Dodger Talk is sponsored by LA Care Health Plan, providing affordable healthcare insurance to millions of Angelinos for over twenty five years. And now your voice for Dodger Talking like back, David Vasse.
We're live at Angels Stadium after the Dodgers hold on to beat the Halos six to two in ten innings.
Welcome the Dodger Talk David Vasse with you.
Until eleven o'clock tonight here on AM five to seventy LA Sports. We're taking your phone calls at eight six, six, nine eighty seven two five seventy.
We'll hear for Max Mounsey. Later in the show.
We'll give you an update on how Yoshi yamamotos second rehab start went. We'll give you an update on whether or not Clayton Kershaw's wearing a walking boot and how that's going, and also Tyler Glass. Now, so we'll get to all of that later in the show. But how about this game tonight. There really wasn't a lot going on in the first, oh, I don't know, seven innings, but then it got interesting.
It got interesting in a couple of different ways.
Freddie Freeman's at bat in the eighth inning was very interesting. As the Angels reliever, he did something very interesting after striking out Freddy Freeman on twelve pitches, Jose Kihada started doing Hectorares type of antics on the mound in the eighth inning after Chris Taylor was at second base and Kihada was doing some weird things out there, like he thought. The Angels won the game by striking out Freddy Freeman. It was a long at bat. He won that battle
twelve pitches. Freddy was all over those pitches and fouling a lot back and filling a few down the line and not swinging at sliders down in a way.
But that was interesting.
And then the Angels and Dodgers got it going in the tenth inning where the Dodgers were able to score four runs, Miguel Rojas with a go ahead basit to score Tommy Edmund after Max Munsey got Edmund over to third base, and then Mookie Bets coming up big after Ron Washington opted to walk Otani intentionally. Mookie Bets, I'm sure took that personally, and it was great to see
him deliver. It's one thing to take it personally, it's another to take it personally and deliver, and I love the attitude we saw for Mookie Bets as he.
Crossed home plate. We have not seen that Mookie Bets all year long.
And when you talk about having the edge, talk about not being mister nice guy. MOOKI if you see him on the streets of LA is one of the nicest guys you'll meet, and even on the baseball field, he can be mister nice guy. But the Dodgers need the Mookie Bets we saw in twenty twenty where we saw the snarl on his face, and we saw that tonight. Mookie Bets does not want to be treated like a second class citizen to anybody. He believes he is as good as any other Dodger in the lineup, including Sho
Hey o Tani. That was a flat slider from Contreras that Mookie Bets sent to the left field bullpen over there.
It was a no.
Doubter, and this sellout crowd of forty four thousand, seven hundred and thirty one erupted. You thought you were at Dodger Stadium with the way this place went wild when Mookie Bets hit that three run home run to give the Dodgers a six to two lead and eventually a six to two win in ten innings. After the game, Mooki caught up with Kirsten Watson on Sports at La.
Mookie, you were the difference in this game. But that three run homer in the tenth inning it was spectacular. First, what were you seeing in that at bat to get that was?
Oh, it kind of went so fast.
I don't even remember.
Just looking for a good pitch to hit and he was He threw some up over the plate and put a good swing on it.
Yeah, you put a good swing on it. And we saw the emotions from you. You were hype, you were running to run through a wall and felt like, can you describe to me with those emotions that you were feeling.
Were, yeah, that doesn't happen often, so I kind of kind of blackout.
I just knew, uh, you.
Know, they walk show to get to me, and I was just like, all right, I mean that's.
Kind of what you want.
But you know, unfortunately it went well.
I said, asking you shall receive. You've been clutching runners with runners in scoring position in tonight, You've got your hits and they were on the first pitch. Was that your approach is being aggressive? Tonight or is that something in which you were planning going into this one.
I don't know.
I just I just kind of decide as I'm stepping in the box what I'm gonna do, you know, just just trying to get some good swings off on some pitches. And I mean, I know Freddie's behind me, so they're not going to mess around, and so I'm just ready to go.
How good do those moments feel just for you being back this game that you love and being a part of the really big moments.
With this team.
