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- [00:01]
A
This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up, required compatibility and availability various 18 plus pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. It felt so good to be back at work with Tony yesterday.
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B
I'm Frank Isola. Apparently Tony needed a day to recover. Mike.
- [00:37]
A
Ooh, apparently so. And apparently you look like you're on Love Island. Where are you coming to me from?
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B
I am, Mike. This is your summer house that you're letting me. No, it is your beach house. I appreciate it.
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A
I'm glad you're there though, wherever that is. Welcome to pti. Tony's in Turke for his hair transplant. What can I tell you? So I'm joined by our great friend from the starting lineup on Sirius XM, Mr. Frank Isola. Wow. Damn. He's in Love Island. He is. I'm just. I'm just saying. Let's start with LeBron's indecision. Just days after Adam Silver said he'd like LeBron to make his decision so the NBA can get on with its scheduling. And his agent Rich Paul said on the podcast last night, quote, we're not going to be rushed.
- [01:31]
B
Close quote.
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A
Paul said the wait is not a deliberate attempt to gentle attention. I believe that, Frank. Do you?
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B
Come on, Come on, Mike. Just. There's a little bit. LeBron loves the attention, you know, Rich Paul, you know, he said he's not in a rush. No one's going to rush him. We're not arguing that. He also said it's LeBron's choice. No one's arguing that. I think we all just want it to be over with. And we're asking, what is the delay? Is he waiting for money to get freed up maybe by a team like Cleveland? Is he waiting for a deal to happen? Maybe Anthony Davis, maybe he's got something cooked up with his buddy Draymond Green. It's interesting that it's dragged on for this long already and we really don't have any indication. It sounds like there's four finalists, right? Golden State, Philadelphia, Cleveland in Miami. Maybe I'm going to be wrong. I still think it's going to be Golden State, but it's gone on way too long and you cannot sit here and tell me LeBron's lived this life forever, Mike. He loves the attention. There's nothing wrong with it.
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A
There isn't the attention part of it. That's why everybody needs to shut the hell up about how long it's lasting. What do you got to do? You got nothing. You got July and August in front of you with no sports news, just like me. And let me just say this, Frank, I'm tired of this thing. What is he waiting on? He doesn't know. He doesn't know what he's gonna do. How about that?
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B
He knows.
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A
No. Cuz I actually had a decision like this in my life, in the prime of my career. I was LeBron's age. Was it to go to the Chicago Tribune and move back home, or stay in Washington at the Washington Post and do what eventually resulted in this? I didn't know. And I can promise you it took me longer than the two or three weeks you all are whining about. Even Cornhizer used to call me every morning, what are you doing? I'm taking my damn time. I'm figuring it out. It's my life. He's got a daughter, he's got a wife, he's got a home. So take your time. LeBron. What? So what? What is it that you need? If I was. If I was LeBron, I'd call up Adam Silver and I say, if I decide on the eve of Halloween, you'll take the decision and like it. Shut up. The whining across America about LeBron's decision is really making me angry.
- [03:46]
B
Mike. Mike, the guy's whole life has been planned out. You honestly are going to sit here. He knew he probably was going to be back with the Lakers for months. You really don't think that he knows what his next move is?
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A
Not this one. This is the hardest in some ways. It's only two years, Frank. Maybe this is the hardest one. And so we get it. You see him with his daughter, walking around, his sons are already gone. But I know how that feels. You know how that feels. He's got to make a decision that's bigger than him. That was not the case. We're going to win. Five, six, seven. It wasn't. So now LeBron's got this thing, other interests. He's got golf. Stephen A. Doesn't know what a golf ball is, so he can't address it. Even though he says stuff like, well, the golf doesn't matter. Stephen A. Wouldn't know golf from a hockey puck. And so there are decisions that LeBron has that are in front of him. And if he wants to take till Halloween, I'm with him. Good.
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B
You know at that sports convention that they had in New York last week? Yeah. The one where you charged about $900 for a picture. He had four appearances, and a couple of those were his podcasts. And he didn't say anything.
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A
Good.
