August 5, 2026 • 33 mins
Tim Cates takes your calls after the Dodgers are swept by the Cubs. Freddie Freeman reassures the media he's fine after being taken out of the game due to an awkward check swing.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The quest for the free peat has begun.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Only four teams in Major League Baseball history have won
three consecutive titles. The Dodgers are the favorites to become
the fifth.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
This is World Champion Dodger Talk.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Here we go again.
Speaker 4 (00:16):
We get ready running back to.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Get in on the show called eight six six eight
seven two five seven and be sure to follow Dodger
Talk wherever you catch your podcasts and now your host,
here's Tim Kakes.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Well.
Speaker 5 (00:32):
A rough afternoon in Chicago as they fall to the
Cubbies seven to six as the Dodgers get swept out
of the Windy City and lose all three games in
Chicago this week. Get a brutal three game loss for
the Dodgers after getting swept by the Boston Red Sox
(00:53):
over the weekend. The Dodgers then go to Chicago and
lose all three games and a day off tomorrow wouldn't
come at a better time for this Dodgers teammate. Much
needed day off as they are back at it on
Friday in a three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
But what a disaster in Chicago, losing all three games
(01:14):
to a Cubs team that's fighting and scrapping in the
NL Central to get back into that divisional race and
certainly fighting for a wild card spot and trying to
hang on there for one of those two spots in
the National League. But just a disastrous weekend against the
Red Sox and then the last three days in Chicago
couldn't have gone worse. Eric Lower had been so good
(01:37):
for this Dodgers team over the course of three games.
Today he comes out four inny and six runs, eleven
hits and gives up a couple of home runs to
pie Crow Armstrong. Just absolutely disastrous for the Dodgers, who
in all three games to the Chicago Cubs jumped out
to a lead and then gave up the lead only
(01:58):
to fall behind and really just not play clean baseball.
Just weren't able to do things they've been doing all year.
Good pitching, timely defense, and lots of good offense. And
the team that relies on pitching, defense and slug When
you're not having one or two of those facets, you're
not gonna win a lot of baseball games. And that
(02:18):
has been the case for the Dodgers over the last
six games.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
And really you go back over the last two weeks.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
I mean, this is a five hundred baseball team since
the All Star Break.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
As much as we talk about.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
How they have won those series in New York and Philadelphia,
they just could not come back home. And do you
know anything against the Boston Red Sox and they were
lucky to take two to three from the Seattle Mariners.
They struggled in this series against the Chicago Cubs, and
outside of the five run outburst in the eighth inning
from the Dodgers, you know this was gonna be a
(02:50):
tough go for them against the Cubbies. Down seven to one, offensively,
just couldn't do anything until that five run eighth inning.
And again, what do they rely on the slug What
do they rely on the home runs for Max Munsey
and show Hey o'tani as The Dodgers able to get
back into it, but then when they needed a timely hit,
they just couldn't get it. And at that point, you know,
(03:11):
the Dodgers already had Andy Paez out of the game.
At that point, they already had Freddy Freeman out of
the game, and the Dodgers, relying on Alex Call and
keyk Hernandez Alice Call got hit by a pitch got
the second on a wild pitch, and the Dodgers with
the ty and run at second base with two outs
again couldn't get the big hit they needed. So it's
certainly a disappointment for the Dodgers. You've got to be
(03:32):
playing better at this time.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
Now.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
I say that with the preference that a year ago
this Dodgers team lost seven in a row.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah, this is the.
Speaker 5 (03:42):
Dodgers team that's not you know, not gone through this
before and been okay. I mean, you go back to
last year and certainly they won a World Series, they
win the division, they did what they did last year
in twenty twenty five, and last year in July going
into the All Star Break, this is a Dodgers team
then had lost seven.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
In a row.
Speaker 5 (04:01):
They got swept by the Houston Astros in a three
game series. Then they go to Milwaukee and they lose
three games, and then they lose in San Francisco in
the opening game of a three game set. They had
dropped seven in a row and the Dodgers could not
figure it out going into the All Star Break, and
then come out in the second half of the season
and we're okay, and they win a World series and
(04:23):
the world is right. So we've been through this before,
this long losing streak. Now do we want to continue?
Speaker 4 (04:30):
Certainly not.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
And for this Dodgers team, you now find yourself eight
and a half games up in the division.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
And yes it's a big lead. Don't get me wrong.
Speaker 5 (04:39):
There are teams with lesser leads in the division right
now around Major League Baseball. But for a team that
was up fourteen games and running away from the division,
I didn't think they were gonna be winning by this much. Yeah,
they're not gonna win by fourteen or fifteen games. It
wasn't gonna be that much of a boat race. But
to see this lead now in the division down to
eight and a half and oh by it. Wait, look
(04:59):
at the Padres only nine and a half games back, folks.
There's still a chunk of August to go in all
of September to play before we get to October. And
something to also keep in mind. And again, the top
two teams don't have to play in the wildcard round.
(05:20):
But right now as we speak, the Dodgers at sixty
nine and forty six, are behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who
have the best record in baseball and are one game
up in the win column, ahead of the Atlanta Braves,
who have won six in a row and can very
easily leap fro out the Dodgers.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
So just when you think, oh, fourteen game.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
Lead, Okay, it's down to eight and a half, not
not to panic, don't worry, We'll still win the NL West. Well,
the last thing you want to do is go through
the wildcard round again.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
You'd like to get to maybe a little.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
Bit of a break, But as it is, the Dodgers
right now see themselves with the Braves and Brewers fighting
for those two top two spots in the National League.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Something to keep an eye on it.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
As much as you think, well, what do they have
to play for, they're running away with the division still
eight and.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
A half games to him. Slow down.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
It'd be nice to have a bye in the wildcard round.
It'd be nice not have to play that series again
this year. Think about all the mileage this team has
had to go through the last two years to win
back to back World Series championships.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Shorter off seasons, a.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
Team that's full of thirty plus year old guys on it,
dealing with injuries, dealing with struggles of down seasons. It'd
be nice to get a little bit of a break
and not have to play in the wildcard round. But again,
just when you think, ah, we're gonna win the division
hands down, there is something else to play for eight
sixty six, nine eighty seven to two five seventy one.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Other note, Mookie Betts. The struggle is real for Mookie
this year.
Speaker 5 (06:49):
And last night after the game, I thought it was
his comments were interesting, very professional, you know, and you're
not gonna get a Mookie Bets who's gonna fly off
the hand or get too down on himself. I thought
he was interesting what he had to say last night
when he talked about another zero for night, and he'say, like,
I hit the ball hard.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Man, I'm not going to change anything.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
It's not like I'm doing something wrong or I feel
like my mechanics are wrong or my approach is wrong.
I'm just hitting it right at guys. I'm just unlucky.
I guess that's my word, unlucky. But he talked about
how he feels like he's at a good spot. It's
just not finding green grass. It's just not finding open
parts of the field for base hits. And what happens
today hits the ball hard again and has a four
(07:32):
hit game against the Cups, and you hope maybe this
is a springboard for him moving forward offensively, And at
the same time, you hope it's a springboard moving forward
for this team with that five run eighth inning that
the Dodgers can build on going into Arizona. Eight six
(07:53):
six nine eighty seven two five seventy is our number.
Eight sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy. Dodges
Baseball is brought to by Medello Midello, the.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Mark of a fighter. So again the lead is dwindled.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
A big three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who remember,
going into the All Star Break, went to Uniclow Field
to Dodger Stadium and beat.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
The Dodgers in three games.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
They've got it lined up with Merril, Kelly, Brandon Fought,
and Anuarno Rodriguez Friday, Saturday and Sunday against the Dodgers.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
That lead could dwindle even more.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
And besides the division which we all thought they were
running away with and this thing was over again. I
will keep bringing it up. The two top spots in
the National League be nice to avoid the wild card
Round eight six, six, nine, eight, seven, two five seventy
is the number. All right, you got one line open
if you want to jump on board. On this Wednesday
afternoon Talk from Dodger Baseball, we.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Go up to Utah. Love Utah. Heather next up here
on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Heather Hallu, I'm doing fantastic.
