6/19/24 - The Mo Egger Show w/ Mike Petraglia - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports station. I need some music to get me
fired up after watching the Reds onenothing loss in the Steel City to the
Pluckos. I would love to havesome energy to start this show. Filling

(00:24):
in for mo Egger, I'm MikePetralia Trags. You can follow me on
the x platform at trag simply enought r Ags follow me at CLNS Sincy
dot com. That's where I doa lot of my work, my regular
work covering the Reds, the Bengals, Uce Xavier, FC, Cincinnati talk

(00:45):
about it all. We're going tobe pretty much talking about it all for
the next three hours with a greathost of guests that I have lined up
for the show, me and myoutstanding rock solid producer, Tarren Bland.
He is hopefully going to be takinga lot of calls from Red's country,
trying to get their frustration off,their mind, off their chest. What

(01:07):
have you at? Five one threeseven four nine, fifteen thirty. I'll
repeat that again because everybody needs toget lined up and let me know what
you think is wrong with the Reds. Five one three seven nine, fifteen
thirty. The obvious is the offenseisn't there, really hasn't been there all

(01:29):
season long. It's been there herein spots, but the Reds cannot put
together an offensive attack consistently to savetheir lives, and it's really cost them
in this past series. Really onthe road trip, they go to Milwaukee,
they win that first game, ofcourse, uh in that incredibly dramatic
finish at the plate, and thenthey lose the next two games. They

(01:53):
lose the opener on Monday night andthen in Pittsburgh, and then they come
back with a really hard, up, terrific game, a two to one
victory on the power hitter extraordinaire SantiagoEspinal, really show voting on his home
run, the bat flip and allhis two run homer. That was the

(02:14):
offense. Think about that for asecond. Santiago Espinal provided the only offense
you have had in the last eighteeninnings against the Pittsburgh Pirates. A very
good pitching staff, no question aboutthat. I think we knew that coming
in. Mitch Keller again showed thattoday for the Buckos. But when Santiago

(02:36):
Espinal is your loan source of offense, you've got issues, serious issues.
The Reds were able to hold onat the very end, Alexis Diaz.
He's been looking better of late.He had a one two three inning last
night and the Reds were able toescape with a two to one victory.
Then today, Hunter Green, Ithink one of his best performances in a

(02:59):
Red uniform. Certainly this is thesame ballpark where he threw eight no hit
innings. That has to be atthe top of the list as well.
But think about these numbers six andthe third innings. Two hits, no
runs, no walks, nine strikeouts. That's the most impressive part of his
line to me. Nine strikeouts,He's using his splitter, more, no

(03:21):
walks, terrific command of the strikezone. Yes, he hit two batters
today, there is that, Butsometimes if you're a pitching coach like Derek
Derek Johnson, you don't mind HunterGreen hitting a few guys to move them
off the plate here and there.Key Brian Hayes was one of those that
Green plunked today, and I believethat was in the second inning early in

(03:44):
the game. But really, HunterGreen in total command today and again introducing
that split finger fastball to get hittersoff the ninety eight, ninety nine,
one hundred mile plus fastball that hehas. If he can command that split
finger fast ball, and Sam Luquierwas making that point on Reds Live and
the postgame show. If he cancommand that, that gives a new dimension

(04:08):
to Hunter Green. The other thingI want to delve into today is the
on a positive note, because we'retrying to extract some positivity from what we've
seen over the last six games fromthe Reds. The two and four road
trip through Milwaukee and Pittsburgh. Theone two punch. The Reds have a
legitimate one two punch at the topof their rotation with Hunter Green and Nick

(04:31):
Lodolo. Nick Lidolo, Hunter Green. It doesn't matter which order you want
to throw them out there the Reds. If you want to consider the Reds
a contender going forward with young talent, how much have we heard over the
last several years, you're going toneed to have a Hunter Green and a
Nick Lodolo really step forward and bethe aces of the rotation. That's what

(04:55):
they have shown over the last twodays, and they've really shown that all
season long. That is probably thebest sign to take. But again,
getting back to the offense, Iknow there are Reds fans out there who
were looking. At the top ofthe eighth inning, scoreless game, lead
off walks Stuart Fairchild, okay,the run in Reds leading the team or

(05:15):
leading the National league in stolen bases, steal second, moved the guy to
third, try and score him ona sacrifice fly. Well that kind of
got fouled up because Jamer Candelario cameon against Colin Holderman, swung at the
first pitch, popped it up.Then Fairchild managed to steal second, barely,

(05:36):
but the Reds could not push thatgo ahead and run across. And
in the bottom of the eighth inning, it was Brian Reynolds going deep off
Nick Martinez, just the second homerun that Martinez has allowed as a relief
picture this season, obviously untimely forthe Reds in this particular case, but
with two outs it was Brian Reynoldsgoing deep over the center field wall and

(05:59):
the Reds themselves a one nothing loss. Reds have two hits on the afternoon.
Those two hits belong to Santiago Espidaland Jonathan India. That was it.
They had two other base runners awalk that I mentioned Stuart Fairchild and
Luke Mayley was the first base runnerof the day. He had one walk
as well, but again an opportunitymissed in Pittsburgh to really move ahead.

(06:26):
And now the Reds stand thirty fiveand thirty nine, four games below five
hundred, tied with Chicago in thebasement. Yes, all of these teams
except for Milwaukee kind of running awaywith the division. Are clumped together.
But you don't want to fall toofar behind because then by the time August,
July and August roll around, youmay have too much room to make

(06:49):
up and too much distance to makeup. And that is something certainly the
Reds are going to have to beconcerned with going forward. I think if
you're Nick Crawl, absolutely positively haveto go out and get a right handed
bat or two to add to thislineup. The Reds are struggling from the
right hand side of the plate.Really, when you take a look at

(07:11):
right handed batters, you have JonathanIndia hitting two forty. You have Spencer
Steer hitting two thirty eight, andreally that's about it. Stuart Fairchild two
sixteen. You have Santiago Espinal thePower Show from yesterday aside he's hitting two
oh seven. You just don't haveenough right handed pop Luke Maley in the

(07:33):
lineup today hitting one ninety eight onthe season. Tyler Stevenson does not have
good numbers. That's why he wasnot in there against Mitch Keller today.
Keller had seven innings, two hits, shut out baseball, seven strikeouts and
to walk. So I wish Icould bring more positivity to the program,

(07:56):
to the Moegger radio show here onESPN fifteen today, But it's just it's
frustrating to watch this Reds team thatseems on the precipice sometimes of breaking through
and really showing their potential and atleast making a run for the wild card,
maybe winning the division at this pointwith Milwaukee kind of you know,

(08:16):
running away there twelve games over fivehundred and forty and twenty eight. Maybe
that's out of the conversation, butthe Reds should still be able the way
the playoff structure is formatted in MajorLeague Baseball, they still should be able
to make a run at a postseasonberth. And right now, with the
offense the way it is, Idon't think that's a possibility. Five one

(08:37):
three seven four nine fifteen thirty fiveone three seven four nine fifteen thirty I
want to hear from you Reds fansor if you want to talk about the
passing of arguably the greatest player everin Major League history, Willie Mays passing
away on Tuesday at the age ofninety three. I have some thoughts on

(08:58):
that. I'll get to that comingup after the break gets three point thirteen.
We want to also plug before wego to break here what's coming up
on the program and that at thebottom of the hour, we have Laurel
Failure of Queens City Press again talkingabout a huge game tonight for FC Cincinnati.
The Orange and Blue have a biggame against Philadelphia Union, first time

(09:22):
these two teams have met since thetwenty twenty three Eastern Conference semifinals. It
was a lut colder that night.It was thirty nine degrees when the Orange
and Blue prevailed in that game.It'll be very, very warm and human
tonight at TQL. But we'll talkabout FC Cincinnati taking on Philadelphia tonight without

(09:43):
not one but two key defenders.How will Pat Noonan's group adjust to that.
We also want to talk about notonly the Red Sox coming to town
to take on the Reds on theweekend at GABP but we want to talk
about the just concluded NBA Finals.The Celtics wrapping up Banner eighteen on Monday

(10:05):
night in a blowout, and blowoutwas a common theme throughout the NBA Playoffs.
I just I didn't find the NBAPlayoffs that intriguing. And that really
word I'm looking for is compelling.I did not find the NBA Playoffs compelling
whatsoever. Yes, the Indiana Knixtseries, the Nova Nicks, that was

(10:28):
a great series to watch. I'llgive you that one. And certainly the
seven game series Oklahoma City and Minnesotaand Minnesota and Dallas. Okay, I'll
give you those. But overall,from start to finish, I didn't find
the NBA Playoffs that compelling. Butin the four o'clock hour, we will
talk with Alex Bart, a formercolleague of mine at CLNS Media in Boston.

(10:52):
He had the privilege the pleasure ofbeing there at TD Garden on Monday
night as the Celtics wrapped up BannerA. And in the five o'clock hour,
we are going to talk all thingsCincinnati Bengals with the one and only
Jeff Hobson, Butch Hobson as wecall him, and that is, of
course, because he is a Bostonnative and uh he grew up as a

(11:15):
huge of Red Sox fans, Soit's just natural that we would call him
Butch. And that is the gentlemanthat we will have on in the five
o'clock hour to talk all things CincinnatiBengals. So line those calls up five
one, three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty. We'll be
back to talk more Cincinnati Reds comingup in just a moment. Mike Petralia

(11:43):
trags back here with you on TheMoeggers Show on ESPN fifteen thirty. Five
one three seven four nine, fifteenthirty five one three, seven, four
nine, fifteen thirty again talking someFC Cincinnati with Laurel Failure of Queen City
Press at the bottom of the hour. Big game tonight against Philadelphia Union.

