The right quot.
Dodgers Playoff Baseball is back and with it an annual postseason tradition.
Scam is back. Baby.
This is Sax and Cakes in the a APPA go with proway. Dodger legend Steve Sacks is joined by your favorite Dodger pregame host, Tim Kates. If you want to talk Dodgers, get in on the show on eighty six six nine, eighty seven two five seven now. While the Dan Patrick Show streams on the Ihearts radio app. We've been banished to the Internet until this Dodgers playoff run concludes. Here they are broadcasting live on AM five to seven e LA Sports. It's Tim Kates and Steve Sacks.
And chefs like that.
Your Los Angeles Dodgers have a two to one series lead. Hi everybody, and welcome to Saxon, Kates and Am.
Here on AMPI seven Sports.
You're a home of sho Hey Otani and the Dodgers as they go into City Field last night and get a win over the New York Mets and eight nothing shutout over the Mets. I am Tim Kats, joined by two times World Series Champion from a Rookie of the Year and my favorite number three of all time.
He is Steve Sacks. Saxy. Good morning, Good morning, Tim.
How are you.
I'm fantastic. I slept like a baby last night, Saxy. Feeling good about the Dodgers Game three win.
Last night.
They got home runs early from Kei k they got home runs late from show Hey Otani and Max Munsey.
And last night was Walker Buehller's return.
Walker Buehler last night, I don't even want to say it was vintage Walker Bueler. This is Walker Bueller two point zero that we saw last night in Game three of the NLC. Not a ninety eight mile an hour throwing Walker Bueller. Not the cocky, swagged out Walker Bueller that we saw for many years dominate as one of the top pitchers in the National League. But last night, Saxy, what he did in the second inning against Lindor with the bases loaded, the way he pitched to batters last night,
he wasn't just a thrower. And this may sound weird to people, but last night, Walker Bueller was a pitcher.
Yeah.
And you know what I liked about what Walker did last night is he was attacking the hitters. He wasn't just out there pitching trying to go in the fringes of the plate. He was attacking these guys. And I'll tell you that curveball that he threw Lindor was a real gutsy, ballsy move right there. It was the best curveball he threw all night. And it couldn't come at a better time. I mean, he put it all out there, and that pitch was absolutely paralyzing to the Mets. He
was too much for these guys. And man, I'm telling you what the guy the thing. I look at it and I say, well, you know, a big hit can really bring a team up. And you know a great play can really bring a team bring a team up, but the pitching staff and making pitches like that can just electrify that bench. And that's exactly what it did. The team took off from there and really put it
to the Mets. And you know, I was just thinking about, you know, the things to talk about today and today's show, and you know what it really comes down to to me is with all of the great attributes that this team has, you know, the ability to pitch, the great bullpen, the fact that they have the best offense in baseball. You know, you know what else they have and it sometimes people question it because you know they're the Dodgers and they spend a lot of money, and know these
guys are pampered. You know, you hear all that stuff from the opposition. But what this team has tim is this team wants it, and this team wants it really, really bad. And that is a dangerous combination when you have a very very talented bunch of professionals that really in its raw sense, that's a dangerous combination. And I'll tell you this too, this team has not seen the best of what it can be yet. There is another there's another level still to be gotten here with this team.
We haven't seen it yet, but we're about to. And that's scary how good this team could be. We haven't seen the best of the Dodgers.
Yet, absolutely, because every night it's been a different player. When they collectively come together in a game and put it together offensively, look out, an eight to nothing shut out could just be the beginning what those Dodgers offense can do.
And Walker Bueller last night, I.
Mean from twenty eighteen to twenty twenty one, when he burst onto this scene with the Dodgers game won sixty three that he pitched against the Rockies in twenty eighteen, his rookie season too the World Series run in the Bubble. In twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, he was one of the top four pitchers in baseball. He finished fourth in the Cy Young voting. He had a two forty seven ERA two hundred plus innings. He was, you know, right there with Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer and Justin
Verlander as one of the best eras in baseball. And then he gets hit by injuries and he falls off for two plus seasons coming back from the elbow surgery. And then this year he was just trying to figure himself out because the fastball wasn't as electric as it has been over the years, and he had to figure out what kind of pitcher he.
Was gonna be then.
And I think it was more mentally anything more than physically for Walker Bueler saxy because the arm's fine. I mean, it's been rebuilt, you know, it's the second time around. Now that's a fresh arm on Walker Buehler. But the guy who's got that brash, that swag sometimes maybe comes across his cocky when he's out there and when he talks to the media, and he used to back it up with that ninety eight hundred mile an hour fastball
and just throw it right by guys. Now it's sitting ninety two to ninety three, and he had to figure out how to pitch. And it took him, I think, all regular season to mentally get over that hurdle. And he did last night with the curveball to Lendor on a three to two pitch when he could have gone fastball, tried to paint the corners, try to be cute about it, or just shove right at Lindor and say, here, do with it what you will. If I beat you, great, if you tee off on me, hey, you're the better
guy in this battle. Instead, he mixes it up with a knuckle curveball and strikes him out. We saw a young man grow up last night, right before our eyes.
