
01:43quote-unquote, baseball experts.
01:45And from my understanding, he would have had a light throwing session coming up anyway.
01:49He threw about 18 pitches, if I can remember correctly, in that game.
01:53And so I'm not really worried about it.
01:54I heard Pedro Martinez, the legendary Pedro Martinez on the broadcast, talking about he thought that was good for Gavin
02:01Williams and that it would help him be more relaxed, more comfortable, more locked in when he'd take the mound.
02:05And these are the type of games that I look forward to in sports where big game hunters go hunting,
02:12right?
02:12This is where you need your big dogs to step up in critical moments, critical games, and deliver their best
02:18performance.
02:19And shout-out to Jose Ramirez.
02:20We need to give him a hand clap because everybody in the city of Cleveland, I know me personally, had
02:25called him out to the front.
02:26You know what I'm saying?
02:27Let's get front and center.
02:29Yeah, you are Jose Ramirez, and a statue should be built for you right now while you're still playing.
02:33But the way that you've performed in the previous years come October has not been up to par.
02:39And to see you answer the call, turn that around the last two games, and how everybody has rallied behind
02:46that in that lineup, you see the boost of energy from this team, and it's all in large part due
02:52to his performance.
02:53You've seen him in the dugout, and you've seen his energy.
02:55You've seen how hyped he was.
02:57It told me everything I needed to know about his confidence level and his play right now, and you can
03:02see the synergy come from that, from everybody that's around him.
03:06Earl, that to me, I honestly think in 10 years when we look back at Jose Ramirez's legendary career here
03:12in Cleveland, that's going to stand out as a hallmark moment.
03:15Because he realized in that moment, I need to be a leader.
03:18Not only do I need to go out there and perform and hit the home run, but I've never really
03:24seen Jose Ramirez come out of his skin like that, just euphorically running around the bases.
03:31And then when he gets back in the dugout, he's animated.
03:34He's trying to will the team to wake up and score some runs with him.
03:40And they responded in a major way to their clubhouse leader.
03:44That clubhouse, you talk to anybody that covers the guards, and I know we've got some great guests coming up
03:49on the show today, including Chris Rankle, WKYC, at 9 o'clock here.
03:56And he's been in Chicago.
03:57He's been in Cleveland.
03:59He's been following this team around throughout this postseason run this season.
04:04You talk to anybody around the team, and they'll tell you that that clubhouse goes as Jose goes.
04:10And, man, was that the case in Game 4?
04:12Yeah, absolutely.
04:13You think about it, these last two games, he has four hits.
04:16He's batting .444.
04:17He has a double, a triple, or a home run.
04:19He has five RBIs, and he scored four runs himself.
04:22And so you look at that, and you know what Jose Ramirez means to this ball club.
04:27You know what his performance can do for everybody else in that lineup.
04:31When pitchers have to worry about pitching to Jose Ramirez, he gets pitched around, and that creates opportunities for everybody
04:38else.
04:38But I think the impact question to start this show, 216-474-0092, is what's your confidence level in the
04:48Cleveland Guardians being able to close this out?
04:51Because, Nick, I'm going to tell you this.
04:52At this point, this will be the 18th matchup, 18th and final matchup between these two teams this season.
04:59And it seems like every statistical number with these teams is so eerily similar that you really don't know how
05:07it's going to play out.
05:08Dude, they're evenly matched.
05:10They're evenly matched.
05:10As a fan, you hope you know how this thing.
05:13But if you combine the regular season and the playoffs together through 17 games, right now Chicago has a 9
05:19-8 lead and a head-to-head record.
05:21The Guardians are plus five and run differential.
05:24Check this out.
05:2413 of these 17 games has been decided by three runs or less.
05:29Did you know it was four walk-offs between both teams this season?
05:33And so you look at that and you say, okay, both pitching staffs has been taxed tremendously.
05:41Yep.
05:41The bullpens have been taxed tremendously.
05:43I'm not guaranteeing anything, but I anticipate this being a high-scoring game.
05:48If this was a game to where a lot of runs were scored, it wouldn't surprise me at all just
05:53simply based off that fact alone.
05:55Now, that can all be neutralized if Gavin Williams comes out here and has one of those Gavin Williams-type
06:02performances.
06:03And we feel a lot more confident.
06:05But I am really hoping that the Cleveland Guardians can take that offense that they found the last two games
06:11in Chicago, bring that with them back to Cleveland, and close this damn thing up.