(12:05):
Big game, by the way,you can hear right on these very airwaves
ESPN fifteen thirty. That game beginsat seven forty five at TQL Stadium.
Again the broadcast right here on ESPNfifteen thirty. Well talking baseball, and
again the Reds lose today, wonnothing a Brian Reynolds solo homer off,

(12:30):
Nick Martinez in with two outs inthe bottom of the eighth inning. The
difference in this game. Again,if you're a Reds fan, you've seen
this movie before. They cannot score, they cannot come through with clutch hits
when they need it the most.There was that one stretch this season where
about three weeks ago, when theystarted to win, they put together that

(12:50):
seven game winning streak. It seemedlike they were scoring runs in bunches with
two outs. Remember that. Remembera couple of weeks ago when all anybody
could focus on is how good theReds were with two outs and a runner
in scoring position, and they werescoring run after run after run, and
David Bell was talking about how wedon't give up on an inning, we

(13:11):
don't give up on a game,and that's why we're so good with two
outs. Well, that unfortunately hasnot lasted very long, and certainly not
long enough, as the Reds missa golden opportunity on this road trip through
Milwaukee and Pittsburgh going two and four, and while it's not disastrous, they're
thirty five and thirty nine, nowtied with Chicago in the basement of the

(13:37):
National League Central Division. He wouldlike to see some signs of consistency from
the lineup. But you know,give the Reds some grace. I get
it. They are certainly without theinjured TJ. Friedl, who is staring
in a third il stint right downthe barrel. Maybe they avoid that stint.
TJ. Friedle certainly hope so.But you know, he's went all

(14:00):
out and injured that hamstring. It'sstiff, but not painful, according to
t J. Friedel. As severalreporters Jim Day, certainly Brian Geesensaw Balley's
Sports Cincinnati have reported that and madereference to that that perhaps that TJ.
Friedel will be able to avoid anil stint. Let's hope so. And

(14:22):
then certainly when you're talking about jamOr Candelario, he tweaked his lower body
during Tuesday nights of victory over thePittsburgh Pirates, stayed in the game,
was available only as a pink shitterthis afternoon, came up, swung at
the first pitch he saw in theeighth inning and popped out and was The

(14:43):
Reds obviously were not able to puttogether a rally. But again, if
you're looking for bright spots, there'sno doubt where to start today, and
that would be with Hunter Green.He was outstanding six and a third shutout
innings, two hits, nine strikeouts, not a single song solitary walk.
He did hit two batters. Afterthe game, he spoke with Jim Day

(15:05):
on Bally Sports Cincinnati. Is thisnot unlike any other day when you're typically
having success where everything is playing offof you being able to spy your fastball?
Yeah, you know, I wasable to watch two games prior to
my game today. I think that'sreally important, you know, when you're
throwing a getaway day, being ableto take advantage of the two days in

(15:26):
front of you and really paying attentionto hit her swings. And obviously it's
different, you know, it's hardtrying to do that with Nick pitching before
me. Obviously two different pictures,but being able to see spires and see
the swings that they took against him, and then understanding some of these hitters.
It was a different lineup than whatI faced in the past, but
some of the same guys, andjust being able to remember that and just

(15:48):
moving around and be able to movethe pitches around. How tough was it
the pitch with the heat today?I know it was the one moment you
had a little yeah come up.Yeah, I had a bunch of water
assist and definitely hydrated too much.But yeah, it was it was like
all water when I threw it up. But yeah, you know, you
got to be strong mentally that muchmore on days like today. And uh,

(16:11):
you know, Mitch was was keepingwas a good rabbit for me today.
Obviously he is a fantastic pitcher andhad a great performance today. But
yeah, I was just trying tostay in there and and uh mentally stay
in the game. Talk a lotabout your splitter. There was one in
particular you through the rentals today thatare you. You've got to be happy
with where that ditch has developed.Yeah, yeah, you know, I've

(16:33):
worked extremely hard in the offseason anduh you know this this spring training and
then in bullpens this season, beingable to throw it, throw it for
strikes, throw it as an expandedpitch, and off in the zone.
So I think it's just being ableto see my work come together and in
games where it matters, and that'sa good feeling. That is Hunter Green.
I want to read you five scoresone nothing for one five four to

(17:00):
nothing, one nothing. Those wouldall be Cincinnati losses. To the Pittsburgh
Pirates with Hunter Green on the mound. That is unbelievable if you think about
it, one nothing, four toone, five to four to nothing,
and today one nothing. The Redshave in his five career starts against the
Pittsburgh Pirates, including four of themin Pittsburgh, He's only started against Pirates

(17:25):
in Cincinnati one time. He hasbeen given five runs of offensive support,
four of those runs coming in onestart in Cincinnati last March thirtieth. The
Red's got to figure out a waywith him on the mound. I don't
care who's on the other side ofgetting him some run support. Andrew Abbott,

(17:45):
I believe, and I've got toget the numbers in front of me
gets more run sport than any ofthe Cincinnati regular starters in the rotation.
Hunter Green does not. And forwhatever reason, Hunter Green has had terrible
luck. Again it's the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he certainly deserved a much better
fate. He only allowed the twohits that I mentioned, of course,

(18:07):
back in his first career start inPittsburgh on May fifteenth of twenty twenty two.
That was the epic seven and athird performance with no hits but he
gave up the one run, fivewalks that day and nine strikeouts. That's
the difference now between Hunter Green withthe overpowering fastball and terrific slider back in

(18:30):
twenty twenty two and the Hunter Greenwe saw today in Pittsburgh. He has
the fastball, but for so longmany observers of Hunter Green have said,
if he can only develop a breakingpitch, an off speed pitch, he
will transform his game. And Ithink we're starting to see that. But

(18:52):
again, the Reds just cannot scoreany runs when Hunter Green is on the
mound. It's got to be ultimatelyfrustrating. And David Bell kind of acknowledged
that after the game, talking againwith Bally Sports. Cincinnati walk away with

(19:15):
a team loss, Yeah, Imean, we're a team. Hunter was
great today. I mean obviously fromninety eight to one hundred all day.
Their hitters came out really aggressive,and I thought, hundred a nice job
adjusting to his secondary pitches and yeah, I mean another great start, and
you know for a hundred it's forme. Its just continued to keep finding

(19:38):
ways to get better every time.It's pretty exciting. How impressive was it?
Just did him to gut his wayinto the seventh inning on him such
a hot day, not note aneasy task, Yeah, exactly, it
was. But Hunter's been working reallyhard in between starts to train himself to
be able to go deeper into gamesand just one you know, more thing

(20:00):
that he's doing to get better,you know, I mean, that's something
you have to do, but Ithink he's been a little extra effort towards
that and I think it paid offtoday. How town did seven pitches?
Were you guys going to be aggressive? Were you too aggressive? How would
you value with that? Tyler?I think executed every single pitching through today.

(20:23):
Obviously, you know it's not it'snot gonna get it easier like we
you know, we're we're going upagainst tough pitching and you know it's our
our job to adjust to that andcontinue to find ways to get it done.
But I love how our team iscontinuing to to fight through this and
rime and we know that that's gonnapaid off today. It was a tough

(20:45):
day. I mean with the withKeller, Polderman and Ben Bark, they
made it tough. They executed theirpitches and they have really really great stuff
to go with it, and sothat was kind of the the story of
today on a Green retired at onepoint thirteen batters in a row, getting
had the nine strikeouts without a walk. To me, that is the most

(21:07):
impressive stat of all today from HunterGreen as he continues to develop right before
our very eyes. But again theReds go down to defeat to the Pittsburgh
Pirates by a score of one nothing. They finished the six game swing through
Milwaukee and Pittsburgh with a two tofour disappointing record. Now they have a
day off on Thursday, and theywelcome Raffie Devers, Jaron Duran and the

(21:33):
thirty nine and thirty five Boston RedSox to town. That series opens up
with Andrew Abbott on the mound onFriday for the Red Legs, and we'll
see if the Reds can get thingsuse a little home cooking to get things
turned around and get the offense heatedup once again. After this break,
we will talk about FC Cincinnati's bigmatch tonight with Philadelphia Union with Laurel Faylor

(21:57):
of Queen's City the Press. That'scoming up right after this. You're listening
to the Moegger Radio Show on MikePetrolia Trags filling in on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati's fifteen thirty. I gota hand it to Arren Bland. I

(22:22):
love this bumper music, getting meback in the mood, getting me in
the spirit after pressing one nothing redSlaus in Pittsburgh. But we're on the
bigger and brighter and better news withmy next guest coming up on the Moweger
Radio Show here on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteenthirty. That would be Laurel Failure of

(22:44):
Queen City Press. She does anamazing job covering the Orange and Blue FC
Cincinnati, and she has a bigassignment tonight. The Orange and Blue take
on Philadelphia Union, having a disappointingseason themselves. But Pat Noonan's group is
not disappointing this year again. Theyare very strong, near the top of
the table in the Eastern Conference.Eleven three and three. That's thirty six

(23:07):
points, just two points behind InnerMiami since FC Cincinnati has two games in
hand, so that is a goodthing. Laurel Failure, Welcome to the
Mowagger Radio Show with your friend MikePetrallia. How you doing, Laurel.
I'm doing well. I always enjoytalking with you. So I'm looking forward

(23:29):
to this. All right, let'sgive it a go. I guess let's
get to the news first. Andit's not great for FC Cincinnati. They
were already down a defender, oneof its best defenders, and it looks
like they could be without an allstar defender long term. Matt or center
back Matt Mioska will be sitting outtonight's game against Philadelphia Union. How does

(23:55):
that impact what FCC can do onthe back end. Yeah, it's tough.
They not having Miles Robinson was alreadya concern, but you felt like
they have Matt Miaska and some depththere, so they can handle that.
But Matt miyas good being down.I mean, he was the MLS Defender
of the Year last year. He'sthe vocal leader back there and just kind

(24:17):
of the conductor of everything. Sothat's a huge loss for them. It
will be a good opportunity for someyoung guys. Tip Keller has been kind
of waiting for that opportunity. Again. He got a lot of minutes early
in the season, and while theywere managing that Conka CAF Champions Cup run,
he was getting starts and so it'sbeen a little while since he's really

(24:37):
gotten consistent time having been on thebench a lot lately, but this will
be a big opportunity to show him, to show the club that he can
regularly be involved, and it's atall task for him. And then basically
we've seen three They've got their threeguys left that we've seen in action,

(24:57):
So Ian Murphy, Nick Haglan,and Kip Keller are the guys to selene
on right now. And then you'vegot DeAndre Yedlin and Alvis Powell who could
also step in. Both of thoseguys are more traditional wingbacks, but they
have played center back, so Theysfeel like they've got some options. But
it's gonna be tough not having Mattmeasat on top of missing Miles Robinson off

(25:21):
the pitch, how is Matt handledand Pat Noonan the manager, how have
they handled what happened last year andput that in the past, you know,
towards the end of the year,and moved on to the twenty twenty
four campaign. It seems like they'vethey've put it in their rear view mirror,
addressed it and then moved on.Yeah, so Matt Maya's missed two

(25:42):
of the playoff games due to suspensiondue to an incident with the officials locker
room at a playoff game at NewYork Red Bulls, and he, yeah,
he handled that really well. Youknow, he could have come out
just you know, I'm sure hehad some thoughts that he wanted to share
on the whole thing, but hestayed really even keel about it, at

(26:07):
least in the media and everything,and you know, just said I'm beyond
this. And I know Pat Noonanhad talked earlier in the year about how
he was aware that, you know, the officials might treat him a little
differently because of what happened. Youknow, he is known for being very
vocal, and he is kind ofthe captain of the defense, so he
is often communicating with the officials,and I think he's got this awareness that,

(26:36):
you know, he's not going tochange who he is, but he
does need to be aware that theymight be looking at him a little differently
based on what happened in that lockerroom incident last year. So but yeah,
for the most part, they've everyone'skind of moved on and hasn't really
been a talking point this year.So I think that he handled it like

(26:56):
a pro and kind of the guythat we've we've expected them to be speaking
with Laurel Failure of Queens City Pressdoing an outstanding job covering the Orange in
Blue on a daily basis. Thegame tonight, by the way, the
match is right here on these veryairwaves, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty match,

(27:18):
kicking off at seven forty five attq WEL. It's going to be a
hot one. You're going to behydrated. Yeah, well, all the
other PEP parks, I'm good they'vegot air conditioning. But yes, I
would encourage everyone is allowed to bringa twenty ounce unopened bottle of water,
so I would encourage people to dothat tonight because it's going to be hot.
Much different from the very cold playoffscene that we saw in November.

