Astros No-Hit the Rangers, Nico Collins Reworks His Deal, Knicks Finals Bound

Tuesday on The A-Team, Adam Clanton and Adam Wexler react to the Astros no-hitter vs. the Rangers, share their thoughts on Nico Collins getting a raise, discuss the Knicks advancing, and much more.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is a post Memorial Day edition of the eighteen

(00:03):
Sports Sox seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
It is a Tuesday.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
I hope you guys enjoyed the long weekend, had a
happy holiday and all that good stuff. Wex Ac and
Josh Jordan with you as we jump right back into
the week. And it doesn't matter what's going on in uh,
the world of the Houston Astros, at any given moment,
they are going to be far more likely than not

(00:28):
to throw some sort of no hitter.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
I was looking at that yesterday.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
And it was like, really like it was the most
maybe the most unexpected no hitter in Astro's history. With that,
I mean, none of them are expected, but at least
sometimes when certain guys are on the mound, certain starters,
you know, when Justin Verlander had a couple.

Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yeah on our own, When Sanchez is on the mound,
you got Viagenie and Davinski to turn too.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
It's much more likely.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Like tatsia Emi starting a combined no hitter in twenty
twenty six is the most laughably insane Slash twenty twenty
six Astros thing ever. I would have to to kind
of chalk it up to that, because nothing about this
season has made sense in the time since we've left
and come back. Jordan Alvarez has gotten hurt and then

(01:16):
he's fine again and hit a home run. I mean,
there's just all sorts of stuff about this season. It's
just insane. I mean, I know some of it's it's baseball,
but some of it, like yesterday.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
Is just I don't know. I don't know what to
do with this team. Enjoy it.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
They are absolutely in it. And as we've been saying, mathematically,
they've always been in it. All they had to do
is start playing good baseball, and it had to start
with pitching. And yesterday was not the start of pitching. Well,
yesterday was a continuation of pitching. Well, that's what this
whole month has been about. It's why they've made up
ground in the division. It's why they are one of
just a few teams that's won more games than they've

(01:50):
lost in the American League for this month. And we
have less than a week less of a month. You've
played two months of baseball plus a week, and you've
had a good month. You've had a better month than
almost everybody in the American League. That matters, because the
Yankees and Rays don't, and probably the Guardians don't either,
but everybody else does. And you've essentially outplayed all of
them but the White Sox, which is nuts. Well, that's

(02:13):
how you get back in the race, and it all
starts with pitching. Either pitching has been incredibly improved. They're
not incredible yesterday they were incredible, but they're incredibly improved.
They had the worst pitching staff in baseball and it
wasn't even close. If the twenty ninth worst pitching staff
was given up five runs per game, the Astros are
given up six. And that's what the first few days

(02:34):
of March and the month of April produce.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
And that's why they were falling out of the race.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
That's why we had questions about management, both above the
dugout and in the dugouts. Why we had questions about
the players that were taking care of nothing. No business
was being taken care of. And all of a sudden,
their pitching staff is back to kind of where they
were last year, with a bunch of different names but
similar results, somewhere in the middle of the pack, era

(02:57):
little closer to the top than the bottom, but not
in the top ten. And their offense, which for the
most part up until the last few games, not very
good this month.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
All of a sudden, you score a few runs and
you win a bunch of games.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
They have a four game winning streak heading into the
first of the last three games of this Ranger series.
They've played the Rangers four times, They've only lost once.
They've shut them out twice, obviously, including yesterday, so all
that big picture stuff is certainly headed in the right direction.
You've had one full trip through the rotation once Jason
Alexander joined it, and he again gets the start tonight.

(03:32):
Your last six starts, you've won five of those games,
and mostly because you've gotten good enough starting pitching to
get there. He certainly was a part of it. That's
all fun, and we've got lots of time to talk
about it, but man, that was something, and it does
bother me a little bit. I recognize that nine innings
from one pitcher without allowing any hits is a little

(03:52):
bit different, but I don't really take any less pleasure
in watching a team get twenty seven outs without allowing
a hit. I'm glad it go those of the record
books as such, because it's pretty simple. Did they get
any hits?

Speaker 4 (04:03):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Huh, and it's a no hitter.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
But you got a bunch of old people that have
been covering the game for a long time that are
crapping on it, and it's just amazing.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
They can't just enjoy what everybody else does.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
Everybody at the ballpark, a lot of them were wearing
Astros gear, everybody listening on the radio here on Sports
Talk seven ninety, watching on TV, watching on every other
network that was picking it up. Because they were an
out of way, two outs away, three outs away. You're
supposed to enjoy it, especially when things that don't happen
as often for every other major league franchise does happen.

(04:37):
Five times they've had a combined no hitter. Nobody else
has more than two. Eighteen times they've thrown a no
hitter overall, including playoffs in both cases, and nobody else
since the Astros have existed, have thrown more than thirteen,
and they've thrown seven in the past eight years. They
are the no hitter Kings. And yesterday's baseball was freaking awesome.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
Yeah, yeah, Well, there's something to be said for whoever
you were talking about.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Who are these people?

Speaker 1 (05:04):
John and Bob Okay, Well, John and Bob. I understand
where they're coming from. From the standpoint of you want
to say, it's more impressive if one person does it,
but handing off the.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
One person does it. So what does that mean?

Speaker 3 (05:16):
That means he had it, he had his good stuff,
He knew how to get guys out, you know, how
to create weak contact just the one guy, right, what
about trying to get that from two guys, trying to
get that from three guys.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, and the astros case four or five guys.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
When you get when you've got to hand it off
and then Dave got to keep it going with completely
different set of skills, different approach, different command, different velocity.
I mean, there's just so many variables that go into
a pitcher having success. There is an argument to be
made that combine no hitters are maybe even more impressive

(05:52):
because of those factors.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
Yeah, it kind of depends on who you who you
have at your disposal. I already mocked the Beagenie no hitter,
but that's kind of my point. There are some times
in Major League Baseball, especially in the last fifteen years,
where your starter's awesome. He goes out there and he crushes,
but he's at ninety eight, one hundred and five hundred
and seven pitches and you still got six more outs
to go. Well, then you turn to somebody throwing one
hundred and two, and then you turn to somebody else

(06:16):
throwing ninety nine. I mean, some bullpens are made like that,
and sometimes you get to the point in the schedule
it just happens to fall on a day where your
best are available. The Astros bullpen doesn't contain anybody like that.
I mean, their hardest throwers throwing two innings for them
this year. Nate Pearson, who made his debut over the
week that they've been on the road, and he wasn't
even involved in yesterday's game. I think it's incredibly impressive

(06:39):
to keep anybody from getting any hits. I'm actually a
little ticked about that, but happy that nobody has trotted
out the obvious complaint if they want to. Yeah, but
come on, man, that was the Rangers. They know hit
the Rangers. And I don't mean that in the rivalry sense.
I mean that in the This is absolutely positively one

(07:00):
of the worst offenses in baseball, and they were missing
several bats that actually have been good. And I don't
mean Corey seeger and I don't mean why at Langford,
even though they have a nice enough track record, they've
both been terrible this year. Both were out of the lineup.
Josh Young was out of the lineup, Josh Smith was
out of the lineup. Jake Berger wasn't even starting. Those
are probably the five guys, their everyday players. None of

(07:20):
them were there, so they took advantage of it. And
nobody looks into a no hitter, and will ever say that,
certainly not as we move forward into the future. And
it did all start miraculously poorly, just beyond belief poorly.
Tatsuya Emi could not throw pitches over the plate, and
the Rangers knew it immediately, and Jock Peterson was smart.

(07:45):
On the fourth pitch of the game, the fourth straight
non competitive pitch that tatsuya Emi threw, it wasn't even
close to a strike, and the umpire behind the plate,
who was gosh man, he had some weird calls in
last night or yesterday's game. He did didn't even bother challenging.
He's like, the next pitch isn't gonna be close either,
and it wasn't. And you walked the first two bat

(08:05):
you threw twenty four pitches in the first inning, and
the Rangers swung at two of them. Only seven of
them were over the plate and strikes. Two others got
called strikes but they weren't, and you got out of it.
Both times the Rangers swung at pitches, they got outs,
and they got three outs on those two swings. The
double playoff for the first two walks and the pop

(08:26):
out or pop fly from Evan Carter. Emight was pretty
good after that for the next five innings. One walk, obviously,
no hits, a couple of strikeouts are not much drama
or trouble.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
Going back to what you said about, oh but it
was the Rangers, oh, or you know, oh but it
was filling the blank, this terrible lineup, this terrible team.
I'll go back to the combined no hitter aspect, like
you can still have, like who was their best hitter
in yesterday's lineup. I know you just rattled off everybody
who wasn't there the ran like That's what I'm saying,

(08:56):
and that so it's not a good example. But for
the most part, I have major league quality hitter at
least one in every lineup, unless you're just a god
awful team.

Speaker 5 (09:09):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (09:10):
Like, and you face bad offenses all the time. Yeah,
you don't throw no hitters all the time, right, Like, Okay,
let's just say that's what it is.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
Okay, you have one guy that can hurt you in
a line, you still have to get him out somehow,
or you have to get him if you want to
walk him intentionally or whatever. You still have to account
for that person every time through when you're doing this.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
And the other thing that no hitters are almost always
something that they include, and yesterday was no different. Gotta
have guys flashing it. Oh my gosh, Jeremy Penny, you
made an unbelievable play on Peterson up the middle. Obviously,
Jake Myers chasing a couple of very hard hit balls
into the gap to his right in last night's game,
he took care of it. Christian Walker, I mean, I know,

(09:53):
people live and die because they don't watch games. They
live and die on the dumb defensive statistics that have
now been produced. If you have fourteen scoops, doesn't that
basically mean that's fourteen errors your team now hasn't made.
Because Christian Walker leads the league with fourteen scoops, I
finally found those numbers we've been talking about.

Speaker 2 (10:12):
That matters.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
That matters a lot, and it obviously mattered it pretty
much all weekend since we were last with you. He
did it a bunch of times against the Cubs in
that three game sweep, and he did it again yesterday,
all while he's crushing the ball trying to say, hey, hey, hey,
you're done. I passed you in RBIs And that's how
it's gonna stay. My friend with his six RBIs over
the weekend when Backspasm's got the best of Yord on

(10:34):
four as you said, one game. Joe Spoto was on
the station earlier today and he did acknowledge they will
essentially be monitoring it pretty much all the time now
until they're certain there's no issue. So we'll get to
the ballpark today, they'll check him out and see how
things are going. But based on how things went yesterday
when he casually crushed the ball over the fence for

(10:55):
his sixteenth home run of the year, everything does look
good with Jordon. We'll have the lineup for you sure
a little bit later on the show. It is a
Jason Alexander start, and obviously it's time, it looks like
if they continue this road trip the way it has started,
get back home for a handful of series at home
and a very important series against another team in their
division coming up, the Athletics, they're absolutely within range of

(11:19):
the wild card race and absolutely within range of the
division lead. Now one game passed one third of the
way through the season. After yesterday's game, fifty five eighteen
no hitters in Astro's franchise history.

Speaker 1 (11:34):
It is an absolutely mind boggling number. They're probably gonna
be people that are just saying they were cheating. I
know tatsu Emi was cheating.

Speaker 3 (11:42):
So was Billy Wagner, and so was Pete Monroe, and
so is Don Wilson, and so was Justin Erlin Or.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
Was Mike Scott. I mean, come on, man.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
Yeah, it's it's fun. It's fun to watch and hear
the crying and the tears, all right. So, yeah, obviously
the Astros throwing a no no, what did they think
about it?

Speaker 2 (12:02):
For example? That's some of the things we'll get to next.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
We're also scheduled to be joined this hour by Astros
infielder Nick Allen, so that should be happening at the
bottom of the hour. A lot of Astro's conversation get
to on the Tuesday back following the holiday. So we
were talking with a member of the staff just now
and based on what this person said, and I'm I'm

(12:28):
kind of remembering how it all went down as the
no hitter was going down yesterday, most unlikely lightly regarded unaware,
Like I know you were watching it and you were
living and dying with every pitch wex But that's what
you do with everything. You watch every press conference, you

(12:51):
watch every game.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
You man, Donovan Mitchell almost four minutes on people missing
the boat, on who James Harden is.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
We'll have that for you later.

Speaker 6 (12:58):
Yeah, we're texting with somebody over the weekend talking about
the hockey playoffs, which, by the way, people are making
comparisons because that's what you do this time of year
to what NHL playoff action versus NBA playoff action.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
What is the comparison? Just if you enlighten me.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
Uh, most people will tell you that pound for pound,
NHL playoffs completely destroys NBA playoffs.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
I mean, if you like hockey, Yeah, there's no pretty
much no argument.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
Maybe from an entertainment standpoint.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
Like the hockey playoffs in twenty twenty six are just
as exciting as they were in nineteen eighty. And yet
we sit here in the NBA, say, oh, in the
nineteen eighty they were blout da dah dah, and here
in twenty twenty six, now it's there's really no comparison
because of that, And it's even yesterday's a good today's
a good day to talk about it because what happened
in the Canadians game where they probably win if they

(13:51):
don't make the off sides call in the third period,
but they should have and I'm glad they did because
it was off sides, but it was kind of conversial.
Was clearly the right call, but it took what otherwise
would have been the game winning goal off the board.
And it's pretty much the only time, unless you think
they miss applied some penalty, we talk about the officials

(14:12):
in a hockey game.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
We almost net. There's almost a reason too, because they're
not involved in that way. Does anybody ever say, because
there's an offsidees call, does anybody ever say you can't
call that in that situation like they do in the NBA?

Speaker 3 (14:24):
They know, I really don't think so. Like I was
listening to two hockey analysts talk about it this morning,
and they're like, of course it's the right call, and
of course you have to make the call. I mean,
it happened, it was actually it wasn't even a controversial.
Maybe he was maybe he was definitely in the zone
and the puck hadn't quite gotten there yet.

Speaker 1 (14:41):
It was is a very easy call. Well, that's also
a black and white rule.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
Definitely.

Speaker 3 (14:45):
The other part of you, you're did he cross check
him a little bit too hard? Was that hit into
the boards to the level of a penalty?

Speaker 4 (14:53):
You know?

Speaker 2 (14:53):
Did he high stick? Did he hook? There's there's levels
of is that a block charge? But nothing. It's not
like the NBA in that half.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
Court is half court? Five seconds? Is five seconds even?

Speaker 3 (15:04):
Well five seconds in the NBA isn't Has he thrown
it in yet, I don't know. Has it been five seconds?
I don't know he has my fan gone out to
the side five times. I'm not sure yet. Now the
eight second call, luckily they use the shot clock for
that three second call. I don't know. Was he in
the lane for three seconds? I don't know was he
in the lane for eight seconds? Which it's just that's

(15:25):
where it's most different. And that's why I do think
there's an element of saying hockey is that it's just
are there are as many people and certainly our audience
on board with that. I don't think they're locked in
on which non local team does well in this year's
postseason in hockey.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
I will say this about that.

Speaker 1 (15:44):
As it pertains to playoff officiating, I don't watch the
NHL playoffs enough to know, but I just I have
to guess that there's not nearly the fure from fans
about who is officiating a game, how it gets officiated.

Speaker 2 (16:02):
In the NHL.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
I almost never hear, like if I'm hearing about some
sort of officiating gaff in an NHL game of any kind,
let alone playoffs, like something major happened and it's I
can't tell you last time that happened.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
This happens every night in the NBA.

Speaker 3 (16:16):
Well, if you wanted to, I mean, I've looked up obviously.
Like you said, I'm locked in on everything. As long
as it's on TV, I'm locked in or streaming service.
I am aware of what everybody else is seeing, and
I'm not blind to this call. Probably went the wrong
way and they're falling for all this flopping nonsense. Sure,
but you know, the basketball to me, to me, very
small group of me, I don't know if anybody else

(16:37):
is in it.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
Is the most important thing. No, just what I've watched.

Speaker 3 (16:41):
Other than the lack of competition in the Eastern Conference,
I'm entertained, but I'm sorry. What has happened in this
year's postseason has been storyline full and entertaining. I wish
what's happening in the West was happening less because even
I can't turn a blind eye to see the amount
of bodies on the court for no reason. But beyond that,

(17:03):
the games, the competitive level between the two teams in
the West is it's elite. At least are two outstanding teams.
We still are seeing great basketball plays being made. You
can debate whether we're seeing great basketball being played, but
we're seeing great plays being made.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
I think, outside of anything Oklahoma City related, which has
been both not competitive until now and completely nauseating the
stomach if you want to call it basketball, what they
do on both ends, by the way. Aside from that
and the first round matchup between the Lakers and the Rockets,
which was just awful, I'd probably agree with you. Anything

(17:41):
that was involving the Timberwolves was really good. I think
in the West, you know this year, and there's been
some moments in the East, but it is I mean,
the fact that the Knicks are on this run. I
don't think they're gonna win Spencer's left, but if they did,
it wouldn't be the biggest surprise ever, just because of
the way they're They're one of those playing hot at

(18:03):
the right time.

Speaker 3 (18:04):
It will only be a big surprise to the people
that don't pay attention.

Speaker 2 (18:07):
They're not necessary.

Speaker 3 (18:08):
If they win, they will be beating a somewhat hurt
Spurs team or a somewhat hurt Thunder team, whichever one
of them gets there. There's pretty much no way Jalen
Williams at aj Mitchell are both gonna be fully healthy
for the finals if they get there, and there's pretty
much in no way Dylan Harper and Dearon Fox are
gonna be fully healthy for the finals, let alone. Who
else might go down in what are at least two
more games, Game five tonight, in Game six and two

(18:30):
nights because the series is tied it two.

Speaker 2 (18:31):
And the Knicks are pretty healthy by the way.

Speaker 3 (18:33):
Og Ananubi has been hurt during the postseason, and he's
probably not at one hundred percent. Maybe he's like Daron
Fox or something, Dylan Harper or something like that, but
he's out there and he's playing very well and he matters.
So yes, they're very, very healthy, and this will be
the second time they have got an extended rest. The
last team they played, the Cavs, they played a seven
game series while the Knicks swept. The next team they play, well,

(18:56):
they're playing at least a six game series while the
Knicks swept again, and they already set the dates for
the finals. Today is the twenty sixth of May. It's
the first of many days off in a row for
the New York Knicks. A week from tomorrow, they'll be
making their second trip since their series ended. They left
Cleveland for New York, where they will stay until Monday

(19:19):
of next week. I suppose Wednesday night, June, third game
one of the NBA Finals. Well, that was set weeks
and weeks ago, and they'll be a well rested. Well,
they were very well rested, and a Nubi for that matter,
should have even more time to be at his best
rest versus rust I don't know. They're gonna be playing
a good team. That will be the difference. They have
not played a good team for quite some time.

Speaker 1 (19:40):
Yeah, it's gonna be very very interesting to see how
that all goes down. First things first, though Western Conference
Finals has to be determined. We will get to some
of the reaction from the Astros on that no hitter,
that combined no hitter yesterday, But we're gonna get reaction
from another guy on the team, Nick Allen, scheduled to
join us next here on the phone line. As we

(20:00):
are joined by an Astros guest each and every week
he is up.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
He will be with us when we return.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
It is the A Team's Smart Sox seven ninety Adam
Wexeler over there, Adam Clanton right here, as we continue
on a Tuesday edition of the program as promised, joined
by Astros infielder Nick Allen here on the show. Nick,
good to have you on the program, and uh, we're
probably catching up with you at one of the most
exciting times of the season. You guys are playing some

(20:28):
of your best baseball right now.

Speaker 4 (20:31):
Yeah, first, thanks for having me on. Yeah, no, we're
playing good baseball right now, So just trying to keep
that going.

Speaker 3 (20:37):
Are you trying to focus on the baseball so everybody
at the house can focus on what they need to
focus on.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
We know it's getting close.

Speaker 4 (20:45):
Yeah, yeah, or just we're a couple of weeks away,
so no, it's exciting times for sure. But yeah, you know,
my wife's back back at home in San Diego, so
I'm kind of solo right now. But it's you know,
definitely exciting time in the Allen household.