We're in Utah. Are you.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Just south of Salt Lake City?
Speaker 6 (08:58):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (08:59):
Very cool?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
What wanted to be whenever we can so, so just
calling in about the game. My parents were actually there.
Speaker 6 (09:07):
We were a big doctor.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Baseball family, and we tried to travel with them when
we can. We weren't able to go to Chicago with them,
and we've got two boys playing travel team in high
school baseball, you know, so it's busy. But they went.
They said they had a great time. Really unfortunate that
they couldn't get at least one win, but they said
today was really great during the eighth inning to get
the five runs and also just seeing show heyo, Tony,
(09:28):
wake up, months he wake up. That's wake up. It
stills a little, you know, doom and gloom, but I
really think, truly, like for any Dodger fan out there,
that's kind of panicking like me. You know, when we
get these like five six game losing streak, Septembers matters
more than August, and we don't need to panic right
right now, it's going to be okay. It stills not great,
but September matters, and you're gonna get smell and glass,
(09:49):
noow back, and then the veteran hitters hopefully will wake up.
So my thoughts are as far as that goes. I mean,
is this just baseball being baseball? Or is there you know,
not some pestimistic but is there anything going on in
the clubhouse? Like I think it's probably just like it's August,
you know what I.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Mean, It's baseball. It's the ups and downs of one
sixty two. Heather, great to hear from you. You don't be
a stranger here to Dodger talk. Like we said a
year ago, they went through a seven game losing streak,
their longest skid since twenty nineteen. Right now it's sitting
at six game losing streak for the Dodgers. You look
at again what this Dodger team does so good slug,
(10:24):
good pitching, and really good defense.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Well, what have we not seen recently?
Speaker 5 (10:30):
The slug Okay, we're not seeing the offensive productions, not
seeing a lot of runs on the scoreboard. Defense, base running, yeah,
stop being great. Then you look at the pitching, and
the pitching has not been great, both facets, the bullpen
and starting pitching. So the Dodgers, I'm pretty confident they're
(10:53):
going to turn things around. I'm pretty confident this Dodgers
team we'll get out of this hole that they've now
dug themselves into. And I guess you can say thankfully
they built up such a big lead previously that a
six game losing streak and a little run by the
Arizona Diamondbacks has now got it at eight and a half.
So you know, if they were only up eight or
(11:13):
nine and all of a sudden this thing happened with
both teams of the Dodgers' lead was a half game,
I think we'd be hitting the panic button a little
bit more. But because they had built a fourteen game
lead in the division, a six game losing streak is
not good. It's not ideal, but you had a little
bit of a buffer there and a cushion to work with.
Now it's time to crank it back up. It's time
for the starters this weekend, beginning with Roki Sasaki on
(11:36):
Friday to get dialed in in the dome there and
Chase Field with the roof closed in nice seventy two
degrees on Friday night against Merril Kelly to get it going.
And it's time for the Dodgers to clean it up.
And that's something that Dave Roberts has always coached his
team as the fundamentals, and we're talking about fundamentals of defense.
We're talking about the fundamentals of you know, winning necessary
(11:58):
moving guys over which they don't do a lot of
if I understand them. It's a huge topic, but also the
fundamentals of defense and base running, base running. How many
times did the Dodgers run themselves out of outs or
innings or potential runs with a runner at second or third?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Too many times? Too many times over.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
The last two weeks have we heard Dodger runner thrown out,
a second, Dodger runner picked off at first?
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Show?
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Hey Otani, you know, show he's trying to stretch.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
A double in the triple, gets banged at third, you know,
not running hard from second to home like Alfonso did
in the Philadelphia series.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
A couple of weeks ago, you know.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
Not not tagging up and running when you're supposed to,
or not getting a good jump on a ball and
scoring from second on a ball hit to the outfield.
And they're not even making a play at home. They're
throwing a second and you pull up around third in hole.
See these little fundamental things the base running have got
to be cleaned up.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
It's a huge part of the game, and the Dodgers.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Aren't doing it right right now. They'll turn it around,
no doubt about it. You're gonna see this team rattle
off wins. I mean as bad as they're playing over
the six game losing streak. Think about the last road trip,
the two stops in New York and the three game
series in Philadelphia. Okay, they didn't go nine to oh,
but they went six and three and they won all
(13:16):
three series. That's the big thing. Win series. Take two
to three, win three of four, win the series and.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
You'll be all right.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
Unfortunately, the Dodgers have been swept in the last two series.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
And I look at this.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
You know, Arizona Diamondbacks team coming up Friday night. They
got some momentum and a win tonight against San Diego
in that game against the Padres.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
This leads eight.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
They got all the momentum going on the weekend, and
as they got it stacked up, they got their three
veteran best pitchers going at it, including Eduardo Rodriguez on
Sunday in the finale. And you think about Roki Sasaki. Okay,
which rookie we're gonna get on Friday Night? Hopefully the
good rokie who the last two starts too and zero
with a one to fifty era Yoshinobu Yamamoto. I don't
(14:01):
worry about Justin Robleski on Sunday in the finale. Which
Robleski is going to show up? The Robleski that was
the All Star or the Juster Robleski the last few
starts that has just giving up home run after home
run after home run after home run. Hopefully he has
a bounce back game on Sunday again, a huge three
game weekend series coming up Friday, Saturday and Sunday out
(14:22):
at Chase Field, the game between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks.
Eight sixty sixth ninety seven, two five seventy. Let's go
to Bill and see me Valley. Welcome to Dodger Talk.
With Tim Kate TWI doing, Bill, good?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
How you doing?
Speaker 5 (14:34):
I'm all right, I'm not panicking yet, Bill, but you
know what, I am kind of looking at this sideways, like,
what's go on here?
Speaker 4 (14:41):
We need to be better than this.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
Fine, No, thanks for the facts, because I was just
wondering when was the last time they lost? They got
swept in two series and I thought, this is this
is incredible that they did that. And I guess my
frustration is, I think you're right, they'll turn it around.
I know it's August. My concern is when October comes around.
(15:05):
I hopefully it's not one of those where they say, oh,
let's put it in another gear. Oh there is no
other gear, right, And you know, I just I know
they're a veteran teams. They'll they'll probably get you know'll
turn it around a little bit. It's just frustrating when
they lose to you know, two big contenders, Boston and Chicago.
And I think Boston's the best team in baseball now.
(15:27):
I think Chicago and Milwaukee are pretty close. Even though
the Dodgers have a better record, they're not playing better.
And you know, it's just it's just frustrating because it's like,
I don't think guys should be losing six games in
a row to the contenders. Mentally, that can't be good.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
No, no, no, no doubt about it. Bill, and I
appreciate the phone call. I mentioned it with Jose and
the Clubouse show. You know, you go back to the
start of the second half of the season and we
talked about the nine game road trip and how big
it was going to be. And with the Dodgers a
huge lead at the All Star break, how are they
going to come out of the All Star break? How
are they going to start on the road East Coast
nine games, ten days, going to Washington, DC on the
(16:07):
day off. How are they gonna fare? This is gonna
be a big test for them. And the Dodgers took
two or three from the Yankees, took two to three
from the Phillies, took two of three from the Mets.
You know, they come back home, they take two or
three from the Seattle Mariners, who ended up being sellers
at the deadline. The Mets were sellers, but the Phillies
and the Yankees are playoff teams.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
You know.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
The Boston Red Sox, as Bill mentioned, the hottest team
in baseball hands down the hottest team in the major leagues,
the Chicago Cubs right there for a wildcard spot. And
don't look now, they're only five games back in the
NL Central behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who have the best
record in Baseball Arizona this weekend, you know, they got
three game series against Kansas City coming up. The Royal's
(16:50):
got nothing to fight for, you know. But then the
Milwaukee Brewers come to town for a four game series
at Dodgers Stadium. The Pirates who became buyers at the
trade deadline are at Unicle Field, a Dodger Stadium coming
up at the end of the month.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
And then you go to Atlanta.