Yeah, it feels amazing. Anytime you're doing something to help the team win, it feels amazing. But especially this group of guys. We got a really good group of guys, and I think we just got to continue to play Dodger baseball and everything should be okay.
You can hear the chance for you, but how would you have described just what this atmosphere has been like tonight?
It was?
It was great, It was it was really good. I mean a lot of Dodgers fans here, obviously a lot of Angels fans in here, but you know, Dodger Faithful's travels everywhere, and it was electric. It was electric. That's why I think the energy came out.
It's a big moment. And congratulations on this win tonight.
Thank you love hearing that for Mookie Bets taking it personally that the Angels walked ough Tani intentionally, and that's what the great ones do. They embraced those moments and certainly want to prove the other team wrong. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but that time it did and Mookie was ready for that flat slider that was right down Broadway, right down Kotella Avenue for Mookie Bets. Eight six, six nine,
seven two five seventy is the phone number. Dodgers beat the Angels in ten tonight six to two and maintain a six game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks, who beat the Giants tonight eight to seven in San Francisco and increase their lead over the Padres to five and a half games. With San Diego being off tonight, Let's sit out to the phones. Anybody that was at Angel Stadium tonight. I want to hear from you, because you took over this stadium. You made it Dodgers Stadium. Cheering on the
Dodgers tonight. Let's go out to Tony who is here at the big A. How you doing, Tony, you're on Dodger Talk.
Thanks for taking my call. Just driving home.
What a game.
It was electric And when Bets hit that home run, I knew it was gone the second it left the bat. But he's an amazing ballplayer, and that was playoff baseball. There was such an atmosphere in that stadium. If you can get a tick it to go see this club and all you guys out there. If you've got a date, if you want to be a hero, take her to a Dodger game. This is the best ticket in town. And make no mistake, the Dodgers are California's team, all right.
Tony, you're not.
You don't think the Oakland A's are a California's team. You're gonna say the Dodgers edge them out.
Well, they are California's team. They're just what they're bringing, the intensity they're bringing uh to the ballpark. It's just not unmatched. It's unmatched. And I don't think it's I see him winning myself, But.
Based dating advice from Tony, I appreciate it. Tony, I gotta move on full full board of calls here at eight six six ninety seven, two, five seventy. Not a bad idea by Tony. You want to be a hero and win over on a first date, bring your date to Dodger Stadium or any Dodger game, no matter what city it is, And tonight it was Anaheim.
This was a.
Packed house forty four thousand and seven thirty one. And you know, there might have been some debate early on in this game if it was split or maybe just a little bit more towards the Dodger side, But when Mookie Betts hit that three run home run, there was no doubt. Dodger fans bought up the tickets tonight, and it was only the fourth time this season there's been
a sellout at Angel Stadium. It was electric here at Angel Stadium tonight, and it was great that the Angels put up a thank you to show hey Otani as he was walking up for his first at bat. Very classy by the Angels for a guy that did a lot in his first six years in the major leagues for this team. So I liked seeing that, but I thought it was bizarre as far as the media attention goes, because it's not like Otani doesn't play at Dodger stadium
eighty one times. So the local that was here today, that was circuling the Dodger dugout and in the clubhouse right now. It's not like you don't see Otani every day. It's kind of weird. I mean, the way Otani has exploded in the consciousness of so many baseball fans wearing a Dodger uniform, it's just a testament that we all know if you live here in Southern California, that the
Dodgers are the team, they're the Yankees. The Dodgers and Yankees, those are the tool to jewel franchises in Major League Baseball. If you play for one of those two teams, everything you do is going to be amplified, The awareness of what you do is going to be amplified. When you win a World championship, it means that much more. So
that shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. The Angels are this part of Southern California's team, and some Dodger fans obviously bleeding here, but really this is a city that belongs to the Dodgers, and they've been here since nineteen fifty eight and have had a lot of success and have had a lot of great players play for them.
Really, the Angels had.
Their unprecedented run of success when a Dodger was managing them, and that was Mike Soosha, the only manager to win a World Series with the Angels. He has more wins than any other Angel manager in their history. One thousand, six hundred and fifty six Als championships with Mike Soshia, seven ninety one seasons with Mike Soosha. He was the two time Manager of the Year with the Angels. And with all this talk about are the Angels going to play a montage for Otani?