(27:44):
You took the words right out ofmy mouth because I was going to say
it's certainly contrasting. The last timethese two teams met in the Eastern Conference
semifinal in twenty twenty three, ErsonMascara's stoppage time goal was the winner in
FCC's one nil victory over Union.Uh that was quite the game. Huh

(28:04):
what do you when you look backon that game or what do you remember
the most. I mean, I'mce Cincinnati went into that game favored as
a supporter's shield winners. But youknow, and they've done well against Philadelphia
and Pat Noonan's time, but Ifeel these games are always close, and
it's it's kind of evolved into itsown little rivalry, and so you never

(28:27):
know what to expect. And thatplayoff game was, you know, everyone
assumed it was going to go justyou know, extra time, or it
was gonna it was gonna be tight. Everyone kind of knew that going in.
But for yourson Mascarrata come away withgoal. I felt like f C
Cincinnati really controlled the game, andyou felt like they had opportunities where they
should have scored earlier. But uh, it was pretty dramatic, just uh,

(28:51):
you know, yourson Mascara scoring inthe ninety fourth minute and finishing it
out so they didn't have to.I mean, they had guys at that
point that you know, there werenursing injuries, they were just wearing down
and so it had been a longseason. So for them to get that
goal, everyone was pretty relieved.Also mentioned some contractual news this week,

(29:12):
as the Orange and Blue resign agoalkeeper. And why you think, Laurel
that is such a big deal tosign Alex Khan or Alec Khan to a
contract extension. Well, Aleck hasn't. He was their starting goalkeeper in twenty
twenty two and then he ended upgetting injured and that was when Roman Celentano,

(29:36):
their rookie draft pick at the time, started really coming onto the scene
and kind of ended up taking thatjob. And we've seen him mainly since
then. Alec Cann was their OpenCup and League's Cup starter last year,
got them to an Open Cup semifinal, you know, got them out
of the group stage in League's Cup, and he's been a leader in that

(29:56):
goalkeeper group. He's been just Imean to know, the circumstances around him
losing his job because of an injurybasically, uh, you know that that
can be really tough and he handledit, you know. He he did
not back off from instructing giving RomanSelentano pips. He was constantly in communication
with him. He could have beenbitter, you know, just because like

(30:19):
a young kids came and took hisjob while he was hurt, but he
did not act a a at all. He was a constant professional and He's
just a veteran, a guy thathas I think coaching expirations himself, so
uh, he really takes it uponhimself to be a leader for those guys,
and it's you know, it extendshim for one more year. This

(30:41):
year was the end of his contract, didn't have any options, and so
I think it was important for theclub to kind of show him that,
you know, we value you,We still see you as a guy that
can contribute and step in if weneed you. Like when Roman Selentano was
injured for four games this season,Alex Hannon's coming back from a hand injury

(31:02):
started three of those games, andhe really filled in nicely and showed that
he could contribute. And I thinkit's a big, big one for the
club and for Alex to be ableto just have that stability. I want
to wrap up here with the playerof the Match day the latest. I
mean, there's so much attention inrightfully so on Lucho Acosta. He's one

(31:23):
of the premier starts. It's notthe premier star of the club, right
Laurel. But Cubo three shots,three goals on Saturday night, four to
two victory at San Jose. Whyis it so important to have secondary scoring
and not just rely on one player. Yeah, I mean, we've seen

(31:44):
in the PASSVCY Cincinnati. I mean, I think it was two years ago
where Kubo had the only goal offof the bench for this team, and
you know that's you don't want toalways have to rely on the starters.
You need multiple goal scorers and guysthat can cut off the bench and provide
a spark. And Kumo has doneit from the bench. He's doing it

(32:04):
as a starter. This one inparticular, his three goals came in a
nine minute span and you just don'tsee that very often, so pretty impressive
for him to be able to contributethat way. He's been kind of the
Swiss Army Knife for f C Cincinnatithis year, filling in at multiple positions,
and he's just really I mean,he was a guy that a lot
of people thought was maybe overpaid inthe past because he was more of a

(32:28):
bench player the last couple of years, but this year he's been regularly starting
and just filling so many different roles. He's definitely been I mean, he
took a pay cut in his newcontract this year, but he's been worth
every penny that they've spent on him, all right. She is Laurel Faylor,
does a tremendous job covering FC Cincinnatifor Queens City Press. She will

(32:51):
be in an air conditioned press box, thank goodness tonight for the seven forty
five kickoff between the Orange and Blueand Philadelphia Union. Orange and Blue enter
the match tonight eleven three and threethirty six points, just two points.
Interrears of Inner Miami atop the EasternConference Table. Laurel, thanks so much

(33:13):
for joining me, Thanks for havingme. All right. She's Laurel Failor.
My name is Mike Petralia Trags fillingin for the one and only Moegger
on the Moeger Radio Show. We'llbe back with more Cincinnati sports talk right
after this. You're listening to Cincinnati'sESPN fifteen thirty. Are you annoyed Mike

(33:38):
Petralia Trags filling in for Moegger onhis very own radio show on Cincinnati's ESPN
fifteen thirty. You want to lineup those calls talk Cincinnati Reds or anything
else Cincinnati sports related five one three, seven, four nine fifteen thirty five
one three seven four nine one fivethree zero short block before we hit the

(34:04):
top of the hour, and Ithink probably now is as good a time
as any to really pay tribute onthis Juneteenth, twenty twenty four to arguably
the greatest player ever to play baseballone Willie Mays. He passed away at
the age of ninety three on Tuesday. To say, hey, kid,
really redefined what it was to bea five tool player. We heard that

(34:30):
expression so much over the course ofthe years, over the course of the
decades, in the sixties and seventies, in the eighties, what exactly was
a five tool player? Well,anybody who watched Willie Mays would always tell
you he was truly the first fivetool player. Could run field, hit
hit, run field, hit,hit with power, and do everything that

(34:54):
you would expect of a superstar player. He was a baseball superstar before the
media really exploded in the seventies andthe eighties, and anybody who ever watched
him realized just what kind of playerhe was, what kind of impact he
had on and off the field,And you know, forget the color of

(35:16):
his skin. He was the singlegreatest, most dynamic baseball player of his
generation. And there's a reason thathe is considered not only the single you
know, before Tuesday, the singlegreatest living member of the Baseball Hall of
Fame. He's arguably considered the greatestall around player to ever play the sport.

(35:39):
And for my personal memory, youknow, and I grew up in
Cincinnati, all I ever heard whenI heard Eric Davis was he could be
the next Willie Mays. Now thatmoniker was applied often to great players who
came up to the minor leagues.The closest player I ever saw, player

(36:00):
that reminded me of what watching WillieMays might have been like, was definitely
Eric Davis. And Cincinnati has beenblessed with so many great players over the
years. Frank Robinson would probably bea good comp to Willie Mays, I
think, and a fair one atthat. But to see, you know,
William May's passing and what he meantto several generations of baseball players after

(36:24):
him after he left the New YorkMets in nineteen seventy three and retired,
really speaks to what he meant tothe game, to our national pastime.
So Willie Mays will be remembered certainlyoften throughout the next several days. Of
course, a Major League baseball hasthe Rickwood series coming up in his hometown

(36:50):
in Alabama this weekend, and certainlyit will be an emotional moment heard.
Brian Geesenslaw mention on Red's Live pregamethat Dusty Baker will be spent some time
with Willie Mays just in the lastseveral days, and we'll be reading some
prepared conversation, some prepared notes fromhis conversation with Willie Mays at a tribute

(37:17):
this weekend in Alabama as that gameis played. It'll be a very very
emotional weekend, to be sure.We have plenty more coming up on the
Moweger Radio Show. My name isMike Petralia filling in. You can get
jump on those lines at five,one, three, seven, four,
nine, fifteen point thirty. We'llbe talking in the next hour about the

(37:39):
Boston Celtics winning their eighteenth World Championshipwith an old colleague of mine from Boston,
Alex Barth. And then in thefive o'clock hour, we really will
be zeroing in on the Bengals theoffseason. They've had in some comments that
one Cowboy owner Jerry Jones had aboutthe Brown family and the Bengals in general.

(38:00):
That's all coming ahead on the MowagerRadio Show. You're listening to Cincinnati
ESPN fifteen thirty. This report issponsored by me. Are you ready for
some football? We are. Thisis Dave Lapwork and you're listening to the
Home of the Bengals, ESPN fifteenthirty. Mike Petralia trags back with you

(38:28):
here on the Mowega Radio Show fora Wednesday afternoon on Cincinnati ESPN fifteen thirty.
If you want to hop on thoselines and talk anything Red's Willie Mays
perhaps and his passing, his significanceto the sport of baseball, what he
has meant, or if you wantto talk FC Cincinnati or perhaps the Cincinnati

(38:50):
Bengals, what Jerry Jones had tosay about making more money than the Bengals.
Uh, we're here for you.Just give us a call. Five
one, three, seven, fournine, fifteen thirty. We have to
wrap up and review. For thoseof you who may be getting off work
a little bit early on their wayhome on seventy one or seventy five,
that can always be an adventure.I won't ram about that right now because

(39:14):
you don't want to hear about mycomplaints. I will complain though, and
be here to complain about the CincinnatiReds offense. They generated two hits today
against the Pittsburgh Pirates trio led bystarter Mitch Keller, Colin Holerman, and
David Bednar, Bednar pitching a perfectninth inning for his sixteenth save, Holderman

(39:37):
getting the victory. Over All ofthis, the Red's getting two hits and
two walks off of Pittsburgh pitching,overshadowing one of the best performances I think
Hunter Green has had in a Redsuniform. Certainly one of his best performances
this year, and he does notget rewarded with a victory, six and
a third innings, two hits,nine strikeouts, not a single walk,

(40:00):
six and the third innings of shutoutbaseball. He did hit two batters,
but still managed to lower his ZRAto three point three five on the season.
Fernando Cruz came in in a verykind of difficult, high leverage situation
in the bottom of the seventh inningwith a runner on second base and just
one out. He managed to getout of that jam without a run scoring.