Yeah.
I still see Walker Bueller as one of the elite power pitchers in the game. I don't see him as a guy that's gonna sit in the low nineties. I saw him go get ninety six last night when he needed it, and I mean pitching up in the zone. See, he's got a great combination and we used to marvel when we saw Max Scherzer do this is that he still had that great combination of talent where he could go get the upper nineties when he needed it, but still pitch ability and being able to out fox the
hitter and keep him off balance. Seeing him grow into that, we're seeing a combination of sheer power and smarts all rolled into one. And Walker Bueller is making a case for a strong situation for him. Come you know this postseason when he's a free agent. He's really turning things around for himself.
Absolutely, and he even talked about it last night that he was fighting for a postseason roster. We talked about this yesterday, which Walker Bueller was gonna show up in October and quite frankly, and let's just all be honest. If it wasn't because of injuries to Tyler Glass now, Gavin Stone, Clayton Kershaw, we may not be seeing Walker
Bueller pitch last night. He may be coming out of the bullpen as the Landon Neck role, and Landon Neck doesn't make this roster, or Landon Neck and Brent Honeywelt make the roster ahead of a guy like Walker Bueller because of his struggles. It says a lot, and we mentioned this a couple of days ago. It says a lot that Andrew Freeman, Brandon Gomes, the GM and Dave Roberts, Mark Pryor, this collective brain try, the Dodgers never stopped
believing in Walker. Buehler sack see all along one in six record high era couldn't figure it out a lot of outings that he couldn't get up past the third inning, and they stuck with him.
Yeah, and Walker is smart enough to thrive in that momentum that he had built up once once he got past Lindor, I mean lights out. I mean, you know, you got a guy on base now and then, And I know he struggled a little bit. You and I talked about that during the game with his slider, of being able to put it you know what, But he made pitches with that pitch when he needed it. He got behind hitters with it, but he came back actually when it was on the line and made a couple
of great pitches with his slider. It wasn't you know. So what I like about him is Walker is a ballsy dude. He's gutsy he's not afraid to throw. He has he has deep conviction in all of his pitches, and uh, it's hard to beat a guy like that.
He got J D.
Martinez on that slider. They want to call this we missed it by two feet.
Yeah, I mean it's great.
He adjusted though we're talking about it, you like, he can't throw it for a strike, he's missing big time, but he adjusted.
Mark Pryor went out there.
I think he started seeing Will Smith set up even more inside, maybe exaggerating it a little bit behind the plate, just to get Walker Bueller to get that slider more competitive because he wasn't getting the chases. But when it's all said and done, the amount of swinging misses that he got last night were the most he had in years.
Yeah, and teen eighteenth swinging missus.
I don't think he had eighteen swinging misses in his sixteen starts during the regular season.
Yeah, he jumped another level last night. We saw it right before our eyes. And this has got to be very, very frustrating, especially for the Mets when they see what kind of artillery that he brought out there on the mound. They were shocked, they were They looked at this really, this guy is coming off exactly. He barely got by. He got one win during the season. I mean, this
is a really big lift for the team. I know that team in the hotel is signing a big relief right now that they got Walker Bueller back to the to where he should be. Another situation tonight, I know we're gonna when we change our speeds and start talking about the other side because they got to deal with some guy tonight that's really on a terror. When you talk about somebody that's got some momentum.
Yeah, yeah, can Tona has really been pitching well for the Mets, and you all have my moto hopefully to building on that momentum that he've had in his last start. Walker Bueller, we know how cocky he can be, and he rubs people the wrong way. Sometimes it's arrogant, but he backs it up for the most part. And because of the injuries, he hasn't been able to back it up.
And I've also seen a different side of him. He's much more subdued, and maybe because he's married now and he's got a young child, probably a lot to do with that.
He's grown up. He's a he's thirty now he's he's he's.
Gotten out of that young phase of his life and we've seen the development of his picture on the mound last night. Just listening to him, and we're gonna hear me here, froim in a second. He sounds grown up. He sounds like a mature man out there realizing what he's doing is something that he had hoped to try to do and get back to his old form, but also realizing that he has reinvented himself. Here's Walker Bueler post game last night, after his four shutout innings.
Yeah, just uh, I throw what Will puts down. You know, I think this series, in this playoffs, I think is in sync with with the pitching staff as Will has ever been and he's calling really good games. And you know, I trust what he sees more than anyone. I trust what he sees more than I trust what I see. And so I think that, you know, that's just a tip of the cat to him.
When he started this journey back from the you know, the Tommy John you talked about wanting to pitch in games like this is kind of simply how fun was tonight?
