May 22, 2024 • 26 mins
DV talks to Jose Mota after the Dodgers fall to the Dbacks, 7-3. Miguel Vargas talks to the media. DV shares part of his pregame interview with Clayton Kershaw.
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Dodger Talk is sponsored by LA CareHealth Plan, providing affordable healthcare insurance to
millions of Angelinos for over twenty fiveyears. And now your voice for Dodger
Talking like back, David Basse.It was October in May at Dodgers Stadium
as Jock Peterson leads the way forhis new team, the Arizona Diamondbacks to
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beat the Dodgers tonight seven to three. Welcome the Dodger Talk, David Va
say with you until eleven o'clock tonighthere on a five to seventy LA Sports.
And no, I'm not going tofreak out over this loss. It
was just one of those nights.But I will say this, the Dodger
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offense is not firing on all cylinders. Mooki has not had a great May.
He's cooled off considerably. Freddie Freeman, who hit a Grand Slam last
night, did not have a lotgoing on tonight. Really the show,
Hey O'tani show tonight. As Otanimanufactured the Dodgers' first run tonight on his
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own in the fourth inning, doublingand then stole third. The Diamondbacks catcher
Gabrielle moreno throw it, threw itinto left field and Otani scored on the
air, So that's how the Dodgersscored their first run. And then in
the sixth inning, young Miguel Vargas, who got his second start since being
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called up, let off with adouble and O'tani drove him in, and
then Will Smith drove in Otani.But then the backbreaker in the top of
the seventh inning, Jack Peterson hittinga three run home run off of Michael
Grove four hundred and nine feet onan eighty six flat slider from Grove.
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So a rough a rough night forMichael Grove. Gavin Stone takes the loss,
Brandon Fought the winning pitcher, andChristian Walker. I don't call him
the Dodger Killer for no reason.There are reasons that I have been traumatized
to put him in that category.Christian Walker has hit thirteen home runs now
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at Dodgers Stadium since twenty eighteen.That's two more than any other visiting player
at Dodgers Stadium during that span oftimes. So Christian Walker certainly has a
name here at Dodgers Stadium. CoutellMarte he extended his hitting streak to twenty
games, and like I mentioned,Jack Peterson Jock Pop in the seventh inning
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to beat the Dodgers tonight seven tothree, eight six, six, nine
eighty seven two five seventy is thephone number. I thought it was fitting
and indicative that the Dodgers are nottaking every loss like it's do or die.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, when Otani was due to come
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up, Miguel Rojas and Taosca Hernandezplayed a joke on Otani. He had
all the armor on, everything readyto go. He had his bat in
hand, helmet on, and hewas ready to go out onto the on
deck circle. And Miguel Rojas toldhim to stand the dugout that he was
being asked to pinch hit for him. And Rojas really sold it. He
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had his bat, he had hishelmet, and Otani and Rojas and Hernandez
all had a good laugh about itin the bottom of the eighth inning.
So that's good to see. Andwhy wouldn't you laugh even though you lost?
Tonight? The Dodgers are thirty threeand eighteen, an eight game lead
over the Padres, a nine gamelead over these Diamondbacks, and again,
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the Dodgers are the only team inthe NLST with a winning record. So
tomorrow night they're facing a pitcher theyshould probably score some runs against Ryan Nelson
with an ERA of seven zero six. If the Dodgers win this series,
it will be a successful home standbefore they head out to Cincinnati and City
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Field to play the Mets. Eightsixty six, nine eighty seven two five
seventy is the phone number. Ialso was really happy to see Miguel Vargas
get some results tonight. Like Imentioned, he came around to score on
the base sit by Otani in thebottom of the sixth inning after he led
off the inning with a double.And here is Miguel Vargas after the game
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on Sports net LA. I mean, you know, he think it was
really good. This stuff. Hewas, you know, using his possible
really good. So I think itwas a good thing for him to get
time to get that big swing laterin the game. And just what I
know, we talked about find outhow much more what are you feeling with
your hands? Things like that?Was that just kind of one of those
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hitsets perfect example, just the workeven putting in and how confident and comfortable
you feel at the plate right now? Yeah, honestly, like you I
feel way better at the other ththis year, and then you know it's
trying to be on base. Youknow, meg a run, a sporting
position, and you know, triedto make some rooms. Where do you
think you've gotten You've improved the mostsince the first half of last year.
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I mean, I think a leaflast year about you know, being a
troubles So you know, now Ijust want to enjoy in the process every
single day, you know, enjoyingbeing here. I mean, I'm on
the best team on baseball, sothat's all I do is like trying to
you know, have fun and enjoythe time here. All right, there's
Miguel Vargas on sports net LA.He led off the sixth inning with a
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double and scored on an RBI singleby show Hey Otani, and Vargas told
me he did make an adjustment afterthe first start. He got here earlier
in the homestand he was determined tomove closer to the plate. He felt
like he was a little too faroff the plate, and he moved closer.
You heard Jose Mota bring it upregarding Indie Piz a couple of nights
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ago that Jose feels like Paz isnot able to cover a large part of
the plate because he's standing too faraway from home plate. Well, Vargas
realized that himself and made the adjustmenttonight so he was closer to home plate
and it paid off in the sixthinning with a leadoff double. And another
part of this for Miguel Vargas atthis point in time, he's going to
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be himself. He got confidence.He had a two ninety eight batting average
over one thousand ops eight home runsfor Oklahoma City. He's feeling good about
himself right now. And since he'sbeen called up, tonight was only the
second start he's made. That's noteasy for a young player no matter what.
So I feel like tonight was abetter swinging, better approach in his
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at bats tonight than I have seenin the last year. So very encouraging
signs from Miguel Vargas, and he'sa very easy guy to root for.