Speaker 3 (21:01):
Well, you were there in San Diego for high school
before you made it through your major league career, through
a couple of different stops here to Houston. You definitely
have what would be categorized as a baseball family if
you could indulge our fans a little bit. As you
noted your wife is soon to be giving birth to
a child and is from a baseball family herself.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
Just a little bit of background on that.

Speaker 4 (21:22):
Yeah, I'm married in I'd say to the Boone family.
My wife's you know, original name, Savannah Boone, na San Allen,
but the father is Brett Boone played for a couple
of teams, Reds Mariners in his career, So yeah, definitely
I knew that. My baseball pedigree can it? How would

(21:45):
I say, impress my now wife? So I definitely just
had to winter over with some charm.

Speaker 3 (21:52):
I mean, you're kind of sounds like you're selling yourself
a little bit short here, Nick, I don't.

Speaker 2 (21:55):
I don't think you need to do that.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
I mean they were essentially I mean, Aaron's middle leaner,
Brett's a middle infielder. You're a middle infielder who plays
all the positions splendidly. That that seemed that sounds like
enough to me and probably to her.

Speaker 4 (22:11):
No, it is.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
Yes, it's pretty.

Speaker 3 (22:13):
An interesting story for a lot of your teammates here
last year with Christian Walker, just as the season began
this year with a Spencer Raghetti and twins. How have
things been handled with we know how big a part
of making it all happen the wives are in all
these situations. I believe both Christian and Spencer have called
their wives rock stars through this process.

Speaker 2 (22:34):
I imagine you would do the same.

Speaker 4 (22:36):
Oh, one thousand percent. No, Savannah has been just tremendous
in this process. It's definitely not been easy. So it's
just like I'm just trying to be there for her
any time I can. But she's been handling it. Yes,
like a rockstar one thousand percent.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
You never hear guys say that their wives really an
opera singer. It's always a rock star. No, it's I
get that, and I think we all that have kids
have somebody like that. By the way, do you know
what the child will be yet?

Speaker 4 (23:05):
Yes, it's a girl.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
Okay, because with.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
The with the the genes we're talking about here, the
cross pollination, so to speak.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
You know, I have a serious athlete on your hands.

Speaker 4 (23:16):
No, I know, I mean, yeah, just you know, we're
obviously hoping for you know, healthy baby and and and all.
But yeah, I mean, I guess you know, we have
a son, you know, God willing or I mean, I
guess maybe the first female baseball player to make the
major league.

Speaker 3 (23:34):
You never know, You never know what's gonna happen, and
that probably encapsulates you and your teammates season so far,
four game winning streaks, which you take into tonight. H
love to talk about your five for eight over the
last two games. I would love to, but I'm I'm sorry,
I'm gonna have to start with the no hitter. Tell
us about your experience being a part of all that
last night.

Speaker 4 (23:55):
Oh it was amazing. I think I looked up around
I say, it's the fifth inning. It could have been
the fourth, but I was like, man, you know, we're
throwing a really good game here. See oh no hits.
That's that's good. Keep keep an eye on that one.
And then ings just kept kind of rolling on, and
uh no, I got fearous for sure. They were in
the eighth inning and then the night. Think I was

(24:16):
just wondering if I've ever been a part of one,
so now I can say that I have. So that
was that was awesome. Pictures have been just throwing the
ball really really well lately. So uh, it's up to
us on the offensive side just to you know, take
care of business and uh so we can win some
ball games there.

Speaker 3 (24:30):
While you were in Chicago, did two of the three
pitchers that threw that no hitter last night get you
coffee when they when they went down to Starbucks.

Speaker 4 (24:39):
I'm not a big coffee guy, so I didn't make
an order, So no, no they didn't. But uh, that's
it's such a great tradition there for that to happen.
I'm glad. You know, that's something that's just uh uh
a known thing that you know rookies to do in Chicago,
So it's just we're just trying to keep that going.

Speaker 3 (25:01):
Was it cool to celebrate with the rookie who finished
the game and the rookie who started the game.

Speaker 2 (25:07):
Yes, yes, they were pumped.

Speaker 4 (25:09):
Just you know, I think for Santa for sure, like
just making his big, big debut and doing that and
coming out and throwing two really really great innings and
then Freemi to to you know, do his thing and
throw really really well. It's it's fun to see.

Speaker 1 (25:24):
I know you mentioned you know, you don't always it's
rare that some guys are even a part of these things.
But I'm sure you've been in games where at least
got close, it got into the later stages. When's the
latest you've ever realized like you were a part of
a potential no hitter? Like, did you do you lose
track of that kind of thing on the on the
scoreboard in whatever stadium you happen to be in.

Speaker 4 (25:45):
I think you can. Yeah, I don't know, I can't
tell you when's maybe the latest I recognize that, Oh wow,
with throwing no hitter, maybe it had to been maybe
a seventh inning. That's probably the latest, because then around
that time, you're just one and like, oh wait, you know,
we're throwing a really good game. We're putting up zero,
so let's you kind of check the scoreboard and at
that time you'll probably see, you know, no hits on

(26:07):
the board or something like that.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
Well, yeah, and for a guy like you, especially the
position you play at any given moment, when when you're
on the infield, you know, pictures have nerves and all
that kind of thing. But I got to think that,
especially the guys immediately behind them defensively, are always kind
of very on edge, if you will, when you don't
want to be the guy that messes it up.

Speaker 4 (26:29):
No, no, yeah, you're you're you're on edge, and you're
trying to make every single play possible out there for
the picture. So the juices are flowing, you know, you
kind of feel like you can run ten times faster,
which is kind of cool.

Speaker 3 (26:44):
Nick Allen joining us here on the eight team here
on Sports Talk seven ninety. I've been in the lineup
the last couple of days, and as I mentioned earlier,
five hits, three runs for RBI is some very key
at bats, and as everybody who's listening to the game
or watching the game knows. I'm curious if you knew
how long it had been since you pop one over
the fence like you did over those last couple of games.

Speaker 4 (27:06):
I've known. You know, sometimes they're just sneaking out of
there and you know it'll I'll hit a couple or whatnot,
you know, in a season. But for it hasn't been
since i say, last spring training for me for me
to do that, So it's definitely been a while. So
it was nice to kind of get that monkey off
the back a little bit and now just try and
put up, get up bats and do it. I can't

(27:28):
help the team win.

Speaker 3 (27:29):
The team, unfortunately, has had all sorts of issues that well,
injuries at both all three third base, shortstop, and second base,
all positions that you can play and have played. You're
out there regularly now with Jeremy Paynea. Defense is part
of a no hitter. Defense is a part of a
lot of what Joe Spotta likes to do when he
has players that can assist laden games. There are a
lot of defensive switches. As the role that you've taken

(27:50):
on here this year, the one that you thought you
would have when you were acquired by the Astros in
the offseason.

Speaker 4 (27:56):
Yeah, I mean if you look around infield, just you know,
especially when when we when we first got here, it's
just guys that have done a lot in this game,
have had a lot of success. So you're just coming
in like a work Can I help work? Can I
fit in? And I definitely try to make that I'd say,
you know, Ben troll Is, you know, do the best
I can in that position. You know, Unfortunately with some

(28:18):
of these injuries, now it's like, you know, step into
the role of you're going to be playing a little
bit more so now It's not something that I'm not
used to, you know, coming up and play every day.
You know, in my time with Oakland and Atlanta, you know,
playing a lot, and so I'm used to it. I'm
ready for it. But yeah, I think with how many
talented guys we have here, it's like just be prepared

(28:39):
with whatever role you got and try to do the
most with it.

Speaker 3 (28:43):
As we've heard from guys all throughout the season, whether
the team was in a stretch of poor baseball with
losses or differently as they are now, the same response
is what we get from everybody about how the vibe
inside the clubhouse has remained very constant and rather upbeat
despite being a team well under five hundred.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
Does that still out? Is it how it's been?

Speaker 3 (29:02):
And has it stayed that way over a sweep of
the Cubs And as you get to the ballpark there
in Arlington today, you.

Speaker 4 (29:08):
Know it's been. It's been amazing. The guys in the
clubhouse are awesome. We all like each other a lot,
so it's no problems there, you know, And there's you know,
now we're playing really good baseball right now, in which
you know, we weren't stretching because we know we can
do this. So now it's just keep stretching, keep going,
keep keep putting a good baseball out on the s field,

(29:30):
and and you know, let the Chips follower than they
I know, it.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
Might be a little bit different because of where team,
where both of these teams are right now, and the
standings and whatnot. But did anybody ever take you aside
and tell you how much we hate the Rangers here
in Houston as you became part of things.

Speaker 4 (29:46):
No, not at all. I haven't heard that at all,
but you can tell. I think with coming here and
seeing how many fans are in attendance, that, you know,
there's just a little something different here.

Speaker 3 (29:56):
How how was that as we let you go here?
How was the feeling from inside the stadium? By the
time it was you know, it'd gotten a nine to
nothing midway through the game, the no hitter was still alive.
There's been a lot of road or no hitters thrown
on the road, but in this case, this was an
no hitter thrown on the road in front of a
lot of Astros fans.

Speaker 4 (30:12):
Yeah, no, it was amazing. So it was really cool
getting to see all the fans getting to celebrate with
us too, because I know, you know, it's the big
stay of Texas and there's a lot of you know,
Astros fans out there, so you know, it's cool to
see them come in and support us. And hopefully we can
get some more out for the next couple of games here.

Speaker 2 (30:30):
Yeah, if you want to go over the fence again
in Arlington, that'd be just fine. Here in Houston, oh,
that would be fun.

Speaker 4 (30:35):
Well yeah, well.

Speaker 3 (30:37):
Nick, we certainly appreciate the time. Glad to see the
success come in your way. Best of luck as the
family grows larger, and we look forward to catching up
with you again real soon.

Speaker 4 (30:47):
Really appreciate it. Guys, thank you so much for having
me on.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
You got it.

Speaker 3 (30:49):
Nick Allen, Astros infielder five hits in his last eight games,
helping the Astros continue winning. They've won four straight. They'll
go for five right here tonight on Sports Talk seven ninety.
We will co tenue here on the show, and as
Ac mentioned earlier, the first of several trips inside the
Astros organization.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
We'll hear from Steve Sparks at three thirty.

Speaker 3 (31:07):
Whe'll hear from Joe Aspota less than an hour after
that here on the Tuesday, first of the week edition
of The A Team.

Speaker 7 (31:15):
The A Team on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (31:19):
I just assumed, by the law of averages that Nick
Allen had been a part of a no hitter before.

Speaker 3 (31:24):
They're so common, well, they're common if you're an Astro,
and I was looking it up yesterday and posted that
on the X last evening, or maybe it was this morning.
I cannot recall. It's amazing how many current Astros have
been a part of a no hitter. Pitchers, I mean, clearly,
you add eight to twelve, eight to ten position players

(31:44):
anytime you throw one, and presumably a lot of those
players when you've thrown as many as the Astros have
are still with the team, So I mean pitchers who
have been a part of a no hitter. Obviously, the
three from yesterday, it was the first no hitter for
all three of them at the major league level. Answers
from them after the game about that, We're gonna hear
from Steven Oker on that in just a moment. Those

(32:05):
three guys have been a part of the no hitter.
Most of the broadcasters yesterday, including ours here both on
radio and TV, we're mentioning it's the first no hitter
in quite some time in Major League Baseball. Not since
twenty twenty four late in the season was there a
Major League Baseball no hitter. Astros reliever Nate Pearson involved
in that combined no hitter for the Chicago Cubs. He's
a member of the Astros bullpen. Made his debut with

(32:27):
the team during this road trip, beginning in Chicago. Obviously,
injured pitcher Renel Blanco, Christian Javier, and Josh Hater have
all been a part of a no hitter combined no
hitter in Javier's case twice, combined no hitter in Hayters case,
Mith Milwaukee six seasons ago, and Renel Blanco the lone

(32:48):
member of this pitching staff who has thrown a nine
innings no hitter needing no assistance from anybody else. And
Brian Obrew he was part of one of the Javier
combined no hitters, obviously that one the postseason as eight pitchers,
five of whom are active, that have been a part
of a no hitter in their thirteen person bullpen.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
Brian McTaggert revisited every single one of the Astros no
hitters in an article, and so of course all the
dates are there, and you realize how these things have
been spread out right up until basically Jeff Luno got involved,
because that's around the time that these started piling up
and it culminated. I know yesterday was the latest, and
I know we've had a couple in fairly recent seasons.

Speaker 2 (33:33):
They had two within a month during the twenty nineteen year.

Speaker 1 (33:37):
They had justin Verlanders, which was obviously the Blue Jays.
One in Toronto that happened on September first, twenty nineteen,
less than a month after the aforementioned Beagenie one that
was on August third, the month before that season was insane.
I'll still go to my grave saying that the twenty

(33:57):
nineteen Astros were the greatest Astros team of all time.

Speaker 3 (34:00):
Mike Fires threw a no hitter in twenty nineteen. Yep,
that's the highlight for his career athletics, his second career
no hitter. Yeah, that's Mike Fires. Two career no hitters
thrown and one tainted legacy, both of them obviously without
needing help. We mentioned the Astros throwing a bunch of
erlanders in twenty nineteen, the one you left off with

(34:23):
last several cents. Then Joe Musgrove's thrown a no hitter.
Obviously he came through Houston. Waite Miley's thrown a no hitter.
Another picture that's come through Houston, and on and on
and on. This is it's incredible what they've been able
to do. So many different pictures have been involved. One
of them last night was Steven Oker, one of the
many interviewed both on the field and then in the clubhouse.

(34:44):
This is from the clubhouse. His thoughts on just kind
of being a part of it.

Speaker 7 (34:48):
Oh, incredible, you know.

Speaker 8 (34:49):
Obviously, Ima went out and did what we'd hoped for
there in six innings, but no hits to that's crazy.

Speaker 2 (34:58):
I feel like a combined no hitters are but pretty hard.

Speaker 8 (35:01):
It's kind of hard when you're counting on three eyes
all have it, you know, in the same day.

Speaker 2 (35:04):
So it was a lot of fun.

Speaker 3 (35:06):
Two of the three pitchers, himself and Emi walked the
first batter they saw. He came out of the bullpend
walked the first batter and then got three outs. Santa,
he's showing these guys how it's done. Six batter spaced,
six outs recorded. The other thing from Okret I wanted
you guys to hear was his thoughts about how the

(35:26):
rookie handled things was his major league debut. He went
out not only in the eighth inning, but then to
finish it off in the ninth inning and did so spectacularly.
And then Okert asked that question I mentioned earlier, if
you'd ever been a part of a no hitter, incredible.

Speaker 8 (35:39):
We've obviously seen what he's done in tripa A this year,
been filling up the zone, not being getting hit hard,
you know.

Speaker 2 (35:45):
And throwing the ball well.

Speaker 8 (35:46):
So you know, I think he went out there and
I think guys have been telling them that same game,
you know, go do you don't make it more than
it is. And he went out there and had a
great outing and I think it got one strikeout, so
finished the one to finishinish.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
So no hitter with your first strikeout, that's that's pretty sick.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
You've been a part of.

Speaker 2 (36:03):
An I don't think so. I feel like I would
remember that.

Speaker 9 (36:06):
I don't think so.

Speaker 2 (36:08):
I feel like I would remember that. You've been a
part of a no hitter before.

Speaker 1 (36:12):
Isn't whatever, the answer has to be immediate, right it indeed?

Speaker 2 (36:15):
And it was.

Speaker 3 (36:16):
But well apparently, as a Chandler noted after the game,
they asked the same question for each of those three pitchers.
Assata said no, and Oker gave his response there. EMI's response,
through his translator was yes, in middle school. But I
believe he was, according to Chandler, a part of a
no hitter as a professional, throwing eight innings of a

(36:36):
nine inning combined no hitter before he came over to
the major league.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
Let me tell you something.

Speaker 1 (36:41):
If I was some sort of baseball player, whether I
was a pitcher or not, and I had been a
part of a no hitter before I got to any
sort of professional realm of baseball, I'm absolutely counting it
on my resume.

Speaker 2 (36:52):
Why wouldn't you definitely an accomplishment.

Speaker 1 (36:55):
Yeah, but you know people are there's going to be
maybe two or three no hitters, maybe one thrown all
season this year.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
There were zero in twenty twenty five. I forgot about that.

Speaker 1 (37:03):
Kind of a big deal and the last one to
throw or the last team to throw a no hit
or prior to that, the.

Speaker 3 (37:08):
Nate Pearson game I mentioned the Cubs did it in
Lake twenty twenty four. I mean, I'm kind of doing
a disservice to show to Imanaga he threw the first
seven innings.

Speaker 2 (37:17):
Pierson threw one. That Pearson's an Astro.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
You say later, you're talking about September, because it four
in August of that year, twenty four. It was the
year prior, Oh, it was twenty three. Renel's was the
beginning of twenty four. In April April first, Oh, April
Fool's Day. April fools. You're not getting a hit?

Speaker 2 (37:34):
All right? Got it?

Speaker 1 (37:35):
Now we've got it all squared away. Well, no good
for the Astros, and yeah, they're playing their best baseball,
by the way, coincided with the Cubs playing their worst Baseball.

Speaker 2 (37:43):
It was up to the Astros to keep that going.

Speaker 3 (37:45):
Cubs had a long losing streak coming in. They extended
it by three Yesterday it got extended by one more
as they lost again. And they're definitely catching the Rangers
during a down period as well. They came off a
series sweep at the hands of the worst team in
the American League, the Angels, and the Astros now extended
that Rangers losing streak. I mentioned this when I was
on last week here with Us. I mentioned it again

(38:06):
on Sunday night when I was on Sports Sunday. Beginning
with the series, this series that started Monday. The next
three weeks, they're going to see the second series with
each of the teams in their division. They haven't played
twice yet. They've obviously already played the Mariners twice, but
the second series with the Rangers is underway, the second
series with the A's a little over a week away,
and the second series with the Angels is just after that.

(38:26):
They have not fared well overall in the division, mainly
because they got clobbered by the A's when they saw
them the first time over that four games, and they
got clobbered by the Mariners. If they can shift that,
then they can shift themselves right into first place in
this division if they take care of those teams, several
of the teams that they're chasing. They're chasing a bunch
of teams, and winning a lot of baseball games will

(38:47):
allow you to catch them.

Speaker 2 (38:48):
That's a quick hour in the books. Much more.

Speaker 1 (38:50):
Astros talk to come reset on where things stand in
the NBA, and we are mere days away from CJ.
Stroud and the Texans hitting the field for their first
set of OTAs another basically third of the NFL got
theirs started earlier today, including now each of the other
teams in the AFC South who have seen the field,
but they're all really trying to catch the Texans right.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
Our number two is next.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
The eight, our number two here on the A team
Sports Talk seven to ninety, our number one on the
simulcast side of things, as we are on SCCHNN. If
you'd like to watch the show in addition to listening
to it, wex over there ac right here. Josh Jordan
is our producers. We take you up until six o'clock tonight.
Astros with a combined no hitter against the Rangers and

(39:37):
the opener of their series up there in Arlington as
this marathon road trip continues. They swept the Cubs over
the weekend, and they're playing their best.

Speaker 2 (39:46):
Baseball of the season. I mean, you have to say that, right.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
If they're within whispering distance of the division and they
just threw a combined to no hitter, yeah, I.

Speaker 3 (39:56):
Think that would put it over the top. A win
tonight would tie their longest winning streak of the season,
though they did win five in a row to close
out the opening home stand of the season, sweeping the
Boston Red Sox. The Cubs are probably a playoff team,
so sweeping them even while they're not playing very well
is much more impressive. And taking care of any team
in the majors without allowing a hit is obviously very

(40:17):
very impressive, And just winning four games in a row
is one way to measure things. Getting good starting pitching
for the majority of this month is another way to
measure things. Winning more games than anyone in your division
for the month is another way of measuring things. Being
one of the best teams the American League over the month,
and if you're in top five, you're one of the
better teams, and that's what they have done here in
the month of May, which does put them within again

(40:40):
it's more than math.

Speaker 2 (40:41):
At some point.