How about this?
Why isn't anybody asking the question, why aren't the Angels retiring number fourteen for Mikesosha, the greatest manager in their franchise's history. Six two, five seventy is the phone number. Let's go out to Rich who is at Angel Stadium tonight?
Hi? Rich, you're on Dodger Talk.
Hey, it's Rich in Monterey Park. I'm in the parking lot right now, and I am so stoked to be on Dodger Talk. I haven't been on since Bud Farrillo and Jeff Witcher and Tommy Hawkins were in the studio in nineteen Mike, so she.
Was playing for the Dodgers.
That's right. I'm very old. So all I can say is I'm gonna be clean about this. But MOOKI said, f around and find out. That's what he did today. They walked show Hey intentionally and he went up there and he said, okay, I'm gonna make this. I'm gonna make them pay, and he launched that thing. That ball went into the stands like no doubt. Everybody was screaming out five roads behind the Dodger dugouts, we are all going insane. It was absolutely incredible. And that's what I
call last place strategy from the Angels. It's like, you don't walk somebody to face another All.
Star and DMVP.
So yeah, that's right. And then the other thing is we saw book.
That's the issue for a lot of teams. Rich think about that situation in the postseason. Pick your poison. Is it going to be Otani, is it going to be Mookie Beds or are you even going to pitch around those two guys and face Freddie Freeman. That's the dilemma facing every team that plays the Dodgers when those three guys are going at the same time, which is happening right now.
That's right, but it's like at least let show hate taken at that. You know, if like then if he hits a home run, then you're down by three instead of four.
And you know, yeah, they were down already.
Yeah, but I just thought it was awesome that Also, Ben Joyce threw the third fastest pitch in Major League history tonight when he struck out Tommy Edmond, and it's the first it was the fastest strikeout pitch ever, and it was the third fastest ever to from our oldest Shapman thought that.
Was yeah, one oh five point five.
One oh five point five, the fastest pitch on a strikeout since they've been tracking all that. But you know what, at the end of the day, Rich the Dodgers won the game, so they can have that, Ben Joyce can have that.
We are the best, well, ye are the best of the major leagues, and we're gonna coast to a World Series and we're not gonna give any he says, it's not gonna be a strike twenty twenty pandemic here. We're gonna make sure we win and uh, make the Astros and the Padres and Giants cry, Okay.
Rich, thanks for the phone call.
There's a lot to unpack there coast to the World Series. I don't know about that, but the Dodgers have a very good chance if they continue to play this way, and if they're able to get Glass now and Yamamoto back healthy and Kershaw gets his turf toe under control, they have a very good shot. Not to mention, Bruce star Grattarol is expected to return this Friday to the
Dodger bull and to make it that much deeper. And by the way, the Dodgers, with the win tonight, lower their magic number to clinch the NL West to eighteen. So somebody called during the Arizona series and was asking me about the magic number. I said, hey, let's see how this series plays out before we start talking magic numbers. So officially, tonight in Anaheim is the first time we are keeping track of the magic number for the Dodgers
clinching the NL West, and it's at eighteen tonight. Let's take another phone call Marcos, who was at the game tonight?
Hi? Marcos, where were you sitting tonight?
I was sitting behind home playing how you said I was at Dodger Stadium South.
The Dodger Sands really.
Took over that stadium, especially during the seventh stretch.
It was crazy.
Everyone was just rooting for the Dodgers. It was really exciting.
When Mookie just took the energy out of that stadium, everyone just started walking out.
So it was really fun to see that.
It's always fun to take over another team's house the way the Dodgers did tonight and Dodger fans did. It's a you know, this is a great option to come down to Anaheim and watch the Dodgers.
Yeah.
Fair, especially with the cheaper parking.