Eight six six, seven, twofive seventy is the phone number. Dodgers
fall to the Diamondbacks tonight by afinal score of seven to three. I
mentioned Otani's night two for four tonightwith two stolen bases. He now has
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thirteen stolen bases and thirteen home runs. Sho Hey Otani right now is on
pace to be a forty forty player. He's on pace for forty one home
runs and forty one stolen bases.Ronald Acunya Junior stole seventy three bases last
year and hit forty one home runs. Akunya became just the fifth player in
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baseball history to be a forty toforty player. So if Otani is able
to pull this off, he willbecome just the sixth player in baseball history
to be a forty forty player.And I know I have said since the
beginning of spring training that I believetwenty twenty four was the season of Mookie
Betts. I am not going tocome off that because Mooki's having a great
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year, no doubt about it.But man if Otani goes forty forty and
he's hitting three sixty the way he'shitting right now, I mean three fifty
six, I mean, at thispoint in time, he's challenging for the
Triple Crown. I know he's aDH, but if he is at least
two out of the three leading ofthe Triple Crown categories home runs, betting
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average and RBIs and he's a fortyto forty player with all the acclaim and
hype around him, and how muchMajor League Baseball wants him to succeed.
I don't know it would be close, But right now you have to admit
Mooki Bets and show Hey Otani arethe two leading National League MVP candidates.
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I don't know who else would beup there, maybe Williadamis or Christian Yelich.
With the way the Brewers are goingright now, nobody on the Braves
is really separating themselves. So rightnow it's a Mookie Bets versus Otani MVP
race. Eight six six nine,eight seven, two five seventy is the
phone number. The Dodgers fall tothe Diamondbacks tonight seven to three, and
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earlier today, Bobby Miller was throwinga simulated game to Chris Taylor, Miguel
Vargas, and Gavin Lux. Milleris going to go out on a rehab
assignment on Sunday with Rancho Kucamonga andDave Roberts said that he plans on throwing
at least three rehab games before theyconsider bringing him back into the rotation.
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And I know everybody's wondering what's goingto happen when Bobby Miller is ready to
go. Who's the odd man outin that rotation. Well, a lot
can happen between now and August.You don't want to see injuries, but
the chances of injuries are you know, large and small can happen to pitchers
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between now and then. And Ireally haven't got much clarity from the Dodgers
front office on what they would do. So if the Dodgers have six healthy
starting pitchers, and let's not forgetyou have to remember that Walker Bueller's coming
off his second Tommy John surgery.So that's part of the equation here with
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tom with Tommy John and Walker Buehlerneeding some rest there. That's part of
this whole equation as far as thisDodger rotation. And as we do the
show right now, Clayton Kershaw's onthe mound. He's looking to visit with
Jock Peterson, his former teammates.So speaking of Clayton Kershaw, he joined
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us on the pregame show earlier todayand gave us an update on how he's
handling the patience of rehab. Well, you know, this is a new
territory for me. So you typicallyI just push it until I'm stupid.
But now, like you know,with surgery, there's kind of like,
hey you got a you can't pushsurgery, you know. So I think
that's I think it's teaching me somethings about how to how to work and
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how to figure out what's good pain, what's bad pain, what's like you
need to slow down, or heyyou need to work through it, and
just all kinds of new territory forme really. But you know, I
would say overall, the process hasbeen great. Everybody here back on.
Everybody's helping me out a lot,and I'm getting closer, I really.
I know last year it was agrind for you to just do what you're
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doing now, throw every day andbetween starts. Is it refreshing to know
that you don't have that pain anymoreto go out there? Well, I
think you just take it for granted, you know. I think, you
know, health is something that youdon't care about until you don't have good
health, you know, And that'sthe true in life as well. So
for me to be able to,you know, throw a baseball and have
it feel great, it's a hugeblessing. I love it. I love
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throwing a baseball. It's a lotof fun and especially when it doesn't hurt.
Yeah, So what are you doingin between the Dodgers being at home
and you being in Texas? Yeah, so, you know, rehaving Texas
is good. You know, obviouslyit gives me some more family time.
But thankfully school is winding down andwe'll get to be out here full time
here and next week or so,which is awesome. But it's been good,
you know. Obviously not playing isno fun, but being able to
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be home and have the kids stayin school, and you know, Cali's
in third grade now, so schoolkind of like is important to her and
she wants to be around and Ithink they're actually learning stuff. So it's
been it's been a blessing to beable to be home with them for a
while. At this stage of yourcareer. What is the motivation? I
mean, because I know you careso much about being the best dad you
possibly can, and it hurts whenyou're not with them, But what is
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the motivation to keep going with theDodgers and pitching? Well, I mean
to win obviously, that's that's themotivation on the field, is you know,
we're we have a special group ofguys and a special team and have
the opportunity to win. And soI think that that's the motivation on the
field and then off the field,like my kids are just now getting old
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enough to like kind of think thisis cool, you know, and so
for Calli and Charlie to kind ofbe around even Cooper who's four now,
Like I took him in the fieldfor the first time this year, so
some of that stuff dad life,like, you know, let him know
that their dad did have a jobat one point and like able to like
show him kind of the stuff isimportant, and like I want him to
know, you know, what LASmeant to our family. And so yeah,
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I mean there's a motivation there too. All right, there's Clayton Kershaw
who joined us on the pregame showearlier today. In case you missed that
interview, you can find it onthe iHeartRadio app. And today Clayton felt
good because he threw a forty pitchbullpen session and he kept on telling me
today is a good day. Todayis a good day. So he is
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making strides to return in July,and certainly he wants to be a part
of this because the Dodgers are wellon their way to win one hundred games
again. After the loss tonight,they are thirty three and eighteen and have
the largest divisional lead in all ofMajor League Baseball. They have an eight
game lead over the second place Padres. They have a nine game lead over
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these dime Backs and San Francisco Giants, so the Dodgers are the only team
