Sax and Cates In The AM (Hour 1) 10/9/25

Steve Sax and Tim Cates react to the Dodgers losing Game 3 of the NLDS

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
They say, the hardest thing in sports isn't winning a title.
It's hard to repeat seasons. It's winning it again.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
This year.

Speaker 3 (00:08):
Is not trying to win a championship, They're trying to repeat.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
It's October baseball for your world champion in LA Dodger.

Speaker 4 (00:15):
The twenty twenty five Dodgers aren't the National League's Western
Division champions.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
And you know what that means.

Speaker 5 (00:22):
Saxon Kates and AM is back.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
This is Saxon Kates in the Morning with Tim Kates
and former World Champion Dodger Steve Sacks.

Speaker 5 (00:32):
Reacting taking your phone calls talking Dodgers playoff baseball all
postseason long.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
Now here they are on AM five to seventy LA
Sports and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 5 (00:43):
Steve Sacks, Tim Kats, Tim Kates.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
And World Champion Dodger Steve Sacks.

Speaker 6 (00:51):
Uh oh, we got ourselves a series. Good morning, Southern California,
Rises Shine, Thanks for being with us on this Thursday morning,
October ninth, twenty twenty five. Saxon Kates in the Am
Tim Kats along with two times World Series Champ, Rookie

(01:12):
of the Year, one hell of a guy, our favorite
Number three, Steve Sack, Zaxy, Good morning.

Speaker 7 (01:18):
Tim Kats. How are you, Tim Oh.

Speaker 5 (01:20):
I've had better day, Saxy, I've had better days.

Speaker 7 (01:23):
It's okay, it's okay, man, it's fine. It's fine.

Speaker 5 (01:27):
Now you sound like David Vasse and his top of
the Hour report. There, don't panic. Everything's gonna be okay.
He's not panic, or he's not gonna pack for Philadelphia.
I'm sorry, I'm panicking after what I saw last night.
This series has completely shifted. The momentum is now in
favor of the Philadelphia Phillies. And I do not like

(01:47):
the way this thing is looking going into Game four,
because certainly do not want to go back to a
Game five on Saturday at the Bank in Philadelphia. This
is not a good sign for the Dodgers after what
happened last night. Yamamoto got roughed up, Clayton Kershaw got
absolutely torched last night. We got to get into that

(02:09):
well here from Clayton Kershaw. But just last night a disaster. Offensively,
what has happened to show? Hey o Tani, where is
the Big Three? Where's Andy pot?

Speaker 8 (02:19):
Has?

Speaker 5 (02:20):
What happened to the big hits for the Dodgers? With
two outs? Everything has flipped saxy.

Speaker 7 (02:26):
Yes, it's foot for one day, that's okay. I mean, look,
you saw all of it go into one pot yesterday.
You know we didn't have you didn't have an effective
Yama Moto to start out, and he just was missing
his spots. On the other hand, you know, you did
have some good spots out of the out of the bullpen,
which was something to look forward to. But for the

(02:47):
most part, you know, Dodgers could not get a big hit.
They had traffic on the base pass, not any two
out efficiency with the bat, and that's what hurt him.
And then of course Clayton had a tough outing, so
you know, it is what it is. Did anybody expect
really for Aaron Nola to come out and pitched the
way he did. He pitched the two great innings which

(03:08):
really shortened the game for Swatis, and that was it.
I mean they look, here's another thing too, and I'm
not trying to be a homer here because I'm not,
but the Dodgers didn't have had no luck in the
line drives that were caught by the Phillies. They had
plenty of those, and it just seemed like every time
the Phillies ball hit the bat. It was a base hit.

(03:28):
It's one of those games, and it happens all the time.
Baseball has a little bit of luck in it too.
I'm not saying that the Dodgers were unlucky in losing.
They didn't play as well as the Phillies. The Phillies
came and they rocked. Schwarber was, you know, killing the
baseball real muto as well. And they deserve to win.
It's only one game, and the Dodgers got the advantage

(03:49):
coming in here tonight.

Speaker 5 (03:50):
They woke up a sleeping bear in Kyle Schwarber, who
hit a ball last night and I was in the
left field pavilion when he hit it to the right
field pavilion and he absolutely crushed that baseball, hitting the
top of the roof and hitting it out of Dodger Stadium.
It was an absolute monster blast off of show off

(04:11):
of Yamamodo last night in the fourth inning, and it's
almost like it took the lid off the top for
the Phillies, Steve, because that then open things up for
the rest of the lineup after him, Guys get hits,
guys got on base. The Dodgers defense kind of imploded,
ball gets bas MaTx Mounsei goes to the dugout run scores.

Speaker 8 (04:31):
Uh oh.

Speaker 5 (04:32):
Things unraveled quickly there in that fourth inning to allow
three runs to score. And despite all that, the Dodgers
were still in the game until they made the decision
to leave Clayton Kershaw in the game in the eighth inning,
and he just got absolutely hit around out there was
it was hard to watch that eighth inning in Clayton Kershaw.

Speaker 7 (04:51):
Yeah, it was. And you know that we don't know
how much more Clayton's going to pitch, but you know,
it's been a phenomenal career, no question about it. You know,
last night was a tough one to watch for him.
I felt for him because this was a this is
a bad game to come into, you know, and so
it is what it is. But really, when I look

(05:11):
at the top four guys for the Phillies, they had
nine hits the top four guys. Before that, it was
like goose eggs. These guys weren't doing anything. And tonight, yes,
last night, they just they just woke up nine hits
in the in the top four guys. When you talked
about Turner, Schwarb or Harper or Harper and Bomb bomb.
They just they had it all in one night. Maybe

(05:31):
that's what it'll be and tonight it'll be different.

Speaker 8 (05:34):
I was impressed with the crowd.