Yeah see, there's a there's a perk right there. Thanks with phone call Marcos appreciated. Eight six six nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone number lost In all the excitement of Otani's return and Mookie Betts and his big home run in the tenth inning. Have to point out Miguel Rojas at a really good game. He was our postgame guest. He scored on Otani's triple in
the third inning, all the way from first base. Dino Ebel, who is the best third base coach in baseball, also the smartest and knows when to pick his spots to be aggressive, was able to waive Rojas home. The thirty five year old was out of gas by the time he stepped on home plate, and you know, the Angels were trying to review that triple by Otani that Joe had had issues in the right field corner with if the ball was stuck under the padding or somewhere where
he couldn't reach it. That's where most outfielders throw their hands up and say, wait a minute, the baseball is stuck or it's in the stands, it's a ground rule double. Once he doesn't do that and is trying to fish for the baseball, it's not going to be overturned.
So Rojas scores from first.
Base in the third inning and then in the top of the tenth before Mookie's three run home run. It was Rojas's base hit that gave the Dodgers the lead, and they go on to beat the Angels tonight six to two in ten innings. Also, Walker Buehler trying to build upon his last start against the Orioles, facing a team in the Angels that does not hit right handed pitching that well. Coming into the game tonight, the Angels were hitting two twenty four against right handed pitchers and
only slugging three sixty seven against righty's. Mueler gave up two solo home runs tonight, but all in all, it felt like he was building upon what we saw against the Orioles, Logan o'happy and Taylor Ward, each ofs solo home runs off of Bueler. Let's head downstairs again to hear from Walker Buehler in the Dodger Clubhouse on sports and at LA.
Yeah, it was kind of in that weird pitch count spot. Uh talked to Doc or you told me our book phone was in a good spot. I think worked out well obviously, you know, building block for me and open did a great job and covered the five NFL.
Yeahh is a good.
One steph wis Do you feel like you were kind of executing your pitches just kind of the outside of the two home runs.
Yeah, that's the homers, you know, run bet heat show Happy and then Taylor with that bout down the line, and I kind of felt fine about the throw. It just you know, he's a he's a pretty good hitter with some power and so things like that happened. But you know, obviously big buy our.
Team at the end.
The you know, the extra ding rule is kind of interesting, and you know, getting one or two is the thing, but you get four, I think it makes it kind of tough.
Before the game, Dave said, an important start for you in the postseason picture.
How do you approach that? You look at this as a positive step?
Then?
Yeah, I think so.
You know, I think these past two starts that you know, obviously the line wasn't as good the last time, but starting to get some punch outs and all of that kind of stuff. I think for me is all these little tiny, you know, boxes checked, and you know, I feel like myself and I feel like I can go and throw the ball well. And you know, tonight it wasn't my best game ever, But for right now, I'm
I'm pretty happy about it and confident. And you know, another four or five, six days, whatever we end up doing, you know, I feel ready to take the ball and feel like I can help us win.
How do you measure progress with this rate? Performance?
Made the curveball so effective?
Is it just the execution of the pitches the way you're setting it up?
How key has that been these last couple.
Yeah, I mean I think it's kind of drastically different in terms of strike percentage and as well as I'm throwing a lot of them and you kind of get a feel for it at some point. I mean, growing up through fastball, curveball and learned a cutter kind of down the line, and getting back to that kind of my strengths a little bit I think has been huge.
But no, at the end of the day, the pitching coaches here got me in my delivery and now everything kind of feels familiar as opposed to feeling really foreign like I did for a while, and you know, hats off to them and get me kind of back in that spot.
All right.
There's Walker Buehler, who threw eighty three pitches tonight in five innings. Thirty two of those were fastballs. The second pitch that he threw the most tonight was the curveball. Twenty five curveballs from Walker Buehler, and he mixed in the cutter and sinker as well, and through just three sweeper pitches and read debt meers. From what I understand talking to Angels people, was falling in love with that
sweeper pitch as well. He only threw that once, so love seeing Walker Bueller be a pitcher, and that's what we're looking forward to from Bobby Miller. Talking to Bobby Miller before the game today, he started to understand where he's got to be able to get his change up over for strikes or make it a peer as a strike to get hitters to chase. It's not just about throwing ninety eight. And he's looking forward to pitching tomorrow.
He told me his left knee has bounced back well since his last start where it started to stiffen up on him in the fifth inning after covering first base.
Early in that start.