Speaker 3 (40:42):
There's still seven games under five hundred, So I don't
want to pretend like they're awesome and they're just it's
an unstoppable force, but you can't. They were eleven games
under five hundred four games ago, and if this continues,
then obviously they're going to make some up some ground
and really try to put themselves in position to be
a real legitimate postseason caliber team, because if they continue

(41:05):
this momentum, they still have another two starts, probably from
Hunter Brown. We'll get to Hunter's comments about his last start.
He made the start over the weekend with the the
Blue the I forgot their name already, the Blue Ghosts.
I think maybe Corpus Christy had some alternate uniforms for
the weekend and he was able to throw a couple

(41:26):
of innings. So probably two more starts for him. He'll
throw in Sureland this weekend to continue progressing towards the
Major League. Josh Hater is not going to be back,
probably for six or seven days, but the first week
of June he should be back. And on down the
list there certainly could be more guys getting hurt because
that has happened all year, but Taylor Tremmell and Joey

(41:48):
low Perfito, who not very surprisingly, I mean, with what
happened with Jeremy Pania during his rehab assignment, with what
happened to Zach Cole earlier this season, it's the third
different player to have an oddity the injury while trying
to get to the big leagues, fouling a ball off
his foot, which is what happened to Zach Cole. You
had that with low Braffito, you had the tumble in

(42:10):
the infield from Jeremy Pania and getting hit by a pitch.
So Joey Lo Perfito otherwise probably would be playing today,
but we'll probably get today off and resume his rehab
assignment starting tomorrow according to what Joe Spott has said.
But all four of those players specifically are probably pretty
close to returning. And in the meantime, if the Astros

(42:32):
take care of this team, you know, win the series,
you know, win three out of four, continue the winning
streak on into getting back home, and you know, seeing
Livy Dunn's boyfriend here among others. Then when they get
them back, they'll already have made up a lot of
what well they.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
Have to make it up at some point.

Speaker 3 (42:51):
We're throwing numbers at you, like they got to go
sixty one and fifty just to get to five hundred.
We not they only have to go fifty seven and
fifty because they won four in row.

Speaker 1 (43:00):
Yeah, look all this is happening as you know, some
of those names you mentioned, and Hunter Brown is right
around the corner. Look if tatsu Emi is gonna be
this guy and I'm not saying no hit or this
guy and it wasn't perfect, but just a guy that
can actually, I don't know, locate.

Speaker 2 (43:19):
That's the end of the sentence. He can locate.

Speaker 1 (43:22):
They should be in good shape from a pitching standpoint,
because Harry Getty's shown no signs of letting up, and
Hunter Brown's still Hunter Brown last time I checked.

Speaker 3 (43:32):
Yeah, Hunter Brown, like I said, made the start over
the weekend. Some of what he had to say about
just simply getting back out on the mound in his
case and familiar territory.

Speaker 10 (43:40):
It was exciting. You know, I've been working really hard
to get back put myself in a position to you know,
make a rehab outing, and honestly, I haven't been here
in five years, so that was exciting as well as
to come back to the court. Last time I was here,
the bridge wasn't even done.

Speaker 7 (43:54):
So a lot of things have changed.

Speaker 10 (43:56):
Good stuff, really good to get back in this park, man,
it was exciting.

Speaker 3 (43:59):
Thrive Metropolis, that is Corpus Christy. They have a bridge
now it's finished.

Speaker 2 (44:04):
There wasn't a bridge the last time he was there.
A bridge just five years ago.

Speaker 3 (44:08):
I mean, I'm sure we're making it sound worse than
it is, but everything from all occurrences, and I think
today would be an interesting I don't think there'll be
anything of great consequence. But Joe Aspota, you know, pitches
one day, see how he is the next day, but
really see how he is the day after that, and
if everything was fine, then everything will be on track
for him to pitch at Constellation Field over the weekend.

(44:28):
They've been on the road for two weeks, which is
why a lot of the rehabbers have been working through
Corpus Christie. But now the Space Cowboys are back in
sugar Land, so those players, I would assume we'll all
be rehabbing there instead, and that much closer Like I said,
I think if he thirty five pitches in his first
rehabit signed rehab outing this weekend, maybe it's forty five

(44:48):
to fifty five and the next one and then it
would probably be between sixty and seventy seventy five pitches.
If he gets to that level without having any stepbacks,
I don't think there would be any reason for them
not to have that next start.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
He as an astro.

Speaker 3 (45:01):
If he's capable of giving you, you know, seventy to
eighty pitches, then he starts for you, not.

Speaker 2 (45:06):
In the miners.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
Well, let's face it, we're all breathing a sigh of
relief that it wasn't more serious with your an Alvarez,
just from the standpoint of hearing that it was back
spasms to begin with, to oh he's back out there
launching nukes.

Speaker 2 (45:19):
That was good to see.

Speaker 3 (45:20):
It was awesome, And we'll see if that is the
same for today. But I was a little surprised, you know,
they got the off day finally, after those thirteen games
in a row, he now left Christian Walker as the
only astro to appear in every single game by missing
that one game with backspasms. So yes, that was a
very good sign to see him back out there, but

(45:42):
I would imagine in the short term they probably will
be a little careful with that. If there's a day
they feel like an off day is warranted, then they
might give him one now, which they obviously did not
do the rest of the season. And the day he missed,
according to Joe and jord On was already a scheduled
would have already been his first schedule off.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
Day of the year.

Speaker 1 (46:01):
And by the way you mentioned this last week, I
think it's safe to say Jordon Alvarez probably going to
be an All Star this year. It's likely at the
DH position. Christian Walker's quietly putting together a nice little
resume for that very same honor.

Speaker 3 (46:16):
Uh yeah, there's I can't imagine. There's I don't know
how there's anyway he's not an All Star and not
at the head of his position. There's I don't even
know what the stiffest competition would be to be of
all trying to think, well, he's sitting atop the American
League and runs back at in as we get ready
for play today got up to forty, which tied him
with Jonathan Ronda.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
He's one home run behind jord On.

Speaker 3 (46:36):
He was two when Jordan hit his first and then
he got back within one when he added his fifteenth
of the day of the season in yesterday's game, and
his was the biggest. That was a huge deal, you know,
the Astros figuring out a way, thank you Rangers, to
score five runs to turn a four nothing game which
you were clearly about to turn over to your bullpen
for the final nine outs into a nine to nothing game.

(46:58):
Total gift shorts to up made back to back errors.
You had Bryce Matthews who had just come into the
game for Zach Decenzo. He lined a single, and I
do think Paris Chica did the right thing and holding
Jake Myers at third base, he was not at third base,
and the left field are already had the ball even
though he's not doesn't have a good arm, already had
the ball fielded cleanly, so he had the bases loaded.

(47:19):
Jeremy Pania came through, and obviously Christian Walker came through
in a huge way. Those two out hits delivering five
more runs are Nick Allen came through and then Walker
did as well. That made a huge difference in what
still is more important than the fun of the no hitter.
They're not going anywhere if they don't pile up wins,
if they don't stack wins, if they don't start, you know,

(47:40):
winning five in a row, eight in a row, nine
of eleven, things like that, and making sure yesterday's game
was that.

Speaker 2 (47:46):
Much easier was huge.

Speaker 3 (47:48):
And they've they've had their They've had a lot of
success pitching against the Rangers so far this year. You know,
three of the four games the Rangers have scored zero
zero and one beat the Astros in the other game
because the Astros didn't score any runs. But you're beating
the Rangers three out of four. Jack Lder goes tonight.
Jason Alexander will try to repeat his first start of

(48:08):
the year with the Astros, when he went six shutout innings.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
And you mentioned they're going for tying their longest win
streak of the season, which is five having won these
last four, the sweep over the Cubs and the opener
against the Rangers. That coincides with the Rangers losing four straight.
And it's just crazy. When you look at the AL West,
it partially proves that it's one of the least competitive
divisions in Major League Baseball.

Speaker 2 (48:32):
Ultra competitive. Well, that's true. That's actually I should I
should rephrase that this is not very good. This is
not very good.

Speaker 1 (48:38):
But I mean for the Astros to be twenty four
and thirty one and three and a half back of
the division, it just kind of tells you everything about
twenty twenty six. And again, it's not out of the
question if some of these names are coming back and
they continue to improve with the existing healthy players on
their roster.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
As pathetic as this could come off as sounding the
sky's the limit for the Astros, that I would probably
push in the division. Sorry, in the division, that's all
I meant. I mean the Athletics lead the division with
a five hundred record.

Speaker 3 (49:16):
They got clobbered by Seattle last night at Sutterholm Health
Park yesterday and their series is ongoing.

Speaker 2 (49:23):
I kind of look at it this way.

Speaker 3 (49:24):
The Astros have twenty four wins and the team atop
of the division has twenty seven. Yeah, that's all they
have to do to get to the top of the division.
There are four teams with between twenty seven and twenty
four victories and the Astros the Rangers have the same
number of wins as Houston. The Mariners have two more
and again all the only reason the Mariners are ahead
of the Astros because the Astros can't handle the Mariners, unfortunately,

(49:44):
losing six of seven. It would be completely flipped if
you were just four and three against them, even if
you were three and four against them rather than one
and six. And that's why these division games, even though
there's only fifty two of them, which is crazy, they
do matter. And in a division that's as tightly packed
as the the Astros are in the only division in
Major League Baseball with a team that isn't at least

(50:06):
eight games over five hundred and the division leaders zero
games over five hundred.

Speaker 2 (50:11):
It's a wild.

Speaker 1 (50:12):
Wild season like last year in a lot of respects,
just different, different type of wild.

Speaker 2 (50:18):
In the Al West.

Speaker 1 (50:19):
All right, Speaking of wild, the freaking Nicks will have
now been to the finals twice since the last time
the Houston Rockets were there. We will discuss that fact,
as well as what the Rockets might actually be doing
this summer because their names are once again being bandied
about in trade rumors.

Speaker 2 (50:39):
All that coming up.

Speaker 7 (50:39):
Next the A team on Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 2 (50:44):
Ninety Hey wex Yeah huh. You remember when.

Speaker 1 (50:50):
It was reported that teams were calling about the Texans
or calling the Texans about Nico Collins, and then Nick
had to come out. Nick Cassario had to come out
and say, we're not trading him. I don't know if
you guys were aware of that, We're not trading Nico Collins. Well,
the Texans have yeah, I remember.

Speaker 2 (51:08):
Thanks.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
The Texans have now adjusted his contract and it guarantees
his salary the next two seasons and also includes a
nine million dollar cash increase this year and an eight
million dollar cash increase next year.

Speaker 2 (51:25):
This is according to his agents.

Speaker 1 (51:27):
Both of the Rosenhouses got involved for this one, Drew
and Jason via Adam Schefter's x account. So that just
happened a few minutes ago, just like we told you
it would.

Speaker 3 (51:43):
Not that I'm trying to push back on breaking news
by any means, but this is how the Texans operate.
Really no reason to believe they would go in a
different direction from that plan, that philosophy. You have players
that have performed well, that are approaching the end of
a contract, or more importantly, are in the window where
you can restructure a contract. They pretty much do it

(52:03):
every single time. It's why I said there was no
way that Aziz al Schier was going to play this
coming season without having agreed to a new deal with
the Texans, which was going to happen, and it obviously did,
a very lucrative one. And I felt the same way
about Nico Collins, although the idea of a restructure seemed
more likely with what he still had coming to him
on his contract and where potential free agency would hit.

(52:25):
And so they have, and they're smart for doing so.
They have one of the league's elite receivers. Hopefully he
is available to them at least as much as he
was a season ago, but hopefully even more. It's one
of the things the further away from it we get,
and we often don't put that into our discussion about
how things went at the end of the season last year,
the very end of the season, the very last game

(52:47):
of the season, the very poor offensive game against the
New England Patriots at the end of the season, where
the vast majority of it was played without both of
his top two receivers, Dalton Schultz. I'm talking about CJ. Strout,
their quarterback. Dalton Schultz was available to start the game,
but left rather early after he got hurt and Eco
Collins was not available to play at all in the

(53:07):
game because the injury suffered the week before. It certainly matters.
I don't think anyone would debate that or disagree with that,
and you just hope that all of your best can
be at their best health wise when you're into the
most important games of the season, which for a team
this talented, it's not Week six, it's not when they
get back from London, and it's not during a primetime

(53:27):
game against the Colts.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
I don't think. I don't think.

Speaker 3 (53:31):
One game here or there is going to make or
break them making the playoffs or not. It's the games
of the postseason, like they have been the last three years.

Speaker 1 (53:39):
I know this is like really really just too simplistic
to think about, but I'll just ask you if Nico
Collins is out there against the Patriots to the text
and still lose that game, A lot that goes into
that question.

Speaker 3 (53:54):
There's a few definitive plays where you would have had
different personnel on the field, and you look at where
the plays were called and who they were going to
on those plays. That probably changes enough to make me
think maybe they do things really really differently offensively. But
you also have to give a little bit of respect
to Christian Gonzalez. He's one of the elite corners in
the league and he would have been out there, most

(54:16):
likely checking Nico throughout the afternoon. I wouldn't probably flip
the win from a loss, but or the loss to
a win, But I would think that they might be
able to do things a little bit differently. And maybe
you don't have CJ. Stroud throwing the ball to players
that he wouldn't otherwise have been throwing to.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
Yeah, there's just so much.

Speaker 3 (54:36):
He got picked off twice throwing to Hutchinson. I believe
he got picked off once throwing to Harris and Bryant.
I mean, I don't know that those that happens. If
Nico Collins is taking sixty snaps in that game instead.

Speaker 1 (54:48):
Of zero, yeah, yeah, And it's easy to make it
sound like an excuse, especially when you consider some of
the decisions CJ made. I don't think it would have
mattered who was out there. It was what he was
doing with the football. But all I know is that
Nico Collins being happy is a good thing for this
Texans offense because he is the clear standalone number one guy,

(55:10):
And I mean, I'm sure his agents something along those
lines put this out into the stratosphere just before the draft.
But if Nick Cassario was always going to do this
this offseason anyways, that doesn't really matter, which I think
he was.

Speaker 3 (55:27):
Yeah, it's just a matter of what can they You
still have to get both parties to agree to, however,
what it is that they're both looking for at the
same time. How are both sides going to be happy?
And I think in this case they are. Usually this
will give you some sort of relief in the interim
while guaranteeing the player, which is essentially all this is.
It just guarantees more of his money and gives him
additional cash. I would imagine that's what he and his

(55:48):
agents were looking for, if it wasn't something much bigger
than that, which I'm sure that they weren't looking for,
and probably knew that the team wasn't looking for that
at this point in time either. It's nice to be
nice to your best players, but you probably don't like
to do it before you have to, even as awesome
as they might be. I mean, they're not going early extent.
The only quote unquote early extensions they've they've done are

(56:11):
with the players that they drafted at either third overall
or third overall, with Staying and Will Anderson.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
And I again, this just this season is just so
fascinating when it comes to CJ.

Speaker 2 (56:25):
Stroud.

Speaker 1 (56:26):
Everybody is expecting him to be this or everybody's hoping
he will be that, and everything around him and the
things they've done, and again, there's so many questions that
won't be answered until they're actually on the field in
a game that matters in my opinion, but he really

(56:46):
is going to be playing for his next contract, and
I honestly don't know which way it's gonna go.

Speaker 3 (56:52):
Yeah, I don't either. I mean I have an idea.
I certainly have a prediction on which way I think
it's going to go. And I love what Tamiko Ryans
told us at the Golf Tournament Classic Golf Classic a
couple of weeks ago. Contracts, your your play takes care
of that. You take care of it yourself by how
you play. That will always take care of it. He's
playing this year under his.

Speaker 1 (57:11):
Original rookie deal, the fourth year of his rookie contract
as the second overall pick, which is a huge bump
from the first three years annual salary the fifth year,
the option that they've already picked up is an even
bigger bump.

Speaker 3 (57:24):
And that's not what he's trying to do. He's trying
to earn the will Anderson contract. He's trying to earn
the I'm the quarterback of the future without any doubt
about it, and the timing of it suggests, you know, Tua,
Trevor Lawrence probably they come to mind first, maybe Kyler
Murray as well. These are all quarterbacks who were probably
our quarterback of the future. Arizona thought, Kyler Murray's probably

(57:48):
the guy we're going to win with. Miami thought, well,
we took a with a high pick.

Speaker 1 (57:52):
He's had some good years, he's had some injuries, but
he's probably the guy we have to commit to and
we're gonna win with.

Speaker 3 (57:57):
And I think Jacksonville said the same thing. Well, two
of those teams have already moved on. Miami moved on
from Tua, and Kyler Murray is now a Minnesota Viking.
You can commit to C. J. Stroud and then ultimately,
while it will hit you hard in the dead cap,
you can shift your direction in the not too distant

(58:18):
future if things don't work out. My prediction is it's
going to work out. But it's all on CJ. It's
to me, it's even less about them building a line
that can run, them getting a legitimate running back and
David Montgomery to replace Nick Chubb who was there to
replace Joe Mixon, and that's much more like what they
hope to get from Montgomery. The combination of that with
Woody Marx and Jouir Jordan and whatever else they might

(58:40):
have in the backfield, I do think they're going to
run the ball a little bit better, maybe even a
lot better, and all of those things help your quarterback,
but that is part of it.

Speaker 2 (58:50):
He has to help himself.

Speaker 3 (58:52):
If you're elite, if you're one of the top ten,
which is what you probably need to win with in
the NFL, then he's got to go.

Speaker 2 (58:58):
He has to do it. He's got to play.

Speaker 3 (59:00):
He's got to hit his receivers a little bit more often,
and I the simplest way, ah, like he did when
he was a rookie, when he was throwing them all
over the place, he was barely turning it over. He
played in all those regular season games, two more postseason
games and had twenty six touchdown passes. He can't have
less than that this year. If he plays nineteen twenty games.
I mean, obviously, if he plays twenty games, I'd be unbelievable.

(59:21):
They'd be in the title game. But he's got to outperform,
in my opinion, his rookie season, and if you make
me guess which way it's gonna go, I'm guessing that way.
I do think he's going to play much better because
I think he finally got a wake up call like
I'm not all that. I can't just assume I'm going

(59:41):
to be great. And I don't think that means he
took it easy. I don't think it means he worked
less hard. I don't think he was less focused. I
don't think he got full of himself. But I think
it did come easy. The success. He's done nothing but win,
and nothing but win in the playoffs. But he clearly
has not played that kind of football since his rookie season.
And I think what happened at the end of this
past season, uh probably shook him a little bit, and

(01:00:03):
in my opinion, in a good way. Not in the
man this guy can't handle the pressure. I don't care
what he does in the regular season. When you get
to the postseason, I'm scared again.

Speaker 1 (01:00:10):
No, No, I think there's something to that, and I think that,
you know, if the Texans have you know, a very
successful season this year, let's just put it that way.
And by the way, the floor is the AFC title game.
If to apply to what I'm saying, if it's a
very good season, anything else is going to be like
a massive disappointment.

Speaker 2 (01:00:29):
I'm sorry, it just will. That's just where they've put themselves.

Speaker 1 (01:00:31):
They've painted themselves into that corner, if you will, with
the type of defense they have more than anything.

Speaker 3 (01:00:35):
Yeah, some of the best pay in town. They've gone
to the high dollar. It's very I mean, there's it's
it's it's very very good. And they're using all the
best clures for their pharaoh and ball.

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
Is there a you involved.

Speaker 3 (01:00:47):
Absolutely, it's very Canadian running down to the to the
you know, shake this up and give me the can
I'll paint the house. They're they're really putting all their
eggs in this paint basket.

Speaker 1 (01:00:57):
That's quite enough of that, all right, or we're move on.
Sparky came on the station for his weekly visit, and obviously,
as a former pitcher, very very interested in seeing that
all go down yesterday and being on the call, so
he'll share his thoughts on that in a portion of
what we had earlier today here on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (01:01:16):
When we come back the Sparky replay. Next, when is.

Speaker 1 (01:01:23):
The eighteen Sports Talk seven ninety sc h N talking
a little Astros no hitter combined variety yesterday eighteen in
the history of the franchise.

Speaker 2 (01:01:34):
And the next closest is who again.