Yeah, it's everything to me. You know, he talked about it before the San Diego start, the big games, or me being in big games. That's that's literally all I care out. And you know, the way Kik talks about our team having some sort of of confidence when I pitch regardless, I think is kind of really the goal for any starting pitcher. You know, there's the stats and free agency and all of that, but I just want twenty five guys in the locker room that believe that
I give us a really good chance to win. And if I've created that in our locker room somehow, that's that's probably what I'll be the most proud of when I'm done. It'll five you in second row.
Just to go back to that Lindora bat. Do you feel like that's only maybe pre surgery that you probably would want to try to throw a fastball in that spot?
Oh, in twenty eighteen, nineteen twenty, I would have thrown a fastball. I mean, there's no.
Yeah, when the bases are lowered there in the secondading, is there a place that you go to mentally, right so that you kind of have to channel to be able to sort of get out of that spot.
Yeah. The fear of pitching the way I pitched all year. I think is probably probably where I channel it from.
I saw the stat that you now have the second most postseason starts in Dodgers franchise history, just behind kersh All, the pitchers that have come through the Hall of famers Nukem, Cofax, Drysdale, Fernando Herscheiser. For you to be second on that list and giving your team so many victories in the postseason, even after missing the last two postseasons, what does that mean to be be in that company?
I honestly, I think that's a team stat. Just to be honest with you. We've been in the playoffs every year that I've been here and healthy at least, and I've been very fortunate to get the ball, and you know, the trust thing or whatever we kind of developed through the years to let me have the ball. You know, this year is kind of a pretty good example of that, just because of the way the regular season went. But yeah, it's a cool stat and a cool thing, But to me, that's about our team.
Lastly, Doc has said you've had to almost relearn how to pitch coming from this surgery. What has been the biggest difficulty or the thing that you've learned the most and kind of relearning how to come back out here and.
Be you again. Then on three to two at the basis a little that I gotta throw a kerball now instead of a heater.
All right, there's Walker Buller last night, Saxey.
I'm telling you, having seen this kid come up in twenty seventeen, remember when he was drafted at a Vanderbilt.
He was all about this swag.
He was a kid that didn't lack confidence on and off the field. I mean he sounds humbled. He sounds like a guy who is so appreciative of being there. I mean, this is a completely different Walker Bule.
I love it. It's real and there's there's nothing contrived about what he's saying whatsoever. I see him as a very confident, humble at the same time person. What I like about him is he's showing true leadership and that he gives it back to his teammates and he means it. He's not just saying it. It's not a bunch of eyewash. I think he's a real deal, and I think the like you said, the guy's in that locker room, think he's got a great chance to win every time he
goes out and pitch Walker. One thing about him, he expects it every single time to be at the top of his game. The GM and the front office and everybody will never ever have to worry. Is this guy going to give us one hundred percent all the time? Is he worth the investment? Is he a team player? Is you know all those boxes are completely checked. That will never be a doubt in their mind. They know that this guy's a real deal.
Something I thought that was real cool, just to kind of wrap up Walker Bueller here was early in the game he changed and started pitching out of the stretch, and they didn't really understand why on the broadcast why he did that. Maybe they thought it was a mechanics thing that he just felt better in the fifty five degree weather there at City Field, and they were kind of speculated why why he was doing it. Well, after the game, he said he didn't have a feel on
the mound. He said that the dirt was so hard that he couldn't get a grip even with his cleats and his for in the first inning, he felt like he didn't have enough control of his pitches, especially you know, and then wind up, and so he said I felt more comfortable that I had more control over my austby pitches pitching out of the stretch. So immediately he made a decision mid first inning to just go from the stretch the rest of the way and paid off.
Yeah.
I mean, there you go. That's a guy that's in tune with his wind up his body. He knows what the feel is and that's that's a That's a great sign right now, is you know, the guy's feeling every little thing that goes on out there. He makes it. I mean, you know what I mean, change your delivery in the in the middle of the game. That's kind of a big thing, you know. But he's able to do that. The guy's a pro. He is really good right now.
And the Dodgers counted on him last night and he came through. All Right, we're off and running here on Saxon Kates in the am, Steve Sacks, Tim Kates and you on this Thursday morning, as the Dodgers have taken a two to one series lead in this best of seven and LCS Walker Bueller. Last night was fantastic. The four different relievers that came out of the bullpen put up zeros. The Dodgers with another shutout win last night
over the New York Mets at eight nothing victory. We're gonna hear from Dave Roberts, We're gonna hear from Max Muntsey. We're gonna hear from Key k Hernandez.
In the eight.
O'clock hour, David Vass say, we'll join us our Dodger insider the Live from New York City.
Also, we'll check in with Sean.
Green, former Dodger slugger, former Mets slugger.
He's been on both sides of this rivalry.
We'll check in with Sean Green in the eight o'clock hour, and your phone call, Saxy. We got an autographed number three Steve Sex Jerse gonna.
Give you it today.
Wow.