So that's good news for Bobby Miller and as far as Walker Buehler in the postseason goes, the one thing that you can judge a pitcher by is their competitive spirit, which Walker Bueller has a ton of, and their track record. In fifteen postseason games, Walker Buehler has a two four ERA. In two World Series starts, he has only allowed one run in thirteen innings. Remember he was the starter in twenty eighteen Game four, that when eighteen scoreless innings before
Max Munsey hit the walk off home run. People forget he matched Nathan Avaldi or the Red Sox pitch for pitch in that game before it went extra innings. So if Walker Buehler can start to continue to build upon his last start on to tonight, which he did to a certain extent, and make it even better as he goes along between now and the end of the regular season, I feel very confident to allow Walker Buehler to be one of the three or four starters in this rotation,
depending on how it's looking health wise. Eight six six nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone number. We have two lines open. We're gonna take more phone calls when we continue. Also give you an update on Yoshiya Momoto, Tyler Glass Now, and Clayton Kershaw. Plus you'll hear from Max Munsey, who got the start tonight against the lefty at third base. Dodgers beat the Halos six to two and ten innings right here on a five to seventy LA Sports.
Dodger Talk is available on AM five seventy LA sports dot com hand on the iHeartRadio app. Back to more Dodger Talk with Dodger insider David vasse.
Hotell you with a huge read At first move, there's the pitch from Contreras, Ookie Swans hits a drive, Pepelet failed, this bo's back, this both gone hold on.
Hooky Bets with a mooky moment.
Of that hid a three run shot, and the Dodgers have opened it up in the tenth Mookie Bets continuing to make Angels Stadium his own. Going back to his days with the Red Sox, he has dominated playing here in Anaheim, and tonight was no different.
Now.
In twenty eight games, Mookie Betts has ten home runs and twenty six RBIs. He took it personal when the Angels walked o' taani intentionally in the top of the tenth inning to get to him. The Dodgers beat the Angels tonight in ten, six to two, in the first of just two games here in Anaheim. Daniels Jewelers they are the official sponsor of the Trip around the Diamond. Stop by any Daniel's location and say home run for your free team bracelet and fifty dollars gift card toward
any purchase of ninety nine dollars or more. Daniels Jewelers own the Dream. Eight six six, nine, eight, seven, two five seventy is the phone number, and Casey missed it. The Dodgers Magic number to clinch the NL West is eighteen. Bill Russell's number. I feel like we might party on South Beach in Miami when the Dodgers are playing the Marlins.
That might be the clinch city be ready, ah all right? Now, the Dodgers not only beat the Angels, but are looking to continue their dominance moving ahead.
This week.
They close out this mini two game Freeway series tomorrow, had the day off on Thursday, and then we'll play the Cleveland Guardians at Dodgers Stadium this Friday night. Yoshi Yamamoto was in Oklahoma City tonight pitching against Sugarland, and Yamamoto went two innings tonight through fifty three pitches in two innings, partly because sugar lends Omar Naveres went took Yamamoto for seventeen pitches. In that second inning, he worked
a seventeen pitch walk. So Yamamoto certainly labored through two innings throwing fifty three pitches. But we'll have to see what Dave Roberts says tomorrow about what is next for Yamamoto, because they were hoping he would go at least three innings, but because the pitch count was up and just two innings.
He stopped it right there.
So we'll find out whether or not Yama Moto makes another rehab.
Start or he.
Comes to the Dodgers and gets inserted in the rotation. But it feels like he's got to go one more to be extended enough to make a major league start. Also, Tyler Glass now is throwing off flat ground under the watchful eye of Connor McGinnis and Mark Pryor. Today we'll see when he throws off a mound. He obviously wants to feel one hundred percent right mechanically before he starts doing any of that kind of stuff. And also Kershaw boot update. I'm on Kershaw boot watch. I just stare
at his left foot every time I see him. I saw him with the tennis shoe. He's uh two separate times today he actually played catch and then I did see him with the walking boot.
He tried playing catch with it.
I'm not sure he loved it, so he took it off and we'll see what happens. But he's basically got turf toe and ugly turf toe on his big left foot. I wouldn't count him out. I know everybody every time he goes on the as Oh, that's it for Kershaw. Is that the last time he's ever pitching? No, it's not. He will be back. He will be ready for October. Let's go out to Riverside.