Speaker 3 (01:01:37):
Since the Astros have been around thirteen Dodgers have thirteen?

Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
I mean they buy all those players, just like Houston
boughtym eighteen million dollars. Where's their no hitter this year?
I don't have one this year?

Speaker 2 (01:01:51):
Show he doesn't even have a no hitter.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
He makes one ninth of what Emi makes. It's true,
when will he make up the rest? Twenty thirty twenty
thirty five.

Speaker 3 (01:02:00):
Probably after he's retired and it's no longer illegal for
him to wager on games.

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
Or his bookie he wagers on him.

Speaker 1 (01:02:06):
I mean translator, I mean all right, I'm very interested
in what Sparky had to say about what happened yesterday.

Speaker 3 (01:02:13):
Yeah, first question for him, you'll hear the answer to
that as he joined our morning drive with Dan and Cole.
This morning was about when he and Robert kind of
realized that the things historically could be unfolding in front
of them there in Arlington.

Speaker 9 (01:02:27):
I think usually in the sixth inning, we start to realize, Okay,
this is UH get a little closer, the Astros are
going to be able to get a bunch of guys
in there, and you give different look for the end
of the ball game. It makes things pretty difficult for
uh the other team. So I don't know, he starts
to think about it. Then you start to get to

(01:02:48):
bring some things like contact into it, like when was
the last time when we saw Santy get up? When
was the last time somebody made their debut? And uh
and was part of an Oak kitter, So we got
that in there, and we're talking about Christian Walker what
he's been able to do. He's one of four players
to do what he's currently doing. So it was a

(01:03:09):
good night, man. It's a lot of fun. And now
Robert and I it has nothing to do with us,
but we've been privileged to be able to call eight
no hitters.

Speaker 11 (01:03:16):
Now let's just start with from the beginning toatsu Am
I where that first inning it looks rough, like you know,
some of his starts have this year. But what did
you see for him that started to work over the
next five innings to get him to lock.

Speaker 9 (01:03:29):
In just mixing in other pitches. You know, you get
into a ballgame and and you're trying just the first
strikes all mostly, and it's weird how you're just trying
to get your footing find the strike. Though he wasn't
missing by much, but just kept missing armside on a
lot of his pitches, tried to go upstairs and then
his slider. He was just trying to find a release

(01:03:49):
point for a slider. I think that's his correction pitch,
so to speak, is like if things go awry, I
get to my slider. Feels like that can get something
to bend back over the plate and get back into
the strike zones. So for him and I think Christian Vasquez,
it was finding what they needed to do. And then
they've got some really you know, timely double plays to
get out of the jam in the first inning in particular,

(01:04:11):
and Paynya and Jake Myers in particular, Man, they played
unbelievable defense. Myer's running down a couple of improbable balls
in left center field. He ran a mile for one
of those. I think it was off of Foscue and
he was in the viderfield gap and ran it all
the way down into the left center on the warning track.
I didn't think there was any way he was going

(01:04:32):
to be able to get there, but he just kept
closing the gap and it was fun.

Speaker 4 (01:04:36):
Man.

Speaker 9 (01:04:36):
We've got some fun with that at Globe black Field,
you know, with the the immaculate inning, two players throwing
the maculate inning a few years ago, and now this
and some of the the playoff games were great without
two bays a row. It's kind of fun to go
to Globe black Field now. A lot of Astros fans
there by the way to the.

Speaker 12 (01:04:55):
Man behind the dish calling the plays in Christian Vasquez.
Just can you talk about the importance of having a
catcher then not only is able to get you out
of your funk the way that Vasquez was when it
came to Tatsimi early on in the game, but then
to be able to really control the tempo of getting
a young pitcher, a guy making his major league debut,
to be able to be in the moment and understanding

(01:05:16):
that history could be made and making him feel comfortable
that this is a possibility.

Speaker 9 (01:05:21):
Yeah, Dusty Baker used to say that about Martin Maltzato too.
He loved, you know, the game plan and a guy
to be able to go out there and execute those
game plans and know what he needed to do to
get guys through different tough moments. You know, Basquez was
behind the dish when they threw the no hitter in
the in the World Series two. I'm sure you guys
know that. But his ability to audible when he needs

(01:05:46):
to was fantastic. I thought when Santi came in, I
have to go back and look, but I think it
was to start his outing as a major leaguer and
this is almost unheard of, but it was seven sliders
in a row. I mean, he was totally into into
what was going on in the ball game, and he
didn't want these Rangers hitters to be able to ambush
him on the first pitch fastball, just trying to get

(01:06:07):
ahead of the count. So I thought that was a key,
just slider, slider, slider, get guys off of his heater.
Then the fastball played even better. So I thought Sannas
showed unbelievable poise in a major league debut to come
into extra pressure to be able to do that. We've
seen him, of course in the last few years in
spring training. We're excited to get a chance to see

(01:06:28):
him at this level. And it is kind of funny.
His first day we get to Chicago, he gets on
the seam bus and he shakes every single guy's hand
with the biggest smile on his face. He's going around
just introducing himself to everybody. Everybody knew who he was,
but man, he couldn't wait to get to the ballpark
and be part of the seat.

Speaker 11 (01:06:47):
Dare I say that this is a team that's starting
to play loose, This is a team that's starting to
have fun again.

Speaker 9 (01:06:53):
You know it's weird, Dan Is, when you go through
it day to day, not a whole lot changes. It's
just preparation, dun things that you know are the right
way to prepare, and the players know a lot more
than the fans. Dude, It's such a long season that
you just can't be reactionary to bad play. You know,
you just go out there and you try to get
better every single day. You have a game plan every

(01:07:16):
bad I like the guys that know the situation. You know,
we saw that a few times. Yesterday we saw the
five run innings and a lot of balls were guys
just looking for the ball away. You could tell Nick
Allen did it, Jeremy Paine, you did it, and just
steered the ball through the right side of the endfield
because it was wide open. And when they're doing that
and taking some walks and trusting the guy behind them,

(01:07:38):
that's when the Astros were able to put up, you know,
those crooked numbers and to score more runs. It was
such a kind of a black hole there for a
couple of weeks. I don't think they scored more than
four runs in the game. I think two and a
half weeks ago in Cincinnati that you're just wondering that
if guys are just pressing and getting outside of their
game plan. But now, I think get to your point,

(01:08:00):
they're starting to relax a little bit more and feeling
like they can trust the next guy and take what
the other team gives them and take a walk if
aa need too. But when you're starting to see eight, nine,
ten guys batt in and in, and you know what,
they're doing things in the right way.

Speaker 3 (01:08:16):
The Vasquez conversation. Three of the last seven no hitters
in Major League Baseball have been thrown by the Astros,
and Vasquez is the third different catcher to catch it.
He caught the most recent one. The one before that
was Yaner Diaz, the one before that was Martine Maldonado.
Maldonado's caught three no hitters. Vasquez just caught his second.

(01:08:37):
His first game in the World Series in two twenty two.
He was there for the Javier combined no hitter. It's
incredible that they have been able to do that with
all these different pitchers that I mentioned in the opening
hour of the show. Now three different catchers, each of
their last three primary catchers, which obviously Vasquez is as
of today, jan Diaz having missed much of the season.

(01:08:57):
And that does bring up a question what do you
do when he's healthy in returns, and they usually wait
to answer any of those questions, so that actually happens.
Same thing with what are we gonna do with all
these infielders. We can't play?

Speaker 2 (01:09:09):
Yeah we can, because somebody's always hurt.

Speaker 3 (01:09:11):
Vesquez has earned the right to play a lot more
than I think anybody would have ever expected when they
added him, and I don't think that Yadardiez coming back
is going to change that.

Speaker 2 (01:09:20):
There's no timetable for him.

Speaker 3 (01:09:22):
I mentioned earlier there was probably a very short timetable
for a couple of Astros, one of them being Taylor Tremmel. Well,
his timetable was today activated by the Astros. Today Zach
Cole is the player they option back to Triple A.
So Taylor Tremmeel, one lefty bat replaces another lefty bat
and hopefully this is a sign of things to come.
Tremmel Lo, Perfito Hunter Brown, Josh hater All will probably

(01:09:46):
be on the Astros roster in the next fourteen to
seventeen days and we'll see where the Astros are in
the standings when they get there. The Calves the latest
team added to the list of I don't really know
what our future holds. And the Rockets, who's out there?
What big star is the latest to be linked to them?
We had on those items next.

Speaker 13 (01:10:08):
The eight.

Speaker 2 (01:10:09):
Probably the most stark reminder of how long it's been
since the Rockets went to the NBA Finals was when
you start looking back at the logo that was used
in the nineteen ninety nine finals During a lockout shortened
season between the eighth seeded Knicks and whatever the San

(01:10:32):
Antonio Spurs were doing that year when they won that
fake championship.

Speaker 3 (01:10:35):
You're winning a title. I guess that's what they were doing.

Speaker 1 (01:10:39):
I mean I put it in line with the Lakers
bubble championship.

Speaker 3 (01:10:43):
Yeah, we've had conversations about that in the past. I don't.
I don't agree. I mean, it's a totally normal season,
less regular season games. Nobody cares about the regular season anyway.

Speaker 2 (01:10:57):
Well, I just don't look at them the same. Yeah,
I'm not saying you have to. I just don't.

Speaker 3 (01:11:02):
I mean, you played a regular season and then you
had a typical playoffs and there was no stop in
the action, there was no fans of the stands.

Speaker 2 (01:11:09):
Very very different.

Speaker 3 (01:11:10):
But I didn't even know COVID was gonna happen when
that happened, and I thought it was pretty I didn't
have any issue with it. A totally regular championship to me. Well,
the thing about that one was that Anthony Davis. There's
no way he would have been healthy. Right, That's why
it's such an enormous difference. Yes, no question. Yes, a
lot has changed, A lot has changed.

Speaker 2 (01:11:29):
Yeah, this one is.

Speaker 1 (01:11:30):
I mean, they're by far the easiest team left to
root for.

Speaker 2 (01:11:35):
It's not even close.

Speaker 3 (01:11:36):
When we were down to four, we pretty much knew
that the voting public in this area should be rooting
for the Knicks. James Harden playing for the Cavaliers and
two teams in the Western Conference, that they're going to
be in the way a lot in the next five
eight years at least. Probably just no need to start

(01:11:57):
piling up championships after the one that was won last
year by Okay, see just anything anybody else, that's who
you're rooting for, anybody else, and the anybody else is
now definitively the Knicks, who will start the NBA Finals
on June third in either Oklahoma City or San Antonio.

Speaker 1 (01:12:14):
Like it's I mean, I don't hate it like I
would say if the Yankees were in the World Series.
I think it's because it's been so long and Knicks
fans have dealt with like insane heartbreak.

Speaker 3 (01:12:28):
Well remember that year's one of them. They were trying
to beat the Spurs with Patrick Ewing in street clothes.

Speaker 1 (01:12:34):
He had torn his achilles before the playoffs or early
in the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (01:12:37):
I believe it was during early in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (01:12:39):
I could be wrong, and that was the team that
had Latrelle and LJ Right.

Speaker 2 (01:12:44):
Alan Houston.

Speaker 1 (01:12:45):
Yeah, yeah, those teams and that, and again that was
Jeff Fan Gundy was coaching. He had to of course
quit so he could come here.

Speaker 2 (01:12:53):
Jeff Van Gundy soon to be NBA let coach. I mean,
is he gonna take that kind of scrap pay?

Speaker 4 (01:13:00):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (01:13:01):
I don't think so. I don't think it would end
up coming to I mean they could say whatever they want.
I mean, you're gonna you're gonna find yourselves way down
the ladder. If you're only offering that amount of money.
Jeff Fan Gunny would say, I don't need I don't
need this job, and I certainly don't need to the
money that you're gonna pay me. If that's all that
it is, I'd like to be a respectable NBA head coach.
Not about the money, per se, but it's about the money.

Speaker 1 (01:13:23):
Well, okay, So in that vein looking towards next season,
even though we haven't wrapped up this season yet, I
know there's a lot of I think it's gonna be
a very interesting offseason. And I did think that it
was interesting when I saw that the Hawks, Rockets, and
Blazers have supposedly trade interest in Jalen Brown, and then

(01:13:46):
when it came to legitimate trade interest, as it was called,
that a deal surrounding either alpr and Shingoon or Kevin
Durant would be what was would be on the table potentially.
I just don't know why you would trade Kevin Durant

(01:14:07):
in any scenario this offseason, because if you're trading anybody,
you're trying to win a championship and you're not winning
a championship without Kevin Durant.

Speaker 3 (01:14:14):
So Durant and she Guon would be viewed as worse
teammates together than Jalen Brown and Shengoon apparently.

Speaker 1 (01:14:22):
Correct if you believe that these two guys just can't
coexist anymore.

Speaker 3 (01:14:26):
Well, what I'm saying is, if you're saying the deal
would involve Durant, well that means you're keeping Shangoon. You
just played an entire season with Durant and Shangun his teammates,
and you probably weren't real excited about the results. Now,
I don't know what it would have looked like in
the postseason, because Kevin Durant basically wasn't there. I would
agree with you, that's not the path I would take,
But I still think there's something to be said about
You watch what Cleveland is forced to do. You watch

(01:14:49):
what the Clippers decided to do at this year's deadline,
You watch what the Bucks are inevitably going to do,
and you could, to a certain extent, look at the
Kevin Durant path to where he is a Are you
really wanting one of the older available star players like
Giannis or kd or is the only reason you'd even
make a deal is because you can get a younger,

(01:15:12):
maybe not all time great talent Jalen Brown, Donovan Mitchell,
But are your chances better? Like I'm not one hundred
percent convinced, I don't see Giannisnotakoopa winning an NBA title.
He's going to a team that thinks he's their best player.
Milwaukee already thinks that, and if he gets moved, the
team that adds him thinks he's going to be their

(01:15:32):
best player. He's not gonna win a title as that anymore.

Speaker 2 (01:15:35):
In my opinion.

Speaker 3 (01:15:36):
He can put up his thirty and thirteen all he wants.
I don't know that it's gonna last for the eighty
plus eighty five ninety games it takes to win a title,
or if he's even healthy at the end of the year.
And this is I don't know, is it still the
prize of the offseason or has Jalen Brown advanced to
that stage? And is Donovan Mitchell as tied to Cleveland
as he appears to be. And I've brought up the

(01:15:57):
Clippers because of the whole James Harden scenari Like the
Clippers decided while James was on their team, We're not
going to win with James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. We're
going to try to get younger because we can get
something for James Harden. And one hundred percent guarantee you
the Calves know the same thing, and they're probably still

(01:16:17):
gonna re up with James Harden.

Speaker 2 (01:16:19):
They're gonna give him a five year deal.

Speaker 1 (01:16:21):
I don't think that's the case. Why not, he doesn't
have five NBA seasons left. They're dumb though, you don't
have to give any he's not getting a five year deal.

Speaker 2 (01:16:30):
Well, I hope he does. I mean, they'd be amazing
if he did.

Speaker 1 (01:16:33):
He's gotten one in two and three year deals for
the last every non Rockets contract he's recently signed. If
it takes Shingoon and Jabbari to bring back Jalen Brown
and pair him with Kevin Durant and Fred Van Vliet,
do you like.

Speaker 3 (01:16:46):
That deal it spends what other picks go with it,
because you're you're mortgaging a lot of your future and
those two players, but totally understand that what's their ceiling
versus what's jalen ceiling? And then now you're talking about
did you mortgage your actual fear future? Because one of
the very valuable first round picks that you have, and
they have several not their own, but others that they
can get their hands on, very very very helpful picks.

(01:17:10):
And I know we're probably going to see a vote
this week on the lottery and that is extremely impactful
the way that they're probably going to set things up.
I would be pretty hesitant to do it if it
took both of them. But you're still getting the best
player in the deal, and he's got five years of
NBA excellence in front of him.

Speaker 1 (01:17:27):
To me all that, those are very pertinent questions, But
who's playing center for you?

Speaker 3 (01:17:32):
You have to go out and get one because I
don't think you want thirty minutes a night of Steven
Adams if he's even good for that, which I think
he could be, but I don't think that's what they're after.
It's obviously not Clint, which then you have to figure out,
how are we paying Clint another year to play at
seven million dollars?

Speaker 2 (01:17:46):
Probably not? Like who's even available?

Speaker 3 (01:17:49):
You can find somebody, you know, a Mark Williams like player,
maybe a little older and not as expensive. Just a guy, no,
someone who can play above the rim and block shots.
That's what they one of the one of the many
things they lack. That's what Clint Capella actually does provide.
He still plays above the rim. Yeah, they're dying to
have a player like that in the pivot. I know

(01:18:11):
Shoon has some nice dunks, but it isn't really what
I would say, play above the rim.

Speaker 1 (01:18:16):
Brown is way more appealing to me than Yannis at
this point in their career.

Speaker 3 (01:18:19):
Yeah, I think most would agree, and I'm in that group.
I would agree. So you're training for him, I would
say he's a nicer prize than honest.

Speaker 2 (01:18:27):
All right, he's being diplomatic over there, but that's that's
the latest. That's out there also Kevin Durant making second
team All NBA. We need to get to the last.

Speaker 1 (01:18:39):
Time the Knicks were in the finals, though, before we
go too far today. So we'll do all that more
as we continue here on a Tuesday edition of the
A Team.

Speaker 2 (01:18:46):
Four o'clock hour comes up next.

Speaker 1 (01:18:50):
The eight we're taking up until six o'clock tonight. Astro
is looking to win five in a row, coming off
a combined no hitter in our it's a little bit,
just a little bit sweeter when it comes against the Rangers.
You could tell Nick Allen just had no idea that
these two teams were supposed to hit each other's guts.

Speaker 10 (01:19:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:19:09):
I wonder if Alejandro Souna or Brandon Nemo or Jake
Berger or Justin Foscue know that either. That's most of
whom the Rangers have no chance these days. Josh Young
is actually back in the lineup for tonight's game against
the Astros.

Speaker 2 (01:19:23):
He definitely knows.

Speaker 3 (01:19:24):
I didn't specifically did not mention Jock Peterson because he
knows a lot of different reasons there. Lighter throwing tonight
for the Rangers, and Peterson will once again be leading off,
but the Astros will not be able to take advantage
of his awful glove. He's the designated hitter, which is
where he belongs. He made a bad well. I don't

(01:19:45):
know if it was his fault. He was a bad throw.
He did his best. Let's let's say that mentioned. The
Astros made a roster move earlier today in advanced tonight's game,
so the tailor tremmeell return is now activated. He is
back off the injured list after a couple of days
worth of rehab work, and Zach Cole has back down
to triple A. This is probably a series of moves
that will be made over the next ten to fourteen days.

(01:20:07):
They have a six man rotation, so back to Jason
Alexander for the start tonight. I would assume if no
other injuries occur, then when Hunter Brown returns, that's probably
the spot he takes in the six man rotation when
you consider Emi was just a part of a no hitter.
The Astros won Peter Lambert's start, although it was not

(01:20:27):
one of his best five innings three runs allowed against
the Cubs, but one of the three games that they won.
The sixth best pitcher in baseball since he came back
Spencer Araghetty April fifteenth. That's him a one thirty two era.
He's been incredible. He obviously is staying there. Kaiwa Tang
another zero posted during his most recent start, And I

(01:20:47):
don't think they're anywhere near the point of where they
would consider moving Mike Burrows out of the rotation. If
they want to go to a five man rotation, then
maybe they would have to consider that, But I think
initially round also to protect him a little bit, maybe
give him that extra day a turn or two, to
keep emi on that regular turn of five days in between,

(01:21:09):
and seeing what the schedule looks like with off days.
Those are some of the questions that they'll ask. And
if and when Joey low Perfido makes his return, which
maybe is in the next seven to ten days, should
be in the minor league rehab lineup tomorrow. It's an
interesting question to answer, is it, Bryce Matthews? Is it

(01:21:31):
time to see if cam Smith getting regular at bats
somewhere else would change his fortunes. He doesn't look any different.
He's getting his occasional hit, but it's surrounded by at
bats you wish he didn't hold.

Speaker 2 (01:21:43):
And it was discussed.