(40:23):
He did walk a batter, butagain got out of it unscathed.
And then it was Nick Martinez cominginto the game. In the bottom of
the eighth inning, he gave upa two of retired the first two batters
he faced, and then gave upa two out home run to Brian Reynolds.
And this is what it sounded likeon seven hundred WLW. This ball's

(40:49):
well hit high the air, deepleft center field, fairchild back, Fairchild's
on the track at the wall.It's gone won. A way to extend
a hitting street. Ryan Reynolds extendsisStreet to a career high seventeen games with
a go ahead solo home run intothe Reds bullpen and left center field.

(41:12):
Loved it out bing pirates. Thatis Tommy Thrall on the Reds Radio Network
on seven hundred wl W. Afrustrating way for David Bell, Hunter Green
and the Cincinnati Reds to see theirsix game road trip end in the Steel
City. They go two and six. Sorry, they go two and four

(41:32):
through Milwaukee and Pittsburgh. Kind ofan opportunity miss. The Reds now stand
thirty five and thirty nine on theseason. They're tied with Chicago in the
cellar of the National League Central Division. Again, just a frustrating day because
the opportunities when they did present themselves. The Reds couldn't not come through with

(41:54):
the key base hit. But let'sbe honest, they're not getting many opportunities
to begin with when getting two hits. And those two hits today were Santiago
Espinal Tuesday Nights Hero with the tworun homer. He had Cincinnati's first base
hit of the day in the fifthinning. Jonathan India had a base hit

(42:14):
later in the sixth inning, andthat was it. That was the offense
for the Reds today. The Piratesthemselves only had three hits off Cincinnati pitching,
but again the Bucos were able toget it done. And you know,
it's a frustrating situation for the Redsbecause I think they feel as if
our pitching is there, if wecould just modestly improve our offense, maybe

(42:37):
get you know, Nick Kral,go out on the trade market and acquire
one or two right handed bats toadd some depth to the right handed side
of the plate. This is maybea different team and maybe the Reds don't
have and maybe they can build alittle bit margin of error instead of having
a game like today where you havea staff ace Hunter Green has definitely turned

(42:59):
into that for the Reds, andthat's very good news. But when your
staff ace goes out and he hasno run support and it's been like this
time and time and time again,you feel like your margin of era error
is so thin. And that's whatI think the Reds really have to overcome
right now, is that sense of, look, we have a picture who's

(43:21):
going out there, but we don'thave the competence that we're going to be
able to score two or even threeruns for him. So the Reds are
going to have to find ways tostart manufacturing offense and really look for ways
to get a runner on base latein games, move them over. That's
what was so frustrating about watching theleadoff walk in the eighth inning that Stuart

(43:44):
Fairchild was able to work against ColinHolderman. He was able to get that
or off mix Keller, I shouldsay, the starting picture. He was
able to work that leadoff walk.The Pirates had to go to their bullpen,
and you're thinking, well, withthe Reds lineup, comeing up,
maybe they'll be able to move themover to second base, or maybe,

(44:04):
certainly Stuart Fairchild would be able tosteal the base, move them over to
third, score them with the flyball. When you're a team like the
Reds and your margin of eras Ijust mentioned, is so small and the
team batting average is still hovering attwo twenty five, you've got to look
for ways to execute fundamentally. Andthat is another issue. You know,

(44:25):
you can't blame David Bell for theteam not producing offensively in terms of being
able to hit the ball field theball. He can't do that. We
hear that time and time again,and that's a legitimate argument. But what
he can do is put runners inmotion early in the situation so that these
players can their move the runner alongand then have a better chance of scoring

(44:50):
on a fly ball. The Redswere able to drive the ball a little
bit to the outfield, but theyweren't able to get a runner to third
base in this game, and thatcertainly cannot continue. Well. The Reds
finish up the road trip and nowthey have a day off on Thursday.
They welcome to Boston Red Sox totown, and the Red Sox, I
must tell you, I thought theywould struggle in the middle of the division

(45:14):
in the American League East, andthey've been actually pretty pleasantly surprising. Certainly,
their fan base kind of has givenup on them as the Yankees and
Baltimore Orioles run away from the packin that division. But in this day
and age, you can be mediocrefor four months and if you make a
run, you can wind up inthe playoffs. And I think that's kind

(45:37):
of the way the Red Sox areplaying it. I think that's the way
the Reds should be playing it.The Red Sox certainly have a better offense
than the Reds do right now,and they come to town do the Red
Sox over the weekend, and theReds are going to have to find a
way to start getting their offense warmedup if they're going to be able to
keep pace with the Red Sox,who don't have a pitching staff, but

(46:00):
they can certainly put runs up onthe board. And then after the Red
Sox come to town, guess who'sback the Pittsburgh Pirates. They make their
first visit of twenty twenty four toGreat American Ballparks, So the Reds are
gonna have a chance to get somerevenge and finally find a way maybe perhaps
to move their way back up theNational League Central Division ladder. But they're

(46:22):
gonna have to start winning these gamesin the division Right now, it's looking
a lot like it did last year, where the Reds struggled inside the NL
Central and it was a big reasonthey did not make the playoffs last year.
They missed the playoffs by two gameslast year, and had they done
a little bit better in the division, they would have found themselves in the

(46:45):
postseason instead of on the outside lookingin for the fourth straight year. We'll
be back with more here on theMoegger Radio show. You're listening to Cincinnati's
ESPN fifteen thirty. Cincinnati's Eat MikePetralia tracks back with you on the Mowegger

(47:07):
Radio program Cincinnatis, ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you to Mo for letting me
fill in as well as Tarren Blandfor making sure everything goes smoothly on the
control board. I very much appreciateit. Programming note, want to tell
you again, FC Cincinnati has abig match tonight at TQL in the heat

(47:30):
and humidity. They will be takingon the Philadelphia Union just down the street
and down seventy one downtown Cincinnati.Kickoff is set for seven forty five.
Coverage here on ESPN fifteen thirty beginsat seven o'clock, so be sure to
tune in for that. The Orangeand Blue eleven three and three with thirty

(47:52):
six points, just two points inarrears of first place leading Inner Miami in
the Eastern confer and of MLS.Well, we want to take our first
call of the day. We wantto go to the phone lines and talk
to Mike in Los Angeles and seewhat Mike has on his mind. A
good afternoon, Mike. How youdoing. Mike Petraya A big fan of

(48:15):
yours, brother for a long time. I appreciate you very very much.
It's very kind of you to saythat. Well, I've really enjoyed your
writing for years. I'm seventy twoyears old. I don't want I started
checking you out, but it's beena while, and I really love your
basketball commentary. You are very insightfulwhen it comes to not to yarn an

(48:38):
other things, but basketball. Ilove you and basketball, my friend.
I appreciate it. Well, I'mgonna be going back to my roots a
little bit, back to Boston.At the bottom of the hour with Alex
Barth, he covers the Boston Celtics. We are going to be talking plenty
of basketball at the bottom of thehour, doulge me for just a minute.

(49:00):
I got several things I wanted totalk to you about. Now,
try to be fast because I knowtime is limited, and Karen is a
is a stringent time manager. Yeshe is. Mike, Yeah he is.
He'll shut me down on a heartbeat. I'm using first of all,

(49:21):
everybody out there in Cincinnati, LosAngeles that's playing the home dog strategy.
We're winning sixty nine percent so far, and that's what this system typically does.
So keep playing it everyday, folks, and at the end of the
year you'll have a nice little powercash to spend however you'd like. Last

(49:43):
year or last night, Mike wonthe REGIS in the delay. I couldn't
believe how lucky I get. Theydid a I did the ESPN thirty thirty
on the Lakers Celtics rivalry. Iwould say that that remained still the biggest

(50:04):
rivalry and team sports, professional teamsports that has existed. You know what
in this country. I actually thinkthat is an outstanding point because everyone mentions
two rivalries. Come Ohio State Michigan, no question there. In my estimation,
that's the most passionate, longest,most enduring sports rivalry in America Red

(50:27):
Sox Yankees. I get really tiredof this one and I covered it up
close and in personal in my timein Boston. For years and years and
years that was dominated by one team. Now the Red Sox have you know,
obviously, have won four World Seriestitles since the turn of the century.
And it's evened out a little bit. And even over the weekend,

(50:49):
the Yankees having a tremendous year fiftyone and twenty five whatever they are right
now, they lost two of threeat Fenway. And what I said before
the break about the Red Sox havingoffense, the Red Sox are an example
of when you hit, and youcan hit consistently and provide offense and put
pressure on the other team, youcan win games or even series that you

(51:14):
don't expect going in. Yeah,and Mike, uh here, here's something
else that when Boston comes to town, you're looking at a really good ball
club. You're rapping to be stuckin a tough division. Yes, this
team is fifth, fifth and hittingin the MLB and sixth and pitching,
they're no joke. Let me ifI can, Mike go back to your

(51:37):
point about the Lakers and Celtics gotbecause I ran off the rails a little
bit there. Uh But but aboutthe Lakers and the Celtics the thing to
me, and it was a lotlike the Red Sox and Yankees for years
and years and years because the Lakers, I forget the number how many NBA
Finals they they lost to the Celticsand had never beaten the Celtics until they

(52:02):
broke through in nineteen eighty five outin LA in Game number five, I
believe it was they finally broke throughagainst the Celtics. And for years and
years and years, the Celtics dominatedthat series and that rivalry. But ever
since the Lakers broke through, it'sbeen back and forth. And what I

(52:24):
loved about that rivalry, you know, and I covered Game seven in twenty
ten, is when you're on thefloor before Game seven, there is nothing
like it. It was one ofmy favorite moments in all of my twenty
seven years out in Boston covering sports. There that was a Game seven electricity,

(52:45):
you really felt. It is palpable. And when you have two great
organizations going against each other and theplayers know what's at stake, and that
is legacy. There's nothing bigger inteam sports than legacy. To me,
those two organizations, those two franchisesreally have well defined legacies. They do,

(53:08):
and in this and in the entiredeck in the eighties, Michael,
as you know, one of thetwo teams or in the finals ten years,
that's incredible to imagine. And listeningto Magic and l Larry, they
still really don't like each other.They really don't. I think they've I

(53:30):
think they've mended their fences and Iand I don't since. Yeah, they've
smoothed it over. But I thinkthere was more rivalry and respect during even
during the rivalry than they let on. And I think that's because neither one
of them wanted to let down theirguard very much. And from Magic's perspective,
there was frustration early on because rememberhe came in to the NBA as

(53:52):
a rookie, won an NBA titleagainst Philadelphia, filling in for uh the
injured Kareem of Go Truvar in Philadelphia, but he never was able to beat
the Laker beat the Celtics until nineteeneighty five. I want to thank you,
Mike for your call. We gotto run here and I want to
wrap things up before the bottom ofthe hour break. Your call was perfect

(54:14):
because it leads right into my nextguest. He is from Boston. We'll
get to him on the other side. But Alex Barth covers not only the
Celtics but the Red Sox. Wemight even talk a little bit New England
Patriots because the Patriots are the Bengalsfirst opponent of the twenty twenty four NFL

(54:37):
season, and of course at payCourse Stadium on September ninth. Might want
to look at what he thinks ofDrake May, the number three overall draft
pick in the NFL. He's beenon the scene with the Celtics, Patriots
and Red Sox. Lots to catchup. That catch up with Alex Barth,
and that will be on the otherside of this break. If you

(54:57):
want to jump on the phone lines, they're wide open five one, three,
seven, four, nine, fifteenthirty. We can get to those
calls after we speak with Alex Barth, but I want to remind everyone to
hop on those phone lines and thatyou're listening to the Moeger Radio Show on
Cincinnatis, ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnatis espMike Petralia back with you on ESPN's fifteen

(55:30):
thirty Cincinnatis ESPN fifteen thirty the MoeggerRadio Show. I want to thank mo
for allowing me to fill in betweenthe hours of three and six pm.
As for myself, you can followme on x at trags trags clnssinc dot
com and follow my work on theJungle Roar podcast and Code Reds Podcast.