Speaker 5 (17:08):
You know, you've got a stretch in which you're facing
teams that you should just destroy, and the Cardinals and
Nationals and Reds. But then you got Miami and you
got a Padres team at the end of the year.
You know, the schedule is the way it is. There
are teams that are hunting for the Dodgers. There are teams,
I mean, look at the trade deadline. It's a prime example.
Thirty teams in Baseball twenty four of the thirty we're
(17:32):
still in contention for the division or a wildcard spot
within four and a half games. That left six teams
that were legitimately out of it, no shot, absolute.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Sellers at the deadline. That's a lot of teams still
in contention.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
You can say this is good for baseball, and I
will argue it is because the wildcard has added this competition.
If there's no wildcard in the American League or the
National League, we're talking about a boat race in two
of the three league in the National League, two of
the three divisions in the National League, and we're talking
about one of the divisions in the American League being
a runaway as well. So it has created a lot
(18:09):
of competition and it's good for the sport. Absolutely, it's
great for all these markets that are still in it.
But with that being said, if you're the team like
the Dodgers, you've got to be ready now because as
we get here in the last seven weeks of the season,
there are teams fighting and not just throwing it in
and saying one, two, three can con they're fighting and
(18:29):
they may not have been fighters in years past, but
now you got teams that are scrapping and klawn and
they're looking at the Dodgers now and they're seeing them
being picked off by the Cubs, swept by the Red Sox,
Diamondbacks got.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Them for three before the All Star breaking and you
know what, they're beautible. We can get to them.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
You know, there's a recipe here to how to pitch
to these Dodger hitters now and attack them and you know,
put the pressure on them defensively. So you're starting to
see the teams do this and cut it after the
with the Cubs, how aggressive they were, just like the
Red Sox early in the count, attacking and ambushing the
pitching and defensively playing really good defense and being aggressive
(19:07):
on the bass pass forcing plays. The Red Sox did
a great job of that, putting the ball in play,
guys in motion, you know, small ball, with the bunt
for base hits, a couple of infield singles. They do
everything the Dodgers needs to need. Get it back to
what they do right, slug pitching and defense. We haven't
seen the defense in base running. Pitching's been iffy, and
(19:29):
the offense has been there in spurts. I mean today,
prime example, one run over the first seven innings.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
That's it.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
Yesterday, one run in the game. Today they score five
in the eighth, they show what they can do. Guy
get on base, Max Mounty, three run home run. Another
runner gets on bass, show Aotani two run home run,
slug slug back in the game. All of a sudden's
a one run game. That's what the Dodgers are built on.
Eight sixty six, nine eighty seven, two five seventy. We'll
(19:57):
take a time out, we'll come back. We'll get to
your phone calls. We'll hear from Freddy Freeman as well.
Who good news, Freddy Freeman got hit on the right hand,
came out of the game after the fifth inning. X
rays negative. We'll hear from Freddy coming up and your
phone calls. Cubs beat the Dodgers seven to six as
the Dodgers get swept out of the Windy City, losing
all three games in Chicago. Now day off Tomorrow, Phoenix, Friday,
(20:21):
Saturday and Sunday against the Diamondbacks. Your phone calls when
we come back right here on FI seventy LA Sports
Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 7 (20:28):
Up Hi, It's Joheldney. This is do Just Talk Am
five to seventy l A spot you a hol.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
And Otani swings lifts it deep till that field. That
ball headed back to the wall and is gone.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
Haha.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Run for al Tony his second of a ball game.
He stops at second thinking it's a double.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
It went over the basket.
Speaker 5 (20:55):
Now he's told it's a home run, but he continues
his try show.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Hey Otani put on a show.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
Two home runs, a leadoff home run in the top
of the first, his twenty fifth homer of this season,
his twenty ninth leadoff home run as a Dodger, passing
Davy Lobes, now three behind Mookie Betts for first all
time on the Dodgers' leadoff home run list, as he
then goes deep in the eighth inning of two run
home run is twenty sixth of this season as the Dodgers,
(21:24):
though lose to the Cubs by final of seven to six.
Daniels Jewlis presents the home Run Forecast. For your chance
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Daniels Jewelers own the Dream Show. Hey goes Deep twice
PCA Pete Crow Armstrong goes deep twice, also had an
(21:45):
RBI double. These two guys so much fun to watch.
I mean, pie Crow Armstrong was a stud at Harvard
Westlake High School right down the street and Studio City,
and he has grown into one of the best players
in baseball. And to see what he Tawny did today,
going back and forth lead off home runs in the
first inning, first by show Hey and then Pete Crow Armstrong.
(22:07):
The two of them combined to go six for ten,
a double, four home runs, four runs scored, and seven
runs batted in combined.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
And you look at the MVP race in the National League.
Speaker 5 (22:19):
Stat wise, seventy RBIs on the season for show Hey,
sixty nine for PCA. You look at their on base percentage,
they're ops. They're batting average within you know, seven eight points.
They're going neck and neck right now for the MVP
vote in the National League. So with fifty games to
go here, it is going to be a fun race
(22:41):
to see what these two do the final six seven
weeks of this season. Eight six, six nine, eight seven
two five seventy is the number before we get back
out to the phones. Freddy Freeman today in the fifth
inning had a check swing. It was a check swing
foul ball that ended up going towards the Cubs dugout
over by the third base line, and it was on
(23:01):
the first pitch of the bat against Immenaga in the
fifth and it was a fastball high and inside. He
was trying to get out of the way at the
same time.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
It was called a.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
Foul ball check swing, but his hand got jammed between
the ball and the bat on the pitch that he
fouled off and he came out. Afterwards, we found out
from Dave Roberts X rays were negative. Let's go back
out to Rick Leavefield. David Vat staying in the media
standing by with Freddy Freeman.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
So were you concerned that this might be more serious?
Where's that at with your right hand right now? No,
I wasn't concerned.
Speaker 8 (23:30):
I obviously didn't come out of that at bat because
I knew it hit my bat as well. So I
hit bat and in the hand and pinched my hand
onto the bat. So next pitch I swung, and I
could swing, and I swung again. But I say, Dronone
wore off pain out a little bit more. I mean,
I feels like I buy a ball buggy X rays
for negative. So I feel all right to some treatment,
do some more treatment tomorrow. I should be good Friday.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
Where's the swelling at right now? It's on right here.
Speaker 8 (23:53):
I got hit on the side of my hand, so
pretty much just squeezed into my hand. So so I
get for swinging the ball out my face.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
It was a foul ball.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
It was all just a swing right. No, I'm okay.
Speaker 8 (24:07):
I it's just more precautionary at that point, which is
good because I got some treatment. It got about an
hour hours worth of treatment and feeling much better.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
Would you make of that eighth inning where you guys
were able to score five? Yeah, that was good.
Speaker 8 (24:18):
It's nice for us to start scaring some runs. I
know it could come out on the losing side again,
but show some life. Guys got Mookie had a great day.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Max with the home run.
Speaker 8 (24:26):
Show heyes, getting some but there's xtra base hits and
I think we're on the right foot. So day off tomorrow,
we'll get get going on Friday.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
All right, there's Freddy Freeman. I liked that day off tomorrow.
Speaker 5 (24:35):
Build on the momentum they had any eighth anyway, they
scored the five runs a couple of home runs from
Monty and Otanian get After the Diamondbacks on Friday for
the start of a three game series, Can in Newport
walk in to Dodger talk Ken, how's it going with
my friend?
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Oh, twice in one week? This is like special?
Speaker 4 (24:53):
I know, this is we should we should do this
more often.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
All right, Just a couple of things. After the the
sweep of with what's called the Red Sox, I made
up that a couple of times that this is more
than just a sweep. This is three left handed starting
pitchers going against the Dodgers, and the Dodgers aren't hitting well.