Speaker 3 (01:21:45):
We'll hear from Joe spot of here in the next segment,
but that's not part of that interview that I'm giving
to you. As a portion of it, I spent about
three minutes or so on should Cam Smith be allowed
to challenge pitches anymore as a batter? And to give
a very good answer to that question, he's in the
top five and most pitches challenged so far this year,

(01:22:07):
and that just simply should not be the case, even
if he had an eagle eye, just as a player
in his position and recognizing when you even want to
challenge first pitch of it bat early in the game,
we probably don't want to challenge that, even though it puts.

Speaker 2 (01:22:20):
You in a hole.

Speaker 3 (01:22:21):
And these are things that are slowly being learned. But
they'll have some interesting decisions to make if and when
more of their players get healthy. They've been managing their
way through the season with twelve to fourteen players on
the injured list all year, and almost all of those
players would be major leaguers. They could take the other
Zach off the roster if they go Zach to Senzone.

(01:22:42):
You know, Bryce Matthews for his speed and his positional flexibility,
maybe keeps him around, but until little Prafrido gets healthy.
Not a question they have to answer yet.

Speaker 2 (01:22:52):
Just keep winning, That's all I'm asking for.

Speaker 1 (01:22:55):
Just make it competitive and get it to where you're
back in a position where you can strike. Once some
of these guys do get healthy. I'm talking about the
hundred Browns of the world. And you know, by the
time Jose Altuve gets back into the lineup in what
early to mid July, somewhere in that range, I want

(01:23:15):
him to be playing in meaningful games again.

Speaker 3 (01:23:17):
But you're definitely gonna know what's up. Yeah, that's a
month from now, you're gonna know what's up with this
team because either players will have returned to a team
that's competing, or you'll have setbacks, or you'll have new injuries,
or you really wouldn't have put anything together. I mean,
this great stretch of baseball which has lasted four days.
It could end today, It could end any time. Hopefully
it doesn't, and I don't really think that it will

(01:23:39):
because it is it's more than four days, and it's
more than a no hitter. They have pitched like they
can compete this month, and that's why they have the
best They are the best team in this Division for
thirty days. That kind of stuff does matter. I mean,
as much as it sounds silly. Can the Astros go
to the playoffs and beat the Guardians? Can the Astros

(01:23:59):
go to the playoffs and you'll beat any one of
these other teams that looks just like them, because remember
the American League looks exactly the same except for three teams.
The Rays and Yankees are running away with things in
the East, and the Guardians put together a great two weeks.
Now they're running away with things in the Central. Everybody
else is basically five hundred or worse. White Sox are
just above Athletics lead to the division at even and

(01:24:22):
everybody else within a couple wins of them except Mike
Trout's team.

Speaker 2 (01:24:27):
It's Mike Trout still rewinding the clock.

Speaker 1 (01:24:30):
He's having an okay season, but they are not winning. No,
but they have one of the best pitchers in the
American League.

Speaker 3 (01:24:35):
Still, he's coming back to the pack a little bit,
but he's still up there. And just because we had
the conversation earlier, if you guys were listening to our
thoughts on Christian Walker and his fifteen homer forty RBI
elite fielding at first base. And I can say that
because whether or not he has great range at first base,
he doesn't. That's not how I'm grading what my first

(01:24:56):
basement is doing. If he's saving the team runs and
saving his pitches and keeping guys off the bases, because
he's number one in baseball at scoops and for some reason,
all the metrics that measure your defensive war don't recognize that.
I'm glad I have eyes because I watch games and
I'm not only reliant as Josh Hart would help promote,

(01:25:17):
but Kenny Atkinson would not. We'll have more on that later.
We were talking about Walker at first base as an
All Star in the American League, and I mentioned Jonathan Ronda,
and I do think he would have a chance to
be competition for him. And I was curious about how
often the other really good first basemen were actually really
playing first base. But they're certainly playing it enough. You know,

(01:25:38):
the White Sox phenom probably in line to be Rookie
of the Year in the American League. He's got eighteen
homers and thirty seven stakes and an ops better than
Christian Walker's.

Speaker 2 (01:25:47):
He plays first base every day.

Speaker 3 (01:25:49):
Ben Rice plays first base sixty five seventy percent of
the time for the Yankees.

Speaker 2 (01:25:54):
He's had an.

Speaker 3 (01:25:54):
Unbelievable season and has a higher ops than Christian Walker,
and unfortunately, guy that they will see soon and would
love to never see again, is having another great season.
Nick Kurtz the first basement in the American League that
Walker will be competing with.

Speaker 1 (01:26:09):
Unlike what I said earlier, it's pretty stout. Yeah, but
hopefully Walker gets him beat for the All Star position.

Speaker 3 (01:26:16):
Well, he's number one in baseball with mustache, but I
don't know that that will assist with the vote.

Speaker 2 (01:26:22):
Real quick, we were talking about the Knicks getting back
to the finals earlier. Yeah, celebrity audio the last time
that happened.

Speaker 3 (01:26:32):
Now, so you need to listen closely because this is
basically your favorite sports announcer of all time. I actually
ripped him earlier. He was the Bob in John and
Bob Earlier. It's Bob Costas. So this is a nineteen
ninety nine Knicks home playoff game, the last home finals game.

Speaker 2 (01:26:50):
Just graduated from high school a month ago.

Speaker 3 (01:26:52):
Now you need to I'm gonna encourage you, maybe the
listeners as well, to keep a sad tally. Okay, this
is Bob running through as they show video of each
of them at the game, A lot of them. This
is nineteen ninety nine. They're not available to attend the
next Knicks finals games.

Speaker 2 (01:27:14):
Oh so I need to keep itally of the dead
ones is what you're saying.

Speaker 3 (01:27:16):
It's an interesting list, and I figured you'd get a
kick I guess out of that. Here's Bob running through
the celebs watching Nick's home NBA Finals games in nineteen
ninety nine.

Speaker 5 (01:27:28):
As usual, have plenty of familiar facers at the Garden
for a big playoff game. Evander Holyfield, who must not
be in training earlier I saw him wolf down two.

Speaker 2 (01:27:37):
Hot Dogs, Ben Stiller, James Conn, they.

Speaker 7 (01:27:42):
F Jade Junior.

Speaker 5 (01:27:46):
And upstairs Tiger Woods to Saturday Night Live alums who've
gone on to movie start them Adam Sandler and Billy
crystal Man.

Speaker 2 (01:27:55):
What he Allen is.

Speaker 3 (01:27:59):
Splake says were coming back now they did not come
back in the fourth quarter. And seeing the video, I've
obviously watched this and put the audio together. It was
James Conn standing up, clapping and cheering and jfk Jr.
Gazing around the arena.

Speaker 2 (01:28:16):
So this is June.

Speaker 1 (01:28:17):
If it's the finals, that means JFK Junior had like
a month left.

Speaker 3 (01:28:22):
Yep, Tiger Woods was up in a suite and Sandler
and Crystal were right next to each other.

Speaker 1 (01:28:29):
It's some of the ticket prices I've seen, like, it's
that's just insane.

Speaker 3 (01:28:35):
And a lot of the people who will be in
those seats were in Cleveland.

Speaker 1 (01:28:40):
Oh yeah, well Ben Stellar is one of them. I
just the Garden is everything that it typed up to be,
but the fact that they're actually winning again is going
to just take that over the top.

Speaker 3 (01:28:54):
Well, as much as the league is a part of
all of what we talk about, the Knicks are going
to be in the NBA Finals, and the Knicks will
be playing in their fourth postseason series of this postseason.
These are They're a gold mine. This is an absolute
dream scenario. The Western Conference was almost assuredly gonna send

(01:29:15):
San Antonio or Oklahoma City the NBA Finals.

Speaker 2 (01:29:17):
They were just that going to have a big market
team in the finals.

Speaker 3 (01:29:20):
Well, you're gonna have the team in the finals, not
a big market team.

Speaker 1 (01:29:23):
You have the team, Well, the Lakers is the only
the other one that you know, league executives would probably prefer.

Speaker 2 (01:29:29):
To have in that spot.

Speaker 3 (01:29:31):
I mean in the championship. I suppose, I wonder, I mean,
I'm not. I don't have the answer. But the Lakers
fans are all over the country. They're here in Houston,
there everywhere. They clearly care. I really, the Knicks have
been dying for this for so long, and they're out
there everywhere every night, watch parties and arenas and everywhere.

(01:29:54):
I don't know if this isn't bigger than anything the Lakers,
who've been there a bunch, I think this is bigger.

Speaker 1 (01:30:00):
I kind of want to see the Knicks win it
all just because I want to see how much Detroit, Detroit,
New York just destroys itself.

Speaker 2 (01:30:07):
Don't do that.

Speaker 1 (01:30:08):
They definitely will we win a title and be happy
about it.

Speaker 2 (01:30:11):
It can't.

Speaker 1 (01:30:12):
They're dummies with no future. That's New York sports fan
in a nutshell. All Right, we will hear from the
aforementioned Joe Aspota when we come back, The eighteen on Sports.

Speaker 3 (01:30:26):
Eight team continues. Wex and ac here with you, astros,
Joe A. Spotta, We're gonna hear from him momentarily. The
lineup card he sends to Arlington to try to get
their second straight no hitter will not include their catcher
from yesterday, Christian Vasquez. He's caught a lot of their
recent inning. Say Sar Salazar gonna do the catching for

(01:30:47):
Jason Alexander Knight.

Speaker 2 (01:30:49):
He'll bat ninth.

Speaker 3 (01:30:50):
Nick Allen, who joined us earlier on the program, as
five hits in his last two games in eight bats,
also not in the lineup. They got four lefties in
the lineup, and one of him is Taylor Tremmel, who
is activated in advance of tonight's game, and the one
of the other ones is Jordon Alvarez. Probably be just
making sure he's good to go on a daily basis
over the next handful of days because of the back

(01:31:12):
spasms from his day off in Chicago had him just
the day before. Jeremy Pangne socpretis yard on Alvarez and
Christian Walker as per usual bat one through four. Jordon
as the designated hitter. Tremmel slides into the five spot.
He's in left, Cam Smith starts and right bat's next.
Braden Shoemake is at second base. He beats seventh. Bryce

(01:31:34):
Matthews back in center. As I mentioned, Seysar Salazar doing
the catching.

Speaker 1 (01:31:39):
Joe Aspatta with his weekly visit on the Matt Thomas
Show with Ross earlier today was questioned and really was
more of a statement than a question. As we get
you into the beginning of this interview here Matt basically
telling Joe you cannot lie to our listeners. You have
to acknowledge that was very, very improbable last night, maybe

(01:31:59):
the most improbable no hitter you've ever seen or been
a part of.

Speaker 14 (01:32:08):
I'm not gonna lie to you, man, that I didn't
see that coming.

Speaker 2 (01:32:11):
That, that's for sure.

Speaker 14 (01:32:12):
You know, the way the game started, I did not
see the ending being a no hitter. Did not think.

Speaker 7 (01:32:19):
You know, winning is.

Speaker 14 (01:32:21):
Always an expectation, and we prepare ourself to win the game.
But the way they being started, being a combined no
hitter to be the outcome of that game something that
I did not see, did not.

Speaker 15 (01:32:32):
See comings the most encouraging thing Emi gets in a
lot of control problems in the first inducing double plays.
Ari a pitcher's best friend you had from brevaldez It
for so many years in this town, and for Ema
to do that really was a turning point for him
as an astro.

Speaker 2 (01:32:46):
Would you not agree on.

Speaker 14 (01:32:47):
One hundred percent the thinker twice that ground ball on
Nemo first inning, a couple of accus fastball was a
very effective pitch. He got a lot of ton of
ground balls, he wasn't getting a ton of swinging, get
a ton of strikeouts. And our defense was game changing
throughout that game.

Speaker 7 (01:33:05):
You know, throughout the week.

Speaker 14 (01:33:06):
I think given in Chicago, we play really good defense
behind final starting pictures. But you know, Emi that first inning,
then he stettled, you know, continue to battle through through
that game, and then you know, gave us six strong innings,
passed Batono, okerh and Oker to to Centa and and.

Speaker 4 (01:33:24):
The story is the story is it is.

Speaker 14 (01:33:27):
It is what you saw man and a great team
effort win last night for for the Astros.

Speaker 15 (01:33:32):
When you decided to go to Santa, I know you
wanted to put him I'm assuming in a low leverage
situation at some point because he wants to get his
feet wet.

Speaker 2 (01:33:39):
You did just the opposite.

Speaker 15 (01:33:41):
What is the protocol, because you've been around these a
lot of these no hitters, what is the protocol about
talking things out, putting guys in, especially if you're doing
it in the combined variety.

Speaker 14 (01:33:51):
Yeah, you know, so going into the going into the game,
and and you know a tall scent and just continue
to stay ready going through our bullmen, throughout serious in
Chicago going into the series. I told Santa he used
to be ready because you know, at.

Speaker 15 (01:34:08):
Some point I'm going to.

Speaker 4 (01:34:09):
Call his name.

Speaker 14 (01:34:10):
And you know, if you really look at the.

Speaker 16 (01:34:13):
The run differentials in that game, it was a low
leverage spot, but the the the you know, the stage
that we were in, the moment and no hitter.

Speaker 14 (01:34:26):
This kid going to be a game in front of
his family in Arlington. You know, there was a lot
of uh, there's a lot of other things that you know,
I needed to consider, but I trust this kid. This kid,
he throw the ball really well, has been training, it's
been one of our best believers in Triple A, and
and why not now you know I saw him in

(01:34:48):
there and see what he's made off and his first
impression was incredible.

Speaker 2 (01:34:52):
Ashows.

Speaker 17 (01:34:52):
Manager Joe Spotted was here on Sports Talk seven. Now
do you mentioned Vasquez just I mean, just tell us
how huge he's been off with the bat and then
I mean calling another no hitter and just everything he's
been able to provide, especially with Diaz going down.

Speaker 14 (01:35:08):
Yeah, you know, we we we really wanted to add
a veteran presence in the offseason and in Christian baskets
with uh, what's the name that I that you know?

Speaker 7 (01:35:17):
I brought up a.

Speaker 14 (01:35:18):
Few times as an organization, we discussed a couple of
names just to cover ourselves from if injuried happened to
you on your das. Having Sally in the organization also
just added more depth to to to our catching to
our catching depth. And he's been he's been phenomenal. Just
he knows the staff, he knows our program, he knows

(01:35:41):
how we prepare pitchers to pitch what we you know,
our style of pitching. And he's a veteran press you know,
he's a veteran. He's a Wall Series champion. He he's
been in this fight with us before, so pictures trust him,
I trust him. So he's been he's been great to
have him around.

Speaker 15 (01:36:00):
What do y'all feed Nick Allen and Christian Walker the
last handful of days?

Speaker 7 (01:36:03):
Whatever it is?

Speaker 2 (01:36:04):
Can you send the recipe to me?

Speaker 10 (01:36:07):
You know?

Speaker 16 (01:36:08):
Nick?

Speaker 14 (01:36:08):
One thing about Nick is that you know, always been
always make good swing decisions, always being able to put
put the bear on the ball. You know, he can
just do things that you need, especially in that bottom
part of the lineup and he catches the ball. You know,
all those guys teams shoe made Christian Vasquez safety squeeze. Yes,

(01:36:31):
And it looks like I can handle the bat and
we could create some traffic and and put the ball
in motion down in the bottom and create some some
habits for the opponents and then the top of the
order come comes up with people on base. I think
we could be a more more dynamic offense if we
do if we if we add some of these guys
that could do things with the bat.

Speaker 15 (01:36:50):
And it's certainly made a difference because in a game
where you went nine to nothing, where that should have
been the start forcing the Rangers to make mistakes keeping
Millionings alive, it was about the pitching. So, uh, needless
to say, look, you still have a long way to go.
The West is easily to be approached. But you have
to be feeling better today than when you and I
visited last week.

Speaker 14 (01:37:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know I've seen I've seen a
lot of progress and consistency on in in our pitching.
You know. Uh, there's a good there's a good temple
to our game that when when you're in the dugout.
You feel like, you know, catch your pitcher on the
same page. Are often understands what they need to do.
Were running the basis aggressively. We're getting some timely hitting.

(01:37:32):
I think, for exemple, yesterday, the first inning, you know,
Pena gets on steel sec and there's a ball hit
to the right side. You're don Alvarez stack flies. That's
team baseball. And I'm starting to see that more consistent
the last ten days. Right So now is can't get complacent.

(01:37:52):
We got to continue to prepare ourselves, continue to execute.
But we are in a much better place now that
we were at last Tuesday. When you and I spot.

Speaker 3 (01:38:01):
Things definitely different, very very different. The outlook for where
they might go, and it all starts with the pitching.
It all starts with how they're keeping themselves in games
long enough for either their offense to do just enough.
You know, remember these games against Chicago and now the
Rangers where they finally pumped out more than four runs.

Speaker 2 (01:38:18):
It's the first time they'd done that in fifteen games.

Speaker 3 (01:38:21):
When they scored that huge outburst on Sunday, that was
the first time in fifteen games that they had scored
more than four runs.

Speaker 2 (01:38:28):
In a game.

Speaker 3 (01:38:28):
Now they were able to win six of those games
because their pitching was so much better. They would have
lost all of those games the way that they were
pitching in April. And that's what's changed more than anything else.
It looks like again short period of time through the
end of the Cup series. In the very very early
stages of the Rangers series, they're putting more runs on
the board, but they've spent the majority of May as

(01:38:49):
one of the lower run producing teams offensively this month,
and yet their record is significantly better because they have
a chance to win almost every day they play. Now,
they had a chance to win two times out of
five in the opening month and change well.

Speaker 2 (01:39:06):
And the fact that.

Speaker 1 (01:39:06):
Your on Alvarez had that little swoon, who I'm gonna
go ahead and say he's out of it just because
of the.

Speaker 2 (01:39:12):
Everyone had it.

Speaker 3 (01:39:13):
We were here on Friday talking about Christian Walker hitting
one ninety one.

Speaker 1 (01:39:17):
But if it's just one guy and he's that one
guy who's not I'm not asking him to perform like
he did in March and April. Just be the guy
that we know and love. You know, provided guys are
on base in front of him, it's it does make
a huge difference. But when he wasn't himself, it's like, ugh,
that combined with the pitching, that's not gonna fly at all.

Speaker 3 (01:39:39):
I mean, it was really to me, it's more about
everybody else he is. He's gonna do what he does.
It's not gonna be one hundred percent consistent all season,
and that's what you're pointing out. But he's gonna he's
gonna get his He's gonna have a nine to fifty
ops or better. He's gonna hit his thirty five home runs,
providing he's healthy. It's about what you also said. It
doesn't matter if he's sitting thirty five homers and twenty

(01:40:00):
seven of them are solo shots, and it doesn't matter
if the guy behind him isn't hitting, because they're just
gonna keep walking him. So ops is gonna stay up.
There's batting average is gonna stay up there. But their
offense is not gonna go anywhere, so they need Christian
Walker to produce. It would be phenomenal if Christian Walker
and Jordan Alvarez were battling for the home run lead
and the RBI lead on the team in July and August.

(01:40:22):
They are currently battling for that Right now, Jordan's got
him by one homer and Walker has Alvarez by seven.
RBI leads the AL if they're still neck and neck
and near the top of the league as well when
we get to July and August, I think this offense
will be just fine because that obviously means other players
around them are getting on base.

Speaker 1 (01:40:40):
I did like the fact that Brian McTaggart showed what
it would be like in any other division.

Speaker 2 (01:40:45):
You know, you're three and a half back. That's what
I said earlier.

Speaker 1 (01:40:48):
Every team, every division but this one, has a team
at least eight games over five hundred leading their division.

Speaker 2 (01:40:55):
The ASTROS division leader is at five hundred.

Speaker 1 (01:40:58):
They'd be twelve games back in the AL East, seven
and a half in the AL Central, and then as
far as the National League the West, they'd be ten
and a half East, they'd be twelve and a half
and nine for the NL Central.

Speaker 3 (01:41:10):
Plus they'd be playing those really good teams a lot
more often.