Speaker 5 (05:36):
Great job Dodger fans last night, fifty three thousand, six
eighty nine, a sellout crowd and that stocked Kevin. I
did not, but I got a picture from him from
his seat, so he sent me a picture on x
where he was sitting and said thank you for the tickets.
So he was fired up about that. The crowd was
fired up from the get go, and they did a

(05:57):
great job getting behind you. I'm a when he had
two strikes on a hitter and again a three run
fourth inning wasn't the end of the world. The Dodgers
bullpen came in after Yamamoto and Anthony Bonda was absolutely
lights out, ntting in and pitching in relief and just
absolutely took it to the Phillies in a crucial situation

(06:19):
with the game teetering in that spot, Jack Dryer came
in and the game was still in reach. You mentioned it,
some unlucky hits right out guys. Ball makes a great
leaping stab at third base late in the game to
rob extra base hits. They just hit him right to
the phillies where they did make good contact and barrel
it up, and that's unlucky, certainly. But the things unraveled

(06:41):
when Clayton Kershaw got back out there in the eighth inning,
and it was so deflating to see that. And there's
a lot of questions from people as to why Clayton
Kershaw won't back out there in the eighth indiot, and
quite frankly we found out afterwards is because the Dodgers
didn't have Tanner Scott, another left hander. They already used Bond,
they already used Dryer, they used Kershaw in the seventh.

(07:03):
He got hit around, he got out of it without
a run of the seventh, and in the eighth inning
it was still a three to one game. Dave Roberts
said he didn't want to go to one of his
high leverage guys, and Tanner Scott was not at the
ballpark personal reasons, couldn't be at the game, so they
didn't have the left tander out of the bullpen, and
because of that, they were forced to go back out
to Clayton Kershaw in the eighth inning, and that's when

(07:24):
the eighth inning just absolutely got away from Clayton Kershaw.
He had control issues in the seventh and then the
eighth inning things just completely snowballed for him and the
Dodgers and put the game out of reach.

Speaker 8 (07:36):
But again, just I'm so disappointed, Steve.

Speaker 5 (07:41):
I am just absolutely so disappointed in seeing the Phillies
get off the mat. If this was a fight, the
Dodgers were looking over him, they were in control, they
had knocked him down, it wouldn't have been a complete
Mike Tyson knockout. But they did enough in the first
two games to get control, looking on top of their
opponent and had a chance to finish him off. And
it's like they helped them back up, let them back

(08:02):
into this series, and all of a sudden, now we
got to fight again.

Speaker 7 (08:05):
Yeah, we do have one. And uh, the good thing
about the Dodgers situations, they've already faced Sanchez recently, which
is a nice thing. It's not like we faced them
back in June. I mean, they faced them just last week.
So this is this is a this is still uh
in favor of the Dodgers. I feel. Look the way
it is and the way it was before yesterday's game,

(08:26):
So include yesterday is the Phillies got to be just
about perfect to to to win this series. They really
got to be perfect for four games. They really can't
have one significant part of their game that goes down,
Like they have their starting pitcher that just you know,
uh just can't can't get out of bed and he's
just he's terrible, or you know, you have a bullpen collapse,

(08:48):
or you have a collective letdown in the offense, you
have some base running blunders, you have guys throw onto
the wrong wrong base, or whatever it may be. But
if you have anything that that that's blaring and and
and big, you know they're not gonna win. And that's
the thing is, they got to be perfect for four
games in a row. I don't know if that's gonna happen.

Speaker 5 (09:08):
We'll find out tonight with Game four, actually this afternoon
with Game four and three to ozh wait first pitch
out of Dodgers Stadium. We had a lot to dissect
from this game, including the struggles of the Big Three.
We're gonna get him more into that eighth inning in
Clayton Kershaw Yamamoto star David Vassi joins us in the
eight o'clock hour. Let's hear though from the manager Dave Roberts.
Here he is postgame last night, and listen to his tone.

(09:30):
Everybody not a happy Dave Roberts.

Speaker 9 (09:33):
I thought we had an early opportunity in that first
situational a bet versus Nolan. Then they you know, after
two innings they went to Ranger. You know, Tommy leads
off that, you know, Gus that first homer, and then
after that, I just felt that we just couldn't put
anything together versus Ranger. The cutter, the sinker, the changeup

(09:58):
mix and just obviously really didn't threaten any capacity and
he threw the ball well tonight.

Speaker 10 (10:05):
Why do you think show Hayes struggled at the plate
so much as series, and is part of it just
the number of lefties he's seeing, the kind of looks
he's getting there.

Speaker 9 (10:14):
I think the lefties is part of it. But I
just think that his his his plate, his decision making
hasn't been good. You know, you can see, you know,
it's it's balls in off and he's really not given
himself a chance to you know, hit a mistake. I

(10:38):
just think that he's in between a little bit, but
the swing decisions are just not where they need to
be right now. Yeah, that's kind of what I say,
swing decision making.

Speaker 10 (10:49):
And then you guys used a lot of the relievers tonight.
Tanner Scott wasn't one of them. Is he an option
for you right now?

Speaker 9 (10:54):
No, Tanner was. He was not at the ballpark today.
There was something going on personal, so he and it'll
come up later, come out later, but he was completely unavailable.

Speaker 1 (11:04):
David was Clayton's first time out of the bullpen in
the postseason since I believe twenty nineteen. What did you
see out of him and this stuff?

Speaker 9 (11:14):
Yeah, it was just uh well yeah on the postseason. Yeah,
he just didn't have a great slider tonight. Yeah, I
think you know, Clayton pitched off a slider and you know,
so when the slider's not their depthy teethy and then
the fastball command he is working behind too. So yeah,

(11:38):
that just it just the command wasn't there tonight.