All right, one lucky Dodger fan is gonna get that between now and nine o'clock this morning. Thanks for being with us. It's SAX and Kate's in the am. We're off and running on this Thursday morning on a FI seventy al I Sports. It's SAX and Kate's in the AM on the Thursday morning. Thanks for being with us as you wake up and enjoy a Dodger victory from last night. As they take a two to one series lead in this best of seven NLCS. Right back at
it tonight from City Field in New York. Game four Dodgers on Deck starts at four o'clock first, pitching five oz away from the Galpamotors broadcast both the Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jose Kintana with the pitching matchup in this Game four, which the Dodgers have a shot at going up three games to one. But I feel like I learned my lessons.
SA see Monday morning here on scam celebrating that Game one shut out blowout of the New York Mets and Game one Sunday night and feeling really cocky about this is gonna be a sweep.
The Mets are done.
And then what happened Monday afternoon in that day game at Dodger Stadium is that the roles were completely reversed and this series was tied up a game of peace. So I'm gonna pump the brakes on myself emotionally, not to get too excited about a two to one series, but just kind of quietly fist pumping. All right, we're up, We're up two games to one.
Yeah, business like. I think that's uh. Try to try to keep a tempered spirit, you know that you can't go out there and think, oh, he's gonna roll over these guys. Look, they're a good team, no question. From mayon they had the same record as Dodgers. All right, they had a little rough start, but after that they were nails. It's a good club. They got guys playing with their hair on fire. On Cantona, the last eight starts has been ridiculous. He's got a point five to
seven e R in the last eight starts. That that's just you can't even really measure that. It's so good. It's not what his back of his bubble gum card says. This guy's a five hundred pitcher and this whole year, it's crazy when you talk about what he brings to the table. This year he was ten and ten with a three seven five e R. A you know what his you know what he's done in his whole career. He's one o two and one oh three with a three seven five e R. Almost identical what he's done
throughout his career. But if you take a snapshot in time, the last eight starts have been absolutely crazy, good so we'll see what happens. Now, will the real Jose Cantana please stand up? He's gonna face an offense that he really hasn't faced, at least certainly not in postseason, not like this.
Yeah, I know eleven's Indians pitched so far in the postseason six it's zero earned runs with eleven strikeouts and no home runs allowed. So a Dodger team that relies so much on the home run ball, this guy's not giving up a home run so far in his couple starts in the NLDM if.
I can say this quickly too, And when you talk about the home run ball, the Dodgers are built to slug. This guy has led the league before in seasons past for the least amount of home runs given up. So what a face off we're going to have tonight? This guy does not give up home runs, absolutely doesn't do it. Maybe won a game per nine innings if he was
going nine at the most. I mean. So he's led the league before with the least amount of home runs giving up, and of course the Dodgers pound, So this is gonna be a great face off tonight.
Yeah, the Dodgers last night, three more home runs, two of them tacking on runs late in the game. Show he Otani with a three run home run down the right field line. Maximunsey with a home run to write as well a solo shot in the ninth inning.
Last night.
The Dodgers got massive production for Maximunsei. You look at the boss score, it just says two for two with an RBI. Yeah, but he walked three times. He was on base all five at bats last night for the Dodgers, passing that baton to Taoscar Hernandez who was zero for five by the way, Gavin Lux who was oh for four, the guys behind them, Will Smith, we talked about him yesterday as an X factor needed to get it going,
and he did. And it started with a hit that went off the glove last night of Severarino and it was awarded.
A base hit.
He'll take it, take it, yeah, absolutely, because you get a little positive and reinforcement there. And then later in the game he gets a hit the left. He's seeing the ball better, his confidence is up, and.
If he strikes out, we're not having this conversation.
Absolutely absolutely, And the Dodgers last night got some help from Severino in that second inning. It was some misplays to go off his glove. And I know John Smoltz said it a few times that nine times out of ten during the regular season, saver Reno's making those plays. Greatfielder, absolutely, But the moment game three n LCS, the pressure of the night, maybe the game speeds up on you and all of a sudden, a miss cue and you look at the scoreboard, and they took advantage of that last night.
Two runs for the Dodgers in the second inning off mis cues.
Yeah, and you were mentioning what Max Munsey has done five times on base eight times straight. Now he's been on bass. So Muncie is quietly being, you know, part of that undergirding that can really you know, lift this and buy this team while the other guys are trying to get right and those other guys are like Otani hits another bomb last night, you know, Kei k hits another one. You know, so here we go. You mentioned
Oscar Hey Hernettez. You know what they're barreling in that two seamer in on his hands and he's having some problems with that. But you know what, until he gets himself right again, and he's been great this year too, but you know, you go through fits and starts where it's not perfect. Hey, you got other guys are gonna carry ta Oscar like he's carried so many guys, you know, throughout the the you know, season and end postseason as well. So this is a great mix. This is what makes
this team good. If it's not one, it's the other. And it doesn't take many combinations of guys doing well for this team to thrive. You know, you get two or three guys doing well out of nine and that could be enough.