in the NL West with a winningrecord despite the loss tonight. Thirty three
and eighteen, eight six six,nine eighty seven two five seventy is the
phone number Dodgers fall to the Diamondbackstonight, seven to three. When we
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continue from Dodgers Stadium, we'll checkin with Jose Mota get his thoughts on
the Dodger offense and what he sawfrom the game tonight. The Dodgers are
not scoring consistently since Will Smith's homerun yesterday in the third inning. The
Dodgers offense now is seven for theirlast fifty two. What can Jose Mota
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do to fix that? We'll findout next right here on AM five to
seventy LA Sports on air at AMfive to seventy, online at amfive seventy
LA sports dot com and available mypodcast on the iHeartRadio app. This is
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Dodger Tough with David Bassin. DavidBasse live at Dodgers Stadium with you until
the top of the hour after theArizona Diamondbacks, led by Jock Peterson's three
run home run, defeat the Dodgerstonight by a final score of seven to
three. Brandon Fock, the winningpitcher for Arizona tonight. Gavin Stone takes
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the loss. He is now fourand two. Christian Walker with a home
run in the sixth inning off Stone. That's his thirteenth home run at Dodgers
Stadium since twenty eighteen. Jock Petersonwith the big blow, a three run
home run off reliever Michael Grove,and that would do it for the Dodgers
tonight. The final score is sevento three at Dodgers Stadium. Daniels Jewelers
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they are the official sponsor of theTrip Around the Diamond. Stop by any
Daniel's location and say home run foryour free team racelet and fifty dollars gift
card toward any purchase of ninety ninedollars or more. Daniel's Jewelers own the
Dream. It's time to go aroundthe Horn. With Jose Mota. Jose
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Mota joins us and before we getto the baseball game, Jose Mota.
I was remissed last night to askyou what was going on with one of
the biggest stars in streaming television beingin your booth before the game yesterday,
Cristo Fernandez, who played the famousDanny Rojas and Ted Lasso. What was
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he doing in your booth last night? He wanted to take a visit at
the Espanol where he belongs, andit was great to see him. And
that guy is in great shape.Let me tell you something. We're talking.
Oh my god. He was greatto see him. He was He
was kind of a shock to walkin and go they're actually paying attention to
me. I'm like attention to youguys. But it was it was great
to see him. Thanks for Patrick. Before we're going to buy he was
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great. Are you a Ted Lassofan, Jose, be leave it,
be leave it. Joe Davis calledme out last night after he was walking
out of your booth. Patrick toldme that he was in your booth and
I said, oh man, Ilove Ted Lassa. You got to get
a picture with me and Joe Daviscaught me red handed and he said,
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let the guy breathe. So I'llwear that all night long. We're gonna
bring bring him again an intervitation.I'm going to make sure they stop about
your booth and say, he Lodi, you or you can tell the talk
Spanish and you know, just hangout with us. David. You know
it is okay to hang out inour booth. You know that, right?
No, I wasn't sure about that. Oh welcome you got because you're
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literally tuned down, so get in. You're a Latin. Oh yeah,
I was speaking a little Spanglish,a little Italian with Cristo Fernandez last night,
that's for sure. Jose. That'sgreat. All right, Jose,
let's get to the game tonight.You were not worried about the Dodger offense
last night. Are you a littlebit more concern now that more guys than
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not are cooling off? I'm notconcerned at all. This reminds me of
the series against the Mets, whenall of a sudden the explode and score
ten runs and before you know theygo to Washington, Toronto, Arizona and
they keep rowling. So it's oneof those times they when you know,
things are not clicking obviously, Imean a wet a statement I just made.
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But they run through a guy tothat. It was on his game
and the guy that you can seefrom pitch number one, Brandon and fought
saying I'm going to get these guysagain because I remember what I did against
him in the finals. And eventhough he came into the record one and
three and here before his stuff waselectric, I mean, his thought was
disappearing. That there's very few adjustmentslay in the battles box. And for
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sure, you know, you cansee where guys are kind up. You
know, they they when you gothrough stuff like this, you got that
oh for one, they got theover two and then your next that bat
Most times it's not very good.And that is what we're seeing a little
more expanding up his own, guyschasing sometimes a lot of wings. When
you see a lot of checks,wings and almost like undecisive swings. There's
something wrong with the mentality of hitting. And that's what they're going through Righthound.
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I am quite sure they're going tocome out of it just fine.
It was a one man show tonightfor the Dodgers show. Hey Otani,
you know I know, everybody getsenamored with the home runs, but when
you get to see him play everyday, Jose like you've had in the
past, you don't realize how hardhe plays the game. And he plays
it with so much joy. Andin the fourth inning he created the first
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Dodger run by doubling and then stealingthird. It's really a joy to watch,
it is, and that's why youknow, before you joined the Dodgers,
people were asking about it, likewas what is what is it that
he does? I mean, andI mean his home runs. He can
run like a deer, and Igo, you just have to watch him
every day. It's one of thoseplayers that he can change the game so
quickly with his legs. He canbe aer for four, he could be
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one for four, change it withhis legs. He can go out there
and just rattle a pitcher and fightoff the best of pitches and before we
a one mistake and it's out ofthe ballpark. And then you know that
affects everybody around him because with thejoin which he plays, he takes a
four to three ground I liked ishis laft at bat of his life,
And I think that's you got totip your hat to that. And the
way he plays the game too,and it says a good tone. I
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mean, show hey on the wayhe we're talking at about base running,
then the pressure on the infielders.He had a grandma second base the other
day, old roller were easy fourto three, but with the pressure him
running with amt a third base,well you make a mistake and before you
know what, it's a base said, So hopefully that will continue. I
know that he takes a lot ofpride in representing well the game of baseball,
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and especially his people. Is agood example for a young players,
young fans that come to see thegame to say, the best player in
the game plays a game like this, why should I Yeah, no doubt,
and he sets the tone for everybodyelse. And speaking of show hey,
o Tani, he drove in MiguelVargas. I loved what I saw
from Vargas tonight. I know heonly had the double to show for it,
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but he seems to be a littlebit more sure of himself right now.