Speaker 5 (11:41):
All right, there's a manager, Dave Roberts. It sounded to
me like he was dancing and tiptoeing around. How to
answer the show? Heyo, TODDI struggles all for five last night.
One for fourteen was seven strikeouts in this series so
far through three games and said his decision making at
the plate. Go ahead and say it. He looks lost

(12:03):
at the plate, and when he's not looking lost, he
is swinging for the fences. He is flying open. I
can see it from where I'm watching the game, and
I am no baseball expertise at all, but hearing people
talk about it, watching people break it down that are experts,
They're all saying the same thing. Steve zachs, he is
flying open. He is trying to hit the ball five
hundred feet and he is not having As Dave Roberts said,

(12:25):
good decision makings at the planes.

Speaker 7 (12:28):
Yeah, and that's true. And look, the plate's seventeen inches wide.
You can't cover the whole plate. If you know, when
I would do this, when I was flying open, this
is what I would do, is I would eliminate the
inner third. I would say, I'm not in to swing
at a pitch. If he can dop me three times
on the inner third of the plate, I'll struggle with
two strikes and do what I can with it. But

(12:49):
I'm going to eliminate the inner third of the plate,
and I'm going to look a third of the plate
into you know, out to the outside part of the plate.
I can stay on the ball that way, I can
drive it right back up through the middle. It doesn't
mean that you're not going to pull the ball. It
just means you're gonna stay on the ball a little
bit longer and try to eliminate that inner third. And
if you have two strikes you have to struggle to

(13:09):
hit that pitch, well, then that's what you do. But
to try to cover the whole plate and try to
fly open and hit the ball, you know, five hundred
feet on the inside pitch. Well, at the same time,
you're going to face a plethora of left He's gonna
throw you sliders away. That's not a recipe to hit
the ball to left field. And we know show hey,
you can hit the ball left field. He's got enormous
power to left field, so it's not like he's given

(13:31):
up the chance to hit home runs. But I would
just eliminate that inner third and work from that point
to the outside part of the plate and just gauge
to left center. That's what Aaron Judge does, That's how
he hits, and it works pretty well for him too.
So I mean, you know what, I'm just one person.
Everybody hits different, But you know, that's just kind of
a practical approach, I think to staying on the baseball

(13:54):
a little bit longer. Everybody can see that he's pulling
out a little bit. He's trying to he's trying to
jack the ball, and that's but that's what show he does.
He's a slug guy, and he's a he's a great force.
And I think he's gonna figure it out. This is
a smart dude, and and he knows the whole world's
looking at him. And I think it's almost unfair to
to think he's got to carry everything on his shoulder.
He's got to pitch and hit, and you know that's

(14:16):
that's a lot. But I think he's gonna fix this thing.
I do well.

Speaker 5 (14:20):
He doesn't have to carry it himself. They have a
big three, but the big three two for twelve with
three strikeouts last night, the two hits coming from Mookie Bets,
including a triple and a single toa Oscar Hernandez was
oh for four last night. Andy pot has don't get
me started on him. He looks completely lost at the plate.
He came out of the game last night oh for two.
He's now one for ten in the series, he need

(14:41):
fifty three. But back the show here real quick. Game
one against Christopher Sanchez, he took a couple of strike
three called and he seemed like maybe he was guessing,
that's my word.

Speaker 8 (14:50):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (14:50):
Maybe he's not guessing, but look fool that the plate
got caught off guard. I don't know how you want
to describe it, however you want to say it, but
you know, maybe he's thinking fastball and he got caught
up on a change up vice versa thinking change up
and he took a fastball down in the middle of
the played since Game one, it hasn't gotten any better.
In fact, now not only are they attacking him, they've
expanded the zone on show hey Otani in is it bats?

(15:12):
And they're getting swings and misses, and they're getting chases
now out of the zone, balls that are outside. They're
getting him to chase the sweeper or the slider that's
down in a way that he can't get to at all,
and they're clearly out of the zone.

Speaker 8 (15:26):
He's getting swing and missus now.

Speaker 5 (15:28):
Because I don't know what it is, if it's this approach,
if it's just the guessing. He can't see the ball
out of the left hander's armslot as well as a
right hander. He is struggling right now against anything left
handed in this series.

Speaker 7 (15:43):
And you know, Tim in a macro view of this thing,
a thirty thousand foot view looking down on this whole
Thing's what's the main thing you can do when you're struggling,
is you can take balls and hit strikes. And that
also means don't take strikes, you know, because there's not
a lot of those things that are going to be

(16:04):
offered to you at the major league level when you
come to bat. You know, the talk is, and it's
been this way for a long time, those pitchers are
really good. And when you get in a major league
at bat at this level, you might get one really
good pitch to hit per at bat and that's it.
So if you're up and you take strike one right

(16:26):
down the middle of the plate, you probably won't get
another one like that. And so you know all this
stuff about let's go deep in the count, let's go
three two pitch, Well, there's nothing went wrong with going
three to two. If the pitcher doesn't throw you your strike,
that's fine. I would do that all day long. I'd
go three, two on every guy. But if you come
up and the first or second pitch is right down

(16:47):
the middle of the plate and for some reason you
take it, well, that's on you. Now, Okay, now you've
got to battle this guy. And also, if you're behind
on the count, look at this. You can check the
splits on this. When you're behind on the count. Yeah,
my god, the pitcher's got an enormous advantage. I mean
that when you go oh one, I think the batting
average is like one thirty two in the major League.
It's it's hard to hit when you're behind on the count.

(17:09):
The only guy that I know could hit up behind
in the count and love doing it, and he's a
Hall of Famer because that was his approach was Wade Bogs. Yeah,
when my brother was on the Red Sox and Wade
Bogs and strike one, strike two, the guys would look
at each other and they say, it's Oz and two boxs.
He's got him right where he wants them. But he's
the only guy I know in all of my years

(17:29):
of Major league baseball and minor league baseball that that
guy could could hit best when he's behind on the count.
I think because he just cut down on his swing
and he knew he had to or whatever, baby, but
he was a master at it. But there's only one
Wade Bogs and for all of the other mortal people,
you know what, don't get behind on the count.