(55:54):
Will be having Tommy Thrall on thisweek to talk about all of the latest
Cincinnat Red's news and where they gofrom here, including a dropping two of
six games on the just completed roadswing through Milwaukee and Pittsburgh. How the
Reds might be getting their ship righted, what they have to do next.

(56:15):
But that's on the Code Reds Podcaston CLNS Media. I want to welcome
in my next guest if he's ready, Alex Barth. He does a great
job covering the all things Boston sportsfor ninety eighty five the Sports Hub.
He is a former colleague of mineat CLNS Media when we were both in

(56:36):
Boston. I left Boston in Octobertwenty twenty. We have kept in close
contact and Monday night marked the firstBoston Championship that I was not on hand
for in Boston since the eighty sixCeltics I found that hard to believe in.
Alex Barth, our next guest wasthe first to remind me of that.

(56:57):
Alex, how you doing. Haveyou gotten any sleep since Monday?
I'm good. Yeah, I finallydid this morning. I think I slept
until noon. But it was worthit to make sure that the tracks curse
was listed. You showed up,we started winning, you left, we
stopped winning. So just nice tosee the proof that we will still win
even without you in the building.You will, and unfortunately I don't wield

(57:19):
that much power, otherwise I'd bemuch richer man than my bank account says.
Right now, take us inside TDGarden and the electric atmosphere. Look,
every arena, every stadium, homestadium when their team wins a championship
is electric. It's loud, butI can assure you that what it's like

(57:40):
in Boston rises to that next level. When the Celtics started out in that
game five on Monday night, theygot out to a pretty good lead,
nine to two or whatever it was. Then Dallas made their run. When
Boston made their run to end thefirst quarter, I thought the game was
over at that point. Yeah,it felt like it, and it felt

(58:01):
a lot like Game six in oWait Celtics Lakers, which was kind of
the same thing. They had thismassive well that was more beginning of the
second quarter than end of the first, but it was a party, It
was a part. It really feltlike the party of TD Garden. I
think everybody showed up and there wasjust an energy in the building that this
is going to get done tonight.We're going to end this title drought tonight
because Celtics win first in five years. That's the second longest title drought in

(58:23):
Boston since nineteen sixty and when thePatriots were founded and when we started having
fourteens here. So it was anunbelievable experience. There's really nothing like it.
You know, it's tough to putin a word, just the electricity,
the energy, the positivity that's inthe building. I thought it was
a really good chance for the fansto show their appreciation to this Celtics team

(58:44):
for what they meant to them allyear, and I think the players felt
that so truly. You know,unbelievable environment. I know some people were
knocking at times this year. Iwould say I think ESPN and TNT to
an extent too, in both footballand both basketball and hockey didn't bounce the
crowd noise, right, and it'skind of like there are a lot of
dead arenas, but being in there, it was certainly not the case pretty

(59:06):
much all playoffs. Look, therewere a number of storylines that I found
intriguing, but I think the onefrom a national perspective that a lot of
people wondered about, could Jalen Brownand Jason Tatum coexist to the point where
they would ever win a championship together. I remember when Jalen Brown and I

(59:27):
think you remember this as well,I was hit on the floor of td
Garden draft night in twenty sixteen.I want to say when Jalen Brown was
drafted and he was booed, theeventual MVP of the NBA Finals, winner
of the Bill Russell Trophy, wasactually booed when he was a rookie coming

(59:49):
out of cal and people couldn't believethat Danny Inge was taking this kid,
this a guy out of cal withthe third overall pick. Turned out pretty
well. Yeah, I think goingback to that night and Jalen Brown kind
of talked about that after they wonthe championship, that you know, there
had been these rumors for weeks aboutJimmy Butler being traded for that pick,

(01:00:09):
Anthony Davis being traded for that pick, and I think people were more booing
the idea that they weren't getting theestablished superstar than booing Jalen Brown himself,
because, like Jalen said, it'sPack twelve basketball. Nobody here watches college
sports, especially to Pack twelve,which is all the way on the West
Coast, playing late at night.And I think nobody really knew who he
was. But he came along way, paid him, came a long way,

(01:00:30):
and I think that's a big reasonthey finally broke. So now I
think they did have to learn.I never believed that they can never play
together, but I do think itwas something they both had to learn how
to do. And I think thisyear was when they finally kind of snapped
into the right roles, each ofthem respectively. And I think that's a
big reason they got over the hump, was the internal growth of those two
players on the floor and just thematurity as leaders and as pillars of the

(01:00:53):
team. I don't always think AlexBarth of ninety eighty five the Sports Hub
in Boston, I don't always believethat writers get it right when they elect
an MVP of a certain series,but I thought they got it right with
Jalen Brown, and the reason beingI think when the Celtics needed someone to

(01:01:13):
punch back, Jalen Brown was thatguy. And I don't mean obviously literally,
I mean figurative. Right in Gameone, when the Celtics were on
the verge of a historic collapse andthey were about to blow a twenty eight
point lead, it was Jalen Brownwho rose up and stopped and stemmed the
tide. Again in Game five,it was Jalen Brown who came up with

(01:01:37):
those big moments defensively to really leadthe Celtics to victory. Yeah, I'd
say that's accurate. It kind offelt going in like whoever had the better
game in Game five was gonna winit. That's what a lot of people
were saying. And I think JasonTatum was the better player in Game five
when you went back and looked atit. Jalen Brown's consistency in that series

(01:01:59):
is the ability to hit the bigshot. I think a play that gets
really I mean maybe it becomes,you know, more well known in time,
but the floater he hit from thefree throw line corner in Game three
to kind of put that game awayas the Celtas are about to blow a
massive lead. Like he was thesteadying presence. He was the one that
kind of kept everything in check.And to me, that's that's why he

(01:02:20):
got it. Is not necessarily becausehe was like the outright most dominant player
in the series, but he probablydid the most. You know, this
is an age old pantic argument.MVP is the best player, most valuable
player. Jason Tatum may have beenthe best player in the series, but
I don't think you can debate JalenBrown was the most valuable player for the
Celtics in this year. I'm justgoing to take a guess, Alex that

(01:02:40):
the loudest you've ever heard TD Gardenwas when Peyton Pritchard hit another half court
shot on Monday night. How loudwas that? Yes, so it was
that. And when Jadison Tatum hitthe basket to score fifty in Game seven
last year against the Sixers, that'sit the pressed But that was unbelievable because

(01:03:01):
he's been doing that. He's carvedout you know. I think he's a
decent player. I think he canhang around the league as a role player
one way or the other. Butit's kind of crazy that just an ability
to hit that shot, he hita role in that alone. He wasn't
going to be in the playoff rotation, but he was able to get himself
at a spot. And now Iwonder if that becomes something other teams look
at and more teams start looking forthe end of quarter specialists. That just

(01:03:22):
because Pritchard practices that shot over andover and over, and I wonder if
more players start doing that, moreteam start looking for guys in that role.
Why do you think Kyrie Irvin couldnot handle Boston? It was just
tu in his head. He was, he can say what he wants.
He was preoccupied with fan he was. That's just that's unbelievable. You're in

(01:03:43):
the NBA Finals, Alex and youcan't handle you can't isolate yourself from the
fans and just focus on the gameat hand. I find that hard to
believe it. And there was oneinstance I don't remember who his game warn
Er. Game two was one ofthe first two games in Boston where I
remember watching the game and I noticedthe Matters only had four players. They're
trying to go fast break and thenonly had four players on the offensive end.

(01:04:05):
Kyrie Irving's back drawing with somebody inthe stands and for all he talked
about being a changed man, Iactually think he believes he changed. I
actually think he believes he got intoa healthier place. But he hadn't feazed
the test, like going back toBoston in the NBA Finals, and I
think he was thrown off by thischange that he thought he'd made, not

(01:04:26):
being there, and it was completelyin its head, totally, and it
almost feels like this should be well, he'll play the Celtics again, He'll
come back to Boston again. Hiscareer is not over, but it feels
like anything from now is an epilogueon the Boston Celtics Kyrie Irvings story.
They beat him in the finals andhe didn't play well. Executive of the
Year Brad Stevens moved from obviously thecoaching seat to the front office and I

(01:04:50):
think that he has been the starof the season for the Celtics. He
was the reason. His ability tocompile a roster was the reason that the
Celtics didn't have much competition in theNBA Finals and in the NBA playoffs.
We have a lot of college fanshere. College basketball is huge in the

(01:05:10):
Midwest, as you will know,and we have a lot of Indiana University
people. Any audience listening, doyou think there's any chance that Brad Stevens
leaves the NBA, leaves the Celticsand returns to college. Not anytime soon.
You know, it's basketball, andyou never know, and weird things
happened. But I think he's reallyfound his niche. He's got a great

(01:05:32):
role. It's not nearly as demanding. He's not going to have to deal
with nil, he's not going tohave to deal with recruiting. It's not
that day to day grind. Andhe's amazing at this. He had like
playing and simple. He's much betterat this than he wasn't being a coach.
And I don't even mean that tokick him as a coach. I
thought he was a fine coach.But he's really done some incredible stuff as
the essential GM of the Boston Celtics. So he deserves a ton of credit

(01:05:54):
for this, and I would besurprised if he leaves any time soon,
because this team is still built towin. Their top six guys are all
in contract next year, they're allrelatively young. Outside of Horford. I
think everybody's under thirty. Like they'regoing to keep winning. I don't know,
it would tell me. I don'twant to say. I don't know
what the motivation be. I knowwhat it would be, but it would
be a whole lot of motivation,if you know what I mean, for

(01:06:14):
him to go back to Indiana anddeal with nil and deal with the transfer,
portally be with all of this willleast to build up a whole other
roster. Speaking with Alex Barth ofninety eighty five the Sports Hub in Boston,
the Red Sox come to town andtake on the Cincinnati Reds at Great
American Ballpark this weekend for a threegame series. Interesting to me because I
think the Red Sox are doing twoopponents what the Reds had hoped they'd be