And I mentioned earlier in the showthat he told me that he felt
like he was too far from theplate the other night, and he was
determined to move closer. And thenif you look at the pitch you hit
today, it was a pitch insidewas so tells you that if you move
close to the play, don't beafraid to get beat inside because if you're
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thinking middle of the plate and night, he's gonna bust me in. Listen,
No pitcher, no level is gonnabe able to repeat and to repeat
fastballs in there on a constant basiss strikes, they might throw it off
the play, but for young playersto know that play coverage at this level,
David is so important and the differenceis double A triple A. You
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might be that far from the play, but there's no consistency of location and
command on the pitch. At thislevel. They're gonna show you a lane
that says fastball away at the letters, aline that says fastball away at the
knees, and then at the waist, and then that same lane's gonna tell
the slider. So it doesn't happenin triple A. And it doesn't matter
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how much experience a guy has,but so at this level, because you
know they're going to be repeating that, you make the adjustment and then you're
just according But for sure we haveall play coverage. Trust me that Barrel's
gonna stay in there a little bitlonger. You're gonna be able to fight
off pitches and go inside out,which is not a bad thing either,
But a lot of guys are soworried about I don't want to get jam.
I don't want to get jams.So they're flying open and you're gonna
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have the mentality number one Freddie Freemamentality. Hey, you want to get
in there, that's fine, butI'm not gonna change who I am.
But I'm glad that Bargas did thatbecause his short swing is obvious, and
hopefully, you know, the adjustmentsthat he's made are going to pay off
here in the long run. Justto wrap it up, are you encouraged
by what do you've seen from MiguelVargas. I like how short yes of
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the baseball right now. Hopefully youknow, as you mentioned, it's tough
to play and to produce when you'renot playing every day. But what he's
done so far got him back tothe big leagues, that's for sure,
all right, Hose, Before I'lllet you go, Michael Grove has done
really well for the Dodgers coming outof the ball. There's been a couple
of hiccups, but every reliever hasit, especially when you're new learning the
new role. It felt like Jockambushed him in the seventh inning because Jock's
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been around a long time now.He knows what righties are trying to do
to him. He knows that MichaelGrove likes the slider to lefties, and
it felt like he knew the sequencingright there, just like a rise new
in San Diego, Jock knew.And Jock is a hunter man. He
hunts pitches and he doesn't miss.He look at it, look at home
ones. He's in the World Series, which I'm glad you brought out.
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Looked at the swings and what he'shit, and you'll see that he hunts
pitches and when he does that,he does not miss. Michael Grove maan
another that pitch his He is oversix. It was over six last year.
And you know he's given us glimpsesof sometimes kind of coming out of
those things and those those bad stretchesdo. But us has nothing that consistent.
And we know he's pitch and leveragedinnings because your high leverage guys are
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hurt. But certainly does a greatopportunity for him to actually get better and
have a little more consistency in executingpitches. But uh, for sure,
Tip, you're out to jocks.He said, I looked for this pitch.
I'm gonna set on it and I'mnot going to strike and get a
fastball or you miss it. Buthe was still looking for that. He
knew he was going to get itbased on the pattern and he just connected
quite nicely. All right, Jose, thanks a lot for the insight and
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man, thank you for bringing ChrisSto Fernandez up to the booth. And
uh, I'm glad you didn't seeme fanboy out outside of your booth yesterday.
Next time here with the first one. My friend will be the first
one. Okay, thanks a lot, Jose. We'll see you tomorrow night.
Getaway day for the Dodgers in somerespects. All right, mate,
But cheerio, cheerio Jose. Eightsix six, nine eighty seven two five
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seventy is the phone number Dodgers fallto the Diamondbacks tonight, seven to three.
Yeah. I mentioned earlier that JackPeterson is tied with Gil Hodges with
five home runs in the World Series. They're actually tied for second in Dodgery
history for the most home runs hitin the Fall Classic. The Great Duke
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of Flatbush, Duke Snyder from Compton, California, has the Dodger franchise record
with eleven home runs in the WorldSeries. So the Duke with eleven,
Jack Peterson, and Gil Hodges withfive, that'll do it for us.
Tonight on Dodger Talk Tomorrow, thefinale of this six game homestand for the
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Dodgers and the rubber match between theDodgers and Diamondbacks in this three game series,
Tyler Glass now will be on themound for the Dodgers. He carries
a six and two record to themount tomorrow night with an ERA of two
ninety, going up against right handerRyan Nelson, who's two and three with
an ERA over seven. Morongo Casino. Dodgers on Deck begins at six o'clock
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with first pitch at seven to ten. Thanks to Colin Ee back at our
Burbank Studios, Thanks to Dwayne McDonaldout here at Dodgers Stadium, and thanks
to you for listening in case youmissed any of the show or our pregame
com with the Great Clayton Kershaw.You can find it on the iHeartRadio app.
(26:06):
Coming up next it will be BenMaller on Fox Sports Radio. I
heard Ben take some shots at me, but I'm not getting in the gutter
with him and his cronies over thereat Fox Sports Radio. I'll stay above
it. You have a great show, Ben Maller once again. The final
score tonight the Dodgers fall to theDiamondbacks seven to three. Have a great
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rest of your night. See you. Let's just
Dodger Talk is sponsored by LA CareHealth Plan, providing affordable healthcare insurance to
millions of Angelinos for over twenty fiveyears. And now your voice for Dodger
Talking like back, David Basse.It was October in May at Dodgers Stadium
as Jock Peterson leads the way forhis new team, the Arizona Diamondbacks to
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beat the Dodgers tonight seven to three. Welcome the Dodger Talk, David Va
say with you until eleven o'clock tonighthere on a five to seventy LA Sports.