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B
Mike, believe me, he knows where he's going. And you knew where you were going to. We were not going. In that case. All right, let's move to baseball. And two teams on the rise. The Red Sox beat the Orioles last night for their 14th straight win, the team's second longest in history, and that's a pretty long history. And the brewers beat the Mets to pass the Dodgers as the team with the best record in baseball. What's the bigger deal, Mike?
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A
It's not close. It's the Brewers. The Brewers. The brewers are supposed to be in a rebuilding year. Yes. The brewers were looked at as a team that was sort of starting over. They got some great building blocks. They still got yellowish. They got the Miz. And if you have an ace like the Miz, you can be in it. I realize that. And they. By the way, I thought they protected him pretty well last night. You don't have to go seven, you know. You don't have to. It's nice for those of us who like starting pitching, even though we hate cheeseheads, to see the Miz doing what he's doing. I don't know how long you can continue 104 miles an hour. I don't. And I don't wish, mind you, I not wish him ill. I wish him nothing but health, even though he's a rival of my team. The Dodgers spend $200 billion. The brewers do not. I'm not going to say the brewers are Billy Beans Moneyball, because I don't necessarily believe that. The brewers are terrific. Every year they win 90 or more every damn year.
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B
Yeah.
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For the brewers to eclipse the Dodgers. I know it's temporary. We got a long way to go. That is the most important development in baseball last night.
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B
And it's still hard to believe when you think about the Brewers. The last time they were in the world series was 1982. And back then, of course, they were in the American League. It's been a long time. But come on, Mike, it's the Red Sox.
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A
No, it's not.
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Then last night, with Caleb Duran, the 5 foot 7 infielder, he's hitting a home run over the Green Monster, two outs Game tied, beating the Orioles, who by the way came in with a seven game winning streak.
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A
Orioles.
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B
So Orioles, Orioles.
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A
Orioles.
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Orioles. Well, no, that they had won seven in a row, though. It was a big deal. And Wilson Contreras after the game talked about the emotion in the stadium. You, he compared it to the World Baseball Classic when he was on Venezuela. And they've won. So good things are happening in Boston. I still think Scotland being there for the World Cup. There's a couple of good vibes from the tartan army. But here, here's a couple of stats for you. I want you to think about this. The last time the Red Sox won 15 games in a row was 80 years ago. Ted Williams was on the team.
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A
It's a great season, great stretch they're having, no doubt. But it ain't the Brewers. They in first place. Brewers in first place in the whole damn league. The Brewers.
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B
But, but, but think about this now. Since 1961, there have been seven streaks of 15 or more wins.
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A
Stop.
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B
That's not a lot.
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A
Stop with that. Don't give me analytics.
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B
Stop. That is a.
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A
Let me give you a number.
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B
That's a big deal.
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First damn place. You like that number?
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B
One day for one day.
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It could change the Dodgers at the
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end of the week.
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The Dodgers, who spent all the money, who everybody says is going to be a three peat ahead of the Dodgers. Don't get me this. The 19th team to have eaten orange slices and then have a winning streak of six more.
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B
Seventh, seventh streak of 15 or more in the last since 1961. It's an impressive stat.
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A
We're in our second day of World cup withdrawal, Frank and me. MLS is running a really smart promo campaign that boasts. We'll take it from here. Which raises the question, Frank, what opportunities has this World cup opened up in this market, our market, and how can MLS truly take it from here?
- [08:27]
B
All right, so let's think about it. The last time the World cup was here, in 1994, the MLS inaugural season didn't happen until 1996. So you still waited two years. Right now, you're starting up with a league that's been in place for 32 years. And Lionel Messi plays for one of the teams, arguably the greatest player of all time, still one of the best players in the world, had a great World cup, not a great final game, I'll give you that. I think the biggest thing though, for the MLS, if you think about Christian Pulisic, Weston McKinney, great American players, they play in Italy. Chris Richards, Tyler Adams, terrific American players. They play in England. The kid Balogun with the red card, he plays for Monaco. So, Mike, I'll give you a basketball analogy to this. You know, Pau Gasol grows up in Spain, and Spain has a great professional basketball league. His dream, though, is to play in the NBA. Luka Doncic played in Spain. His dream. Mike, American kids grow up wanting to play in Europe. I know. So it may take a couple more decades until those players say, where I want to be is for the LA Galaxy or for the Red Bulls. But a big part of it's going to be, are the owners willing to spend the money? Because if you want to bring the big players and compete, you got to spend. So.