Speaker 5 (17:47):
It's a tough place to hit. I think you just
said the key word right there. That just completely struck
in my mind.

Speaker 8 (17:52):
Mortal. Otani looks mortal.

Speaker 5 (17:54):
And we keep him on this pedalstal is the goat,
the unicorn, so to speak, as he been described, because
he's one of the kind in the big leagues and
there's nobody else like him that can pitch and hit
in the seat.

Speaker 7 (18:05):
That's true, he is.

Speaker 5 (18:06):
He looks very mortal in this series, the one for
fourteen with seven strikeouts, and at the play.

Speaker 8 (18:13):
I don't don't.

Speaker 5 (18:14):
I don't know if he's necessarily trying to compete with
Kyle Schwarber, but at least in my mind, and you
know this is coming from a fans perspective, nobody who
played in the big leagues, But in my mind, I
look at what's happening and my first thought is, oh,
he's trying to go toe to toe with Kyle Schwarber.
He sees Schwarber hitting four to fifty five. As far
as home runs, he sees Schwarber now heating up. He's
seeing Schwarber take these big hit bats. I'm gonna do

(18:37):
that too. Last night it felt like he was playing
home run derby every time up, even when he fell
behind the count that he talked about Otani, we've seen
when he falls behind encounter during the regular season and
he's hitting right, he'll go to left center field. He'll
go about the middle with it. He's not trying to
hit the ball four hundred and fifty five feet. I'm
not seeing that. Especially last night. He is still trying

(18:59):
to hit the out.

Speaker 8 (19:00):
Of the ball.

Speaker 7 (19:01):
Bark. Yeah. I think he's best when he goes the
other way. You know, and in watching and broadcasting this
year on the A's broadcast, their hitter is the same thing,
you know, doing it every day. You can tell the
guys that struggle and when they come out of it,
what are they doing. They're hitting the ball the other way.
And that's that's what you see Otani and all other
hitters too, is to hit the ball the other way.
Because we've seen him do it too many times, and

(19:23):
you don't want to get into a comparison between Schwarber
and Otani. Okay, that's like, it's like it's not even
fair to Kyle because they're two different types of players,
and Kyle Schwarber giving him his due. He's a phenomenal
home run hitter. He is, he's the best in the game.
I think, Yeah, he's a great home run hitter. He's
a great run producer. But that's that's all he does.

(19:44):
And we all know it. But you know, uh, show Heyotani.
I mean, I mean he's right there with them, right
fifty five to fifty six of on them runs against
each other, so they're they're right there. But show heyo Tani.
To me, is is there's nobody else like him, not close.
He's he's phenomenal. He's the modern day Baby Ruth. Closest comparison,

(20:05):
I think you can say, because you know, nobody else
pitches and hits like he does.

Speaker 5 (20:09):
Not to go down a rabbit hole. But but what
do you see in Kyle Schwarbro Where does that power
come from?

Speaker 7 (20:14):
Oh, he's he's so relaxed at the plate. And Kyle
schwarb is a big dude. I mean he's not you know,
he's not like five ten, one hundred and eighty pounds.
This guy's to twenty five, two thirty and and he's
got a very simple approach to the ball. He's got
a real short swing and he really grinds out the pitcher.
He's going to strike out a lot because he likes

(20:36):
to go deep in counts and he doesn't mind striking out.
If you don't mind striking out, go deep in the
count every time, then you know, that's that's what he does.
But he's hunting one pitch. He's hunting something middle in
and if he gets it, he's going to crush it.
And he's so good at it.

Speaker 9 (20:54):
You know.

Speaker 7 (20:54):
So he can be pitched to. We saw Glasnow pitch
to him really well with that big hook. Change the
eye angle on this guy, up and down, in and out.

Speaker 8 (21:02):
You can be pitched to.

Speaker 7 (21:03):
But if you leave him something he's looking for, he's
gonna crush it. And he does it with regularity. Yeah.
His I don't know if it's his bats bey, his
hands phenomenal batspeed too. He's strong, dude, man, he really is.

Speaker 5 (21:15):
Oh he he Every swing is a hard swing and
that's why he's swing or miss. Like you mentioned, he's
that ultimate slug guy in baseball, home runner, strike out
in his approached him.

Speaker 7 (21:26):
He's up there to do maximum damage every single time.
And you know, you talk about some of the slumps
that guys go through, and oh, Tany's really not hitting
it right now. I looked up yesterday because I love
the history of the game, and I looked at Mickey
Mantle's stats. Okay, you go to Baseball Reference and look
at Mickey Mental his stats. The emboldened numbers just jump

(21:50):
off the page. They're everywhere. You know, this guy was
a ridiculous baseball player. But remember, Mickey Mental had tremendous
of slumps that he went through in his career, many
many deep slumps that he went through. But when he
was good man, he was unbelievable. And just look at

(22:12):
the numbers, but he had tremendous amounts of slumps and
they were deep.

Speaker 5 (22:16):
Yeah, Dodgers right now offensively are in a hole. The
Dodgers need to figure it out and figure it out fast.
With Game four coming up this afternoon, we'll take a break.
We're gonna come back, as we're often running here on
Saxon Kates and the am coming up. David Vesta in
our eight o'clock hour. You're gonna hear from Mookie Betts
coming up. You're gonna hear from Clayton Kershaw coming up
at seven o'clock this morning, and we want to hear

(22:37):
from you. What's your sense of panic now? After the
Game three loss last night? Yeah, I'm a Moto fellow
part Clayton Kershaw got shelled and the Dodgers Big three
are not producing. The worst time for the Dodgers to
not produce was last night in a closeout game.

Speaker 8 (22:55):
They got to get out of the funk.