And no, I'm not going tofreak out over this loss. It
was just one of those nights.But I will say this, the Dodger
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offense is not firing on all cylinders. Mooki has not had a great May.
He's cooled off considerably. Freddie Freeman, who hit a Grand Slam last
night, did not have a lotgoing on tonight. Really the show,
Hey O'tani show tonight. As Otanimanufactured the Dodgers' first run tonight on his
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own in the fourth inning, doublingand then stole third. The Diamondbacks catcher
Gabrielle moreno throw it, threw itinto left field and Otani scored on the
air, So that's how the Dodgersscored their first run. And then in
the sixth inning, young Miguel Vargas, who got his second start since being
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called up, let off with adouble and O'tani drove him in, and
then Will Smith drove in Otani.But then the backbreaker in the top of
the seventh inning, Jack Peterson hittinga three run home run off of Michael
Grove four hundred and nine feet onan eighty six flat slider from Grove.
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So a rough a rough night forMichael Grove. Gavin Stone takes the loss,
Brandon Fought the winning pitcher, andChristian Walker. I don't call him
the Dodger Killer for no reason.There are reasons that I have been traumatized
to put him in that category.Christian Walker has hit thirteen home runs now
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at Dodgers Stadium since twenty eighteen.That's two more than any other visiting player
at Dodgers Stadium during that span oftimes. So Christian Walker certainly has a
name here at Dodgers Stadium. CoutellMarte he extended his hitting streak to twenty
games, and like I mentioned,Jack Peterson Jock Pop in the seventh inning
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to beat the Dodgers tonight seven tothree, eight six, six, nine
eighty seven two five seventy is thephone number. I thought it was fitting
and indicative that the Dodgers are nottaking every loss like it's do or die.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, when Otani was due to come
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up, Miguel Rojas and Taosca Hernandezplayed a joke on Otani. He had
all the armor on, everything readyto go. He had his bat in
hand, helmet on, and hewas ready to go out onto the on
deck circle. And Miguel Rojas toldhim to stand the dugout that he was
being asked to pinch hit for him. And Rojas really sold it. He
(03:23):
had his bat, he had hishelmet, and Otani and Rojas and Hernandez
all had a good laugh about itin the bottom of the eighth inning.
So that's good to see. Andwhy wouldn't you laugh even though you lost?
Tonight? The Dodgers are thirty threeand eighteen, an eight game lead
over the Padres, a nine gamelead over these Diamondbacks, and again,
(03:45):
the Dodgers are the only team inthe NLST with a winning record. So
tomorrow night they're facing a pitcher theyshould probably score some runs against Ryan Nelson
with an ERA of seven zero six. If the Dodgers win this series,
it will be a successful home standbefore they head out to Cincinnati and City
(04:06):
Field to play the Mets. Eightsixty six, nine eighty seven two five
seventy is the phone number. Ialso was really happy to see Miguel Vargas
get some results tonight. Like Imentioned, he came around to score on
the base sit by Otani in thebottom of the sixth inning after he led
off the inning with a double.And here is Miguel Vargas after the game
(04:30):
on Sports net LA. I mean, you know, he think it was
really good. This stuff. Hewas, you know, using his possible
really good. So I think itwas a good thing for him to get
time to get that big swing laterin the game. And just what I
know, we talked about find outhow much more what are you feeling with
your hands? Things like that?Was that just kind of one of those
(04:50):
hitsets perfect example, just the workeven putting in and how confident and comfortable
you feel at the plate right now? Yeah, honestly, like you I
feel way better at the other ththis year, and then you know it's
trying to be on base. Youknow, meg a run, a sporting
position, and you know, triedto make some rooms. Where do you
think you've gotten You've improved the mostsince the first half of last year.
(05:15):
I mean, I think a leaflast year about you know, being a
troubles So you know, now Ijust want to enjoy in the process every
single day, you know, enjoyingbeing here. I mean, I'm on
the best team on baseball, sothat's all I do is like trying to
you know, have fun and enjoythe time here. All right, there's
Miguel Vargas on sports net LA.He led off the sixth inning with a
(05:38):
double and scored on an RBI singleby show Hey Otani, and Vargas told
me he did make an adjustment afterthe first start. He got here earlier
in the homestand he was determined tomove closer to the plate. He felt
like he was a little too faroff the plate, and he moved closer.
You heard Jose Mota bring it upregarding Indie Piz a couple of nights
(06:00):
ago that Jose feels like Paz isnot able to cover a large part of
the plate because he's standing too faraway from home plate. Well, Vargas
realized that himself and made the adjustmenttonight so he was closer to home plate
and it paid off in the sixthinning with a leadoff double. And another
part of this for Miguel Vargas atthis point in time, he's going to
(06:24):
be himself. He got confidence.He had a two ninety eight batting average
over one thousand ops eight home runsfor Oklahoma City. He's feeling good about
himself right now. And since he'sbeen called up, tonight was only the
second start he's made. That's noteasy for a young player no matter what.
So I feel like tonight was abetter swinging, better approach in his
(06:48):
at bats tonight than I have seenin the last year. So very encouraging
signs from Miguel Vargas, and he'sa very easy guy to root for.