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A
So starting as soon as that. That promo went on Sunday night, and it's. It's just brilliantly done. My first question is, okay, then, then take it from here, damn it. Then let's do it.
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B
Yeah.
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A
But I realized, frankly, it still comes back to money. They can't just create more national broadcast money. And that's what we're talking about, not local markets. And I realize some, you know, they're local markets, richer than others. New York, la, obviously. But Frank, So what I start wondering is not just those American stars you mentioned, but in the case of Jude, in the case of Holland, these guys are young and they are in the prime of their careers or just entering yet. And they're so charismatic. Lamina Mall, we can't even talk about him. He's 19. Can you get those kids interested in playing in the United States? And what works against us right now is we can still see them. We can wake up on Saturday and Sunday morning and turn on our TVs here and see them. And it doesn't matter that they play for mls. Can MLS dent that? Is that reasonable?
- [10:40]
B
That's, I think, again, I think it's going to take a long time. And to your point, you know, Paul Tonario in the Athletic really had a good article about it today. And when you think about those television deals for La Liga, there's basically three teams that everybody wants to watch. It's Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid in England, there's about six or seven teams. Our American sports cultures, we want parody.
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A
Well, the last eight owners disposes a couple, Frank. They'd have to be, you know, wild card Jerry Jones, like, you know, 1989 version dudes, right?
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B
The Dodgers don't want it, that's for sure.
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A
They don't want parity. No, they don't want Barry. Let's take a break. But coming up, Cal Raleigh makes the Reds pay for wanting to face him. What's the word for Cincinnati's decision?
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And Trey Turner combines two homers with four missed plays.
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As you know, managing maintenance, repair and operations is never easy.
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But for the ones who always rise
- [11:43]
A
to the challenge, Granger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Kenny here to help you ignite your taste buds with firework freeze 5 hour energy shots. Juicy cherry, citrus lime and blue raspberry. It's that iconic freezer pop flavor that but with none of the guilty sugar. Aftermath the perfect summer kick. It's a delicious, portable zero sugar energy shot bursting with flavor. Bring on summer with firework freeze 5 hour energy shots. Available online at FiveHouseEnergy.com or on Amazon. Time to trade. Words of Frank what's first? The Reds walking the bases loaded to face Cal Raleigh. Last night was blank. All right, Frank, we got to pay attention here. 7th inning, Reds are down three nothing. And they get to the place where they got to have an intentional walk to set up the potential double play. But it's got to come from Cal Raleigh. First pitch to Cal Raleigh. Frank. Granny, get out of here. He had been hitting like 0. 45. I'm exaggerating slightly, like 10 home runs this season. What's the word for that? Mine is strategiary. Yes. Terry Francona is going to say, you know what? We're always playing the percentages. We hire people now and pay them a trillion dollars to help us play the percentages strategically.
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B
All right. I'm going to. Since I want to make you angry because your pool is dirty behind me and you got me upset in the first block. I. I'm going to go with a word that you hate.
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A
What?
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B
Analytically sound. Analytically sound. So think about this. A year ago, cal Raleigh had 38 home runs. He was almost a year to the day and he was coming off winning the Home Run Derby.
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A
Right.
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B
It's a huge story in baseball. You mentioned the 10 home runs. He's only hit two since mid June. He's batting.163 and the batter ahead of him here you had after him, Dominic Canzone had a 993 OPS against lefties. He's a lefty. Terry Francona was playing the percentages. I think he did the right thing by walking Canzone to pitch to Raleigh.
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A
Right thing, How'd that work out? Bang.
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B
I, I mean, doesn't always work out.