(25:21):
They had two more starting pitchers. Now, now the league
knows that really the Dodgers' biggest weakness is left handed pitching,
especially Onceie two more strikeouts. He's got twelve in his
last twenty eight twenty nine at bats. He's hitting about
(25:43):
two point thirty. And when the league figures something out,
they just hit it and hit and hit it. Now,
that's the one thing. The other thing is I don't
understand when Dave is leaving a pitcher in. It's the
third time in these six games he left the pitcher
in that gave up five or six runs. You pull
(26:05):
him out immediately, that means he doesn't have it the day.
They could have won this game if they would have
pulled him out in the second or third innings, but
they've left him in. Is there a reason that I'm
missing here?
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Well, you look at Lower and he gets into trouble.
We've seen him give up the home running ball.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
You've seen him, you know, put the Dodgers in a hole,
and then he'll come up and start putting up zeros
of the rest of the way, and the offense bails
them out or gets them back into a game or
gets them back to within striking distance. So it's not
like Eric Lower has been perfect over these eight starts
ninde appearances going in today.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
He's had his ups and downs. He's gotten the Dodgers
in the early holes.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
They've bailed out of it though, and have come back
and won those games that he's pitched today.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
They just unfortunately got into too big of a hole.
I in there with your concerns.
Speaker 5 (26:49):
I'm there with your concerns. Ken I appreciate the phone call.
You've been concerned about Mookie Betts. I'm gonna look at
Mookie situations, say four hits today, hitting the ball hard
the last couple of games in Chicago. Now that he's
finding some green grass, finding some holes out there, the ball,
you know, is not finding the glove around the outfield.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
It's a good thing.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
And he hit the ball hards, just off the end
of the bat and his lasted bat there in what
was at the ninth inning. You know, if he hit
squares that up, who knows, wind blows out at Wrigley.
We're talking about a different game. It's tied up going
to the bottom of the ninth and the Dodgers make
this huge comeback. As it is, he hits it off
the end of the bat, doesn't get the barrel and
flies out into left center field. So again, I think
(27:28):
they'll be okay moving forward. I just want to see
this team clean it up. Just be better at the
things you do. And you're gonna go through your ruts.
There's no argument there. It's one hundred and sixty two
game season. You're gonna have your ups and your downs,
your winning streaks or losing streaks. It's how you get
out of them. It's how you figure out what you're
doing wrong and fix it.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
And the Dodgers just.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Aren't playing clean defense. They're not certainly running the base
pass good at all. And those things can be fixed.
And the offense, you know, you can score five runs,
you can put up a crooked number on the scoreboard,
which they do all the time.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Just need to be more.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
Consistent and getting into holes like they did today are
tough to get out of. You know, look at all
three games in Chicago. The Dodgers took the lead early
and gave it right up.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
I mean it was it.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
The first game of the series. Tommy Emans home run,
three batters into three to nothing lead. I literally text
my daughter, She's like the Cubs stink, and I wrote back,
still a lot of baseball to be played. And as
it was, they come back and they scored two I
think in the bottom of the first, and then they
go on and they take the lead and never look back.
In the game one of this series in Chicago, same
(28:41):
thing happened yesterday. Dodgers dumped out to a lead, gave
it right back up. Same thing happened today. First batter
Otani Boom goes deep bottom of the first. PCA says,
hold my beer, I'm gonna hit a home run as well.
Tie this thing up so you can score like the
Dodgers did early. But when a starting pitcher then goes
out there and doesn't put it zeros and gives up
(29:02):
a lead or gives up some of the lead, that's
not good. That's that's trouble. And then the pitcher continues
to not put up zeros and have traffic on the
base pass that can't happen. Dodgers will be all right.
I'm not worried about the longevity of this season. This
team blowing a fourteen game lead, it's down to eight
(29:24):
and a half now, I think this weekend not to
put too much pressure and not to hype it up
too much. But it's a big series against Arizona. If
Arizona's eight or nine games, and it's eight and a
half as we speak, if they lose tonight to the Padres,
it'll be nine.
Speaker 4 (29:39):
If they win tonight, it'll be an eight game lead. Okay,
do the math. The Dodgers get swept in Arizona, it's
down to five. You take two or three? Wasn't a
math major? What is it? Seven?
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Right?
Speaker 4 (29:52):
Yeah? Seven? If you're sweet.
Speaker 5 (29:55):
All of a sudden, it's up to eleven games. So
there's a huge swing and where you could be after
this weekend serious against Arizona, And in my book, I mean,
you're not gonna see Arizona again the rest of the year.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
This is it. This is it.
Speaker 4 (30:08):
There's no more head to head with Arizona.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
So if you can take this series and sweep this
series against Arizona, you are sending a message like, you
know what, we're back. It's a double digit lead. You know,
you had a nice little run. We had our little funk,
but our double digit lead is now back and we'll
take control the division again.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
All right. That is gonna do it for you know what?
Speaker 5 (30:31):
Oh Blake, my guy, Blake, Blake Colorado, final call here
on Dodge Talk.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Blake, how you doing, buddy?
Speaker 1 (30:38):
You always forgot about me?
Speaker 4 (30:39):
No, I didn't.
Speaker 5 (30:40):
I was dead, I was moving my hands around, I
was all animated here and then I did not forget, Blake.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
I did not forget. What's on your mind?
Speaker 3 (30:52):
The daughters almost made a lake come back.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
What do you think the main problem is doing this
losing street?
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Should we be worried?
Speaker 4 (31:03):
I'm not too worried, Blake.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
I think the biggest thing is they've just not played
clean Dodger fundamental baseball. They got talent oozing out of
every possible position and every spot in the lineup.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
There's no doubt about that blake. But when you don't
play clean.
Speaker 5 (31:20):
Baseball, I don't care who you got in your lineup,
how stacked you are offensively, how good your rotation is.
If you don't throw strikes, if you fall behind in counts,
if you give up walks, if you give up the
long ball, like the Dodgers have been given up in
record numbers here. I mean, the Cubs hit eight in
this series over the last three games. And you don't
(31:41):
play good defense and you don't run the base pass smart,
You're not gonna win baseball games. You're not gonna win games.
So that is what's happened with the Dodgers. But I
think once they clean it up and a day off,
a check, a chance to excel me. Think about this
Dodgers team and the run they've had. You know, a
lot of these guys were exult after that nine game
road trip, had a quick day off, right back at it,
(32:03):
right back on the road, had to play a game
on Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, and then fly to Chicago,
No day off, right back at it at Wrigley Monday night.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
You know, play a three game series.
Speaker 5 (32:15):
Now they have a chance to exhale, you know, decompressing
the desert, sweat it out, so to speak, tomorrow by
the pool wherever they're staying in Scottsdale, and then.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
Get ready for this three game series. So I think
they'll be all right. Blake. Good to hear from you,
my friend. I'll be back on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Okay, okay, talk to you Sundays.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
All right, Thank you, Blake. Great to check in with you.
I didn't forget about my guy, Blake. All right, that's
gonna do it for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 5 (32:37):
Many thanks to Coliny, Thanks to all you Dodger fans
for being a part of the show. Don't worry, Dodger fans.
They're gonna be all right. They're gonna be all right.
This six game losey streak, it stinks. Dodgers haven't been
playing good. There's no up stands or butts about it. Well,
they'll clean it up. They'll figure it out. They'll figure
it out fast. This Dodger team, I think, is gonna
(32:59):
have a big weekend.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
An Era Zona.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
You watch say Take on the Snakes Friday, Saturday and
Sunday with Rookie Sasaki, Yoshinoba Yamamoto, and Jessin Robleski's schedule
to go Friday, Saturday and Sunday Wi I'mrongo Casino Dodgers
on deck at five point thirty, right after the third
and final PMS Summer Tour stop from the van's headquarters
and Coasta Mesa first pitch at six forty speaking of
the boys, saw him doing some laps. They're ready to go,
(33:20):
got their stretched in yoga post is done in the hall.