And they can do it with nobody out, one out, and they're so dangerous as an offense with two out sacks. And they did it again last night against the reliever Garrett Quick out from Lux and Will Smith. And there's two down in the top half of the sixth inning and Tommy Eman comes up and singles to write on the second pitch he sees, he gets his second on a bock. So just like that, two outs, single bock. He's in scoring position and Key ky Hernandez is up
to bad. Key ky Hernandez falls behind one and two in the count. Fouls off a pitch, fouls off a four seam fastball, still one in two count. The sixth pitch of the bad is a split finger that's right over the middle of the play, and keyk a Hernandez hits it out for a home run.
Well, two outs.
They do all this two quick outs, and it could have been a bang bang bang inning. Instead, Edmond gets on box the second and then a home run from Keyky a Hernandez and they take a four to nothing lead. And what was a close to nothing game all of a sudden felt kind of out of reach at.
Four nothing at that point, yes, and I was hoping just for a base hit. And then you know, we're up three to nothing. That's a monstrous difference as opposed to just two runs. And then he hits the bomb that that that's kind of well, didn't seal it, but you know what, it make you feel really good. You know what else I thought was a bit interesting is when Garrett come out of the game. You see him the dugget, He's got the smirk on it face. He's kind of smiling a little bit. He smiled more than
just a smirk. He's kind of a smile. I'm like, what is so funny right now? He just got shoved dude, and you're laughing. If I'm sitting on that bench, I'm gonna I'm gonna say, you know, is there something that we're missing here? What's so funny? We're getting beat and you're laughing. I don't get that.
Yeah, that was a weird mos kind of a.
Creepy like like grins like like this is blow you or something.
I don't know.
It's kind of kind of freaky to me. Yeah, I know, I know, you know, Halloween's coming.
Bit bo the Dodgers last night, the three home runs, they slugged, as we know they do, and ate nothing to win over the New York Mets. You mentioned Maxi Munsey on base five times, walked three of those five at bats. He's now been on base eight straight times. Going back to the game before that, here's Maximunsey after the game talking about with this offense, how dangerous they are, and of course about his buddy Walker Bueller and.
What he did.
Can't getting on basis huge in postseason. Give our guys a chance up the line up, and uh, you know, I was really proud of that tonight. I was able to layoff some pitches out of his own and uh, you know, just just be on base for the boys, and we have some big hits come through late in the game.
How did that kind of know, how did that dagger feel he was supposed to come on?
Seeing what Walker did today? How did he set the tone for you all?
And just how impressive has he been this postseason?
But the script, Yeah, Walker's uh, he's a different animal in the postseason. I don't care what his regular season numbers are, especially this year coming off the second time of John, He's still trying to figure out who he was as a pitcher. And you know, we all knew once we got into the setting he was going to be a Walker viewler and he was definitely that tonight.
And you know, he had a.
Couple of bats where he uh, he didn't execute some pitches, but then he's able to bow down and and and get the next guy out, and uh, you know was Walker showed the emotion, showed the anger, and showed the attitude and that kind of got us fired up on the Dog out. Just see him do that.
She has the three straight shutouts, then you lose game too, then you come up with a shutout again.
It seems like things are creaking at the right time. I mean, you shook that off from getting two.
Yeah, I mean, it's it's a it's a long series. You're not going to acheat perfectly every sing game. And you know, even even that game that we lost, we we felt like we were just right there. You know, we're we're maybe one two hits away from from breaking it open and taking the lead back. And you know we're also one two pitches away from executing in that inning, and you know they don't get the six runs, and so it's, uh, you know, you just got to understand
that's uh, it's baseball. Thing's gonna happen. It's a long series, and you flush it. You move on each each day you go out there. The series is oh you never have a lead, you never you know, you're never behind. You gotta go out there and play the game that day? Did that and change seemed to work well for you?
How did it feel for you?
Bat and clean up?
As long as I'm out there, that's all I care about. It doesn't matter if I'm you know, first, second, third, four, fifth, ninth, I don't care. As long as I'm in that lineup and able to help this team win.
That's the most important thing to me.
How long do you guys enjoy this one or is it already flip to the next page for tomorrow. No, you enjoy it right now. And then you know, you get on the bushad back to the hotel, you start looking at stuff for tomorrow, and uh, you know, you start getting your mindset right, but uh, you can't immediately move on. But he also can't celebrate it to so you know, he gets some frud and you have a go to get to the hotel, go to Liam Dudd and then start worrying about tom All.
Right, there's Maxi Munsey after the game, and yeah he was moved into the cleanup spot last night's Saxy. Dave Roberts didn't adjust the top three, nor is he going to do that, even though people are saying Showy Otani should be moved in the lineup, they're crazy. But he moved Will Smith down to the seventh spot. So he readjusted four through nine, a little bit tinkering with the lineup, and it worked with Maxi Munsey in the cleanup spot. And it wasn't a Maxi munseie. Of course he hit
a home onn late. But I mean, if you get your cleanup hitter on base five times. Yeah, in a game, you're gonna be pretty successful.
Yeah.