- [14:24]
A
You know that, that's a real dilemma. That should have been one of our words, should have been dilemma. Because that's a, That's a baseball 150 year old dilemma. What's next? Trey Turner's night was blank. Trey Turner had the up and down nights of all up and down nights. I mean, he has a misplay, then a double, then he goes, home run, then he goes misplay, misplay again, home run, misplay. And after each misplay, of course, in Philly, they're booing his brains out and then cheering wildly when he hits the home runs and the double. And ultimately, you know, they win the game. Frank, my word is going to be Philly special because their heads must have exploded because they couldn't just have a continuous reign of booze. It had to be interrupted somewhere with cheering, which they're loath to do even for their baseball heroes. Philly special.
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B
Yeah, they even gave him a bit of a mock cheer on the final out of the game. What's amazing, true for Turner, he had a huge night in terms of milestones. 200th home run, 300th career double. I'm going to go the plays in the field and I watched a lot of this game. You could tell he was frustrated. But I'm going to go with net positive because guess what? As your buddy Herm Edwards would say, you play to win the game.
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A
That's right.
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B
They won the game last night and that's part of it. And it's also a situation at the youngest age. They tell you when you make a mistake, just play through it. Keep playing, competing, keep playing. He's doing it at the highest level. In a place like Philadelphia, no less. I give Trey Turner a lot of credit for the way you handled it.
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A
It is difficult to play through that there. What's next? Yep, it's blank. That new Kentucky football coach Will Stein says he thinks the school can win, quote, because of me, end quote.
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B
How about this?
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A
This dude, Frank, I know he has some success in assistant in Oregon. I mean, a lot of success. But still, you go into the sec, you go into that conference which, my goodness, every year has a minimum seven or eight schools where you have to be sitting there in the off season going, my God, how do we beat These people, the schedule's always loaded and this guy comes in and just says, yeah, the difference is going to be me. My word is irresistible. Much more so than anything Arch Manning is going to do this season. Much more so than anything smug Greg Sankey has to say at these stupid SEC media day. Three things. These things that anger me so much. I want to see this dude at Kentucky. Kentucky doesn't care about football. Are they going to pay enough people? Are their boosters going to switch over from basketball and and leave Rupp arena and pay these football kids? I want to see it. It's irresistible.
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B
Thank God you walked right into my word. Indiana Jonesing. Think about it. Kentucky's a basketball school.
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A
Yeah.
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B
What's the last basketball school to win a national championship was Indiana.
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A
How did they do it?
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B
By mostly using players that are, you know, that are older than most NBA rosters through the transfer portal and according to all these experts, and Kentucky has a top 10. Think about this. By transfer portal clash. So it can be done. Including a quarterback from Notre Dame. You know what I like about this? These basketball schools could win. And it puts pressure on your school to win a national championship.
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A
There's no pressure.
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Indiana, maybe Kentucky, Northwestern on my school.
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Just, just, you know, get the stadium open and people like Frank can come and say, can I get a ticket into your nice new palace? And I'll say, probably not.
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B
And it's sweet. And it's sweet.
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A
We'll see. That's enough. Bring some riches. That's enough wordplay. Let's take one last break. But still to come, the angels snap a 106 game losing streak. We're gonna tell you how.
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And John Harbaugh reacts to Cam Scatterboo's fail flip. Oh boy.
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A
Frank, you are part of the Northwestern greater family. Are you coming to a game to see the new palace or what?
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B
Hunt. Yes. In the suite. In the suite with you.
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A
Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an audible. With a SOFI personal loan it consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required and with as soon as the same day funding you can make the right play fast. Call an audible on your debt today@sofi.com debtplay loans originated by SoFi Bank NA member FDIC. Terms and conditions apply. NM LS 696891 fast funds term supply@sofi.com detplay smalls here.