Speaker 1 (01:41:13):
Yeah, then there's that small minor detail. You know what, though,
beggars can't be choosers right now. Just keep winning Astros
and start tonight with the Arlington Southern Oklahoma Rangers. We'll
continue with our signature segment next, it's Say What.

Speaker 2 (01:41:28):
It's NBA Eastern Conference Finals edition.

Speaker 7 (01:41:33):
The eight on Sports Talk seven ninety. It happens only
once a year in Las Vegas.

Speaker 18 (01:41:41):
Our legendary iHeartRadio Music Festival, presented by Capital One.

Speaker 7 (01:41:45):
Is bad Arms one stage two nights.

Speaker 18 (01:41:50):
Are You Right and featuring the biggest names in music,
live loud and always full of surprises.

Speaker 7 (01:41:58):
You're at live on iHeart.

Speaker 18 (01:41:59):
Radio and streaming live on Disney Plus and Hulo.

Speaker 9 (01:42:01):
Listen for the reveal of our twenty twenty six High
Heart Radio Music Festival.

Speaker 18 (01:42:05):
Tuesday morning, June second, X seven.

Speaker 3 (01:42:08):
We do have an NBA edition of our signature segment today,
Say What. As the pool of teams eligible to win
this season's NBA Championship dipped from four to three with
last night's results, another lopsided affair for the New York Knickerbockers.
They've won eleven consecutive postseason games. Each of their three
sei later games have been incredibly one sided. Swept the

(01:42:33):
Sixers out and embarrassed them in the finale. We're able
to overcome a series deficit to the Atlanta Hawks, winning
the final three games of that series and thoroughly embarrassed
that Team Atlanta did not have forty at halftime. And
then obviously you saw what happened last night, and at
halftime of last night's game, the first of many sound

(01:42:54):
bites related to last night's activities was delivered. Thanks to
it being a game on the Worldwide Leader, that means
the inside the NBA crew had it, and they will
have the postseason's remaining games when the West meets the East.
Not Rocky style, but you know what I mean. Uh So,
Charles Barkley had made a request to the production crew

(01:43:15):
that if he could just get a couple of extra minutes,
maybe get to put the graphics department to work, and
they said, happily, what do you have to say about
this game that's long been over, even though half of
it still has to has to go on the clock?

Speaker 19 (01:43:30):
Kids at home, if you want to see what the
word quit, come on to give up the verb. But
that is kaba LEAs, Come on, this is this is
what you see that Quito the Knicks is just that good.

Speaker 7 (01:43:45):
Run they have Jay were down.

Speaker 19 (01:43:46):
Twenty nine, Kenny Kitty, Look this is just effort here.

Speaker 2 (01:43:50):
Come on, man, this is just effort.

Speaker 19 (01:43:52):
I'll give a twenty three fast break cours and a half.

Speaker 2 (01:43:57):
Actually twenty six.

Speaker 19 (01:44:00):
That was that question you asked Shack and me and
Kennon for the game, Like, players ain't gonna say they're
gonna quit, but you know what shows their actions. You
know they're like, of course they're like Alisa and Malika
were talking about. You know, they're saying older. You say, believed,
I believe they were gonna get the ask. Well, but
that's what's gonna happen.

Speaker 3 (01:44:18):
Appreciate Ernie jumping in there. Actually it was twenty six
points and very much my style. Twenty six fast break
points allowed to a twenty three point advantage. As Charles, Kenny, Shack,
and Ernie were talking about the sixty eight to forty
nine lead the Knicks we're enjoying at halftime of their

(01:44:41):
attempt to sweep the Calves out of the clouds.

Speaker 2 (01:44:43):
It's weird about Charles Barkley, and this is gonna be
the case for any athlete that plays a certain way
and then goes into television to criticize others who play
the same game. Afterwards, you can absolutely argue that it's
so ironic that he's criticizing other guys for their level
of effort.

Speaker 1 (01:45:04):
Yet it depends on what you're talking about. If it's
on the defensive end, then you know he kind of
looks silly. But then the level of effort that a
guy that he's listed at six', four there's no way
he was above six to two and was leading a
league and rebounding multiple. Seasons that just takes another level

(01:45:24):
of physical, commitment effort. Commitment so he's very much an
enigma when it comes to these kinds of, CRITICISMS i,
think especially thirty years after the. Fact basically we're coming
up on thirty years since he's.

Speaker 3 (01:45:36):
Retired the only pushback From kenny and does THAT i
kind of cut out was they just thought it was.
Mean they didn't disagree with, It they didn't think what
they Were they showed highlight after highlight after highlight of
them getting beat down the, court of them sending five
guys into the, paint but nobody doing. Anything they were
clearly they put what happened In game one definitely mentally

(01:46:00):
took them out of this series because they didn't truly
recover from, that and that that is the mental side
of exactly What charles was talking about they weren't mentally
into this series After game one and they got embarrassed
three straight nights because of.

Speaker 2 (01:46:13):
It and this was a.

Speaker 3 (01:46:14):
Lopside this wasn't a, man just a couple of, bounces
and The cavs could be two to two or even
three to, one even though they're head coach thinks they
could if you missed that over the. Weekend this is
before they'd even gotten To game. Four hopefully you can
make most of this out from. Practice about the, nonsense
absolute please fire me, now nonsense That Kenny atkinson was

(01:46:36):
spewing over the weekend after three games had been played
in this.

Speaker 12 (01:46:39):
Series, ANALYTICALLY i think we won the EXPECT i said
three out of.

Speaker 7 (01:46:43):
Three we're two out of three and the Expected did
you guys follow that an expected? Score you, know then
we've won two out of the. THREE i know you're
looking at for, twos BUT.

Speaker 2 (01:46:53):
I know ya.

Speaker 3 (01:46:56):
Know if process and all, THAT i, Mean I'm i'm
gonna stop it right. There so expected, scores expected, outcomes
the analytics of it. All if you believe in the,
process you're not losing on last second, shots you're not
playing strong, Defense You're i'll let him continue BEFORE i,
continue because it does get worse.

Speaker 7 (01:47:18):
Too i've shooting way low. Expectors i'm shooting way over
AND i know when no one wants to hear.

Speaker 2 (01:47:25):
THAT i think you guys like hearing.

Speaker 9 (01:47:27):
THAT i know general, public no one wants everyone's outcoming.

Speaker 7 (01:47:32):
Face SURE i get that.

Speaker 3 (01:47:35):
Suit i'm just gonna remind, you this is the, playoffs
and this is what your head Coach cleveland is, saying
everyone's outcoming.

Speaker 2 (01:47:42):
Face SURE i get.

Speaker 3 (01:47:45):
That, suit everyone's outcome based and SURE i get that.
Too it's the, playoffs. Dude it's still not as bad
as What James harden. Did, yeah his was tough to.
FIGURE i tried to give him as much uh you,
know let it, breathe as might, say to kind of
make his. Point he was, asked, PRETTY i was surprised

(01:48:07):
at the, question to be quite honest with, you WHICH
i BELIEVE i left in here about you, know calvs
versus The, Knicks and is there any way that how
much better are they than?

Speaker 4 (01:48:16):
You?

Speaker 13 (01:48:18):
Series how much?

Speaker 7 (01:48:20):
Better if they're? Better are the next than than?

Speaker 8 (01:48:23):
You?

Speaker 3 (01:48:23):
Guys if they're better was presented to a player who
just played in a series where his team competed in
one of the four. Games the other three games were,
blowouts and the game they competed in they lost a
twenty two point lead by getting outscored by thirty three
from that point, on fourth quarter on and ot if they?
Are that was how the question was presented To James.

Speaker 20 (01:48:46):
HARDEN i, MEAN i can't even, LIKE i can't even
answer that question. Honestly, yeah it was four, zero BUT
i don't think we gave we had a chance as
far as our best. Shot you, know from a standpoint
of the. Circumstances you, know obviously they just they they

(01:49:06):
dominated us four. Oh but, YEAH i don't know IF
i can necessarily answer that, question just because GENUINELY i
do feel like we are we are the better. Team
but you, know serious, wise you, KNOW i didn't show,
It so tough question to.

Speaker 2 (01:49:22):
Answer again a, reminder they.

Speaker 20 (01:49:25):
Dominated us four, oh but just because GINGUINELY i do
feel like we are we are the better.

Speaker 2 (01:49:32):
Team what would you like to do with?

Speaker 1 (01:49:34):
That what can you do with? That it's contradictory in. Nature,
yeah they dominated, us however we're. Better what are you talking?
ABOUT i get what he's.

Speaker 3 (01:49:45):
Under the circumstances in this, series we didn't show.

Speaker 1 (01:49:49):
It but other than, that you know why we didn't
show it because they're better than.

Speaker 2 (01:49:52):
You because they're better than.

Speaker 1 (01:49:54):
YOU i, MEAN i get what he's trying to not,
do which is tell everyone that his team's not the better.

Speaker 2 (01:50:00):
Team but you just got.

Speaker 1 (01:50:02):
Swept there's not even a margin for an argument because
you didn't win.

Speaker 3 (01:50:07):
One, Well Jabari Smith's rockets will be Meeting James Harden's
calves in THE Nba finals this.

Speaker 1 (01:50:12):
Year they both believe they had the better. Team it
sounded as ridiculous then they were winning games at least
and competing in all of the games they lost very
much Unlike Harden's Cleveland. Cavaliers so much more from that
series and THE nba at, Large but a few other
items to get to before we get to football at.
Five something that was brought up probably first right here

(01:50:36):
On Sports talk seven nineties eighteen during the. Offseason it's
playing out just LIKE ac said it.

Speaker 2 (01:50:42):
Would that's. Next SO i was right about something we'll.

Speaker 3 (01:50:50):
SEE i don't know how many people were paying attention
to one of the few super late night games last,
night but we're talking about The. Astros astros have a
six man. ROTATION i think they might stick with, that
at least on the short term through waiting For Hunter brown's,
return and then probably through the early portion of his.
Return The mariners look like they've kind of chosen. Otherwise

(01:51:12):
they have six capable, starters but they don't intend to
use them on six consecutive days or, games but rather
they like. Piggybacking yesterday's game was the piggyback. Game Luis,
castillo when he wasn't pitching against The, astros has not
out a very good, season but it's getting. Better he
got the start yesterday with the expectation that he would

(01:51:34):
be lifted in the middle innings For Bryce miller to
presumably finish out the.

Speaker 2 (01:51:39):
Game they were hoping to need only two.

Speaker 3 (01:51:40):
Pitchers they got a six spot in the third inning
As castillo's spinning four shutout, innings so the bottom of
the fifth inning or came around with them holding on
to that, lead they went To Bryce. Miller castillo threw
sixty eight. Pitches the cameras caught him on the. Bench
he was. Pissed im sure he knew what was, coming

(01:52:01):
but he threw his gear on the. Bench he was
talked to by teammates and coaches as his outing was over,
prematurely certainly in his. Mind And Bryce miller went out
there and through the final five innings of the, game
gave up a couple runs of the ninth and ate
the ninth, inning so they won nine to.

Speaker 2 (01:52:15):
Two but you.

Speaker 3 (01:52:18):
Talked about and we all saw The World Baseball classic,
Stuff randy with his outreached palm hoping for a shake
of the hand from his Catcher Cal. Rawley though they
were representing two different. Countries they were about ready to
put On mariner's gear. Together it did not. Come it
was not. Reciprocated he went off verbally after the game

(01:52:40):
and then, SAID i didn't mean. It everything's, Fine we're.

Speaker 1 (01:52:42):
Good you say everything's, Great and they've kind of had
a middle end start to their. Season their pitching has
been good but not, great and their offense has been pretty.
Poor and Now Big dumper is he's on the, sidelines he's,
hurt and we wonder if everything's okay.

Speaker 2 (01:52:56):
There SO i just told you.

Speaker 3 (01:52:57):
That Luis castillo was not happy about how that played.
Out Bryce miller was the pitcher who finished the, game
and without a complete, game it's you, know not that
likely he's gonna be the post game guest on the
television program with their postgame show like last night for,
instance The astros post game guest with The julie on

(01:53:18):
the field Was Tatsuya ema and his translator And Christian
vasquez And Olin bersonta and his translator And Steven. Okerk
they threw a no hitter for The mariners. Game it
was just the guy who finished the, Game Bryce, miller
and he was asked about getting used to the scenario
that they're.

Speaker 13 (01:53:35):
In you've done the starter, first now the second guy
the second, Time so is it getting MORE i guess
comfortable now that you've done most situations.

Speaker 21 (01:53:48):
This this setup's not not very. Comfortable but LIKE i,
SAID i, mean at the end of the, DAY i
get to come out and pitch in the big leagues
and something that That i've dreamed about my whole.

Speaker 4 (01:53:59):
Life so.

Speaker 2 (01:54:02):
WOULD i rather start the?

Speaker 21 (01:54:03):
Game, Yeah but ANYTIME i can be on the mound
in the big, leagues.

Speaker 2 (01:54:08):
Be grateful for. It so very, Good.

Speaker 3 (01:54:10):
Aggie he tried his best to go company line with.
That But i'm gonna give you the most interesting part
of that interview again from the end of the question
that he was asked about being comfortable in this role, NOW.

Speaker 13 (01:54:22):
I guess comfortable now that you've done most situations.

Speaker 3 (01:54:25):
One, two, three four before he could come up with
an answer because he hates. It Luis castillo hates. It
do they hate what they're doing this year as a?

Speaker 2 (01:54:40):
TEAM i wonder.

Speaker 1 (01:54:43):
They shouldn't love. IT i mean it's NOT i mean
they are in second. Place, yeah they are with a losing.
RECORD i, MEAN i don't know what the record was
this time last, year but everyone in THE Al, west
at least the top three teams from a year, ago
if we're having, well, ACTUALLY i take that. Back The
astros were going through it and then they battled, Back

(01:55:06):
so this is probably the portion of the calendar where
they were still going through it to my. Memory But
seattle had a pretty good season last year Wired, wire
AS i, recall.

Speaker 3 (01:55:16):
Fifty five games into the, season they're twenty six and
twenty nine and trail The athletics by a game and a.
Half last, year fifty five games of the, season the
other four teams in the division were looking up at,
them and they were thirty and twenty, five half game.

Speaker 1 (01:55:28):
Up so they're not that far off the pace from last. Year,
no they're not that far.

Speaker 3 (01:55:33):
Off the, pace but at fifty five games into the,
season they had just spent thirty consecutive days in first.

Speaker 1 (01:55:39):
Place but it feels like everything's going to implode and
their season is.

Speaker 3 (01:55:43):
Over that's what you've been telling people for, months and
we're getting more and more evidence that you could in
fact be. Correct, Nobody i'm that's kind of imaging. Worthy
Are Seattle mariners? Insider, WELL i wouldn't call me. That
fifty five games into the. Season last, year The astros
were the team that was a half game back of The. Mariners,

(01:56:05):
YEAH i, mean so they were five games. Over and
what's Cal rawley's? Got what was it? Oblique with?

Speaker 1 (01:56:13):
HIM i can't remember the injury, now m that's not
good FOR i, mean, look any oblique injury is gonna
be rough a guy that basically is his games predicated
on hitting a ton of home. Runs that's even. Worse
have you been listening to the? Show you, know probably
figured it out by. NOW i was watching a baseball
program earlier today with some olds on, It john And,

(01:56:33):
bob and one of these segments was about are we
watching one of those one year outlier season? Players in
Cal Raley you talk about last year and they brought
up a handful of players who had one amazing season
surrounded by nothing anywhere close to.

Speaker 8 (01:56:51):
It.

Speaker 3 (01:56:51):
Now raley was a good player through twenty twenty. Four
don't get us. Wrong he's well above average starting, catcher
both defensively and. Offensively and then he hit sixty. Homers
and this year he's GONNA i, mean it's obviously the
total is gonna be way down for injury.

Speaker 1 (01:57:06):
Reasons but he was also awful this. Year, yeah he
wasn't good before. This this, year not just, average he was.
Terrible like his batting average was one sixty. Seven stop
with the, niceties it was only one sixty. ONE i
thought it was in the one. SIXTIES i just couldn't

(01:57:26):
remember how bad it really. Was, yes one's sixty.

Speaker 2 (01:57:30):
One that's where it's at right.

Speaker 1 (01:57:32):
Now he hasn't he can't make it. Better he's on the.
Sideline how long has he been?

Speaker 3 (01:57:36):
Out he played almost every game through their first FORTY
i was played in forty one. GAMES i think he'd
only missed two or three by, then so he's missed
another about fifteen.

Speaker 1 (01:57:45):
Fifteen, yeah and you know, what like Cal, RAWLEY i
know the little clip of, him, well it's always good
to Beat houston if by all accounts he's one of
the good dudes in. BASEBALL i don't. Care i'm Glad
seattle's going through, it especially if The astros are having
to have their second consecutive injury riddled.

Speaker 3 (01:58:02):
Season, well the two teams a top this division are
The mariners And, athletics and they continue playing against one.
Another it's The mariners win last, night which is why
The athletics are not above five, hundred just sitting at
twenty seven and twenty. Seven The astros going to play
at twenty four and thirty, one so that's three and
a half games back as they continue this series with
The Rangers, Tonight tomorrow And, thursday all three remaining games

(01:58:25):
of this series evening Games Alexander, Tonight Burrows, wednesday and
The ace of The Staff Spencer araghetty On.

Speaker 2 (01:58:33):
THURSDAY i Like Spencer arighetty's.

Speaker 1 (01:58:35):
CHANCES i have no idea what to think about the
night like his, chances, WELL i JUST i don't.

Speaker 2 (01:58:42):
KNOW i think.

Speaker 1 (01:58:42):
It lighters probably got something for The, astros, because AS i,
recall the last time he pitched against, them he didn't
fare too well.

Speaker 2 (01:58:50):
Well he Faced.

Speaker 1 (01:58:51):
Saraghetty he pitched, fine but they couldn't do, anything so
he allowed four.

Speaker 2 (01:58:56):
RUNS i want to, SAY i can't remember what it.

Speaker 1 (01:58:59):
Was, yeah Like lighters a good, pitcher but like it
felt like he had owned The astros until that last,
start and then they got just enough off of, him
Plus arrogatty going for.

Speaker 2 (01:59:09):
Them that it even things out for The.

Speaker 3 (01:59:12):
Astros one hour for, now we start Our astros covers
with the On Deck. Show five minutes from, now it's
football at. Five who's afraid of playing In houston to
start the? Year that's, Next.

Speaker 7 (01:59:25):
It's five o'clock on A.

Speaker 2 (01:59:26):
Tuesday that means it's time for football at. Five AND
i gotta tell YOU.

Speaker 1 (01:59:32):
Wex WHEN i saw the following SoundBite we're about to,
PLAY i was pretty pretty pleased with myself BECAUSE i
knew that deep. Down When Josh allen thinks about the
immense blessings in his, LIFE i, mean he is a

(01:59:52):
many times over generational wealthy. Athlete he is a quarterback
for one of the signature teams IN nfl. History he's
one of the best. QUARTERBACKS i guess, losers, ever what
a mean thing to. SAY i would Never.

Speaker 2 (02:00:05):
Texans haven't lost Any Super, bowls that's, true let alone
four in a. Row he didn't lose.

Speaker 1 (02:00:12):
Those Jim, kelly did you applauded him for his working
with a, franchise that's his.

Speaker 2 (02:00:17):
Franchise, well, look no one else has gotten as close
to knocking Off Pat mahomes in THE afc during his
heyday Than Josh. Allen. FAIR i, MEAN i know That
Joe burrow, did so wouldn't he be?

Speaker 1 (02:00:32):
Closer but he's looking like right about, now can't get back,
there can't can't duplicate.

Speaker 2 (02:00:38):
It he just said they're gonna win The Super bowl
within the.

Speaker 8 (02:00:39):
Week.

Speaker 1 (02:00:40):
Okay can you name any other quarterback right now in
THE afc that you can?

Speaker 2 (02:00:45):
Have anyone besides.

Speaker 1 (02:00:46):
Let's do craft right, now go, ahead any other quarterback
that has multiple classics Against mahomes and The.

Speaker 2 (02:00:55):
Chiefs no one else can say. That, Yeah Josh allen AND.
Cj you THINK cj has a classics playoff game?