Speaker 4 (33:23):
We're all good to go. Petro some money show coming up.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
Next right here on A five seven e LA Sports
Live Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Playing
The quest for the free peat has begun.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Only four teams in Major League Baseball history have won
three consecutive titles. The Dodgers are the favorites to become
the fifth.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
This is World Champion Dodger Talk.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Here we go again.
Speaker 4 (00:16):
We get ready running back to.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Get in on the show called eight six six eight
seven two five seven and be sure to follow Dodger
Talk wherever you catch your podcasts and now your host,
here's Tim Kakes.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Well.
Speaker 5 (00:32):
A rough afternoon in Chicago as they fall to the
Cubbies seven to six as the Dodgers get swept out
of the Windy City and lose all three games in
Chicago this week. Get a brutal three game loss for
the Dodgers after getting swept by the Boston Red Sox
(00:53):
over the weekend. The Dodgers then go to Chicago and
lose all three games and a day off tomorrow wouldn't
come at a better time for this Dodgers teammate. Much
needed day off as they are back at it on
Friday in a three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
But what a disaster in Chicago, losing all three games
(01:14):
to a Cubs team that's fighting and scrapping in the
NL Central to get back into that divisional race and
certainly fighting for a wild card spot and trying to
hang on there for one of those two spots in
the National League. But just a disastrous weekend against the
Red Sox and then the last three days in Chicago
couldn't have gone worse. Eric Lower had been so good
(01:37):
for this Dodgers team over the course of three games.
Today he comes out four inny and six runs, eleven
hits and gives up a couple of home runs to
pie Crow Armstrong. Just absolutely disastrous for the Dodgers, who
in all three games to the Chicago Cubs jumped out
to a lead and then gave up the lead only
(01:58):
to fall behind and really just not play clean baseball.
Just weren't able to do things they've been doing all year.
Good pitching, timely defense, and lots of good offense. And
the team that relies on pitching, defense and slug When
you're not having one or two of those facets, you're
not gonna win a lot of baseball games. And that
(02:18):
has been the case for the Dodgers over the last
six games.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
And really you go back over the last two weeks.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
I mean, this is a five hundred baseball team since
the All Star Break.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
As much as we talk about.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
How they have won those series in New York and Philadelphia,
they just could not come back home. And do you
know anything against the Boston Red Sox and they were
lucky to take two to three from the Seattle Mariners.
They struggled in this series against the Chicago Cubs, and
outside of the five run outburst in the eighth inning
from the Dodgers, you know this was gonna be a
(02:50):
tough go for them against the Cubbies. Down seven to one, offensively,
just couldn't do anything until that five run eighth inning.
And again, what do they rely on the slug What
do they rely on the home runs for Max Munsey
and show Hey o'tani as The Dodgers able to get
back into it, but then when they needed a timely hit,
they just couldn't get it. And at that point, you know,
(03:11):
the Dodgers already had Andy Paez out of the game.
At that point, they already had Freddy Freeman out of
the game, and the Dodgers, relying on Alex Call and
keyk Hernandez Alice Call got hit by a pitch got
the second on a wild pitch, and the Dodgers with
the ty and run at second base with two outs
again couldn't get the big hit they needed. So it's
certainly a disappointment for the Dodgers. You've got to be
(03:32):
playing better at this time.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
Now.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
I say that with the preference that a year ago
this Dodgers team lost seven in a row.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah, this is the.
Speaker 5 (03:42):
Dodgers team that's not you know, not gone through this
before and been okay. I mean, you go back to
last year and certainly they won a World Series, they
win the division, they did what they did last year
in twenty twenty five, and last year in July going
into the All Star Break, this is a Dodgers team
then had lost seven.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
In a row.
Speaker 5 (04:01):
They got swept by the Houston Astros in a three
game series. Then they go to Milwaukee and they lose
three games, and then they lose in San Francisco in
the opening game of a three game set. They had
dropped seven in a row and the Dodgers could not
figure it out going into the All Star Break, and
then come out in the second half of the season
and we're okay, and they win a World series and
(04:23):
the world is right. So we've been through this before,
this long losing streak. Now do we want to continue?
Speaker 4 (04:30):
Certainly not.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
And for this Dodgers team, you now find yourself eight
and a half games up in the division.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
And yes it's a big lead. Don't get me wrong.
Speaker 5 (04:39):
There are teams with lesser leads in the division right
now around Major League Baseball. But for a team that
was up fourteen games and running away from the division,
I didn't think they were gonna be winning by this much. Yeah,
they're not gonna win by fourteen or fifteen games. It
wasn't gonna be that much of a boat race. But
to see this lead now in the division down to
eight and a half and oh by it. Wait, look
(04:59):
at the Padres only nine and a half games back, folks.
There's still a chunk of August to go in all
of September to play before we get to October. And
something to also keep in mind. And again, the top
two teams don't have to play in the wildcard round.
(05:20):
But right now as we speak, the Dodgers at sixty
nine and forty six, are behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who
have the best record in baseball and are one game
up in the win column, ahead of the Atlanta Braves,
who have won six in a row and can very
easily leap fro out the Dodgers.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
So just when you think, oh, fourteen game.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
Lead, Okay, it's down to eight and a half, not
not to panic, don't worry, We'll still win the NL West. Well,
the last thing you want to do is go through
the wildcard round again.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
You'd like to get to maybe a little.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
Bit of a break, But as it is, the Dodgers
right now see themselves with the Braves and Brewers fighting
for those two top two spots in the National League.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Something to keep an eye on it.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
As much as you think, well, what do they have
to play for, they're running away with the division still
eight and.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
A half games to him. Slow down.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
It'd be nice to have a bye in the wildcard round.
It'd be nice not have to play that series again
this year. Think about all the mileage this team has
had to go through the last two years to win
back to back World Series championships.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Shorter off seasons, a.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
Team that's full of thirty plus year old guys on it,
dealing with injuries, dealing with struggles of down seasons. It'd
be nice to get a little bit of a break
and not have to play in the wildcard round. But again,
just when you think, ah, we're gonna win the division
hands down, there is something else to play for eight
sixty six, nine eighty seven to two five seventy one.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Other note, Mookie Betts. The struggle is real for Mookie
this year.
Speaker 5 (06:49):
And last night after the game, I thought it was
his comments were interesting, very professional, you know, and you're
not gonna get a Mookie Bets who's gonna fly off
the hand or get too down on himself. I thought
he was interesting what he had to say last night
when he talked about another zero for night, and he'say, like,
I hit the ball hard.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Man, I'm not going to change anything.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
It's not like I'm doing something wrong or I feel
like my mechanics are wrong or my approach is wrong.
I'm just hitting it right at guys. I'm just unlucky.
I guess that's my word, unlucky. But he talked about
how he feels like he's at a good spot. It's
just not finding green grass. It's just not finding open
parts of the field for base hits. And what happens
today hits the ball hard again and has a four
(07:32):
hit game against the Cups, and you hope maybe this
is a springboard for him moving forward offensively, And at
the same time, you hope it's a springboard moving forward
for this team with that five run eighth inning that
the Dodgers can build on going into Arizona. Eight six
(07:53):
six nine eighty seven two five seventy is our number.
Eight sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy. Dodges
Baseball is brought to by Medello Midello, the.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Mark of a fighter. So again the lead is dwindled.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
A big three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who remember,
going into the All Star Break, went to Uniclow Field
to Dodger Stadium and beat.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
The Dodgers in three games.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
They've got it lined up with Merril, Kelly, Brandon Fought,
and Anuarno Rodriguez Friday, Saturday and Sunday against the Dodgers.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
That lead could dwindle even more.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
And besides the division which we all thought they were
running away with and this thing was over again. I
will keep bringing it up. The two top spots in
the National League be nice to avoid the wild card
Round eight six, six, nine, eight, seven, two five seventy
is the number. All right, you got one line open
if you want to jump on board. On this Wednesday
afternoon Talk from Dodger Baseball, we.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Go up to Utah. Love Utah. Heather next up here
on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Heather Hallu, I'm doing fantastic.