Ish. You're on Dodger Talk. How you doing Ish?
Hey, I'm doing pretty good, David Man. It's good to talk to you, to talk to you about.
Did you get the book I sent you? I know you were complaining.
I took a long time to send it to you, but I hope you got ho far Savince Scully Memoir, you.
Know, just unacceptable, David, I'm kidding, man, I did it? Get it?
Much of the goodness?
Hey, But listen, I wanted to piggyback. You know, you're to something as far as like where we at? Where would we be without Gavin Stone? To me, I think where would we also be at, like on the defensive end and even some offense without Migey rojas Man. I mean just the performance that he continues to put up, the consistency, you know, getting the other veterans and involved. You know, you got Max Munty out there smiling, Freddie Freeman's out there having fun, you know, Mookie Bets tearing
it up, having fun, as well. I mean, those are some of the intangibles that you know. Of course, analytics there's no stat for that, you know, And I like to say, you know what, our chances are very very good for the postseason. I don't think we're gonna coast. But as long as there's no more ten cream, no more you know, the micromanager stuff like that, just let Dave do his thing. Man, we could definitely see a parade this coming fall.
All right, Ish, thanks for the phone call. And look, I agree with you with the Dodgers being healthy in their lineup. Now they are going to score runs. It is going to be tough for any opposing team to deal with this lineup one through nine, especially if there's a right handed pitcher on the mound. You're going to have to deal with Yavin Lux in the lineup. And Chris Taylor. You know, there's a lot of Chris Taylor haters out there. Nobody has talked about the quality at bats Taylor has had.
Now he's faced three lefties.
On this road trip, including tonight and Reed Debt Meers, and he's held his own. Obviously, Ben Joyce gave him and everybody else troubles in the ninth inning, but Chris Taylor has held his own getting starts at second base. When there's a lefty on the mound, and you look at this lineup one through nine, Tommy Edmond, I can understand why the Dodgers wanted him as badly as they did. He just fits perfectly wherever you put him in this lineup.
He can do a lot of different things. And even on the last homestand Tommy Edmund was hitting cleanup, I wouldn't go that far. But when you have him hitting six, seven, eight, even nine, how many teams can say they have a Tommy Edman, a switch hitter, doing that kind of stuff. And with Max Munsey back from the injured list and hitting the ground running looking like the old Max Munsey,
it makes it that much tougher to deal with. And if Will Smith can continue to swing the bat the way we saw him in Arizona, I mean there is no exal for any starting pitching. The only question for the Dodgers is as they get closer to the end of the regular season is how is their starting rotation going to look in October. We can talk all we want, and I could say how confident I am Tyler glass Now can try to convince us that he's going to be ready for the postseason.
We could talk.
About Yamamoto rehab games, but where in reality are the Dodgers going to be with their starting rotation for Game one of the NLDS. You, right now, if we're just looking at who's healthy and tangible, it's Jack Flaherty, it's Gavin Stone. Those are your first two starters because they are the healthiest, and Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller would round out your first four as things stand right now.
But are they going to stand that way?
No?
That's why I believe the Dodgers have a great chance of making a run.
And look, what are the chances that Tyler glass Now and Yoshiyamamoto are healthy and good enough to go in the first run of the postseason. I don't know, but I'll tell you this, if they have at least just one of those guys, I feel like their chances are a lot better. Even just one of those two guys. They're in a better spot than they were a year
ago going into the NLDS. And oh, by the way, if things stay the way they are with the Dodgers having the best record, not only in Baseball, which means they have the best record in the National League.
Then they would play the winner.
Of a best of three wildcard series between their two NL West nemesis, the Diamondbacks and the Padres. Who do the Dodgers match up better against Arizona or the Padres?
Both have not shied away from the.
Dodgers this year and certainly have a belief they can play on the same field as the Dodgers.
You know, the Dodgers.
Were quick to say after Yesterday's series win that the Diamondbacks were without Christian Walker could tell Marte and Gabrielle Moreno, all true.
Their offense is really good.