(01:06:40):
doing two opponents, and that ismashing them and getting really good starting pitching.
Certainly, the pitching has been alittle hit and miss for the Red
Sox, but they have really startedto mash. They've won four straight games
going into the series finale in Torontotonight. What should the Reds and Reds
fan look for from this Red Soxgroup that is well in arrears of the

(01:07:03):
Yankees and Orioles in the Al East, but certainly will be its intention to
make a run for a playoff spot. They've been running the bases really well,
which has been a big problem withthis team for years. They've had
some really monumentally mind blowing base runningmistakes, but nine stolen bases against the
Yankees the other night, right andand just a ton of speed up and

(01:07:26):
down the lineup that it seems likethe Red Sox reinvent themselves every like three
four weeks. They kind of haveto because they dealt with so many and
are still dealing with so many injuries. That's tough for them to find an
identity. But right now it's theBay's paths. They're they're they're moving around
the base paths, like you mentioned, they're they're starting to hit the ball
better. I think getting Tyler O'Neillback, who I'm sure Red fans are
kind of familiar with the Cardinals,he's been he's been a great, great

(01:07:48):
addition for them, great pickup.He's been hitting the ball well, had
a couple of home runs the othernight, and that's what it's been,
you know, starting pitching, likeyou said, has been hit and miss.
They haven't had a consistent rotation becauseguys would has been getting hurt so
much. But right now the offenseis getting it done and when they play
like this, they're a solid team. They don't do it consistently, which
is why they're five hundred, butthey seem to be in a decent groove

(01:08:09):
right now. Sadan Rafaela, heis one player that I don't think a
lot of Reds fans are be familiarwith, but they should because he is
outstanding defensively. He's a center fielderfor the Red Sox, and I think
he's starting to really make a markfor himself. What can you tell us
what should Reds fans look for fromRafaella coming into this series. He reminds

(01:08:32):
me a little bit of a guyyou'll remember in some Red fans might remember
Jackie Bradley Junior. Tremendous defensively,good speed, and when he's hot,
he hits. He's not always hot, and when he's not hot, it's
really bad. But when he's hot, he hits, so he'll make it
lead. It seems like every serieshe makes one play in center field that
you know just jaw dropping, soyou'll probably get one of those, but

(01:08:54):
definitely, you know, I likewatching good defensive baseball players. I know
it's not like the most popular thingeverybody wants to runs, but especially in
the league where defense is kind ofwaning right now, he's really fun to
watch in center field. Jakobe Brissetteor Drake May the starting quarterback for the
Patriots when they play the Bengals Septemberninth at pay Corps. I do think

(01:09:15):
it's going to be Jacoby Brissett.I think they're gonna take their time with
Drake May, not even because DrakeMay's maybe not ready, but I think
because the offensive line isn't ready.They have a whole mess on their hands
at the tackle position right now.They don't really have anybody on their roster
with extensive experience at left tackle.They're projected starting left tackles Choops of Corps
four, who was the right tacklefor the Steelers for the last six years.

(01:09:38):
So I just they've talked a lotabout making sure that Drake May's in
a position to succeed, not makingthe same mistakes they made with Mac Jones
and putting him behind an offensive linethat is an unknown, which is what
it might be. Week one reallyisn't going to help him, So I
think it's going to be Jacoby Brissettthe first month to six weeks before we
see Drake May just so they canfigure out the offensive line. We have

(01:10:00):
to wrap up here. Anything elseyou want to get off your chest about
what it was like learning so muchfrom me as your mentor for low those
many years we've seen on us.It's just great being back on the air,
if you like. I learned somuch. Obviously, you know,
I was thinking a lot about theSuper Bowl we covered together in eighteen and
being on the field after the gamein Atlanta, obviously the other night,

(01:10:23):
being on the court with all theconfetti with the Celtics. So I so
so appreciative of all of it.Seriously, Well, maybe there'll be some
black and orange confetti raining down fromthe Superdome or Sadie's been Superdome in February
February ninth. As a matter offact, certainly a lot of our listeners
are hoping that is the case.And maybe I can call into Boston and

(01:10:45):
you can return the favor. How'sthat? I'd love it, You know
what, I'll take black and orangeconfetti. It's better than Bill's colors,
so I'll take that here here allright, He's Alex Barth does a great
job covering all things Boston Sports ninetyeight five the Sports Hub. We're a
little late to the break here,but Alex, thanks so much. When
we come back, we'll talk moreabout the Reds loss this afternoon in Pittsburgh.

(01:11:11):
One nothing to the Pittsburgh Pirates.We can take your calls five one,
three, seven, four nine,fifteen thirty. You're listening to the
Moweger Radio Show on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteenthirty. You sailed the Bave Blackfork and
you're listening to the Home of theBengals ESPN fifteen thirty. This is the

(01:11:38):
Lowegger Radio Show on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteenthirty. My name is Mike Petralia Trags.
You can follow me on the platformformally known as Twitter, currently known
as x at trag simple enough tR A g S. You can also

(01:11:58):
follow my work at Clnssinc dot comwith a Y can also follow my podcasting
work, and that is two platforms. That would be the jungle Er podcast
covering all things Cincinnati Bengals and CodeReds. And I mentioned earlier in the
program, and it's worth repeating thatI will be having Tommy Thrall, voice

(01:12:24):
of the Cincinnati Reds on the RedsRadio Network as my guest on Thursdays,
so be sure to tune into thaton the CLNS Media Network. It is
my pleasure before we get to that, one more bit of business, and
that is a big MLS match tonighthere on these very airwaves on ESPN fifteen

(01:12:45):
thirty coverage starting at seven pm,that's one hour after this program comes to
a conclusion. We have FC Cincinnatihosting Philadelphia Union in a rematch of last
year's Eastern Conference semifinal. Game isat TQL Stadium. Kickoff is set for
seven forty five. Big game forthe Orange and Blue. They come in

(01:13:05):
at eleven three and three. PatNoonan's group thirty six points, just two
points in arrears of Inner Miami,top of the table in the Eastern Conference.
Now, it is my honor andmy pleasure to welcome a good friend
of mine on next here on ESPNfifteen thirty to talk all things striped,

(01:13:28):
Orange and Black, and that wouldbe the one and only Jeff Hobson of
Bengals dot Com. How you doing, Jeff, Well, you're you're working
harder than I am trad draw moreplatforms than an Olympic diver. A well
done, He's the best, hesaid, You're the best. Now explain
for our listeners, because this isgoing to happen during this interview. Why

(01:13:51):
people call you Butch? Yes,it was a third baseman for the Boston
Red Sox when I was in highschool named Clelle Laverne Butch Popson, who
was a best known He hit thirtyhomers out of the nine hole for the
crunch Bunch Red Sox and then whenI became the Cincinnati they cover the Cincinnati

(01:14:14):
Bengals for the Post. He wasthe manager of the Red Sox so High
School. In the workplace, I'mknown as Butch and proudly so. Nineteen
seventy seven Red Sox, I believewas the team the crunch Socks. Yes,
yep, Yes, the crunch Bunch. They finished two games out.
Yep, they finished two games outand then they finished. Then they lost

(01:14:40):
the playoffs the next year, soabout yeah. They played about three hundred
and twenty five games with a winningpercentage of you know, God knows six
hundred and they didn't win a thingback when, back when a wildcad was
only in football and trags. Imust say, if you're gunning for the
third wild time in baseball, maybeyou shouldn't bother. I see, I

(01:15:02):
disagree with that. What Arizona.But Arizona last year the wild card World
Series team, I guess, Iguess, and I tell you what.
The go go Red Sox. Theygot me thinking maybe they could get kicked
lightning in a bottle. Well,as Alex Barth just mentioned in the last
hour here on the Moeger Radio program, he made a very good argument for

(01:15:26):
the go go Red Sox kind oftransforming, transforming them into winters. You
went to one of the Red Soxgames, I believe in twenty twenty two
at Great American Ballpark. You excitedfor this weekend. I'll be there.
The whole family's coming in. It'sa family, it's a family reunion.
So but I don't think I thinkthe grandkids are walked into being red stands.

(01:15:46):
I think I'm it's going to behad to move them. But we'll
give it a shot. That onlywon in one and a half. But
you know, you sat them earlyand who knows, maybe they swing Rappi.
Maybe they can see Rappi Devers swingthe bat this weekend and they'll You'll
fall in love for the next ninetyyears. All right, let's talk Cincinnati
Bengals, the team that you writefor Bengals dot Com. You have a

(01:16:09):
terrific story up that I am goingto love talking to you about how the
child Please Bengals helped Hard Knocks growup. Very fitting because this week,
yes Monday, I believe it wasHBO, and the Bengals announced that there'd
be a new twist on hard Knocksthis year. They will be following in

(01:16:30):
season an entire division starting in earlyDecember, the AFC North, of course,
that would be your Bengals, theBrowns, the Ravens, and the
Steelers. They will be in thebuilding with all four teams following them.
And that was really inspired, butchby what happened last year when all four
teams finished above five hundred for thefirst time in recent memory. I mean,

(01:16:57):
if you're looking for drama and youknow and hide Knock says the tough,
you know they're in a tough spotof trying to predict when they grab
a team, what's going to happen? You know, and you only have
to go back two years ago whenthey're falling the Cardinals and they you know,
they ended up documenting a train wreckrather than a football season. So

(01:17:17):
yes, right, right, Butbut I don't think but I think,
you know, like any kind ofan accident, they watch it, but
they really don't want to. Theyfeel guilty, and I don't think they
wanted to go through that again.And I think what better way to do
it? You guarantee yourself if youdo a whole division, you guarantee yourself

(01:17:39):
a winner, you know, andyou guarantee yourself a playoff game. But
then this division, you know,did things that no division has ever done
since the merger, no division infootball since the merger. It's certainly no
division in the NFL is in eightyeight years, So how can you miss?
And the division is so good thatone team didn't even have their quarterback

(01:18:02):
and within contention until the next lastweek of the season, US Cincinnati Bengals.
So you know, I think forthe I think for hard knocks,
they get a little bit of youknow, they've they've they've done, you
know, I think they're on theright track with a concept, and you
can't miss. You can't miss inanything with the AFC North tracks, right,
You're always going to get drama.I mean, there's always Zach Taylor.