We're in Utah. Are you.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Just south of Salt Lake City?
Speaker 6 (08:58):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (08:59):
Very cool?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
What wanted to be whenever we can so, so just
calling in about the game. My parents were actually there.
Speaker 6 (09:07):
We were a big doctor.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Baseball family, and we tried to travel with them when
we can. We weren't able to go to Chicago with them,
and we've got two boys playing travel team in high
school baseball, you know, so it's busy. But they went.
They said they had a great time. Really unfortunate that
they couldn't get at least one win, but they said
today was really great during the eighth inning to get
the five runs and also just seeing show heyo, Tony,
(09:28):
wake up, months he wake up. That's wake up. It
stills a little, you know, doom and gloom, but I
really think, truly, like for any Dodger fan out there,
that's kind of panicking like me. You know, when we
get these like five six game losing streak, Septembers matters
more than August, and we don't need to panic right
right now, it's going to be okay. It stills not great,
but September matters, and you're gonna get smell and glass,
(09:49):
noow back, and then the veteran hitters hopefully will wake up.
So my thoughts are as far as that goes. I mean,
is this just baseball being baseball? Or is there you know,
not some pestimistic but is there anything going on in
the clubhouse? Like I think it's probably just like it's August,
you know what I.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Mean, It's baseball. It's the ups and downs of one
sixty two. Heather, great to hear from you. You don't be
a stranger here to Dodger talk. Like we said a
year ago, they went through a seven game losing streak,
their longest skid since twenty nineteen. Right now it's sitting
at six game losing streak for the Dodgers. You look
at again what this Dodger team does so good slug,
(10:24):
good pitching, and really good defense.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Well, what have we not seen recently?
Speaker 5 (10:30):
The slug Okay, we're not seeing the offensive productions, not
seeing a lot of runs on the scoreboard. Defense, base running, yeah,
stop being great. Then you look at the pitching, and
the pitching has not been great, both facets, the bullpen
and starting pitching. So the Dodgers, I'm pretty confident they're
(10:53):
going to turn things around. I'm pretty confident this Dodgers
team we'll get out of this hole that they've now
dug themselves into. And I guess you can say thankfully
they built up such a big lead previously that a
six game losing streak and a little run by the
Arizona Diamondbacks has now got it at eight and a half.
So you know, if they were only up eight or
(11:13):
nine and all of a sudden this thing happened with
both teams of the Dodgers' lead was a half game,
I think we'd be hitting the panic button a little
bit more. But because they had built a fourteen game
lead in the division, a six game losing streak is
not good. It's not ideal, but you had a little
bit of a buffer there and a cushion to work with.
Now it's time to crank it back up. It's time
for the starters this weekend, beginning with Roki Sasaki on
(11:36):
Friday to get dialed in in the dome there and
Chase Field with the roof closed in nice seventy two
degrees on Friday night against Merril Kelly to get it going.
And it's time for the Dodgers to clean it up.
And that's something that Dave Roberts has always coached his
team as the fundamentals, and we're talking about fundamentals of defense.
We're talking about the fundamentals of you know, winning necessary
(11:58):
moving guys over which they don't do a lot of
if I understand them. It's a huge topic, but also the
fundamentals of defense and base running, base running. How many
times did the Dodgers run themselves out of outs or
innings or potential runs with a runner at second or third?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Too many times? Too many times over.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
The last two weeks have we heard Dodger runner thrown out,
a second, Dodger runner picked off at first?
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Show?
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Hey Otani, you know, show he's trying to stretch.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
A double in the triple, gets banged at third, you know,
not running hard from second to home like Alfonso did
in the Philadelphia series.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
A couple of weeks ago, you know.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
Not not tagging up and running when you're supposed to,
or not getting a good jump on a ball and
scoring from second on a ball hit to the outfield.
And they're not even making a play at home. They're
throwing a second and you pull up around third in hole.
See these little fundamental things the base running have got
to be cleaned up.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
It's a huge part of the game, and the Dodgers.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Aren't doing it right right now. They'll turn it around,
no doubt about it. You're gonna see this team rattle
off wins. I mean as bad as they're playing over
the six game losing streak. Think about the last road trip,
the two stops in New York and the three game
series in Philadelphia. Okay, they didn't go nine to oh,
but they went six and three and they won all
(13:16):
three series. That's the big thing. Win series. Take two
to three, win three of four, win the series and.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
You'll be all right.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
Unfortunately, the Dodgers have been swept in the last two series.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
And I look at this.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
You know, Arizona Diamondbacks team coming up Friday night. They
got some momentum and a win tonight against San Diego
in that game against the Padres.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
This leads eight.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
They got all the momentum going on the weekend, and
as they got it stacked up, they got their three
veteran best pitchers going at it, including Eduardo Rodriguez on
Sunday in the finale. And you think about Roki Sasaki. Okay,
which rookie we're gonna get on Friday Night? Hopefully the
good rokie who the last two starts too and zero
with a one to fifty era Yoshinobu Yamamoto. I don't
(14:01):
worry about Justin Robleski on Sunday in the finale. Which
Robleski is going to show up? The Robleski that was
the All Star or the Juster Robleski the last few
starts that has just giving up home run after home
run after home run after home run. Hopefully he has
a bounce back game on Sunday again, a huge three
game weekend series coming up Friday, Saturday and Sunday out
(14:22):
at Chase Field, the game between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks.
Eight sixty sixth ninety seven, two five seventy. Let's go
to Bill and see me Valley. Welcome to Dodger Talk.
With Tim Kate TWI doing, Bill, good?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
How you doing?
Speaker 5 (14:34):
I'm all right, I'm not panicking yet, Bill, but you
know what, I am kind of looking at this sideways, like,
what's go on here?
Speaker 4 (14:41):
We need to be better than this.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
Fine, No, thanks for the facts, because I was just
wondering when was the last time they lost? They got
swept in two series and I thought, this is this
is incredible that they did that. And I guess my
frustration is, I think you're right, they'll turn it around.
I know it's August. My concern is when October comes around.
(15:05):
I hopefully it's not one of those where they say, oh,
let's put it in another gear. Oh there is no
other gear, right, And you know, I just I know
they're a veteran teams. They'll they'll probably get you know'll
turn it around a little bit. It's just frustrating when
they lose to you know, two big contenders, Boston and Chicago.
And I think Boston's the best team in baseball now.
(15:27):
I think Chicago and Milwaukee are pretty close. Even though
the Dodgers have a better record, they're not playing better.
And you know, it's just it's just frustrating because it's like,
I don't think guys should be losing six games in
a row to the contenders. Mentally, that can't be good.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
No, no, no, no doubt about it. Bill, and I
appreciate the phone call. I mentioned it with Jose and
the Clubouse show. You know, you go back to the
start of the second half of the season and we
talked about the nine game road trip and how big
it was going to be. And with the Dodgers a
huge lead at the All Star break, how are they
going to come out of the All Star break? How
are they going to start on the road East Coast
nine games, ten days, going to Washington, DC on the
(16:07):
day off. How are they gonna fare? This is gonna
be a big test for them. And the Dodgers took
two or three from the Yankees, took two to three
from the Phillies, took two of three from the Mets.
You know, they come back home, they take two or
three from the Seattle Mariners, who ended up being sellers
at the deadline. The Mets were sellers, but the Phillies
and the Yankees are playoff teams.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
You know.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
The Boston Red Sox, as Bill mentioned, the hottest team
in baseball hands down the hottest team in the major leagues,
the Chicago Cubs right there for a wildcard spot. And
don't look now, they're only five games back in the
NL Central behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who have the best
record in Baseball Arizona this weekend, you know, they got
three game series against Kansas City coming up. The Royal's
(16:50):
got nothing to fight for, you know. But then the
Milwaukee Brewers come to town for a four game series
at Dodgers Stadium. The Pirates who became buyers at the
trade deadline are at Unicle Field, a Dodger Stadium coming
up at the end of the month.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
And then you go to Atlanta.