And it's a bit of a different animal with Max Munsey because usually cleanup hitters are looking to go there and do some absolute damage every time they swing the bat. Max Munsey's can do that, of course, we've seen him do it many times. But he'll take the walk too. He's a very patient hitter and that little niche he has in his approach really works well with this team because you have so many other guys that can, you know, drive the ball out of the ballpark as well. And
I like the way that Max Munsey can be. You know, you just plug and play with him. He can play first, he can play third, you can hit anywhere in the lineup, and you know he's a guy that'll take the walk and get the home run when you need it as well. So very valuable guy to have on this team.
Yeah.
Dodgers scored eight runs last night, and Otani had three of them with one swing of the bat. He had Mookie Betts, who was very quiet last night even though he walked. He was one for four. Freddie Freeman a one for five night last night. Te Oscar Hernandez. We mentioned an er for five night, Gavin luckson oh for four night. It was the bottom of the lineup coming through Will Smith two for four, Tommy Edmund won for four, Keiky Hernandez goes two for five.
They drive.
They drove in four of the Dodgers eight runs, the three run blast from Shoey o'tania and the solo home run for Max Munsey. The offense last night eight runs on ten hits, while the pitching limited the Mets to no runs.
On four hits.
Here's Dave Roberts after the game talking about his offense.
I think it's been a lot of lessons that he's had to learn and appreciating understanding the picture he is today and also appreciate the fact that you just can't give in to Lindor in that moment. And that's something that you know as a learning lesson for Landonnac from the other night the other day. And so right there, that was the pitch of the game. Obviously, the crowd was into it, they were gaining momentum, and to get the breaking ball down below the zone and get a
great hitter out was huge. And I think that's just kind of speaks to experience.
Were you surprised when you saw it was a curveball there?
No, I was kind of thinking along with them. I mean it was I mean, it was the right thing, and I thought, you know, this entire postseason, I think Will Smith is doing a fantastic job catching the baseball, calling the game, you know, not trying to get to predictable and appreciating the game score and all that stuff. So he's done a great job with the starters, relievers, and it was just game management.
What's the biggest thing you've learned about Walker as he's just gone through this process trying to figure himself out again and trying to figure out what works what doesn't in those kind of big spots.
I think a couple of things. Obviously, he's sort of had to I mean, I guess reinvent himself. And I say that in a complimentary way to still be a really good major league pitcher. Obviously this year was very rocky, trying to kind of get back from a really major surgery. And you know, I think the other part of it is that, you know, it's easy to be a you know,
to ride when the wins at your back. That has been when he's going and riding really well, but you know, when there's some adversity, you get in the teeth and you lose confidence to then reset to come back and still stick it out. That's something for me that I don't think he's ever had to do outside of having a surgery. So that's something for me that speaks his character. And you know, you look at kind of in June or July. You know, I don't think anyone could have
seen him in this position right now. So it's a it's a credit to Walker.
How about a credit to you, Dave Roberts. How about a credit to you, Dave Roberts, sticking with Walker Bueller despite a one in six record in games in which he'd go two and two thirds and give up five and runs and you'd have to go to a bullpen early in a series in Cincinnati or wherever you happen to be on a road trip. I mean, you stuck
with Walker Bueller. And I know he wants to give credit, And that's Dave Roberts right there to a t. I mean, not talking about what he and his pitching coach, Mark Pryor did, sticking with Walker Bueller and not giving up on the guy. The fact that he gives all the praise in the world to Walker Buehler for fighting through this comeback from a second Tommy John surgery. Is it credits to Dave.
Yes, it is, and he constantly silences the critics every time you know that that situation arises. But you know what, when I see the body language, the swag of Walker Bueler and how he attacks hitters, I mean with with that and when the ball comes out of his hand, it's it's hard to argue. You know what the guy's got. Now he's got a new fresh arm h and he's getting after it. And Walker bueller Is pitches with absolute
conviction and you can see it. And when you see a guy doing that, pitching with conviction, you know the confidence is going to continue to rise. And that's that's good news.
I like the fact that after the four innings, Dave Roberts mixed and matched his bullpen to a t And I say that because Kolpak comes in the fifth, Brasier gets the sixth tried and gets the seventh, and then ben Kispirius in a blowout game. At that point, an arm that's not a high leverage release right now. But a very talented young arm that's there to hit to soak up innings did exactly that getting the final six out.
So they didn't have to use an Evan Phillips and they didn't have to use Daniel Hudson.
And in the the.
The innings that they did get from Copec, Brazier and trin In, they were guys that they faced that they may not face the next time. And I say that they mixed and matched who they are gonna face. So Dave Roberts doesn't want Copec to see the same three or four hitters every time he goes out there, because, as you know, as a hitter, sax see then you start to see this reliever more and more and more, you can start timing it better, you see where the
armslot is and you get more familiar with him. He's mixing and matching, so the next time Copek comes in he may not see that same group of hitters.
Yeah.