(01:18:26):
Jeff, not to interrupt you,but Zach Taylor has insisted for the
last several years, without question,not not, he thinks he knows that
the AFC North is the most competitiveand best division in the National Football League,
and apparently the powers that be atNFL Films and Hard Knocks would agree.
I want to read from your storyon Monday, the first of its

(01:18:49):
kind announcement. Monday has planned todocument four teams instead of one when the
series delves into that division of HardKnocks known as the AFC North and puts
the Bengals at center stage again fifteenyears after the Child Please Training Camp put
the punch back in Hard Knocks.Explain, Yeah, they were in the

(01:19:12):
Hide Knocks as a franchise. Wasthey were kind of flailing at that point.
They were looking for they were kindof looking for a home. The
two thousand and four edition, Idon't think was uh, you know,
was not on HBO. You know, they thought with the eight Dallas Cowboys
that they thought the thing might takeoff, and it didn't. You know,

(01:19:32):
the ratings were pretty uh you know, we weren't great, not as
great as they thought. Yeah forthe for you know, especially for the
American team. Right. Well,so they come to Cincinnati and I think
they were banking on personalities. Youknow, they had they you know,
they knew Chad Johnson was going tobe there. I don't think they knew

(01:19:54):
he was going to change his name, but they knew they had Chad Johnson,
who was at that time you know, was probably uh one of the
you know, it definitely was nono if, but he was definitely one
of the most charismatic personalities in theleague. They had a highlight respected head
coach and Marvin Lewis, and youknow, they had a quarterback coming coming

(01:20:15):
off of injury and Carson Palmer.So they had a lot of good storylines.
But the thing just took off,not only because of the Oh Show,
but just because of the accessibility theBengals gave Steve Sable and his crew.
I mean, that's what you goback and look what Steve Sable said.
The uh you know, it wasthe most open you know camp they
saw, and they allowed them toget some you know, riveting pieces about

(01:20:39):
Richie Kelly's you know, uh seasonending Achilles injury. They able to get
up close with Zimmer. Mike Zimmer, the defensive coordinator, a compelling figure
in his own rights. You know, uh saw the rise of Andrew Whitworth.
I think it gave it gave riseto the Heinie Jones' career. Uh
you know, the you know,the Heini around the globe. That all

(01:21:00):
started with that oh nine high andand people saw what a what a really
smart linebacker he was, but alsojust as such a such a diverse personality
with so many interests in so manythings. And you know that that thing
took off, like you know,it got forty five percent uh better ratings
than the Cowboys, and they endedup winning. Uh that that was the

(01:21:21):
first uh Emmy that Hard Knocks wonfor Best Documentary. And that got the
thing back up and going because thenext year they did the Jets and they
rolled, you know, they wereriding the they you know, they were
riding the tabloids, you know,the New York tap rights. They're in
the and and Rex and Sanchez andand a team that went to the AFC

(01:21:43):
championship game, that twenty ten team, and so they didn't look back.
You know, from on nine,the thing just kept getting bigger and bigger,
And now fifteen years later, they'reactually not They're not doing one team,
they're doing four teams. They're notdoing training camp. They're doing it
in the height of the season.So the thing, you know, just
like the Bengals that blew up.You know, maybe Jerry Jones has a

(01:22:06):
little bit of sore hurt feelings.Maybe he's butt hurt after what happened in
twenty nine versus twenty oh eight,because he made some news this week speaking
about negotiating broadcast and streaming rights inthe NFL currently negotiates its broadcast and streaming

(01:22:28):
rights, then splits the revenue evenlyamong its franchises. Jerry Jones was quoted
according to the AP, I amconvinced I would make a lot more money
than the Bengals. I'm completely againsteach team doing TV deals. It is
flawed your reaction to I think,yeah, I think actually Mike and Jerry

(01:22:49):
have a good relationship. Even thoughthey're on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
There's both a lot of mutual respectthere. When I was doing a
story on the fiftieth anniversary and andtalked a lot to Mike. Jerry call
me. Jerry called me the story. No zactly what I spent, you
know, spent ten fifteen minutes withme on the phone talking about fight.

(01:23:09):
I think there's a lot of mutualrespect. I think what I mean correctly
if I'm wrong, But I thinkwhat Jerry was talking about. I think
he was talking about the size ofthe markets. Because of Dallas's maget compared
to the size of Cincinnati's maget,you know, he could make more money.
I think that's what he was talkingabout. I don't think. I'm
not so much sure. That wassome perspectives, yeah, some well,

(01:23:30):
some perspective here and and some contextis probably the better word. The NFL
is facing a class action lawsuit overits Sunday night ticket package, which allows
out of market audiences to watch localbroadcasts with a subscription with a subscription.
In testimony on Monday in La Jones, again, according to the AP,
defended the Sunday ticket model, butsaid his team would be able to successfully

(01:23:56):
sell rights individually, that that's thecontext there. Yeah, Well, I
mean, I think, I Iyou know, I think the Tengals could
too. I think they got oneof the more popular teams in the league.
Well to your point, Butch lastyear, Yeah, the Bengals recorded
the second highest audience twenty just overtwenty six million according to Nielsen in the

(01:24:19):
regular season for CBS when they beatSan Francisco in Week eight. Jerry Jones
Cowboys are the most watched team inthe NFL, averaging more than twenty five
million viewers per broadcast. Can everybodyget along though? I mean, it's
the NFL. Everybody's going to dowell one way or another. They just

(01:24:40):
have to make sure that they're keepingthe people on the outside, namely lawmakers
happy. I mean, you know, it's they're both and both in Dallas
and Cincinnati meet for the first timeon a Monday night, So the two
most popular teams. That's that's goingto be for some very nice ratings.
I guess, uh the second weekin December, so uh, you know,

(01:25:05):
I I think what tragged we sawthe uh then we we we saw
the NFL p A ratings of themost popular player players in the league.
Right, and I think the Bengalsare one of six teams that had multiple
players in the top, uh,you know, forty or something, so,
you know, being Joe and Jamaso uh, you know, I

(01:25:28):
think I think the Bengals are rightthere and popularity and I think they've done
a nice job. I mean,you know, you look at the social
media numbers, the stuff that ElizabethBlackburn's best. It's it's it's uh,
you know, it's eye popping,you know, the popularity at a club
and it's not h you know,it's not the uh you know something you
know a lot more than Nielsen's nowadays. We're gonna finish up here with Jeff

(01:25:50):
Hobson at Bengals dot Com. Anduh, the significance butch of t getting
his franchise tagged tender signed just afterMini camp and be well before training camp
opens on July twenty fourth. Ibelieve it is first public practice is July

(01:26:11):
twenty ninth. The significance of that, and it not the Jesse Bates situation
not repeating itself. Yeah, thenews isn't that he signed. The news
is when he signed it, becausethat means he'll be coming in coming in
at the beginning of camp. AndI also think it shows you a little
bit of the difference between the offenseand the defense. Right, that's a
situation that's about timing and everything likethat. But you know, we all,

(01:26:34):
I mean, we've known this drag. We know we've talked to Tea
enough. He's bought in. Hewants to win. I would I would
dare say he's you know, he's, if not the biggest big game receiver,
they've had the biggest big game receiver. So you know he can sniff
another run at this thing. Theyall can and so you know on and

(01:26:55):
also that's the significance of that.It's kind of and that's what Dan Pitcher
has been saying. You know,we're gonna do what we do. And
let's say that this team, it'soffense, the identity is not only Burrow,
but the two great receivers on theoutside. That's the way it is
for twenty twenty four. So Ithink, you know, whatever happens,
you know, whatever whatever happens inthe future, who knows. But twenty

(01:27:19):
twenty four is still that same modelthat you know they didn't do. You
know that that crew crew is usedto get the two AFC twas Super Bowl.
There's gonna be more eye candy thisyear. In the words of Joe
Burrow. That's what you're saying.Well, No, what I'm saying is
I think we're gonna see pretty muchthe same thing. I think what Dan

(01:27:41):
Pitcher is saying is that we're gonna, well, we're gonna have tweaks,
but we are who we are,and who they are is two great outside
receivers and a great quarterback. Andthe fact that t will be in there
when the bell rings, I thinksolidifies that identity. And great plans for
beyond this weekend and watching your CarmineHoes take on the Reds, any other

(01:28:05):
big plancesh weekend this summer. Ithink we're just I think we're just We're
just gonna kind of go as wego. I think we're just gonna spot
the days we haven't really thought beyondSaturday, June twenty second in Rattie,
Come of the Town. We haven'tthought beyond that. So I think we're
just gonna take it as a comeTrags and the next thing you know,

(01:28:25):
it's gonna be July twenty fourth,and Mike Petalia will be back doing what
he does best, which is onevery platform you can think of. There
aren't enough platforms out there. SometimesI think, but anyway, he is
Jeff Hobson. Jeff, thanks somuch for joining me. Follow his tremendous
work on Bengals dot Com. Jeffwill catch up with you down the road,

(01:28:47):
certainly, talk to you over theweekend at Great American Ballpark. Grag
so much. Thank you so muchfor having me on. I don't see
it had a great summer, butI'll see you soon, all right.
He's Jeff Hobson, BEng This isthe Moeger Radio Show on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen
thirty. The Hope heading into thehome stretch of the Moeger Radio Show for

(01:29:13):
a Wednesday afternoon. You're listenings Cincinnati'sESPN fifteen thirty. My name is Mike
Petralia Trags. You can follow meon x at Trags Trags heading down the
home stretch and I want to getsome phone calls lined up if you're out
there and want to talk about thered struggles and coming home and what they

(01:29:35):
more importantly need to do to turnthings around. There's still plenty of time
left in this season for the Redsto get on a hot streak. We've
seen time and time again over thelast couple of seasons. What can happen
if the team gets hot in thesecond half make the playoffs. The Phillies
made the World Series in twenty twentytwo when they were struggling for most of

(01:29:55):
the year. Arizona Diamondbacks the samething last year. What do the Reds
need to do to get things rollingin the second half of the season.
Want to hear your thoughts at five, one, three, seven, four,
nine, fifteen thirty in the finalhalf hour. We can also talk
about the significance of what Jeff Hobson, a Bengals dot Com just spoke about

(01:30:17):
the signing of t Higgins to thefranchise tag of twenty one point eight million
dollars, not that he signed it, but when he signed it, and
what that means for the Bengals goingforward this summer as we look forward to
the opening of training camp down atPey Corps Stadium and the Kettering Health Practice
Fields on July twenty fourth. Allof that and more straight ahead on the

(01:30:40):
Moegger Radio Show. You're listening toESPN's Cincinnatis ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnatis ESPN fifteen
fifteen thirty. Well, Well hiton the air, deep left center field,
Fairchild back, Fairchild's on the track, that's the wall, It's gone.

(01:31:00):
Won a way to extend a hittingstreak. Bryan Reynolds extends his street
to a career high seventeen games witha go ahead solo home run into the
Reds bullpen and left center field.Loved it up, bing Pirates, and
that sadly would be the only offenseof the day offered up by either team.