Speaker 5 (22:57):
Game four this afternoon or else it's back to LS
for a Game five on Saturday night eight sixty six,
nine eighty seven two five seventy. He is Steve Sacks.
I am Tim Kaids. Dodgers Game four the NLDS coming
up this afternoon right here on M five seventy LA Sports.
Thanks for being with us, SAX and Kate's and AM

(23:23):
Live and local on your home of the Dodgers a
M five seventy LA Sports. Dodgers need to pick themselves up,
put last night behind them and get ready for Game
four of the NLDS this afternoon. A three to oh
eight first pitch from Dodgers Stadium right here on NFI
seventy LA Sports. Tyler Glass now gets to start. Dodgers
had a chance to close things out last night in

(23:44):
a game three of two games to nothing in the
best of five series, but could not close the door.
As the Phillies will rup for five runs off of
Clayton Kershaw on the eighth inning and go on and
win it by final of eight to two. We're gonna
get into Clayton Kershall. We'll hear from cursh coming up
at seven o'clock. But the offense last night was a problem.
And it's not like the offense really has been tearing

(24:04):
the cover off the ball this whole series to the sacks.
I mean, the Dodgers get to win in Philadelphia on
Saturday and on Monday in the second game of the series,
and it wasn't like it was an offensive eruption from
the Big three or the bottom of the lineup, or
like they're putting up all these crooked numbers on the scoreboard.
They won the games, and maybe we overlooked the fact
that some of these guys in the lineup have been struggling,

(24:25):
Like show hey o Tani, who's got just one hit
in this series. But last night, in a tight game,
the Dodgers couldn't get those big hits. They were one
first seven with runners in scoring position, and they had
some opportunities early, and they had a golden opportunity against
Aaron Nola in the first inning. We heard Dave Roberts
allude to that opportunity when Mookie Betts tripled the second

(24:49):
batter of the bottom of the first and the ball
gets past Marsh he slides into third, one out, Mookie
Betts standing at third base, the Dodgers knocking on the door.
Tayoscar Hernandez comes up and strikes out on four pitches
and swings at two pitches outside the zone. Not a
great at bat by Taeoscar Hernandez. The last thing you

(25:10):
can do is strike out, put the ball in play, sack,
fly somewhere, ball to the right side. You cannot strike out,
and he did. Freddy Freeman gets hit by a pitch.
Will Smith strikes out looking. Dodgers can't score a run.
Fourth inning, Dodgers get a cass have another opportunity to
you know, to get some something going. They had runners
on first and second. Andy Pais pops out to Indy inning.

(25:31):
In the sixth inning, Dodgers still only down three to one,
they get a single, They get a single, runners on
first and second, Max Munty up three to one. Game
in the six and Monthy grounds in to a four
to six to three double play. The last night, the
Dodgers could not get the key hit. They had opportunities,
they did, but the guys that they've been counting on

(25:52):
all season long to deliver with two outs, to come
up with a base hit, to put the ball in
play somewhere, just didn't happen. You chalk that up to
just a one game where the other team got the
best of you. Or is there a problem here with
this offense? These first game no problem, it's it's it's
one game. Look, I think this is true. So that

(26:12):
up to yesterday, for teams that were involved in the
you know, the first round as well, they didn't have
a bye. I think the Dodgers were the last team
standing that didn't.

Speaker 7 (26:22):
Have a loss. Okay, so yesterday was their first loss. Okay,
you have to win thirteen games, being that the next
round is best of seven and then the World Series
round is the best of seven. So you got to
win thirteen games all the way through. Did anybody really
think that you're going to go thirteen and oh, I mean,
it's not gonna happen. It's it's almost impossible because you're

(26:45):
playing the elite teams now, it's not it's not like
you're playing the you know, it's not like you're playing
the worst team in baseball. You're playing the best of
the best. And so you're not going to go thirteen
to Oh, probably not. I would bet that that's not
going to happen. So it's I mean, you come back today,
you washed this one out. You had some good points
from yesterday. I mean, you got he showed the band

(27:06):
it can be really effective band. I was really impressed
with his with his outing yesterday and Tryning got a
clean inning too. So yeah, you know, confidence was being
restored back in the bullpen. That's that's a plus from yesterday.
You got to take that and run with it.

Speaker 5 (27:22):
I think the confidence going into last night's game, at
least for me and maybe Dodger fans agree. Eight sixty six,
nine eighty seven, two five seventy. You had a two
nothing lead. You didn't necessarily, you know, go crazy offensively
in Philadelphia to win those two games. Your bullpen was great,
You're starting pitching was great. You felt like there was
a lot of room for improvement with the offense and

(27:43):
if WHOA, they get going, look out, they're gonna score
runs in bunches. And you got Yamamoto on the mount.
I mean, Yamamoto's been the guy all season long. Those
two factors, A sleeping giant in the offense that really
hadn't got going and Yamamoto, it felt like the right
combination to just absolutely take off, and Dodger fans, at
least around me, felt, oh, this is a win. I mean,

(28:04):
they haven't eve played their best baseball yet and they're
up to nothing, look out, Phillies. And the problem is
when Yamamoto is not on, and last night one is
one of those nights. You know, he struggled to get
ahead and he got hit around, couldn't get any swing
of missus. We've seen it this year. When he's good,
he's good, and when he's not, he's hit able.

Speaker 7 (28:23):
Yes, and you know, he was behind in the count
a lot. He was missing. A lot of his pitches
were glove side, so it looked like he was pulling
a lot of the pitches, you know, to his glove side,
and you know he only walked one. But that's not
the point. That's it doesn't show the real essence of
what his outing was about. And that's when he was
pitching up hill because he was behind on a lot
of the hitters. Give up six hits and four innings

(28:45):
and three earned runs, but you know he was he
was behind on a lot of hitters. And when you
get behind, they shortened the strike zone up. They look
for one pitch. They do what's called key holing, and
they look for a pitch that's about in the size
of a key hole, and if it's not there, they
take it. And that's the one Schwarmer hit. So you know,
it's it is what it is. It's only one game.