06:15Yeah, that's my hope, too.
06:17And I honestly think that it is realistic, Earl, because when you look at the course of this entire season,
06:23when you zoom out, you see a Guardians team that has done this all year.
06:28Where they will get cold and the bats do nothing for a little stretch of games.
06:32But then they'll have a stretch of games where the offense comes alive and they're able to put up big
06:36numbers.
06:37And I know right now, you know, nationally, the MLB talking heads, if you will, are saying that this right
06:44now, what's going on with the White Sox and the Guardians is really a good thing for the Tampa Bay
06:49Rays.
06:49And there's been a lot of chatter on this station about, well, even if you win today, what does that
06:55mean for next week against Tampa?
06:57Man, I'm not worried about that in the slightest.
07:00You're playing hot baseball right now.
07:02And the Rays have been off their feet for a week.
07:04I think you've got to try to use this momentum.
07:07From what you saw in Gavin out of the bullpen, where he was a little bit erratic.
07:11It was his first time ever coming out of the bullpen in his entire baseball career to what we saw
07:17in that sixth inning from these bats.
07:18You just pull all that momentum from Chicago here to Cleveland today.
07:22And I really believe that you could ride this magic that you're feeling right now, even in the next week.
07:28And you talk about those bats, man.
07:29You look at some of these acquisitions that came in during the season right before the trade deadline.
07:34And way to have those guys show up.
07:38You know, Patrick Bailey was here way before the trade deadline.
07:41But you see him come through in the clutch.
07:43Joe Adele is one of the biggest fan favors on this team outside of Jose Ramirez.
07:48The way that he's responded to the opportunity of being able to play October baseball.
07:53His run contribution.
07:55Nathaniel Lowe, last game in particular.
07:57You know, way to make sure that you were patient and disciplined in that box and finding yourself on base.
08:03And I think that the Guardians showed a lot of plate discipline throughout that game.
08:08And you need to bring that back home.
08:10Because you look at how Stephen Kwan set the tone early.
08:13You know, he made that guy throw.
08:15I think it was Holcomb.
08:16He made him throw strikes.
08:17You know what I'm saying?
08:18He made him throw him strikes.
08:20And so that is something that I think that will carry over.
08:23And I think there's a lot of good things that they found, you know, late in that series while they
08:28were on the road.
08:29That's going to translate here.
08:30And I just really hope and pray that they can put it all together.
08:33Because neither team has been able to capitalize, as I said, to start the show on having home field advantage.
08:38And this is the perfect opportunity on a national stage at night when you're considered as a smart market team,
08:45which you are,
08:46for them to show why you've been one of Major League Baseball better franchises over the last 20 years.
08:50For sure. It's a massive night for Cleveland to just send a message that this is how we do it.
08:56You know, and we do it every year through good starting pitching.
08:59You're going to have a good starting pitcher out there on the mound in Gavin Williams.
09:03They're starting Sean Burke, who is a respectable pitcher.
09:07But I think you'd have the starting pitching advantage going into this one.
09:11And then you're going to turn it over to a really good bullpen.
09:13And it's game five.
09:15We know all hands on deck.
09:17Whoever you need out of that bullpen is probably going to be available tonight for you.
09:22And then offensively, you know the names.
09:24It's Jose Ramirez.
09:25It's Joe Adele, who, by the way, I'm having a hard time figuring out in my head what trade has
09:30been more impactful,
09:31Patrick Bailey or Joe Adele?
09:33Because you weren't getting this kind of outfield production before you got Joe Adele to Cleveland.
09:38And your catcher position, I don't think Bo Naylor was doing what Patrick Bailey is doing in these big moments.
09:43It feels like you've got the perfect combination of veteran experience on this roster with guys like Ramirez and Lowe.
09:52And you've got enough youth that is just so young and inexperienced and excited for the moment just to be
09:59there.
09:59Like DeLauder and Bazzotta, what a big RBI.
10:02Yeah, what a big moment for his first playoff RBI.
10:05And that's a guy that's played in big moments before because his college team went to the, you know,
10:10Baseball World Series in the NCAA and Team Australia and all of his experiences playing international ball.
10:17Earl, I feel good about tonight.
10:19I really do.
10:20I just feel like tonight is a great opportunity to send a message about what this organization really does well.
10:25And that's find a way to win in October.
10:27Nick, feel good.
10:28I feel good.
10:29I feel good.