Speaker 1 (02:01:02):
Classics, Okay but all of that is to, say if
you listen to the, SoundBite there's only one thing and
one thing that can come to, mind and that Is
Josh allen is scared Of.

Speaker 3 (02:01:13):
Houston, yeah When Josh allen wasn't helping The bills release
their schedule video and talking About chrysalist and a bunch of,
nonsense not a very good schedule release video bottom. Ten
he was looking at the actual. Scheduling here's what stood
out to him.

Speaker 22 (02:01:30):
In terms, of like looking at the, SCHEDULE i really,
don't you. KNOW i know that we Got houston game,
one and everyone talks about The thursday night game.

Speaker 7 (02:01:39):
Week, two but the only.

Speaker 22 (02:01:42):
Thing that really strikes out to me is the first,
game you, know and it's At, houston a place that you,
KNOW i particularly haven't played very well. At SO i
got to do everything in my power to kind of
change that narrative.

Speaker 3 (02:01:52):
THERE i heard, this AND i KNEW i needed to
do one, thing and that was asked for assistance from you.
Specifically there are a lot of THINGS i need help
with than that word is definitely one of.

Speaker 2 (02:02:02):
Them in the sports.

Speaker 3 (02:02:03):
VERNACULAR i don't think either he knows what narrative means
OR i don't know what narrative. Means what does narrative
mean when it's spoken about in a sporting, sense.

Speaker 2 (02:02:14):
Usually is kind of a fabricated.

Speaker 1 (02:02:17):
Thing that's WHAT i, thought based on. Reality, NECESSARILY i.

Speaker 3 (02:02:21):
Thought that as. Well so that MEANS i do know
what it, means and he doesn't. Correct the reason WHY
i heard it doesn't is because then nothing about you
not playing well In houston is a.

Speaker 2 (02:02:29):
Narrative it's a. Fact it's a.

Speaker 1 (02:02:31):
Fact, yeah he that's his way of changing what my
history has.

Speaker 4 (02:02:37):
Been.

Speaker 3 (02:02:37):
Correct i'm changing How i've performed. THERE i have been bad.
There it is not a narrative That i've been bad.
THERE i have been bad there not a.

Speaker 1 (02:02:46):
Narrative and the narrative That Josh allen isn't a big
game quarterback in the, postseason that would be more easily
ACCEPTED i think about him specific, THEN i mean because
any number of guys have narratives about, them not just, Quarterbacks.

Speaker 3 (02:03:06):
LIKE i think the narrative on postseason performance would probably
fall easier On. Lamar but, again is it a narrative
or is it he hasn't played his best football in
the playoffs over and over and over and over. Again
Josh allen hasn't won in the, playoffs and last year
he Was Lamar jackson, Bad but most of his rest
of his postseason career is.

Speaker 2 (02:03:25):
Incredible he just didn't win those classic. Games, again it
was basically who had the ball? Last in two of.

Speaker 3 (02:03:31):
Them, yeah if you had the ball and scored after
fifty nine minutes and forty seven seconds had, elapsed too.

Speaker 1 (02:03:37):
Bad there was still thirteen seconds. Left he left too
much time on the. Clock he left too much time
on the. Clock his, fault not his defense's.

Speaker 2 (02:03:45):
Fault his. Fault, well it's a little bit of. BOTH i,
mean sometimes you can score too, fast but they. Didn't
there's thirteen seconds. Left, YEAH i. KNOW i was just
trying to be.

Speaker 3 (02:03:56):
Nice so his history In houston is pretty. Clear Josh
allen did postseason football here In. Houston for those that don't,
remember he was, good but not as good As Deshaun
watson And Taiwan. Jones and even with what they thought
was help at half right after a halftime with the kickoff,
fiasco they didn't come out on. Top and The thursday

(02:04:19):
night game last year also stands. Out but PEOPLE i
think must have forgotten the other regular season game that
he had recently played In.

Speaker 2 (02:04:26):
Houston it was tragically.

Speaker 1 (02:04:28):
Bad, now they weren't blowing out The bills really in
either of those. Instances both of them were very close.
Games last year when they sacked him one, two, three, four, five, six,
seven eight TIMES i was. There he had the ball
at the end of the game with a chance to
put The bills in.

Speaker 2 (02:04:46):
Front we're talking last snap of the game.

Speaker 1 (02:04:48):
Stuff, seriously The texans beat him twenty beat them twenty
three to, nineteen despite sacking him eight times and picking
him off. Twice well that's because when they did pick him,
off the didn't do anything with.

Speaker 3 (02:05:01):
It and then the other game that everyone should remember
but somehow, doesn't.

Speaker 2 (02:05:06):
This sunday afternoon, game they beat him twenty three to.

Speaker 3 (02:05:08):
Twenty he and The bills he completed nine Pass it
was the worst game of his. Career he threw thirty,
passes nine of them were caught by his. Team it
was arguably the worst throwing performance of his ENTIRE nfl.

Speaker 1 (02:05:24):
Career That thursday game that you're talking about last, season
he was light years better than the game you're talking
about right. Now he to this, DAY i think he
even said it it was the worst game of his,
career not professional, career not like this is the worst
Game i've ever played. Football and that was the, one
and it was because of The texans. Defense and he's

(02:05:46):
played three games In. Houston the other one was eight years.

Speaker 3 (02:05:49):
Ago you can add it to it because they didn't
win and he didn't play.

Speaker 2 (02:05:53):
Well but it's not a. Narrative it is a.

Speaker 3 (02:05:57):
Fact he's Visited houston three, times the last two times
with an awesome team and.

Speaker 2 (02:06:03):
One he'll bring an awesome team this year. Too he absolutely.

Speaker 3 (02:06:06):
Will most, PEOPLE i think almost every people are predicting
The bills to win that division this year after seeding
it for a year To Diana rossini's FAVORITE nfl, team
and that they will get it back this. YEAR i
tend to, agree but they they do have a more
than difficult start to their.

Speaker 2 (02:06:23):
Season why A thursday night game Against that was.

Speaker 3 (02:06:26):
The other thing that he, mentioned BUT i cut out
that audio because they are in primetime the following week
to open up their. Season they start with The texans
and then they have The thursday night game four days
later at our home for their their home opener against The.
Lions so they followed by The, chargers followed by The,
patriots followed by The.

Speaker 1 (02:06:47):
Rams, well they should beat Their chargers in The. Patriots
they just.

Speaker 3 (02:06:51):
Should all three of those games after the opener are at.

Speaker 1 (02:06:54):
Home, yeah they then they definitely should in that new
LIKE i don't know how THEY'RE i don't know how
are going to play in their new. Home they've never played.
There Cowboys cowboys famously lost their first. Game eli took
them to school In Jerry.

Speaker 3 (02:07:08):
World the first very Popular Giants cowboys game probably got
a lot of.

Speaker 1 (02:07:11):
Viewers, YEAH i bet you they have one of those
again this. Year oh look opening, week, Right, Yeah, sunday.

Speaker 2 (02:07:18):
That's The sunday night. Game If i'm not. Mistaken, okay,
Dad detroit. Game that's not that's not. Good Well detroit
needs to bounce.

Speaker 8 (02:07:26):
Back.

Speaker 1 (02:07:27):
Yeah and it was like that their narrative talking about,
narrative their coaching staff. Leaving that's a. Narrative we's, see
isn't it a? Fact but a lot of the same
players were still there that put up these eye popping.
Numbers but look at The. Eagles when The Dimico rions coaching.

Speaker 3 (02:07:46):
Cycle that was when Bird gang guy went to The
cardinals THEIR dc And Shane stykin went to The. Colts
THEY'RE oc and The eagles have had six hundred offensive
coordinator since. Then every year they get a new one
or if that person even makes the year.

Speaker 1 (02:08:00):
In The Super bowl twice two and one one of.
Them they since, then they've been, twice haven't they been?

Speaker 2 (02:08:05):
Once they?

Speaker 3 (02:08:06):
Split, well what year was, that twenty twenty? Three it
was when they left when THAT.

Speaker 1 (02:08:12):
I think twenty three was the season that they lost
to The, CHIEFS i, think and then they won the next.

Speaker 3 (02:08:19):
Year either, WAY i, mean it was my position that
you changed your whole. OFFENSE i Mean Dan campbell took
over play calling during the year last.

Speaker 2 (02:08:26):
Year, YEAH i forgot about. That that's not a narrative.

Speaker 3 (02:08:29):
Either and good luck trying to win offensively with Only
Jamier gibbs and No David.

Speaker 2 (02:08:36):
Montgomery good Luck lions.

Speaker 1 (02:08:38):
Offense you know, What David montgomery is gonna be The
Christian vasquez of The. Texans you're gonna be apologizing so
much when he rips off one hundred yards his first
game of the, season when he has one hundred yards
and what he. Marks doesn't do that until the, Postseason
like you're you're gonna you're gonna Say i'm.

Speaker 2 (02:08:54):
SORRY i don't know If i'll say that, now you.

Speaker 3 (02:08:57):
MIGHT i hit two. Astros it was really. HARD i hit,
well it wasn't, again it wasn't really. Them it Was
dana for bringing In christian and it was the whole
staff for Turning Kaiwai tang into a. STARTER i was,
like come, on, man, awful terrible, decisions.

Speaker 2 (02:09:16):
Wrong and wrong by.

Speaker 1 (02:09:18):
Me, well but, again they weren't Put they were put
in that situation in part because of, injuries which is.

Speaker 2 (02:09:24):
Something, YES i Mean Kaiwai. Tang he was gonna be
a bullpen.

Speaker 3 (02:09:27):
Guy he was their best bullpen, guy so taking him
out of the BULLPEN i did not think was the
way to. Go he had not been a good starter
as a major leaguer brief as it was when he
was with The, giants BUT i did not like the
idea of taking a clearly successful part of your team
and hoping you could stretch him out into a successful
part a different part of your. Team AND i couldn't

(02:09:49):
have been more. Wrong so, far he's been. Awesome gave
him six set out and he was the last time
he was out. There it's worked out tremendously And Christian
vasquez surpassing expectations is the lowest COMPLIMENT i could.

Speaker 2 (02:10:04):
Give he's way beyond. That where would they be without?

Speaker 3 (02:10:07):
Him perfectly good, question, ask crazy but totally. TRUE i
mean no offense to says our salads are But i'm
actually this is Why Christian vasquez is. Here salasar is
not a major league, hitter and they were left With
salazar and D as if they didn't bring anybody.

Speaker 2 (02:10:23):
In i'm actually concerned he's not in the lineup. Tonight it's,
okay it's just the ninth. Hitter at Least salazar won't
get crossed up by his starting. Pitcher that only happened.
Once guy's In.

Speaker 3 (02:10:32):
Detroit now they are fading fast behind The astros and
the overall.

Speaker 1 (02:10:36):
Standards aj'll be available. Soon we haven't had a firing
a month In Major League. Baseball it's. Time it's, Time,
JIM i don't think. So but we shall see a
few more items that we have let hang out there
a little.

Speaker 3 (02:10:50):
Bit told you we'd get to him a little bit.
Later one on THE nba side and more on THE nfl.
Side one note on The texans need to. Revisit we'll
do that next.

Speaker 7 (02:11:00):
THE ae On Sports talk seven.

Speaker 1 (02:11:02):
Ninety you have really stirred the, pot Wex how so
for someone WHO i am assuming has a journalism, degree.

Speaker 2 (02:11:13):
Why DO i have a story for?

Speaker 1 (02:11:14):
You Your english teacher failed you, Miserably, Wexler how long
do we have to hear you incorrectly ramble on about
how things are quote not a narrative because they're not.
FICTION i asked for. Help, Yeah ruckus seventy. Four why
are you so mad at wex who doesn't have.

Speaker 3 (02:11:36):
A General looking at the definition which Suggested Josh allen
wasn't wrong but in a sporting, SENSE i compatriot, here
my co host, said in a sporting, sense he is.

Speaker 2 (02:11:49):
Wrong that's not a.

Speaker 1 (02:11:50):
Narrative we went with that you don't play well here
when every time you play well play here it's not playing.
Well that's a. Fact it's not a. Narrative is like by,
design almost by nature made. Up it's to, clickbait to rage,
bait and clearly it worked on, you.

Speaker 3 (02:12:08):
RUCKUS a connected account of events or, experiences whether fictional
like a novel or nonfictional like a, memoir involves the
art of storytelling and is structured to convey. Meeting the
actual definition is a spoken a written account of connected,
events a. Story the story Of Josh allen's career In
houston is a smelly. One it's a. Narrative So josh is.

(02:12:31):
CORRECT i don't. Agree See i'm confused. Again, WELL i
just love the fact that there's no source definition where
it says if speaking about the term narrative and sports,
together then what DO.

Speaker 2 (02:12:45):
I always go to when it comes to.

Speaker 1 (02:12:47):
THIS i go To Ramona, shelbourne who admitted publicly on
air that she voted on the NBA's Most Valuable Player
award based on what she referred to as. Narratives whatever
the narrative. Is and if you think about, that there
was a nice little run there where there was a

(02:13:07):
narrative almost every single year in a row of some
of these guys that, were in this case edging Out
James harden for WHAT i thought was a DESERVED mvp.
AWARD i, mean what's the? Narrative the, Narrative, well that's
the whole. Point the narrative when he lost out To
Steph curry was That steph's team had a better.

Speaker 2 (02:13:28):
Record, therefore you shouldn't be upset about.

Speaker 1 (02:13:30):
This rockets, Fans, okay, Fine but then you move the
goalpost the very next year when you based on the
narrative That Russell westbrook is the Most Valuable player simply
because he's averaging a triple, double never mind that he's
the best player on a sixth seeded team Behind James.

(02:13:52):
Harden last, year you could not have that award because
the team was better than. You where the player won
the award this, year different. Narrative the goalposts have. Moved,
yeah different. Fact we're going off of whose team is. Better,
Yes Russell westbrook from the sixth seed average a triple.
Double therefore he gets YOUR mvp award this. Year and
then when you guys meet in the, Postseason harden's team

(02:14:16):
will Beat russell's team and it'll make everybody look even.

Speaker 3 (02:14:18):
Sillier rockets won fifty five that, year third, seed thunder
one forty seven that, year six.

Speaker 1 (02:14:25):
Seed maybe if for us had been more, valuable they
wouldn't have only won forty seven.

Speaker 2 (02:14:29):
Games then the next Year james gets his award.

Speaker 1 (02:14:34):
Yay then then the next year after that because he
had gotten the.

Speaker 2 (02:14:38):
Award, yeah voter. Fatigue voter. Fatigue that one.

Speaker 1 (02:14:41):
Inerative once we got to give it To giannis even
though all of his stats were mind boggling lee better
than HIS mvp.

Speaker 2 (02:14:49):
Season, yeah but it. Doesn't that stuff. Doesn't it's just one.

Speaker 1 (02:14:52):
Season the guy was scoring thirty points a game or
more for like three months straight or something.

Speaker 3 (02:14:58):
Stupid, right it's only relative to the rest of the
players in the league that particular. Year if you get
better the next year after winning THE, mvp but somebody
out plays you that next, year you shouldn't win THE.

Speaker 1 (02:15:10):
Mvp did you Think giannis outplayed in that year team
had a better. Record, no for many.

Speaker 3 (02:15:16):
REASONS i Thought James harden should have won the, award
just cause we're on. IT i was going to bring
this up if it had a fit to what we
were talking. About you mentioned briefly that the awards announced
over the weekend For ALL nba came, out and as
we used thought would be the, Case Kevin durant was
voted to one of The ALL nba, teams was voted

(02:15:38):
to the second, team which means he was voted highly,
enough thought of highly enough to be basically regarded as
one of the ten best players in the league this.
Year so they haven't released the voting total of the
voting particulars. Yet they're just giving you the totals who
got these, votes not who actually did the. Voting so
when they, do these are among the THINGS i will

(02:15:59):
question with The ALL nba team. Voting one voter Thought
victor Wembin yama was not a first teamer and only
eight people players got a first team, Vote So shay
And nikola were on every, ballot all hundred.

Speaker 2 (02:16:14):
Ballots they were first.

Speaker 3 (02:16:15):
Teamers luca got ninety one, Votes, Kay Jalen, Brown Kawhi,
leonard And Donovan mitchell split the. Others so somebody felt,
like not only Was victor not the third best player
in the, league which pretty much everybody, agreed yes he,
was he wasn't the fourth best player or fifth best.
Player he was the sixth best player or seventh or.
Eighth he was one of the second. Teamers so somebody

(02:16:36):
chose to vote three of these five over, Him, Luca Kid,
Cunningham Jalen, Brown Kawhi, leonard And Donovan. Mitchell that's absolutely.
Absurd further down the list of things that don't matter
but always make me wonder what is going? On one
of the one hundred voters thought one of the ten
best players in THE nba this year Was James. Harden

(02:16:57):
one of the one hundred voters thought one of the
top ten players in THE nba this year Was alper
And Shing. Gun they both got second team votes this.
YEAR i don't even know what to say to.

Speaker 2 (02:17:09):
That like. These some of these people.

Speaker 1 (02:17:11):
Should have their voting privileges revoked until you can be taken.

Speaker 2 (02:17:15):
Seriously it's.

Speaker 3 (02:17:16):
Positionless just put the five best players on the first
team and the next best five players on the second,
team and the next five best players on the third,
team and there was a very clear. Division gun is
a top ten player according to this. Person he got
a second team, vote got three third team. Votes he
And harden actually had the same, totals but there was
a pretty clear top. Fifteen chet was the last among

(02:17:41):
the top fifteen in total votes and, points and he
blew away the person who finished, Sixteenth. Danniyavdia there really
was not much question around the league as a whole
who the top fifteen.

Speaker 2 (02:17:51):
Players were this year that.

Speaker 3 (02:17:52):
Qualified BUT i found those couple of things in a
few other. Votes i'm curious how The ALL Nba All
Defense Defensive team voting played, out because obviously we also
learned last week That Amen thompson was just shy of
landing on the top, ten so first or second. Team
he was the twelfth in vote totals or point. Total

(02:18:13):
probably didn't, agree definitely didn't agree with That max would.

Speaker 2 (02:18:17):
Be what two fifty five years For Amen.

Speaker 1 (02:18:20):
THOMPSON i don't know the exact, number but NEIGHBORHOOD I
i'm sure you saw this where it's being reported that
The pistons are going to offer A sar five, years
one sixty, TWO i want to, say is the.

Speaker 3 (02:18:34):
Range he Made First Team All. Defense but if you
Think Amen thompson is a bit of a struggle on,
Offense Asar thompson in both hands would be saying hold my.

Speaker 4 (02:18:48):
Beer.

Speaker 1 (02:18:49):
Yeah AND i think this time next year a man
will have retaken his rightful spot amongst the best defenders
in the.

Speaker 2 (02:18:58):
LEAGUE i don't. KNOW i don't.

Speaker 3 (02:19:00):
Know Amen thompson is so bad offensively and such a
liability and so bad to have out there from a spacing,
standpoint that he managed to score eighteen points per game
on thirteen shots per.

Speaker 1 (02:19:12):
Game and he can't. Shoot he's not he's. Narrative he
doesn't help with. Spacing he does afford teams to do
things a little bit. Differently and when you have multiple
non shooting players on your, five and they Did alpern
and the men went, together those are two guys you
don't want shooting. Threes it does impact.

Speaker 3 (02:19:31):
Things but he's so good without the basketball he's so
smart around the, basket and when The rockets were playing
their best, offensively he, was, honestly in my, opinion the
number one reason why when he had a stretch of
games where he could not be, stopped because he can't
be stopped, times even without being able to shoot the
ball for more than ten to twelve feet, away which
hopefully gets.

Speaker 2 (02:19:50):
A little bit better this.

Speaker 3 (02:19:51):
Year he made major improvements this, year just as he
made major improvements the year. Before and that's, where AGAIN
i hate to say it's so, bluntly because they're playing
for two different, teams they have different teammates around, him
they have different coaching staffs in charge of what they
want to, Do so they're not Asking Usar thompson to
do the. Things they're not wanting him to do the

(02:20:11):
things that amend. Does he's been the same player since
he walked into the league, basically just if you look
at essentially all of the numbers that he has other than,
DEFENSIVELY i think he's gotten Better Asar thompson as an
offensive part of What detroit is trying to, do there's
really not much difference between his first year and his last,

(02:20:32):
year and he's heading into year.