Eight six six, seven, twofive seventy is the phone number. Dodgers
fall to the Diamondbacks tonight by afinal score of seven to three. I
mentioned Otani's night two for four tonightwith two stolen bases. He now has
(07:13):
thirteen stolen bases and thirteen home runs. Sho Hey Otani right now is on
pace to be a forty forty player. He's on pace for forty one home
runs and forty one stolen bases.Ronald Acunya Junior stole seventy three bases last
year and hit forty one home runs. Akunya became just the fifth player in
(07:34):
baseball history to be a forty toforty player. So if Otani is able
to pull this off, he willbecome just the sixth player in baseball history
to be a forty forty player.And I know I have said since the
beginning of spring training that I believetwenty twenty four was the season of Mookie
Betts. I am not going tocome off that because Mooki's having a great
(07:59):
year, no doubt about it.But man if Otani goes forty forty and
he's hitting three sixty the way he'shitting right now, I mean three fifty
six, I mean, at thispoint in time, he's challenging for the
Triple Crown. I know he's aDH, but if he is at least
two out of the three leading ofthe Triple Crown categories home runs, betting
(08:22):
average and RBIs and he's a fortyto forty player with all the acclaim and
hype around him, and how muchMajor League Baseball wants him to succeed.
I don't know it would be close, But right now you have to admit
Mooki Bets and show Hey Otani arethe two leading National League MVP candidates.
(08:45):
I don't know who else would beup there, maybe Williadamis or Christian Yelich.
With the way the Brewers are goingright now, nobody on the Braves
is really separating themselves. So rightnow it's a Mookie Bets versus Otani MVP
race. Eight six six nine,eight seven, two five seventy is the
phone number. The Dodgers fall tothe Diamondbacks tonight seven to three, and
(09:09):
earlier today, Bobby Miller was throwinga simulated game to Chris Taylor, Miguel
Vargas, and Gavin Lux. Milleris going to go out on a rehab
assignment on Sunday with Rancho Kucamonga andDave Roberts said that he plans on throwing
at least three rehab games before theyconsider bringing him back into the rotation.
(09:31):
And I know everybody's wondering what's goingto happen when Bobby Miller is ready to
go. Who's the odd man outin that rotation. Well, a lot
can happen between now and August.You don't want to see injuries, but
the chances of injuries are you know, large and small can happen to pitchers
(09:52):
between now and then. And Ireally haven't got much clarity from the Dodgers
front office on what they would do. So if the Dodgers have six healthy
starting pitchers, and let's not forgetyou have to remember that Walker Bueller's coming
off his second Tommy John surgery.So that's part of the equation here with
(10:16):
tom with Tommy John and Walker Buehlerneeding some rest there. That's part of
this whole equation as far as thisDodger rotation. And as we do the
show right now, Clayton Kershaw's onthe mound. He's looking to visit with
Jock Peterson, his former teammates.So speaking of Clayton Kershaw, he joined
(10:37):
us on the pregame show earlier todayand gave us an update on how he's
handling the patience of rehab. Well, you know, this is a new
territory for me. So you typicallyI just push it until I'm stupid.
But now, like you know,with surgery, there's kind of like,
hey you got a you can't pushsurgery, you know. So I think
that's I think it's teaching me somethings about how to how to work and
(11:01):
how to figure out what's good pain, what's bad pain, what's like you
need to slow down, or heyyou need to work through it, and
just all kinds of new territory forme really. But you know, I
would say overall, the process hasbeen great. Everybody here back on.
Everybody's helping me out a lot,and I'm getting closer, I really.
I know last year it was agrind for you to just do what you're
(11:24):
doing now, throw every day andbetween starts. Is it refreshing to know
that you don't have that pain anymoreto go out there? Well, I
think you just take it for granted, you know. I think, you
know, health is something that youdon't care about until you don't have good
health, you know, And that'sthe true in life as well. So
for me to be able to,you know, throw a baseball and have
it feel great, it's a hugeblessing. I love it. I love
(11:46):
throwing a baseball. It's a lotof fun and especially when it doesn't hurt.
Yeah, So what are you doingin between the Dodgers being at home
and you being in Texas? Yeah, so, you know, rehaving Texas
is good. You know, obviouslyit gives me some more family time.
But thankfully school is winding down andwe'll get to be out here full time
here and next week or so,which is awesome. But it's been good,
you know. Obviously not playing isno fun, but being able to
(12:09):
be home and have the kids stayin school, and you know, Cali's
in third grade now, so schoolkind of like is important to her and
she wants to be around and Ithink they're actually learning stuff. So it's
been it's been a blessing to beable to be home with them for a
while. At this stage of yourcareer. What is the motivation? I
mean, because I know you careso much about being the best dad you
possibly can, and it hurts whenyou're not with them, But what is
(12:31):
the motivation to keep going with theDodgers and pitching? Well, I mean
to win obviously, that's that's themotivation on the field, is you know,
we're we have a special group ofguys and a special team and have
the opportunity to win. And soI think that that's the motivation on the
field and then off the field,like my kids are just now getting old
(12:52):
enough to like kind of think thisis cool, you know, and so
for Calli and Charlie to kind ofbe around even Cooper who's four now,
Like I took him in the fieldfor the first time this year, so
some of that stuff dad life,like, you know, let him know
that their dad did have a jobat one point and like able to like
show him kind of the stuff isimportant, and like I want him to
know, you know, what LASmeant to our family. And so yeah,
(13:15):
I mean there's a motivation there too. All right, there's Clayton Kershaw
who joined us on the pregame showearlier today. In case you missed that
interview, you can find it onthe iHeartRadio app. And today Clayton felt
good because he threw a forty pitchbullpen session and he kept on telling me
today is a good day. Todayis a good day. So he is
(13:37):
making strides to return in July,and certainly he wants to be a part
of this because the Dodgers are wellon their way to win one hundred games
again. After the loss tonight,they are thirty three and eighteen and have
the largest divisional lead in all ofMajor League Baseball. They have an eight
game lead over the second place Padres. They have a nine game lead over
(13:58):
these dime Backs and San Francisco Giants, so the Dodgers are the only team
in the NL West with a winningrecord despite the loss tonight. Thirty three
and eighteen, eight six six,nine eighty seven two five seventy is the
phone number Dodgers fall to the Diamondbackstonight, seven to three. When we
(14:18):
continue from Dodgers Stadium, we'll checkin with Jose Mota get his thoughts on
the Dodger offense and what he sawfrom the game tonight. The Dodgers are
not scoring consistently since Will Smith's homerun yesterday in the third inning. The
Dodgers offense now is seven for theirlast fifty two. What can Jose Mota
(14:43):
do to fix that? We'll findout next right here on AM five to
seventy LA Sports on air at AMfive to seventy, online at amfive seventy
LA sports dot com and available mypodcast on the iHeartRadio app. This is
(15:03):
Dodger Tough with David Bassin. DavidBasse live at Dodgers Stadium with you until
the top of the hour after theArizona Diamondbacks, led by Jock Peterson's three
run home run, defeat the Dodgerstonight by a final score of seven to
three. Brandon Fock, the winningpitcher for Arizona tonight. Gavin Stone takes
(15:28):
the loss. He is now fourand two. Christian Walker with a home
run in the sixth inning off Stone. That's his thirteenth home run at Dodgers
Stadium since twenty eighteen. Jock Petersonwith the big blow, a three run
home run off reliever Michael Grove,and that would do it for the Dodgers
tonight. The final score is sevento three at Dodgers Stadium. Daniels Jewelers
(15:52):
they are the official sponsor of theTrip Around the Diamond. Stop by any
Daniel's location and say home run foryour free team racelet and fifty dollars gift
card toward any purchase of ninety ninedollars or more. Daniel's Jewelers own the
Dream. It's time to go aroundthe Horn. With Jose Mota. Jose
(16:14):
Mota joins us and before we getto the baseball game, Jose Mota.