I would say the strength of Arizona is their lineup and their starting staff to a certain extent, but their offense is much better top to bottom than the Padres. With the Padres have working for them is their great bullpen and also the emotion they feed off of by playing the Dodgers. But they have to get through each other, right The good news is they're going to take out each other. You're not going to have to face Arizona and San Diego. What I believe is going to happen.
The Dodgers beat the winner of that series because it's going to be a knockdown, drag out fight and they're pitching may not be in order. And the Dodgers in Phillies, as I have predicted since day one, will determine who goes to the World Series after what I would expect to be an electric NLCS in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Let's take another phone call, Frank and Monrovia. You're on Dodger Talk.
Hi, Frank, Hey Dave, you know what ninety nine point nine percent degree with what you're saying today. You know, seeing Walker Bureller out there, he was catching his stride again. And I love the interview that you just just played because it's he's got that tone in his voice again about having the eye of the tiger. He's feeling it,
you know, after having a year off. He wants to get back on that mound and wants he wants the ball in his And you know the other thing is that this past series with the Snakes, it had such a playoff feel to it. It was amazing. You know.
My question to you was how big of an impact did that particular series have on the dugout In preparation for the postseason and then this upcoming series against against Cleveland, are we going to start seeing a solid you know, getting a preview of a solid playoff rotation as well as pitching because we haven't announced our starters yet against against Cobb or Boyd and you know those matchups, they are really going to start to shape up, especially when
we're going into those games against the Padres.
And well, right now where the Dodgers stand, they got to be able to manage their rotation. And if they are going to get Yamamoto back here in the next week or so, they can call up another picture to make us start on Friday or Saturday, Frank, So, right now, it's about managing the staff and keeping the guys they have healthy and finding a way, like they have all season long, to pick spots in the schedule to give them an extra day of rest. Remember, Jack Flaherty had
a back issue before he was traded. It's important for the Dodgers to keep him healthy.
We see any type of experimentation or any type of new rotation in Florida or in Chicago, what do you mean by that goodbye? Are we going to see some guys getting a bit more rest or are we going to see would you want to keep the momentum rolling or have you heard about them keeping the momentum rolling?
Well, yeah, they're going to keep it rolling. They're not going to stop playing until they clinch the West. And when you talk about in Chicago, the Cubs are actually coming to Dodgers Stadium next week. So you know they're going to stick with their big picture plan because it's working right now, Frank. So I don't think you're going to see any experimentation. There's not the piggyback type of starts right now in the works like we saw at the end of last year.
Okay, thanks, that was my worry because last year closing out, I was having my doubts.
I respectfully disagree with some that believe that the Dodger rotation is in a worse spot than it was last year. I feel like they're in a better spot. Maybe not as much depth but because of the injuries, but certainly have a lot of difference making pictures that are healthy and like I said, two or three more that are on their way back. Thanks for the phone call, Frank. We'll see how it all plays out. And part of all this is the Dodger lineup being as good as
it is. And yes, the guys, the Dodger players themselves said, playing those four games in Arizona and being pushed this late in the season is going to be good for them in the long term. Do we know how good it's going to be. We don't until we find out
who's left standing at the end of the year. But I can tell you this, the Dodgers playing like this and not just you know load managing the whole month of September is going to keep the edge, especially when you have five days off from the last day of the regular season to the first game of the NLDS.
And Max Munsey was on the pregame show today and with all these healthy guys coming back, the guys that were filling in for these injured players have had to go back to their to their role of coming off the bench and spots starting and being pinch hitters. And Max Munsey talked about how everybody on the team has bought in.
Look, everyone here wants to win.
That's why we're all here.
That's why the guys that were free agents that came here decided to sign here. They want to win. And you know, you can't complain about anything when when you signed up for this, and that's you know, everyone in this clubous understands that, myself included. You know, I know I'm getting a chance to play against the left you tonight. But you know, for the most part, we have guys
that hit left. He's very well and so that might mean I'm missing out on some playing time because there's a left hander on the mountain and I'm okay with that as long as I've put us and the best chance to win do. I want to be out there one hundred percent, but I'm not going to throw a fit and cause a scene and and you know, make
it a toxic environment. And that's something that this whole clubhouse has done extremely well with that Everyone in here wants to go out there, and everyone also knows at any given moment your name can get called on to making it to make a difference in the game, whether you started or not. And you know, so everyone say, everyone's bought into that.