(29:06):
But I think the Dodgers are going to come back
today and have a little more strength and confidence in
their bullpen because they showed that they could do it.
And you know, good luck and hitting glass. Now. I
mean that curveball he throws is wicked, and we saw
what he did to Schwarber with that great, big curve ball,
doing it right in the middle of the plate. The
bad part of that is it starts out over your head.

(29:27):
He's got a curveball like Nolan Ryan. It's just it's
almost impossible to hit.

Speaker 5 (29:31):
Coming up at the eight o'clock now or we're going
to get into the S word, and it's a word
that nobody wants to talk about. It's something that gets
brought up every October, the S word shadows at Dodger Stadium,
because at three o'clock game, we're going to get into that.
Since you played in a many of Dodger games in
the postseason and in the afternoon and what the shadows
are all about at the ravine, We're going to get

(29:53):
into that. Coming up your phone calls eight sixty six
ninety seven, two five seventy Edgar and Lamarada. Good morning,
Edgar sends a panic from you right now after the
Dodgers lost Game three last night in the NLDS.

Speaker 4 (30:04):
Hey, good morning, good morning scam. Oh no, no panic.
Maybe years ago I would have been a little panic.
But you know, with the Dodgers coming back against San
Diego and the DF last year and winning it all,
I mean, they're they're battle tested. So like Saxy saying, Saxy,
great to hear your points from a from a player,
point of view. Yeah, like the Dodgers aren't going to

(30:29):
be panicked. Dave Roberts said it in the presser after
the game. No panic, flush it out and be ready
to go. And you know, if you if you look
at it from the beginning of the series, for the
Dodgers to take two in Citizens Bank and then come
up two, oh, you know, and then lose the first one,
Dave Robert said, you'll take two to one all day,
especially knowing you would have took the two and Citizens Bank.

(30:52):
So all they got to do is just go out today,
flush it down, offense, come out, put some runs up,
support Glass and hopefully Glass will be on his game.
Hopefully the bulleten and will be on their game, and
we'll be celebrating tonight. So go Dodgers.

Speaker 8 (31:07):
Thanks appreciate the phone call.

Speaker 5 (31:09):
That Look, I did hear a little bit of timid
cautiousness in Dave Roberts in his postgame last night. He
did say, yes, let's flush this away and we got
to get ready for Game four. But the way I
interpreted Dave Roberts, and this is just me. Maybe I'm wrong,
maybe I'm right, I don't know, but I interpreted it

(31:29):
as Dave Roberts coming out and saying, yeah, we gotta.

Speaker 8 (31:33):
Flush this out.

Speaker 5 (31:34):
But man, I really don't like the way my teams
approached at swinging the bat right now. Our offense isn't
too good, but hey, we got Tyler Glass now on
the mountain game four and feel really good about that.
But our offense and Showy Otani and the big three
just aren't producing right now. Gosh, one of these guys
gonna start swinging the bat. This can't be one of
these situations we saw funks this year by this offense

(31:55):
and certain players going to ruts. Obviously, come on, guys,
this cannot be the time where they have one of
these ruts where all three of them aren't producing.

Speaker 7 (32:04):
I think I'm gonna push back on that. I read
that differently. I read that Dave Roberts is being respectful
to these megastars that he has. Honest, it's kind of
hard to rip Clayton Kershaw. I mean that's like throwing
snowballs at Santa Claus, right, I mean that like the
Philadelphia fans did years ago. It's hard to rip that

(32:24):
guy because you have so much deference for him. So
I think that he was trying to couch the right
words and and not make too much of Otani in
a slump. It's you know, it's part of the game.
I mean, look, you're going two games to start at
the team that had the best record at their own park,

(32:46):
and what happens the Dodgers going there and they take
both of them. Right now, you come back and you
have Yamamoto on the hill who was just lights out
during the season, and so you're gonna come back here.
And the Dodgers had a great home wreck as well,
the second the best next to the Phillies. So you
put that on the table and what happens They get

(33:06):
beat And it makes no sense at all. And that's
why it's great about baseball. It makes no sense at all.

Speaker 5 (33:13):
Well, it better makes sense this afternoon for Game four,
because the Dodgers do not want to go back to
Philadelphia for Game five. Titus, Titus and Inglewood since a
panic this morning after the Game three loss last night, Titus,
we got ourselves a series, now.

Speaker 2 (33:31):
Yes we do.

Speaker 11 (33:31):
I'm a little nervous and I just want to know
your thoughts on the possibility the Dodgers come out to
early leads and maybe by the maybe by the sixth
to seventh inning when glass Night was out, that Blake
Snell would come in to close it out, not to
take any chances of going back to.

Speaker 7 (33:48):
Philadelphia.

Speaker 5 (33:50):
That is, that's one of those hypothetical scenarios that uh
we talked about yesterday. If the Dodgers were leading Game three,
would they go to show Hey O Tania to close
things out just to put the nail in the Phillies season.

Speaker 8 (34:03):
I don't know, Steve.

Speaker 5 (34:04):
With Game five looming in this Phillies offense, even if
you're leading in the fifth, sixth, seventh inning, I'm still
not going to Blake Snell for a closeout situation. You've
got to keep him in the barrel, so to speak,
ready to go locked and loaded for a Game five,
just in case you have to feel confident about the
three guys you didn't use last night, and Emmett she

(34:26):
and Alex Vesia and Roki Sasaki who are still fresh
for tonight's Game four.

Speaker 7 (34:32):
Yeah, there's your you know, there's your team that you're
going to use out of the bullpen, especially in a
tight situation. That'll do. I mean, you know, Sasaki is
the best thing going right now coming out of the bullpen,
I think you ride that, and you know, if you
have to even have him go two innings, he can
do it. He's a starter and this is what he does.
So you've got plenty of backup tonight. I'm not worried

(34:54):
about the bullpen, and it's just about the offense getting
the big hit. They had traffic on the basis, that's
not that's not the deal. They had some opportunities that
sometimes you need a big hit. And the Dodger team,
as Nomar had so so rightly pointed out yesterday, the
Dodgers are really good. Any team is good when you
get two out hits, big hits with two outs, crushed

(35:14):
the opposition, and that's what the Dodgers were missing yesterday.