I was remissed last night to askyou what was going on with one of
the biggest stars in streaming television beingin your booth before the game yesterday,
Cristo Fernandez, who played the famousDanny Rojas and Ted Lasso. What was
(16:36):
he doing in your booth last night? He wanted to take a visit at
the Espanol where he belongs, andit was great to see him. And
that guy is in great shape.Let me tell you something. We're talking.
Oh my god. He was greatto see him. He was He
was kind of a shock to walkin and go they're actually paying attention to
me. I'm like attention to youguys. But it was it was great
to see him. Thanks for Patrick. Before we're going to buy he was
(17:00):
great. Are you a Ted Lassofan, Jose, be leave it,
be leave it. Joe Davis calledme out last night after he was walking
out of your booth. Patrick toldme that he was in your booth and
I said, oh man, Ilove Ted Lassa. You got to get
a picture with me and Joe Daviscaught me red handed and he said,
(17:21):
let the guy breathe. So I'llwear that all night long. We're gonna
bring bring him again an intervitation.I'm going to make sure they stop about
your booth and say, he Lodi, you or you can tell the talk
Spanish and you know, just hangout with us. David. You know
it is okay to hang out inour booth. You know that, right?
No, I wasn't sure about that. Oh welcome you got because you're
(17:42):
literally tuned down, so get in. You're a Latin. Oh yeah,
I was speaking a little Spanglish,a little Italian with Cristo Fernandez last night,
that's for sure. Jose. That'sgreat. All right, Jose,
let's get to the game tonight.You were not worried about the Dodger offense
last night. Are you a littlebit more concern now that more guys than
(18:03):
not are cooling off? I'm notconcerned at all. This reminds me of
the series against the Mets, whenall of a sudden the explode and score
ten runs and before you know theygo to Washington, Toronto, Arizona and
they keep rowling. So it's oneof those times they when you know,
things are not clicking obviously, Imean a wet a statement I just made.
(18:23):
But they run through a guy tothat. It was on his game
and the guy that you can seefrom pitch number one, Brandon and fought
saying I'm going to get these guysagain because I remember what I did against
him in the finals. And eventhough he came into the record one and
three and here before his stuff waselectric, I mean, his thought was
disappearing. That there's very few adjustmentslay in the battles box. And for
(18:44):
sure, you know, you cansee where guys are kind up. You
know, they they when you gothrough stuff like this, you got that
oh for one, they got theover two and then your next that bat
Most times it's not very good.And that is what we're seeing a little
more expanding up his own, guyschasing sometimes a lot of wings. When
you see a lot of checks,wings and almost like undecisive swings. There's
something wrong with the mentality of hitting. And that's what they're going through Righthound.
(19:07):
I am quite sure they're going tocome out of it just fine.
It was a one man show tonightfor the Dodgers show. Hey Otani,
you know I know, everybody getsenamored with the home runs, but when
you get to see him play everyday, Jose like you've had in the
past, you don't realize how hardhe plays the game. And he plays
it with so much joy. Andin the fourth inning he created the first
(19:30):
Dodger run by doubling and then stealingthird. It's really a joy to watch,
it is, and that's why youknow, before you joined the Dodgers,
people were asking about it, likewas what is what is it that
he does? I mean, andI mean his home runs. He can
run like a deer, and Igo, you just have to watch him
every day. It's one of thoseplayers that he can change the game so
quickly with his legs. He canbe aer for four, he could be
(19:52):
one for four, change it withhis legs. He can go out there
and just rattle a pitcher and fightoff the best of pitches and before we
a one mistake and it's out ofthe ballpark. And then you know that
affects everybody around him because with thejoin which he plays, he takes a
four to three ground I liked ishis laft at bat of his life,
And I think that's you got totip your hat to that. And the
way he plays the game too,and it says a good tone. I
(20:15):
mean, show hey on the wayhe we're talking at about base running,
then the pressure on the infielders.He had a grandma second base the other
day, old roller were easy fourto three, but with the pressure him
running with amt a third base,well you make a mistake and before you
know what, it's a base said, So hopefully that will continue. I
know that he takes a lot ofpride in representing well the game of baseball,
(20:36):
and especially his people. Is agood example for a young players,
young fans that come to see thegame to say, the best player in
the game plays a game like this, why should I Yeah, no doubt,
and he sets the tone for everybodyelse. And speaking of show hey,
o Tani, he drove in MiguelVargas. I loved what I saw
from Vargas tonight. I know heonly had the double to show for it,
(20:59):
but he seems to be a littlebit more sure of himself right now.