All right.
That's Max Munsey who joined us on the pregame show. You can hear the full interview on the iHeartRadio app. And look, key a Hernandez was really starting to round into shape in the month of August, playing every day at third base for Max Munsey. Monsey comes back, and Key k Hernandez is regulated to spots starting in center field, spot's starting at third base against certain pictures. And he hasn't rocked the boat. He knows why he's here. He's
here to help the Dodgers win in October. And that's what I look about. I look at guys that have done it over over the you know, six seven years, they've been here, Keith a Hernandez, Chris Taylor, Max Munsey, Walker Buehler. Those are the guys that you trust. Mookie Betts, who came up big in twenty for the Dodgers. Those are the guys that have been there and have proven that they can handle that stage.
And I nobody.
Knows how Otani is going to perform in the playoffs, but after what I've seen the last few weeks, I have no doubts Otani will rise to the occasion. He seems to always do that when it counts the most. And how about Mooki Betts. Speaking of rising to the occasion, Mookie Betts now with his three run home run in the tenth inning and his RBI bas hit in the third inning tonight is hitting three seventy seven with runners
in scoring position. You tell me, when you're the manager in that dugout and you're walking a guy that is, show hey Otani that you want your pitcher facing one of the best players in the game that is hitting threes seventy seven with runners in scoring position. That is a problem for the rest of the league. Otani, Bets, Freeman.
Are all a problem. And look, I'll say this, I was wrong. I was wrong.
Mookie Bets hitting second behind Otani is a good thing because Otani is willing to steal and has the speed to steal, and he gets in scoring position for mookie Bets, and Mooki Bets, like I said, has delivered countless times this year. Freddy Freeman delivers countless times. So for me, the way the Dodgers have realigned their starting lineup with Otani leading off, I can admit when I'm wrong and I was wrong. This is a very difficult lineup to
navigate through. When you have a guy like Otani that is on his way to fifty to fifty and when he's not hitting homers, gets into scoring position for Mooki Bets and Freddy Freeman after a walk or a single, and you saw tonight he was off to the races at the triple in the third inning and was ninety feet away from scoring. So he's just such a dynamic player and I firmly believe and talking to his teammates, his manager, he has thrived in this competitive environment with the Dodgers.
There is no way to argue that.
All right, coming up tomorrow, Bobby Miller will be on the mound for the Dodgers. He's looking to continue pitching well like he has the last couple of starts. He's going up against Griffin Canning, who's four and twelve with an ERA of five. Nineteen Morongo Casino Dodgers on deck begins at five point thirty with first pitch at six thirty eight from the Big A with Rick Monday and Tim Neverett. Hopefully the pressure cooker in the press box is a little lighter. I'm used to having to take
in some AMMO from Rick Monday. I mean that just par for the course with his you know, I have to be on my toes with this quick wit.
But man, the two thousand or the.
Nineteen ninety two National League Rookie of the Year, Eric Carros doing his best Phil Jackson impersonation with that stash and soul patch was coming in hot on me. I thought I was tiptoeing out of the press box towards the elevator before the game today, and he spotted me with those big eyes and that stash and that soul patch and brought me into the pressure cooker and just was all over me, wearing me out.
Man.
You know, it was pretty cool being in the same room with Tim Salmon, who won the American League Rookie of the Year the year after Carros won the Rookie of the Year in the National League. How about that two guys talking shop and I was there to listen to all of it.
Take it easy, Carros.
You know I'll get to you one day, all right. I'll get to you Oral Herscheizer, Rick Monday. Those are my one A one bs and Carros will get to you as well.
Anyway.
That'll do it for us on Dodger Talk tonight from Angels Stadium.
Thanks to Dwayne. That's your name, right, Dwayne MacDonald. He's still here calling you back.
Look at our Burbanks studios and thanks to you for listening. In case you missed any of the show, you can find it on the iHeartRadio app once again. The final score from Angel Stadium in ten innings, the Dodgers beat the Angels six to two. Fox Sports Radio is next Drive Safe. We'll talk to you tomorrow.
See 'may