(01:31:26):
One nothing. The Pittsburgh Pirates prevailover the Cincinnati Reds this afternoon at
PNC Ballpark in the Steels City.The Reds finished their road trip two and
four, more alarmingly, over thelast three games, they scored just three
runs. They scored the one runand the four to one loss on Monday
night. They scored two runs intheir thrilling two to one victory Santiago Espadal

(01:31:51):
with a two run homer on Tuesdaynight, and they managed to hold on
to that game for dear life.Keep Bryan Hayes had a solo home run,
but they managed to hold on forthe victory. And then in the
rubber game. The Reds have beendoing very poorly in rubber games. Then
they won a couple in a rownow they've lost their last couple of rubber

(01:32:12):
games. They lost on Sunday inMilwaukee, and they lose today in Pittsburgh
by a score of one to nothing, Red scoring just three Measley runs in
the three game set, and that'snot going to get it done. That
is, unfortunately going to dampen whatwas otherwise another outstanding effort by one of
the true legit aces of the Cincinnatipitching staff. Hunter Green coming into his

(01:32:38):
own. He's becoming that superstar thatI think everyone and including the Reds front
office, had envisioned him becoming whenthey signed him to the fifty four million
dollar contract extension at the beginning oflast year. Six and a third scoreless
innings, two hits, nine strikeouts, not a single walk. His command

(01:32:59):
was excellent all day. He didhit two batters, but again that was
early in the game. At onepoint, he retired fourteen straight batters.
He really was in control of thegame all the way through. He came
out with a runner on second basewith one out in the bottom of the
seventh inning, Fernando Cruz. Hedid walk a batter, but he got
out of the jam. I gotthe final two outs of the seventh inning

(01:33:23):
kept it scoreless and then Nick Martinezgave up the two out solo homer that
you just started to Brian Reynolds histenth of the year, and that was
a difference in the game. Andafter the game, manager David Bell couldn't
help but just tip his cap tothe Pittsburgh Pirates and tip his cap to
his starting picture, Hunter Green.These games are always particularly tough on a

(01:33:47):
pitching staff to walk away with ateam loss. Yeah, I mean,
we're a team. A Hunter wasgreat today. I mean, obviously ninety
eight to one a day. Theirhitters came out really aggressive, and I
thought Hunter did a nice job adjustingto his secondary pitches and uh yeah,
I mean another great start. Andyou know, for a Hunter, it's

(01:34:10):
uh. For me, it's justcontinued to keep finding ways to get better
every time. It's pretty exciting.How impressive was it just him to gut
his way into the seventh inning onhim such a hot day. Not not
an easy task, Yeah, exactlywhat it was. But Hunter has been
working really hard in between starts totrain himself to be able to go deeper
into games. And uh, justone, you know, one more thing

(01:34:33):
that he's doing to get better,you know, I mean, that's something
you have to do. But uh, I think he's there's been a little
extra effort towards that, and Ithink it paid off today. How regally
Bland and seven pitches? Were youguys going to be impressive? Were too
oppressive? Talking to you about itthat Keller is I think executed every single

(01:34:55):
pitch he threw to day. Obviously, you know it's not it's not get
easier like we you know, we'regoing up against tough pitching and you know
it's our job to adjust to thatand continue to find ways to get it
done. But I love how ourteam is continuing to fight through this and
grime, and we know that that'sgoing to pay off. Today was a

(01:35:17):
tough day. I mean with withKeller, Poderman and Ben Power, I
made it tough. They executed theirpitches and they have really, really great
stuff to go with it. Sothat was kind of the the story of
today. Indeed, sadly for DavidBell's Cincinnati Reds, that was the story
of the day Red's falling to thirtyfive and thirty nine on the year.

(01:35:41):
That was David Bell speaking with Jimday Bally Sports Cincinnati after the game at
P and C Ballpark, and theReds are off on Thursday, come back
home Friday, start a series,a three game weekend series with Boston Red
Sox who were playing very good baseballright now and hitting the ball very well.
So the Reds better bring their hittingshoes to GABP this weekend. Then

(01:36:03):
the Reds we'll see this very samePittsburgh Pirates team next Monday, Tuesday,
and Wednesday at Great American Ballpark asix game homestand coming up for the Reds,
let's see if they can get theirhitting shoes on. But back to
Hunter Green again. It is remarkableand this bears repeating. He has faced
the Pittsburgh Pirates five times in hiscareer, four times, four of those

(01:36:27):
times have come in Pittsburgh. Hehas been given five runs of total support
in those five starts, four runscoming in one start that was his only
start in Cincinnati against Pittsburgh, thatwas on March thirtieth of twenty twenty three.
Reds just cannot score when Hunter Green'son the mound and they're playing the

(01:36:48):
Pittsburgh Pirates. Kind of ridiculous atthis point, but sooner or later,
the Reds have to get it figuredout. Yes, the injuries to TJ.
Friedel and Jamer Candelariot Candelario don't help. Candelario did manage to appear in
today's game as a pink hitter inthe eighth inning, but came on with

(01:37:09):
Stuart Fairchild working the leadoff walk inthe eighth inning and popped out and that
was his only appearance of the day. As for TJ. Friedel, he
remains day to day. He's hopefulthat the hamstring that he pulled making that
sensational diving grab the other night inPittsburgh is just something that can heal it

(01:37:30):
on its own and will not requirea third trip to the injured list this
season, Reds cannot afford to loseanother batter, and we all have seen
what happens when TJ. Friedel isnot in the lineup at the top of
the batting order. Reds looked likethey were turning a corner with him playing
on a regular basis the second timearound, and now he's unavailable, we'll

(01:37:51):
see if he can avoid the injuredlist this time around. Coming up in
our final segment, we will recappwhat has been a busy day on the
Moeger Radio Show. My name isMike Petralia, filling in for a mo
You can follow me on Twitter atTrags Trags. You're listening to Cincinnati's ESPN

(01:38:14):
fifteen thirty. All right, MikePetralia Trags with you for the final few
moments of the Mowegger Radio Show forWednesday afternoon, Juneteenth, twenty twenty four,
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. There's stilltime for you to get in for
a quick call if you like totalk anything Bengals, Reds or what have

(01:38:34):
you. Five to one three sevenfour nine, fifteen thirty five one three
seven four nine, fifteen thirty.This is the Moeger Radio Program. What
the Reds have right now at thirtyfive and thirty nine is a very good
starting rotation, a pretty dependable bullpen, and an offense that's just totally inconsistent.

(01:38:57):
And what the Reds are going tohave to do is ride that pitching
staff. And I think Hunter Greenhas become a leader on the pitching staff,
and that's very good news because thatmeans he's maturing. And after the
game and speaking with Jim Day onBalley Sports Cincinnati, I think you could
sense that listen to this. Isthis not unlike any other day when you're

(01:39:18):
typically having success where everything is playingoff of you. Being able to spy
your fastball. Yeah, you know, I was able to watch two games
prior to my game today. Ithink that's really important, you know,
when you're throwing a getaway day,being able to take advantage of the two
days in front of you and reallypaying attention to hit her swings. And
obviously it's different, you know,it's hard trying to do that with Nick

(01:39:41):
pitching before me and obviously two differentpictures, but being able to see spires
and see the swings that they tookagainst him, and then understanding some of
these hitters. It was a differentlineup than what I faced in the past,
but some of the same guys,and just being able to remember that
and just moving around and be ableto move the pitches around. How tough
was it to pitch the heat today? I know, it's the one moment
you had a little Yeah, yeah, I had a bunch of water in

(01:40:05):
my system and definitely hydrated too much, but yeah, it was it was
like all water when I threw itup. But yeah, you know,
you got to be strong mentally,that much more on days like today,
and uh, you know, Mitchwas was keeping was a good rabbit for
me today. Obviously he's a fantasticpitcher and had a great performance today,
but yeah, I was just tryingto stay in there and and uh mentally

(01:40:29):
stay in the game. Talk alot about your splitter, there was one
in particular you through the rentals today. Are you You've got to be happy
with where that Mitch has developed.Yeah, you know, I've worked extremely
hard in the offseason and uh,you know this this spring training and then
in bullpens this season, being ableto throw it for strikes, throw it
as an expanded pitch and off inthe zone. So I think it's just

(01:40:53):
being able to see my work cometogether and the games where it matters.
And that's a good feeling. Thatis Hunter Green. That thing that stands
out to me and listening to thatHunter Green interview with Jim Day of Bally
Sports Cincinnati is the fact that he'sobserving other pictures and what and making adjustments
off of that. And that's howyou can tell. And I've been around

(01:41:14):
enough athletes and covering them, youreally see an athlete, a professional athlete
reach that next level when he keepshis eyes opening when he's not participating on
the playing field. And that's whatyou hear and see now from Hunter Green,
and it's starting to pay off.The Reds need to find some fixes
on offense and something we have nottalked about, and I want to touch

(01:41:36):
on this real briefly in the finalcouple of minutes. Noelva Marte is eligible
to return from the eighty game performanceenhancing suspension that he received in the middle
of spring training. He's eligible returnJune twenty seventh at Saint louis for the
start of the four game series againstthe Cardinals. But if you think Noelva

(01:41:58):
Marte is going to be in offense, maybe read his stats at Louisville.
So far. He's hitting two twentytwo in six games so far twenty seven
at bats, he has six hits, he scored twice, no home runs,
no triples, one double, twoRBIs. In other words, don't
expect the offense to turn around overnightjust because noel ve Marte is joining the

(01:42:24):
team. Certainly, if he canget back to the level that he exhibited
in his major league debut in Septemberof last year for the Reds, there
is that to look forward to,but it may not come right away,
So the Reds are going to haveto find answers in the interim to get
this offense kickstarted, especially if TJ. Friedel heads to the injured list for

(01:42:44):
a third time this season. Well, I want to thank a lot of
people for showing up and being partof the Moegger Radio Show helping me fill
out this three hour program. Firstof all, I want to thank Laurel
Failure of the Queen City Press.She covers the FC Cincinnati. They have

(01:43:06):
a big match tonight and you canhear that right here on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Coverage starts at seven pm, kickoffat seven forty five with Philadelphia Union.
That game is at TQL. Ifyou are going to that game,
listen to your mom and dad andbe sure to hydrate and hydrate with water

(01:43:26):
because it's going to be a warmnight at TQL Stadium. Also want to
thank Alex Barth of ninety eighty fivethe Sports Hub in Boston and Jeff Hobson
of Bengals dot Com. He alwaysbrings unique insight to all things Stripes and
he has great coverage on Bengals dotCom. Of the Orange and Black,
so it's been a pleasure filling infor Moweger. Here on ESPN fifteen thirty,

(01:43:51):
the Reds again a return to actionafter a day off on Thursday with
a three game series against the theBoston Red Sox. Andrew Abbot will be
on the mound on Friday afternoon.Then they follow with three games against the
Pittsburgh Pirates and then head to SaintLouis and that will be we expect the

(01:44:12):
return of Noel Bee Marte again.It's been my pleasure filling in for Moeger.
I want to wish everyone a verypleasant Wednesday evening. You're listening to
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty

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