Speaker 1 (02:20:33):
FOUR i still can't believe how they spectacularly flame the
way they did.

Speaker 3 (02:20:38):
Well their second best player was a total. Dud Jalen,
duran who's gonna get a fat max deal because he
landed on third, team had a disastrous, postseason but because
you vote on the regular season only and the voting
ties into how much money you.

Speaker 1 (02:20:54):
Make but he just like forgot how to play basketball
in the. PLAYOFFS i don't know how that, happened never
seeing anything like. It he was, bad And i'm, Like, okay,
well is this guy gonna Come is he gonna bounce
back next? Year is he gonna start Becoming james hard
in the postseason or a narrative about. That that's not
a narrative, either by the, Way James harden sucks in the,

(02:21:14):
postseason but he's on the better, team of.

Speaker 3 (02:21:17):
Course, definitely don't watch the calves and only focus on.
Him you will not believe what you're. Watching you just
will not. Believe this is a.

Speaker 2 (02:21:28):
Plus this is a.

Speaker 3 (02:21:28):
Future hall Of fame basketball, player and this is how
he plays basketball into The hall Of fame with his.

Speaker 1 (02:21:33):
Numbers he absolutely Should in case you missed, it several
items we need to, revisit and a few we might
not have gotten, to including what The texans did with
their money.

Speaker 2 (02:21:40):
Today that's. Next Half way through.

Speaker 3 (02:21:44):
The final hour of today's program puts us a half
an hour away From astros. Baseball the second of their
four game series with The Texas rangers comes your way
right here On Sports talk seven ninety a little after
seven p for first, pitch so The astros On deck
show gets started at six. O'clock they got a home
run or a sackfly in the first inning from Yard On.

(02:22:05):
Alvarez that was all they. Needed nine to nothing victory.
Yesterday that's. It that's the only news from last night's.
Game they didn't allow any. Hits by the, way Tatsu
emi went six innings no, hits one inning From Steven
okert and two From olive Bar. Santa The astros had
a rookie start and a rookie finish the game for

(02:22:25):
the eighteenth no hitter in franchise history and the fifth
combined no, hitter the eighth no hitter called by our
radio duo Of Robert ford And Steve. Sparks sparks joined
the station earlier. Today if you want to catch. That
we played a little bit of that for you, earlier
and he makes his weekly appearance with The Morning drive
With dan And. Cole Normally, mondays but, holidays so he

(02:22:45):
joined them this. Morning astros will give the ball To
Jason alexander as a starter for the second time this.
Season the first time they did that six games, ago
he was aces six, innings no, runs and one of
the five wins they have over their life six. Games
they are looking for a fifth consecutive. Win One texans
note before we turn things over To josh for in

(02:23:06):
case you missed, It we've talked about it briefly, earlier
but The texans and the agents For Nico collins increased
his pay and fully guarantees his salary through twenty twenty.
Seven Nico collins a restructure that keeps him in line
to probably play here much longer than that particular, contract

(02:23:26):
but the timing of his years left this year and
next already on his. Deal it will be next offseason
where he and his quarterback after a trip to THE
afc title, game we'll be looking for more money From
hannah And.

Speaker 1 (02:23:42):
Cal what else do we? Have and in case you missed,
it our Boy Bill barmeow is back at it.

Speaker 23 (02:23:47):
AGAIN i didn't know if you guys hit on this
WHILE i was, out BUT i thought it was worth running.
Down he just kind of went through the teams in THE,
afc listing what he thought were the best deals for
them of the offseason and the worst. Deals and here's
where he comes. In the best The Braden smith signing two,
years twenty million. Bucks he's at thirty years, old so
not the youngest guy in the. World a few injury,
issues BUT i think we all thought that was a

(02:24:09):
relatively fair deal for the worst. Deal Ed ingram just
thought he was a little, overpaid didn't hate. IT i
would like to bring up he was according TO pff
for most of the, season he was pretty highly. Ranked
he finished eighteenth of qualified. Guards he finished his contract three,
years thirty, seven thirty seven and a half. Million excuse,
ME i would, argue you are going to have to

(02:24:29):
pay up for ages twenty, seven twenty eight and twenty
nine versus a guy that's going into the season at
thirty years.

Speaker 2 (02:24:35):
Old, yeah we did touch on that a little.

Speaker 3 (02:24:37):
Bit talk more about the Ed ingram angle The Braden
smith angle a little bit less, so BUT i understand
what The texans are. DOING i do think they could
have decided to spend even more money and get a
better offensive, line BUT i don't really HAVE i don't
think this was the wrong way to do. It you're
putting all their money towards maybe one, player whether it
Was connor McGovern or somebody else on the interior most,

(02:25:01):
specifically which is where they spent all their money other
than The smith. Money they spent big money On Wyatt
teller for one. Year they spent big money On Braden
smith for one. Year both of them got two year,
deals but available to get out of them after just
the first year without too much. Penalty and then they
went a little bit bigger with Ed. Ingram and all
three of these players graded out better as run blockers

(02:25:24):
than pass, blockers and that is the biggest concern about everything.

Speaker 2 (02:25:28):
They have done on their offensive.

Speaker 3 (02:25:29):
Line i'm hopeful that Both ursery and their Newbie rutledge
are both much more well rounded and they can excel
both as pass blockers and run. Blockers you really just
can't have a top level, line a top ten, line
a top twelve line if you don't have any good pass.
Blockers because as a, UNIT i don't know how they'd
become a good pass blocking unit if that's not their strong,

(02:25:52):
suit all five of. Them AND i don't know that
that's definitely the, case but that is certainly how their
careers have, played those that have been in the.

Speaker 1 (02:25:58):
League if they were just going to to try and
run it back with a new group of offensive. Linemen
and but WHAT i mean by running back is all,
right we're going to control the clock and we're gonna
do so by running the ball more effectively than we
did last. Year our defense is going to be nastier
than it was last, year and we're just gonna ASK
cj to not screw. UP i, mean there's worse approaches

(02:26:20):
for one. OFFSEASON i think.

Speaker 3 (02:26:21):
That's, fine BUT I I i'd rather better, defensively quite.
HONESTLY i mean there's a few areas statistically where maybe
you're a little bit better in the red, zone or
you get teams off the field even. Better they're gonna
be the same or worse like they were, awesome they're
best in the. Links if they are better, Again i'm
not sure where that's gonna. BE i don't expect them
to all of a sudden shut teams, out give up

(02:26:44):
seven Points.

Speaker 1 (02:26:44):
Acond so one thing they didn't do last. Year they
didn't find a way to shut teams out all the,
time but it felt like they were going to most.

Speaker 3 (02:26:53):
Weeks it did and the only the main reason WHY
i think it's gonna be hard to be better is
they did create a lot of, turnovers they did, score
and they put their offense in good. Position most, importantly
they're pretty. Healthy, yeah it's hard to replicate with that many.
Players you got a few players missing a few, games
but you were able to essentially stay away from frontline

(02:27:16):
players and catastrophic. Injuries the probably the biggest front line
injury they had Was Tim settle later in the, year
And Tommy TOJI i stepped into that role. Brilliantly Mario
edwards had gone. Down they were constantly replacing safeties WHEN.
Mj stewart got, hurt and it was just last year THAT.
Cj Gardner johnson was The texans starting. Safety seems like forever.

(02:27:40):
Ago what else do we?

Speaker 23 (02:27:41):
Have speaking of those defensive, PLAYERS nfl Dot com did
a listing of the most underappreciated. Players TOMMY tojii was
who they listed for The, texans and of course they
Got caden McDonald in the. Draft big deal brought Back Sheldon.
Rankins maybe people are sleeping on him a little. Bit
what do you guys think.

Speaker 2 (02:28:00):
It's hard to?

Speaker 3 (02:28:01):
Like before you put that out to our, LISTENERS i
was wondering if it was possible to not know the
answer to that. Question the most underappreciated member of The texans,
defense that's the. Thing seven to all, pros so that eliminates.
Them now you got four guys, left so your only
possible answers were BASICALLY tojii And tootoa.

Speaker 1 (02:28:25):
Right, well that, Actually Henry toto is the NAME i
probably would have submitted for this kind of, weird non real.

Speaker 3 (02:28:35):
Thing they ended up getting out there and making. Place
he made a difference when he was out there was
a big part of their ability to stop the. Run
he obviously was involved in several turnovers and just LIKE
Jj watt played.

Speaker 2 (02:28:46):
Offense that's, sure that's.

Speaker 1 (02:28:49):
True now this defense IS i JUST i hope the
health stays relatively the. SAME i know that's asking for a.
LOT i just want to see them at their full.
String just hororize people this. Year it's gonna be so much.
Fun what?

Speaker 23 (02:29:02):
ELSE i just wanted this one so that ac would get.
Upset Victor winbinon.

Speaker 2 (02:29:07):
Comes back of the town and he wants to set
the show.

Speaker 23 (02:29:09):
On he learned the, pod he loves, it and your,
BOY vicki won one numbered. Card it's a twenty twenty
three twenty twenty Four Panini Prism Black parallel. Card that's
a lot to call it. Card it's a mouthful five
point one to one million dollars in a private. Sale
it is the fourth and eleventh most spent on a
basketball sports card, ever which is pretty.

Speaker 2 (02:29:31):
Wild, well it'll be worth a lot.

Speaker 1 (02:29:34):
Less when he has inevitably got his career cuts short
by some stupid big man. Injury but in the, meantime
it's looking like a pretty good.

Speaker 3 (02:29:43):
INVESTMENT i guess if it's an, investment then it means
it's gonna be worth even more than five point one million.

Speaker 1 (02:29:50):
Dollars, well you don't get. That you don't fetch that
kind of money for something like. This if you don't
think that's what's gonna, happen maybe you just like collecting.
CARDS i never have money to. Burn i've never understood card,
collections never.

Speaker 3 (02:30:06):
Even the other kind of card. Collecting you were probably
in the middle of it all this past.

Speaker 2 (02:30:09):
Weekend, nope none of. It it wasn't it, everywhere though
it might have. BEEN i, mean you were a comic.
Con there were no cards floating. Around my.

Speaker 1 (02:30:19):
Mistake it's just not Something i've ever. Understood not asking
you to know about, It i'm asking if it was?
Everywhere sure you were in the. Building i'm not trying
to confuse.

Speaker 2 (02:30:28):
You i'm not.

Speaker 1 (02:30:29):
Confused were people walking around with binders where people trading cards?

Speaker 2 (02:30:34):
WERE i didn't see. THAT i saw lots of booths
with lots of stuff, cards was like. Sporadic? Gotcha how
is issa? Amazing?

Speaker 1 (02:30:44):
Amazing SORRY i missed. It we got one more segment
to go here on the eight. Team you got, tonight
by the, way In game five of The Western Conference,
finals where better than seventy six percent of the, time
the winner of this game wins the, series, unless of,

(02:31:05):
course you're The rockets and the Sports guds strike Down
Chris paul in the waning moments of Winning game five
and you had a three to two series lead and
then lose the stupid de facto finals because of.

Speaker 3 (02:31:16):
That neither of the less than one hundred Percent spurs
are listed on the injury report just Like game, Four
Dylan harper And Daron fox good to. GO Aj mitchell
is out again tonight he missed their last, game And
Jalen williams is once again. Questionable, first BEFORE i answer the,
QUESTION i had somebody send along a note about the,

(02:31:38):
series specific to the injuries that The thunder were attempting
to play. Through someone had posted The thunder are eleven
and ten in games that Both Aj mitchell And Jalen
williams did not play eleven and twenty one in those
twenty one games this, YEAR i saw right through that

(02:31:58):
it was very, easy SO i did my. Research The
wexler research team had a three day, weekend but they
had to work a little. BIT i responded with the,
following here's another great Stat six of those ten losses
were also played without drum ROLL, Sga.

Speaker 2 (02:32:13):
So that kind of excuse the point you're trying to.

Speaker 3 (02:32:15):
Make SO sga has had multiple poor showings in this.
Series twice in four, Games spurs have done some very
good things. Defensively he has not gotten gifts as often
as he did from referees during the regular season as
he has during this, series nor have his teammates And
Chet holmgren is having a substandard. SERIES i do think

(02:32:38):
The spurs are capable to follow this game. Plan they
have enough talent defensively and enough confidence in what they're.
Doing they're actually trying to shut both of the best
two players on the other team, down and everybody else
do whatever.

Speaker 2 (02:32:52):
It is you want to.

Speaker 3 (02:32:52):
Do Alex caruso before doing nothing recently was just having
a gangbuster, series and so many of these other ancillary
players were all going off and shooting well and finding.
Openings And jets had a bad, series And sga has
been for THE mvp season that he's had average pedestrian
far below what he normally has. Been wemby's been trending

(02:33:14):
in the opposite. Direction he was so good In game,
one no way he was going to keep doing. That
but he's also been a very very very very small
factor on the. Glass since he had thirty eight rebounds
in the first two games or forty one rebounds in
the first two, games he's barely had any the last two.
Games that has to change. Tonight if he does have
A monster game, there that's All i'm looking. At he

(02:33:36):
needs A monster game or. ELSE i think that the
series is going back To San antonio with The spurs
playing in their first elimination. GAME i Think Oklahoma city wins. Tonight,
YEAH i kind of tend to think the same. THING
i wish both teams would, lose, Honestly that's HOW i
feel about.

Speaker 2 (02:33:51):
It And i'm a Big knicks.

Speaker 1 (02:33:52):
Fan, well both of them can, lose just not to each.
Other one of them definitely losing The Western Conference. Finals
then just go all in on The. Knicks, NO i
am all in on The. Knicks i'm not going to
buy a, jersey but if you were Ow, Brunson i'm
not getting A Karl Anthony towns. Jersey LIKE i feel

(02:34:13):
like they're there to spite him or in spite of.

Speaker 2 (02:34:15):
Him he's.

Speaker 3 (02:34:16):
Awful so we were talking about The knicks returning to
the finals for the first time since nineteen ninety. Nine
series ended in five In New. YORK i just want
to remind people of what basketball was like in the,
nineties when teams would meet in the, finals the best
two teams in THE nba and The knicks would post
these point totals seventy, seven sixty, seven eighty, nine eighty,

(02:34:43):
nine and then back down to seventy. Seven they played
forty eight minutes, then just like they do. Now the
three point line existed but pretty much was. Unused but
WHAT i did find INTERESTING i had not remembered. This
the nineteen ninety Nine New York. Knicks Rick brunson was

(02:35:03):
on the nineteen ninety Nine New York. Knicks he will
be back in the finals with the twenty twenty Six
New York.

Speaker 1 (02:35:09):
Knicks he's not, playing though he didn't play then. Either,
yeah he was a d. NPER i think that when
people look at those like. People somebody posted.

Speaker 3 (02:35:19):
Two Former rockets started the final game of THAT Nba.

Speaker 2 (02:35:23):
Finals Marcus camby, correct and.

Speaker 3 (02:35:29):
If you want, four if you want to Include, spurs
there are four Former.

Speaker 2 (02:35:34):
Rockets he. Started that's another.

Speaker 3 (02:35:36):
One that's another, one and you can't Say Sean elliott
because he never.

Speaker 1 (02:35:42):
Played the other one is in fact A. Nick they
started right. Started all of.

Speaker 3 (02:35:48):
The PLAYERS i asked, for four of the ten starters
put On rockets gear during their.

Speaker 2 (02:35:52):
Careers the CENTER lj was the. Four, yep he's not
it we talked about was the three. Yep. Uh Alan
houston was the.

Speaker 1 (02:36:01):
Two the only Kles, no he came off the bench
uh and didn't play for The.

Speaker 2 (02:36:06):
Rockets who did Punch kobe starting point?

Speaker 1 (02:36:09):
Guard he's really, really really really good at throwing the.

Speaker 2 (02:36:15):
Football oh, gosh why am i A? Ward Charlie? Ward Charlie. Ward?

Speaker 3 (02:36:22):
Wow they had a good squad for an eight seed
and a team trying to win AN nba championship?

Speaker 2 (02:36:29):
Withouting Was ewing still that good in ninety nine before
he got?

Speaker 1 (02:36:33):
Hurt that's my. Question couldn't remember he was only a
year After. Hakeem he was not the same player he.

Speaker 3 (02:36:41):
Was he was a good, player but Not he's not
AN mvp caliber, player not An All star caliber. Player
he was A he was nothing close to his elite
status in ninety, nine not even not, close but.

Speaker 2 (02:36:52):
It probably would have helped to have. Him was this?
Thing was this THE Nba finals where the lockout? Occurred?

Speaker 1 (02:36:57):
Oh the lockout had already. Occurred that's that's. Right so
this would have been The Scottie pippen year In? Houston
correct when they were out in the first round whatever you,
say out in the first round After scott dribbled off his,
foot then Called charles, fat then got traded for like
nine billion players To, portland Where Steve francis came to The.

Speaker 3 (02:37:15):
ROCKETS i don't even know if. WE i guess we
only briefly mentioned it on the. Air there are a
bunch OF nba head coaching, openings and it could potentially
make other head coaching head coaches that are in place
see some of their staff, leave give other guys are
going with them from wherever they came, from or guys
are getting pucked off their, staff but specifically Jeff Aan.
Gundy do you think Jeff Aan gundy takes is offered

(02:37:39):
becomes AN nba head coach again this.

Speaker 1 (02:37:41):
Offseason he's kind of reminded me of like The Bill
cower of THE, nba where everybody's always thinking he's gonna come,
back and he just keeps doing THE tv. Thing but
once THE tv thing abruptly ended BECAUSE espn was so
incredibly even more stupid THAN i thought they already.

Speaker 2 (02:37:59):
WERE i, mean what are you?

Speaker 1 (02:38:01):
Doing you had a great group and you needed to
shake it up because why you had to Force Doris
burke in. There she lasted all of two, years And Dick.
Jefferson really she's still doing, games she's doing THE Nba, finals.

Speaker 2 (02:38:16):
She's doing radio right, now.

Speaker 1 (02:38:18):
EXACTLY i kind of tend to think, yes simply because
he just. Can't he can't get away from the, game
but he needs to be ON. Tv he was so,
good like you watched a Game. Gundes have it taken care?
Of stan's got it stand, Sucks he's. Fine he's awful
on the on THIS i don't think he's awful at.

(02:38:38):
All he's Not. Jeff he's Not. Jeff, well that's not.
Fair well by, comparison he sucks.

Speaker 3 (02:38:44):
Is not a BAD i don't think he's Among there's
plenty that are. Worse is that a nice way to compliment?
HIM i guess she's. Worse five straight Tonight Astros Jason
alexander duplicates his last.

Speaker 2 (02:38:56):
Start lighter makes me a little. Nervous lighter. Did in,
fact we were talking about his last.

Speaker 3 (02:39:00):
Start that was the start that T Fe, Spence Araghetty
aragedy took the no hitter into the eighth, inning letter
only gave up one. Run astros ended up winning two.
Nothing he went seven innings. Himself, yeah he's he's.

Speaker 2 (02:39:10):
TOUGH i don't like.

Speaker 1 (02:39:12):
Him five in a, row, Baby, well we will be
with you tomorrow same. Time two to six full show
lead you into More Astros baseball tomorrow. Evening but The
astros On deck show is on the. WAY i believe
since his face was jammed into the glass That ross
Vill larreal will have that for. You that'll be the
last TIME i mentioned who the host. Is IF i
get that one.

Speaker 3 (02:39:31):
Wrong he's, here SO i HOPE i don't get that,
Wrong and then of course he'll have the tenth inning
show for you after the. Game, again the next hit
The rangers get in this series will be there. First
The astros have done five combined no. Hitters they have
had eighteen no hitters overall combining their postseason and regular.
Season they've not followed any of the previous seventeen with

(02:39:54):
a second consecutive no. Hitter you won't want him this
hit for, TONIGHT i thing yeah right here On Sports
talk set the night

Speaker 4 (02:40:02):
The