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C
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- [20:07]
A
Always consult your doctor to determine if this product is right for you. Time to get Happy people. Happy 26th birthday. Erling Haaland Haaland has been an international star for years, but he was one of the players whose personality and play captured the imaginations of casual fans during Norway's World cup run of the quarters. Haaland scored seven goals during the tournament and added more than 30 million Instagram followers. He now has more than 72 million followers, whereas the Man City club for which he plays has a total of 56 million. As a souvenir from his time in the States, Holland took home a taxidermied raccoon holding a whiskey bottle.
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He loved every minute of being here in the United States. I got to go to one of the games, the one against Brazil where he scored scored the two goals. Holland loves everything about the United States. We were talking about the mls. I think at one point he will play here. Not maybe for a while, but I do think he'll play.
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A
Who loves the attention more, Holland or Lebron? A not so happy anniversary to Klay Kirby. This is posthumous. But on this day 56 years ago, the Padres righty was no hitting the Mets through eight. When manager Preston Gomez lifted him for a pinch hitter reason, the Padres were improbably losing one nothing. San Diego fans booed the decision, which backfired because the Padres didn't score yet gave up two more in the ninth to lose three nothing. Worse, the Padres were 20 games under.500 at the time, Kirby said. Years later a no hitter would have given the franchise a much bigger boost than one more win. If it had been the seventh game of the World Series, I could understand it I guess, but we were in last place. Said his manager Gomez. I don't play for the fans. You play to win.
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Couple of interesting stats from that. Ceto Gaston was the pinch hitter that was used and it took until 2021 for the Padres to become the last active team in the majors to finally get a no hitter. Took a while.
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A
Took a while. Took quite a while. Happy trails to the St. Louis Cardinals on a walk off of the second straight night. The Cards were up one on the Angels in the bottom of the ninth last night when All Star closer Riley O' Brien gave up a game tying double to Vaughn Grissom. O' Brien then intentionally walked Josh Lowe to load the bases and face the slumping Joe Adele, whom o' Brien then plunked to force in the winning run. These were the first earned runs o' Brien had allowed in a month and the Angels had lost their previous 106 games when trailing entering the ninth. All of this follows St. Louis Sunday night loss to the Diamondbacks in extras on Max Kepler's double.
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B
They led seven nothing in that game. They blew a seven zero lead by the way. Adele came into that game last night. 00:24 slump. But he did have a home run and a single.
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A
And they're talking about Joe Adele's name in trade talks, which is sort of interesting giving his prowess in the outfield. No errors today. Let's get to the big finish quickly. The Twins All Star starter Joe Ryan gave up six homers to the Guardians last night. Wow. Frank, your thoughts?
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B
Ten other pitchers have allowed that in baseball's modern era. I'm going to give you Mike's cell phone. He'll give you the names of the other nine. Connor Bedard says free agent Patrick Kane returning to the Blackhawks would be quote, incredible. You agree?
- [23:36]
A
Amen. They should have done this a year and a half ago. Yes. Get him back. Patrick Kane. The Yankees still have no timeline for Giancarlo Stanton's return. Your reaction?
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B
He's played only 24 games this season. He hasn't played in a few months. I don't think we're gonna see him again. The Mystics snapped the Valkyries nine game winning streak. Are you impressed?
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A
Yes. But not like with Olivia Miles. And 32. 8. 8. She could be the MVP, not just rookie of the year. Last one. John Harbaugh's reaction to Cam Skettaboo Field backflip was, dude, at least stick it. You like that
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he landed and then fell back. The poor kid. He's a great player, but he gets hurt way too much. We're out of time. Thanks for watching. I'm Frank Isola.
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A
And I'm Mike Wilbaugh. We're on the deuce again. Somehow. Tomorrow, knuckleheads Buster only here for La Quinta by Windham Summer mornings move fast, whether you're heading to the job site or catching the first pitch. But not every hotel makes it easy to start your day right. At La Quinta by Wyndham, you can wake up to a free Bright side breakfast, including hot waffles, fresh fruit, eggs, yogurt and more. It's the kind of lineup that helps you knock your morning out of the park. And while you're at it, book your next work trip@laquinta.com to earn Wyndham rewards points with your qualified Stay tonight La Quinta. Tomorrow you shine. Terms and conditions apply.