And I mentioned earlier in the showthat he told me that he felt
like he was too far from theplate the other night, and he was
determined to move closer. And thenif you look at the pitch you hit
today, it was a pitch insidewas so tells you that if you move
close to the play, don't beafraid to get beat inside because if you're
(21:22):
thinking middle of the plate and night, he's gonna bust me in. Listen,
No pitcher, no level is gonnabe able to repeat and to repeat
fastballs in there on a constant basiss strikes, they might throw it off
the play, but for young playersto know that play coverage at this level,
David is so important and the differenceis double A triple A. You
(21:42):
might be that far from the play, but there's no consistency of location and
command on the pitch. At thislevel. They're gonna show you a lane
that says fastball away at the letters, aline that says fastball away at the
knees, and then at the waist, and then that same lane's gonna tell
the slider. So it doesn't happenin triple A. And it doesn't matter
(22:03):
how much experience a guy has,but so at this level, because you
know they're going to be repeating that, you make the adjustment and then you're
just according But for sure we haveall play coverage. Trust me that Barrel's
gonna stay in there a little bitlonger. You're gonna be able to fight
off pitches and go inside out,which is not a bad thing either,
But a lot of guys are soworried about I don't want to get jam.
I don't want to get jams.So they're flying open and you're gonna
(22:23):
have the mentality number one Freddie Freemamentality. Hey, you want to get
in there, that's fine, butI'm not gonna change who I am.
But I'm glad that Bargas did thatbecause his short swing is obvious, and
hopefully, you know, the adjustmentsthat he's made are going to pay off
here in the long run. Justto wrap it up, are you encouraged
by what do you've seen from MiguelVargas. I like how short yes of
(22:45):
the baseball right now. Hopefully youknow, as you mentioned, it's tough
to play and to produce when you'renot playing every day. But what he's
done so far got him back tothe big leagues, that's for sure,
all right, Hose, Before I'lllet you go, Michael Grove has done
really well for the Dodgers coming outof the ball. There's been a couple
of hiccups, but every reliever hasit, especially when you're new learning the
new role. It felt like Jockambushed him in the seventh inning because Jock's
(23:11):
been around a long time now.He knows what righties are trying to do
to him. He knows that MichaelGrove likes the slider to lefties, and
it felt like he knew the sequencingright there, just like a rise new
in San Diego, Jock knew.And Jock is a hunter man. He
hunts pitches and he doesn't miss.He look at it, look at home
ones. He's in the World Series, which I'm glad you brought out.
(23:33):
Looked at the swings and what he'shit, and you'll see that he hunts
pitches and when he does that,he does not miss. Michael Grove maan
another that pitch his He is oversix. It was over six last year.
And you know he's given us glimpsesof sometimes kind of coming out of
those things and those those bad stretchesdo. But us has nothing that consistent.
And we know he's pitch and leveragedinnings because your high leverage guys are
(23:56):
hurt. But certainly does a greatopportunity for him to actually get better and
have a little more consistency in executingpitches. But uh, for sure,
Tip, you're out to jocks.He said, I looked for this pitch.
I'm gonna set on it and I'mnot going to strike and get a
fastball or you miss it. Buthe was still looking for that. He
knew he was going to get itbased on the pattern and he just connected
quite nicely. All right, Jose, thanks a lot for the insight and
(24:18):
man, thank you for bringing ChrisSto Fernandez up to the booth. And
uh, I'm glad you didn't seeme fanboy out outside of your booth yesterday.
Next time here with the first one. My friend will be the first
one. Okay, thanks a lot, Jose. We'll see you tomorrow night.
Getaway day for the Dodgers in somerespects. All right, mate,
But cheerio, cheerio Jose. Eightsix six, nine eighty seven two five
(24:41):
seventy is the phone number Dodgers fallto the Diamondbacks tonight, seven to three.
Yeah. I mentioned earlier that JackPeterson is tied with Gil Hodges with
five home runs in the World Series. They're actually tied for second in Dodgery
history for the most home runs hitin the Fall Classic. The Great Duke
(25:02):
of Flatbush, Duke Snyder from Compton, California, has the Dodger franchise record
with eleven home runs in the WorldSeries. So the Duke with eleven,
Jack Peterson, and Gil Hodges withfive, that'll do it for us.
Tonight on Dodger Talk Tomorrow, thefinale of this six game homestand for the
(25:22):
Dodgers and the rubber match between theDodgers and Diamondbacks in this three game series,
Tyler Glass now will be on themound for the Dodgers. He carries
a six and two record to themount tomorrow night with an ERA of two
ninety, going up against right handerRyan Nelson, who's two and three with
an ERA over seven. Morongo Casino. Dodgers on Deck begins at six o'clock
(25:45):
with first pitch at seven to ten. Thanks to Colin Ee back at our
Burbank Studios, Thanks to Dwayne McDonaldout here at Dodgers Stadium, and thanks
to you for listening in case youmissed any of the show or our pregame
com with the Great Clayton Kershaw.You can find it on the iHeartRadio app.
(26:06):
Coming up next it will be BenMaller on Fox Sports Radio. I
heard Ben take some shots at me, but I'm not getting in the gutter
with him and his cronies over thereat Fox Sports Radio. I'll stay above
it. You have a great show, Ben Maller once again. The final
score tonight the Dodgers fall to theDiamondbacks seven to three. Have a great
(26:27):
rest of your night. See you. Let's just
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