And the fact that that Cospiraus came in and pitched the last two innings, you know, so now you take a guy that's just gonna you know, clean up the this game, and he did a very good job at that but now he he suddenly looked at is the guy that, hey, you can maybe use him in a little bit more of a leverage situation, you know. Down the line, he showed that, you know, he had he had a lot of gumption going out and knocking down those two innings. I thought it was huge when Brazier
came back and got that. I think Brazier got the double play hit to Munsie, Yes, uh, he was. He was struggling a little bit and kind of on the you know, tilting one way or another, and he gets that great ground ball to months he turns the double play, and how many times are we going to see it again and again? Freddie Freeman with with one leg out there picking the hell out of balls out of the ground, saving the middle infielders. That's what great first basemans do.
You gotta have it over there. I mean, it's such an underrated thing over at first base that can change the whole complexity of the inning and the game. Freddie Freeman continues, continues to play that gold Glove branded first base that he's that he's at. We're a depth to seeing and we almost take it for granted how great he is to picking that ball out of the dirt. It's huge for this team and a ship.
On whoever picks the Gold GOV finalists. I don't know who does that, Saxony. I don't know if it's the writers, who does it.
Coaches, coaches and managers pick it.
It's coaches and managers.
Okay, so, no offense to Bryce Harper, no offense to Matt Olsen of the Braves, and no offense to Christian Walker of the Arizona Diamondbacks. But how is Freddy Freeman not one of the three finalists for the.
Gold Gold That's absurd, I mean absurd.
Olsen is a two time winner in the American League with the A's. I get it.
He saves runs. But I don't know how the metric has made. I don't know the numbers offhand. I'm sure I can figure it out and find it somewhere. But I guarantee you Freddie Freeman has probably saved more throws than any first baseman this season in baseball, from the opening weekend in Soeul, South Korea, to the home opener Dodger Stadium and then the rest of the year. I've been harping on it. I even said this is a lock, he's gonna win it from Gavin.
Lux throws to the throws from roll Hans.
Remember when Mookie bets with a shortstop Dodger fans how many bag throws Freddy Freeman helped him out with scooping out of the ground or going up and getting because he's six ' five and he can go get a ball high. This is an absolute travesty that he is not one of the three finalists as a goal glover.
I get that totally. And you see Freddy working on this thing constantly. He it's not like he's gonna throw his glove out there and he's you know, he's very talented man, and he can just go do it. He works at it. I see him in spring training. The guy works his tail off, you know, being able to do that. And listen, just don't take it for granted how much he saves people over there at first base.
And you gotta have that, man. It is a It is a treasure to have somebody that can go over there and pick that ball out of the dirt and go up and get it. Like you said, he's six ' five, so he's well adept to going out and you know, going up for the jump ball and bringing that thing down. He's huge over there.
They have a stat called out above average and that they have I don't know how they come up with this, but apparently Christian Walker let all National League first baseman with a plus thirteen out above average in twenty twenty four. Bryce Harper, in his first full season at first base, was second in the National League with a plus eight out above average in twenty twenty four, and this year, Matt Olsen had fourteen defensive runs saves, six more than
any other first baseman in base. I don't know how they come up with these numbers, but my eyes tell me what I saw this year was Freddie Freeman saving the behinds of so many guys over there at first base.
Just ask people around the league what they think about Freddie at first base and they'll tell you absolutely. We in time, we'll talk a little bit about his throwing arm, which is crazy good.
He is Steve Sacks, I'm Tim Kats. Thanks for being with us on this Thursday morning. We're live in local as the Dodgers have a two to one series lead in this NLCS Game four coming up tonight from City. Feel First Bitch at five Oho eight between now at nine o'clock, we got a Steve Sacks autographed jersey to give away. We're gonna hear from David vass Say in the eight o'clock hour. Sean Green, it's gonna join us in the eight o'clock hour as well. It's sax and
Kate's in the am. Thankes for beeting with us on NI seventy light sports Walker Viueler is exactly what the Dodgers needed last night. Key k Hernandez, Mister October delivers as well and shootany goes deep late Dodgers a two to one series lead in the NLCS. Saxon and Kate to the am. You're in your home of the Dodgers an five to seventy LA sports Key Hernandez, By the way, it's unbelievable, Saxy, the numbers that he has put up
in the postseason. He's now got a road ops in his postseason career of over one thousand, and only Carlos Beltron, some guy named Babe Ruth, and some guy named Luke Garrick have higher ops is on the road in the postseason in their careers than Keiky Hernandez. And the home runs that He has hit now fifteen postseason home runs in his career. I mean, forget what he does during the regular season. When it turns to October and we flipped the calendar, he becomes a different hitter.