Speaker 5 (35:18):
Let's go out to Eric and Marino Valley next up
here on Saxon Kates and the am your sense of
panic after the Game three loss last night, Eric, go.

Speaker 3 (35:25):
Ahead Buenos Los Angeles. Eric matan ye viper, I'm good,
I'm good. Can you play that viper alarm? Because I
am panicked. I don't really trust the last now. I
don't think he's a tough minded If the hitters come

(35:45):
out with the game plan like they did against Jealomoto
where they were just swinging, hacking on first page, falling
off those fastballs, and then Yelomoto felt like he couldn't
set them up. I I if they have that seam
game plan, I don't know what Glasshow's gonna do.

Speaker 5 (36:02):
That's thanks, guys, that's a great point. Eric and I've
I've been dreading and bringing it up all morning long.
But Tyler Glass now is really good. But when faced
in adversity, Tyler Glass now to me may not be
the guy you necessarily want out there on the mount.
And it's just the fact when we've seen him in
trouble in the rain, he falls apart a little bit

(36:23):
of mud on the on the on the mound, he
fell into problems pitching and had to come out of
the game. He cramps up in games when facing a
little adversity. That's it's sort of been the knock on
him when things aren't perfect, And it kind of gets
joked about Saxy. It's got to be seventy eight and
Sonny with no win for Tyler Glass now, and if
it is, he'll have a perfect doubting. But there's a

(36:43):
little bit of weather issue or things aren't absolutely right
around him. The conditions you don't know which Tyler Glass
now you're gonna get because he's just been so up
and down.

Speaker 8 (36:53):
Now it's a.

Speaker 5 (36:54):
Three to zero eight first pitch. Looking at weather dot
com and looking at my app on my phone, looks
like it's gonna be sunny this afternoon, maybe in the
low eighties, high seventies. So maybe it will be perfect
conditions for Tyler Glass. Now it better will be, and
it better be for him. In again, it's reality. You
go back and look at cramping he's got when Philadelphia

(37:15):
had a start. I think it was in Philadelphia, ironically,
a little bit of rain and it just threw him off.
He couldn't get his bearings, who couldn't get his landing
spot down? Then all of a sudden things unravel because
whatever it is between the years, and again, I'm not
picking on him, this is just the fact the surroundings

(37:35):
about him somehow get him off kilter and he gets
off his game.

Speaker 7 (37:40):
Okay, I don't know. I you know, I'm pushing back
a little bit on this one. You really got to
document that stuff, the external factors that throw him off
his game. I guess. So you're trying to say little
mud that'll win. You know, the element's hurt. You know,
I don't know about that. I know his last doubting
he was you know, look, the elements weren't good with
a very hostile environment, and he rushed, Okay, he shoved Okay,

(38:05):
So I don't know. All I gotta say is, you know,
with all due respect, and the last caller, Eric, you know,
grab a bat and go up there and see what
you think about Tyler Glass. Now, this guy's philthy. Okay,
he's nasty as hell, and uh, you know, look what
he did to Schwarber. He just sliced him up and
minced him up and put him away.

Speaker 8 (38:27):
That is a good point.

Speaker 1 (38:28):
Though.

Speaker 5 (38:28):
He did have a really good outing under pressure out
of the bullpen in Philadelphia. So I will give him
that as a bounce back, as a game that he's
now got underneath his belt, that he could go out
there under Yeah, stringuous conditions. I guess it's the best
fairy very hostile, I think, yes, hostile conditions at the
bank in Philadelphia.

Speaker 7 (38:46):
I mean, we're just trying to be fair as journalists, right,
We're just trying to be across the board fair.

Speaker 8 (38:49):
Absolutely, It just got it.

Speaker 7 (38:51):
You got to mention that too, that you know he
shoved in a hostile environment.

Speaker 5 (38:54):
Great point. Great point by U Steve Sacks. Eighty six
six nine eighty seven two five seventy is the number.
Come back more your phone calls. We'll hear from Clayton
Kersho off the top of the hour and get more
into his seventh and eighth inning. Last night, things unraveled
in the eighth as the Dodgers lose Game three of
the NLDS. Last night, they fall to the Phillies eight
to two, now a two to one series lead, and

(39:16):
Game four this afternoon. First pitch three to oh eight
right here on n FI seventy LA Sports, SAX and
Kates in the am on this Thursday morning. Thanks for
being with us here on M five seventy LA Sports.
As we are live in local They're the Dodgers postseason run.
Game four this afternoon of the NLDS. As the Phillies

(39:38):
win last night eight to two to force at Game four,
Dodger's still a two to one series lead. First pitch
at three toho eight on Moroco Casino Dodgers on deck
beginning at two o'clock in the afternoon. Good news is
the weather will be eighty degrees and sunny out at
Dodgers Stadium as Tyler Glass now will take on Christopher
Sanchez in a late afternoon game at Dodgers Stadium. If

(39:59):
the Dodgers, they'll await the winner of the other NLDS
series between the Cubs and the Brewers.

Speaker 8 (40:05):
If the Dodgers lose.

Speaker 5 (40:06):
They will now head to Philadelphia for a Game five
on Saturday night. Eight six six, nine eighty seven two
five seventy is the number the Yankees got eliminated last
night by the Toronto Blue Jays Steve Sachs after winning
a game to force a game four. We saw the
Cubs rally to win a game yesterday to force a
game four in their series against the Milwaukee Brewers, who

(40:29):
look dominant in their first two games of that NLDS series.
The other ALDS series is going back to Seattle for
Game five after the Tigers beat the Mariners in Detroit
yesterday nine to three. Again, I love this time of
the year, and I love seeing these battles in these
divisional series.