Speaker 5 (17:08):
You know, you've got a stretch in which you're facing
teams that you should just destroy, and the Cardinals and
Nationals and Reds. But then you got Miami and you
got a Padres team at the end of the year.
You know, the schedule is the way it is. There
are teams that are hunting for the Dodgers. There are teams,
I mean, look at the trade deadline. It's a prime example.
Thirty teams in Baseball twenty four of the thirty we're
(17:32):
still in contention for the division or a wildcard spot
within four and a half games. That left six teams
that were legitimately out of it, no shot, absolute.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Sellers at the deadline. That's a lot of teams still
in contention.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
You can say this is good for baseball, and I
will argue it is because the wildcard has added this competition.
If there's no wildcard in the American League or the
National League, we're talking about a boat race in two
of the three league in the National League, two of
the three divisions in the National League, and we're talking
about one of the divisions in the American League being
a runaway as well. So it has created a lot
(18:09):
of competition and it's good for the sport. Absolutely, it's
great for all these markets that are still in it.
But with that being said, if you're the team like
the Dodgers, you've got to be ready now because as
we get here in the last seven weeks of the season,
there are teams fighting and not just throwing it in
and saying one, two, three can con they're fighting and
(18:29):
they may not have been fighters in years past, but
now you got teams that are scrapping and klawn and
they're looking at the Dodgers now and they're seeing them
being picked off by the Cubs, swept by the Red Sox,
Diamondbacks got.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Them for three before the All Star breaking and you
know what, they're beautible. We can get to them.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
You know, there's a recipe here to how to pitch
to these Dodger hitters now and attack them and you know,
put the pressure on them defensively. So you're starting to
see the teams do this and cut it after the
with the Cubs, how aggressive they were, just like the
Red Sox early in the count, attacking and ambushing the
pitching and defensively playing really good defense and being aggressive
(19:07):
on the bass pass forcing plays. The Red Sox did
a great job of that, putting the ball in play,
guys in motion, you know, small ball, with the bunt
for base hits, a couple of infield singles. They do
everything the Dodgers needs to need. Get it back to
what they do right, slug pitching and defense. We haven't
seen the defense in base running. Pitching's been iffy, and
(19:29):
the offense has been there in spurts. I mean today,
prime example, one run over the first seven innings.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
That's it.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
Yesterday, one run in the game. Today they score five
in the eighth, they show what they can do. Guy
get on base, Max Mounty, three run home run. Another
runner gets on bass, show Aotani two run home run,
slug slug back in the game. All of a sudden's
a one run game. That's what the Dodgers are built on.
Eight sixty six, nine eighty seven, two five seventy. We'll
(19:57):
take a time out, we'll come back. We'll get to
your phone calls. We'll hear from Freddy Freeman as well.
Who good news, Freddy Freeman got hit on the right hand,
came out of the game after the fifth inning. X
rays negative. We'll hear from Freddy coming up and your
phone calls. Cubs beat the Dodgers seven to six as
the Dodgers get swept out of the Windy City, losing
all three games in Chicago. Now day off Tomorrow, Phoenix, Friday,
(20:21):
Saturday and Sunday against the Diamondbacks. Your phone calls when
we come back right here on FI seventy LA Sports
Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 7 (20:28):
Up Hi, It's Joheldney. This is do Just Talk Am
five to seventy l A spot you a hol.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
And Otani swings lifts it deep till that field. That
ball headed back to the wall and is gone.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
Haha.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Run for al Tony his second of a ball game.
He stops at second thinking it's a double.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
It went over the basket.
Speaker 5 (20:55):
Now he's told it's a home run, but he continues
his try show.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Hey Otani put on a show.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
Two home runs, a leadoff home run in the top
of the first, his twenty fifth homer of this season,
his twenty ninth leadoff home run as a Dodger, passing
Davy Lobes, now three behind Mookie Betts for first all
time on the Dodgers' leadoff home run list, as he
then goes deep in the eighth inning of two run
home run is twenty sixth of this season as the Dodgers,
(21:24):
though lose to the Cubs by final of seven to six.
Daniels Jewlis presents the home Run Forecast. For your chance
to win a Daniels Jeweler's fifty dollars gift card, just
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Daniels Jewelers own the Dream Show. Hey goes Deep twice
PCA Pete Crow Armstrong goes deep twice, also had an
(21:45):
RBI double. These two guys so much fun to watch.
I mean, pie Crow Armstrong was a stud at Harvard
Westlake High School right down the street and Studio City,
and he has grown into one of the best players
in baseball. And to see what he Tawny did today,
going back and forth lead off home runs in the
first inning, first by show Hey and then Pete Crow Armstrong.
(22:07):
The two of them combined to go six for ten,
a double, four home runs, four runs scored, and seven
runs batted in combined.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
And you look at the MVP race in the National League.
Speaker 5 (22:19):
Stat wise, seventy RBIs on the season for show Hey,
sixty nine for PCA. You look at their on base percentage,
they're ops. They're batting average within you know, seven eight points.
They're going neck and neck right now for the MVP
vote in the National League. So with fifty games to
go here, it is going to be a fun race
(22:41):
to see what these two do the final six seven
weeks of this season. Eight six, six nine, eight seven
two five seventy is the number before we get back
out to the phones. Freddy Freeman today in the fifth
inning had a check swing. It was a check swing
foul ball that ended up going towards the Cubs dugout
over by the third base line, and it was on
(23:01):
the first pitch of the bat against Immenaga in the
fifth and it was a fastball high and inside. He
was trying to get out of the way at the
same time.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
It was called a.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
Foul ball check swing, but his hand got jammed between
the ball and the bat on the pitch that he
fouled off and he came out. Afterwards, we found out
from Dave Roberts X rays were negative. Let's go back
out to Rick Leavefield. David Vat staying in the media
standing by with Freddy Freeman.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
So were you concerned that this might be more serious?
Where's that at with your right hand right now? No,
I wasn't concerned.
Speaker 8 (23:30):
I obviously didn't come out of that at bat because
I knew it hit my bat as well. So I
hit bat and in the hand and pinched my hand
onto the bat. So next pitch I swung, and I
could swing, and I swung again. But I say, Dronone
wore off pain out a little bit more. I mean,
I feels like I buy a ball buggy X rays
for negative. So I feel all right to some treatment,
do some more treatment tomorrow. I should be good Friday.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
Where's the swelling at right now? It's on right here.
Speaker 8 (23:53):
I got hit on the side of my hand, so
pretty much just squeezed into my hand. So so I
get for swinging the ball out my face.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
It was a foul ball.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
It was all just a swing right. No, I'm okay.
Speaker 8 (24:07):
I it's just more precautionary at that point, which is
good because I got some treatment. It got about an
hour hours worth of treatment and feeling much better.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
Would you make of that eighth inning where you guys
were able to score five? Yeah, that was good.
Speaker 8 (24:18):
It's nice for us to start scaring some runs. I
know it could come out on the losing side again,
but show some life. Guys got Mookie had a great day.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Max with the home run.
Speaker 8 (24:26):
Show heyes, getting some but there's xtra base hits and
I think we're on the right foot. So day off tomorrow,
we'll get get going on Friday.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
All right, there's Freddy Freeman. I liked that day off tomorrow.
Speaker 5 (24:35):
Build on the momentum they had any eighth anyway, they
scored the five runs a couple of home runs from
Monty and Otanian get After the Diamondbacks on Friday for
the start of a three game series, Can in Newport
walk in to Dodger talk Ken, how's it going with
my friend?
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Oh, twice in one week? This is like special?
Speaker 4 (24:53):
I know, this is we should we should do this
more often.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
All right, Just a couple of things. After the the
sweep of with what's called the Red Sox, I made
up that a couple of times that this is more
than just a sweep. This is three left handed starting
pitchers going against the Dodgers, and the Dodgers aren't hitting well.