Yeah, he's He's one of those guys that you can't explain it. I mean, you know, you look at his talent, you look at him as a baseball player, and you know he's a good player. He's a very versatile type of a guy. He's good athlete. But there's something about his personality that makes him different. When it's postseason time, he I think he relaxes more and it's some weird, quirky way and just embraces this. I'll bet he was a cut up as a kid, you know, because nothing
bothers him. And the more the pressure seems to be put on the team or him, it seems to relax him more. You look at his post game interviews, Yeah, it's like he's is at a backyard barbecue and smiling away and you know, just not a care in the world. I mean, there's something different about his personality, and what a what a great thing it is for the Dodgers because he is something He's different and he's special in postseason, no doubt about it. It's not happenstance. Well maybe it's
just you know the way it's going. No, No, he thrives in this situation. I'm not a clinical psychologist buying stretch, but I can certainly tell there's something different about him than other people in postseason.
In the regular season, Key Ky A Hernandez has homered once in every twenty nine at bats. In the postseason, the frequency improves to once every thirteen at bats. He is hitting a home run and he now has fifteen in his postseason career. That is the same amount as again, this guy named Babe Ruth. I'm not sure who he is, but the same amount of home runs as Babe Ruth in the post It's crazy again. Key Hernandez has had
a lot of opportunities. He's done it fifty seven more played appearances than Babe Ruth had to get to fifteen home runs in the postseason.
It's because key Ky.
Hernandez has been along this Dodgers team forever. Even though he left went to Boston, he still went to the postseason with the Red Sox and then came back last year to go back to the postseason last year and this year with the Dodgers. I mean, every year it seems like Keyky Hernandez has been playing in the postseason because every year the Dodgers at.
Yeah, and you look at the postseason home runs, Jose Altuve with twenty seven is leading that and then you have Schwarber with twenty one, and Key k Hernandez is number eight on the list at fifteen eighty. I mean, isn't that just amazing? How a guy that you know, he's not an everyday player either, but man in postseason he is. He does something really special.
It's great.
I mean, he may not have even getting this opportunity this postseason if not for the adductor strain of Miguel Rojas and he can't play short, so then Tommy Edmond goes as short and that opens up center field for
Key k a Hernandez to play center field. So taking full advantage of the opportunity, just as we talked about Walker Buehler taking advantage of this opportunity because may not have even been on the postseason roster, certainly probably wouldn't have been in the rotation come October if it weren't for the injuries to Tyler Glass now and Key, the Clayton Kershaw into Gavin Stone, and the list of guys who the Dodgers just can't go to, guys taking full
advantage of these opportunities. And I absolutely love it.
Yeah, I mean it just you know, you can multiply that out and think how many great players are there that we just don't even know about, you know, because they're not going to get a chance. There's guys in Triple A that should be in the big leagues. There's guys that could be phenomenal players, And you know, it's part of this whole thing is being in the right place at the right time and having an opportunity to
show your stuff. But there's some really good players out there, and Kik is a great example of this.
I meant, I wanted to ask you this, and I totally forgotten space I should have wrote it down, But in talking about Kik being a mister October here in the postseason, somebody brought it up last night. I don't know if it was Oral Hersheiser or Jerry Harriston on Sports in LA or one of the guys on Fox on the post game brought this up and they said it's a different It was Derek Jeter. He said it's
a different beast in October. He goes some players when it gets to October, when the game speeds up on you and all of a sudden, you know, the pressure situation. You need a pitch here, a hit here, a defensive play there, and the game could get on you quickly. And he says, it's you can't explain it. You can't tell You can tell somebody about it as much as
you want, but they have to live it. They have to be in that moment and feel the pressure, the air in a stadium, the crowd in the stadium, the pressure on you at the player on defense or on the mount. And he says, once you get there, you'll understand. And some guys thrive and some guys just can't deal with it.
I'll tell you. I'll tell you another reason why I think this is so and why he's on this great list of active players. And what I mentioned was active players. You know Jose and jose L Tiova having that twenty seven and then Schober twenty one, George Springer is nineteen. There's some great players on there with that. He's a part of and these are all active players, of course, but I thought it was really poignant in the interview that when somebody asked them the other day about why
are your team so good? Why are you so good? Why are you doing this? Kyk? And he said are we on? Is this being taped?
Yeah?
And they said, well I don't think so. And he says, because we don't give a you know what, right, And that's what it is. Is not that they don't care. It's that they're able to slough off all that pressure. That's what they don't care about. They don't care about the pressure. And that's why the guy's so good in postseason.
Yeah, I mean, I think it helps if they've been here before, so they know what it's like. And you know what, we know, we've been here, done that. We're not gonna let it get to us. No, Well, some guys, you know, first time, second time, you know, it gets to them, and make a bad play here on offense,
a bad play on defense. The next thing you know, you open a door for a team month of Dodgers to take a two to one series lead in this best is seven NLCS one hour down, two to go coming up in our eight o'clock hour, David vasserra Dodger insider, joins us. Sean Green, former Dodger outfielder, former met will
join us as well. Coming up here in this next hour, one lucky Dodger fan is gonna win and autographs Steve Sachs, Jersey It could be you eight sixty six nine eighty seven two five seventy eight six six nine eighty seven two five seventy It's Sacks and kateson am here on your Home of the Dodgers AMPHI seventy I Sports