(25:21):
They had two more starting pitchers. Now, now the league
knows that really the Dodgers' biggest weakness is left handed pitching,
especially Onceie two more strikeouts. He's got twelve in his
last twenty eight twenty nine at bats. He's hitting about
(25:43):
two point thirty. And when the league figures something out,
they just hit it and hit and hit it. Now,
that's the one thing. The other thing is I don't
understand when Dave is leaving a pitcher in. It's the
third time in these six games he left the pitcher
in that gave up five or six runs. You pull
(26:05):
him out immediately, that means he doesn't have it the day.
They could have won this game if they would have
pulled him out in the second or third innings, but
they've left him in. Is there a reason that I'm
missing here?
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Well, you look at Lower and he gets into trouble.
We've seen him give up the home running ball.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
You've seen him, you know, put the Dodgers in a hole,
and then he'll come up and start putting up zeros
of the rest of the way, and the offense bails
them out or gets them back into a game or
gets them back to within striking distance. So it's not
like Eric Lower has been perfect over these eight starts
ninde appearances going in today.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
He's had his ups and downs. He's gotten the Dodgers
in the early holes.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
They've bailed out of it though, and have come back
and won those games that he's pitched today.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
They just unfortunately got into too big of a hole.
I in there with your concerns.
Speaker 5 (26:49):
I'm there with your concerns. Ken I appreciate the phone call.
You've been concerned about Mookie Betts. I'm gonna look at
Mookie situations, say four hits today, hitting the ball hard
the last couple of games in Chicago. Now that he's
finding some green grass, finding some holes out there, the ball,
you know, is not finding the glove around the outfield.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
It's a good thing.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
And he hit the ball hards, just off the end
of the bat and his lasted bat there in what
was at the ninth inning. You know, if he hit
squares that up, who knows, wind blows out at Wrigley.
We're talking about a different game. It's tied up going
to the bottom of the ninth and the Dodgers make
this huge comeback. As it is, he hits it off
the end of the bat, doesn't get the barrel and
flies out into left center field. So again, I think
(27:28):
they'll be okay moving forward. I just want to see
this team clean it up. Just be better at the
things you do. And you're gonna go through your ruts.
There's no argument there. It's one hundred and sixty two
game season. You're gonna have your ups and your downs,
your winning streaks or losing streaks. It's how you get
out of them. It's how you figure out what you're
doing wrong and fix it.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
And the Dodgers just.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Aren't playing clean defense. They're not certainly running the base
pass good at all. And those things can be fixed.
And the offense, you know, you can score five runs,
you can put up a crooked number on the scoreboard,
which they do all the time.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Just need to be more.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
Consistent and getting into holes like they did today are
tough to get out of. You know, look at all
three games in Chicago. The Dodgers took the lead early
and gave it right up.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
I mean it was it.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
The first game of the series. Tommy Emans home run,
three batters into three to nothing lead. I literally text
my daughter, She's like the Cubs stink, and I wrote back,
still a lot of baseball to be played. And as
it was, they come back and they scored two I
think in the bottom of the first, and then they
go on and they take the lead and never look back.
In the game one of this series in Chicago, same
(28:41):
thing happened yesterday. Dodgers dumped out to a lead, gave
it right back up. Same thing happened today. First batter
Otani Boom goes deep bottom of the first. PCA says,
hold my beer, I'm gonna hit a home run as well.
Tie this thing up so you can score like the
Dodgers did early. But when a starting pitcher then goes
out there and doesn't put it zeros and gives up
(29:02):
a lead or gives up some of the lead, that's
not good. That's that's trouble. And then the pitcher continues
to not put up zeros and have traffic on the
base pass that can't happen. Dodgers will be all right.
I'm not worried about the longevity of this season. This
team blowing a fourteen game lead, it's down to eight
(29:24):
and a half now, I think this weekend not to
put too much pressure and not to hype it up
too much. But it's a big series against Arizona. If
Arizona's eight or nine games, and it's eight and a
half as we speak, if they lose tonight to the Padres,
it'll be nine.
Speaker 4 (29:39):
If they win tonight, it'll be an eight game lead. Okay,
do the math. The Dodgers get swept in Arizona, it's
down to five. You take two or three? Wasn't a
math major? What is it? Seven?
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Right?
Speaker 4 (29:52):
Yeah? Seven? If you're sweet.
Speaker 5 (29:55):
All of a sudden, it's up to eleven games. So
there's a huge swing and where you could be after
this weekend serious against Arizona, And in my book, I mean,
you're not gonna see Arizona again the rest of the year.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
This is it. This is it.
Speaker 4 (30:08):
There's no more head to head with Arizona.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
So if you can take this series and sweep this
series against Arizona, you are sending a message like, you
know what, we're back. It's a double digit lead. You know,
you had a nice little run. We had our little funk,
but our double digit lead is now back and we'll
take control the division again.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
All right. That is gonna do it for you know what?
Speaker 5 (30:31):
Oh Blake, my guy, Blake, Blake Colorado, final call here
on Dodge Talk.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Blake, how you doing, buddy?
Speaker 1 (30:38):
You always forgot about me?
Speaker 4 (30:39):
No, I didn't.
Speaker 5 (30:40):
I was dead, I was moving my hands around, I
was all animated here and then I did not forget, Blake.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
I did not forget. What's on your mind?
Speaker 3 (30:52):
The daughters almost made a lake come back.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
What do you think the main problem is doing this
losing street?
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Should we be worried?
Speaker 4 (31:03):
I'm not too worried, Blake.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
I think the biggest thing is they've just not played
clean Dodger fundamental baseball. They got talent oozing out of
every possible position and every spot in the lineup.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
There's no doubt about that blake. But when you don't
play clean.
Speaker 5 (31:20):
Baseball, I don't care who you got in your lineup,
how stacked you are offensively, how good your rotation is.
If you don't throw strikes, if you fall behind in counts,
if you give up walks, if you give up the
long ball, like the Dodgers have been given up in
record numbers here. I mean, the Cubs hit eight in
this series over the last three games. And you don't
(31:41):
play good defense and you don't run the base pass smart,
You're not gonna win baseball games. You're not gonna win games.
So that is what's happened with the Dodgers. But I
think once they clean it up and a day off,
a check, a chance to excel me. Think about this
Dodgers team and the run they've had. You know, a
lot of these guys were exult after that nine game
road trip, had a quick day off, right back at it,
(32:03):
right back on the road, had to play a game
on Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, and then fly to Chicago,
No day off, right back at it at Wrigley Monday night.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
You know, play a three game series.
Speaker 5 (32:15):
Now they have a chance to exhale, you know, decompressing
the desert, sweat it out, so to speak, tomorrow by
the pool wherever they're staying in Scottsdale, and then.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
Get ready for this three game series. So I think
they'll be all right. Blake. Good to hear from you,
my friend. I'll be back on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Okay, okay, talk to you Sundays.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
All right, Thank you, Blake. Great to check in with you.
I didn't forget about my guy, Blake. All right, that's
gonna do it for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 5 (32:37):
Many thanks to Coliny, Thanks to all you Dodger fans
for being a part of the show. Don't worry, Dodger fans.
They're gonna be all right. They're gonna be all right.
This six game losey streak, it stinks. Dodgers haven't been
playing good. There's no up stands or butts about it. Well,
they'll clean it up. They'll figure it out. They'll figure
it out fast. This Dodger team, I think, is gonna
(32:59):
have a big weekend.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
An Era Zona.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
You watch say Take on the Snakes Friday, Saturday and
Sunday with Rookie Sasaki, Yoshinoba Yamamoto, and Jessin Robleski's schedule
to go Friday, Saturday and Sunday Wi I'mrongo Casino Dodgers
on deck at five point thirty, right after the third
and final PMS Summer Tour stop from the van's headquarters
and Coasta Mesa first pitch at six forty speaking of
the boys, saw him doing some laps. They're ready to go,
(33:20):
got their stretched in yoga post is done in the hall.
Speaker 4 (33:23):
We're all good to go. Petro some money show coming up.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
Next right here on A five seven e LA Sports
Live Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app
Speaker 2 (33:36):
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