Speaker 7 (40:46):
Yeah, they're great, and uh it's gonna be a great
World Series no matter who's in there. Hopefully it'll be
the Dodgers and and you know, maybe Toronto or you know,
one of the one of the other teams. But it's
gonna be great because they're all good, you know, So
it's going to be fun to watch. It's going to
be a great extended baseball season this year, no question

(41:06):
about it. Uh.

Speaker 5 (41:08):
Looking at the Dodgers in Game four this afternoon, I
feel good about the bullpen. I feel good about them
being set up to carry at least three four innings
if need be, because you've got Image Sheen down there,
Alex Vessi is that left handed will come in and
get get you out of a situation and maybe get
you out of a jam if necessary. Face those big

(41:30):
three left handers for the Phillies if necessary, win called upon.
But I feel good in particular because Image Sheen is
down there and a starter who can give you multiple innings.
You don't have to piece it together with four or
five relievers in this game.

Speaker 7 (41:44):
For today.

Speaker 5 (41:44):
All you need is Glass now to give you five,
I mean minimum minimum five, Get me six and that
will bridge imit Shean to Vesia to Sasaki and that's
all you need down there is those three relievers who
did not pitch last night for the.

Speaker 7 (42:00):
Yeah, and remember it's it's how this all works. It
all works together. You know, the offense takes the pressure
off the pitching staff and vice versa. But you got
to get those big hits. That's what makes this whole
thing go. Put that team at a deficit, at a
bad start early in the game, and then they can't
do other things. They can't, you know, go first to
third is freely, They can't steal bases. They got to

(42:22):
they got to kind of hold back. And I know
this is more of a station to station type of
a team, but you know they have to improvise sometimes
as well. And uh, you know the Dodgers have been
doing that, so so good to see this, uh this
postseason and this one, you know, this one setback right here.
One game and I know every game is big, but
I mean, did anybody really think that they're going to

(42:44):
go thirteen and oh to win the World Series? That's
like it's not gonna happen.

Speaker 5 (42:48):
I didn't think they'd go thirteen in a oh. But again,
the way they won games one and two, not clicking
at all cylinders, you felt like, all right, yamamodol on
the mound. And if this offense does start clicking, which can,
They're gonna put up some big numbers and they should
close the door on the Phillies. Now, the offense, to me,
the first three games last night wasn't just a one

(43:09):
time thing. The first two games of the series, Otani
hasn't produced. Mookie Bets is a couple of base hits,
but hasn't been you know, Mookie of old and certainly
when Pa Haz isn't doing anything and the bottom of
the lineup isn't you know, flipping it over for Otani
who's in not producing again, It's just not been a
great offensive series for the Dodgers, outside of a Taoskar

(43:31):
Hernandez home run in early in this series in Philadelphia.
It just left me so much room for optimism that, gosh,
they're up to nothing against the Phillies and Otani hasn't
done nothing. Freddie Freeman's barely done anything. Mookie Betts is
stringing together hits. I mean, gosh, we're gonna we're gonna
dominate that series. That's where I think that optimism come
came yesterday going into Game three, and that optimism has

(43:53):
throttled back significantly. Now, Steve Sacks, as I look at
this this series, now, uh oh okay, where.

Speaker 8 (44:00):
Is this offense? I mean, guys, you want to join
the party or what?

Speaker 7 (44:03):
Yeah, here's the way I look at this, Tim Do
you really think they're gonna completely shut down show? Hey Otani,
I hope that's not gonna happen. He's gonna have his time.
And look the Phillyes top four guys after being absolutely
shut down put the blanket over him, you know, yesterday
or day before yesterday. Yesterday, they come back and those

(44:25):
guys get But let's see the fives. They had nine
hits between the top four guys. I mean, a complete
turnaround off of arguably the best pitcher on the staff
for the Dodgers in Yamamoto. Does that make sense?

Speaker 8 (44:37):
Not at all?

Speaker 7 (44:38):
And that's why it happens. That's what baseball brings to us.
So we don't know what's gonna happen tonight, but I
think the Dodgers got a great chance, and they got
their home crowd behind him. And look before that, they
go into the most toughest environment, the most hostile environment,
the chance for least amounts of wins in that ballpark
against that team and what do they do? They take

(44:58):
both games? It doesn't make makes sense. We can only
speculate what's going to happen. But who knows. I mean,
it's you know, it could be anything.

Speaker 5 (45:06):
Let's go to Franco and Pomona's next up with us
here on Saxon Kates in the am. You're a little nervous, Francott,
little panic in you now that the Dodgers dropped Game
three last night.

Speaker 2 (45:17):
Uh, you know, I feel pretty good. I feel pretty good.
Thanks for having me again. And then I don't know,
I would just like to question, honestly, the sustainability of
our bulk and moving forward. You know, we have a
good game coming up right now, but you know, moving
forward into the NLCS, you know our starters have been
carrying the load coming out as relief pitching. And you know,

(45:38):
Kershaw last night did the best you can. But you know,
you got a question. You know, his last postseason relief
appearance back in twenty nineteen, when Juan Soto Anthony Rendaut
went back to back on him, when Bueler pitsched a gem.
And it's moving forward, I got a question and wonder
if you know, maybe he'd be better off as a
starter than a relief pitcher.

Speaker 5 (45:57):
I appreciate Franko. We're going to get into Kershaw coming
up after the top of the hour. We'll hear from
him postgame last night and his reaction because it just
was not a good outing. But I'm I'm not gonna
put it all on Clayton Kershaw. We'll get into that
coming up after the top of the hour. Uh eight
six six nine eight seven two five seventy. We'll take
a break, we'll come back. We'll get to more of

(46:18):
your phone calls. We'll hear from Clayton Kershaw. As the
Dodgers lose Game three last night eight to two to
the Phillies, is Dowding now have a two to one
series lead in this best of five series. David Veasse
joins us in the end o'clock hour, and you your
sense of panic now as the Dodgers find themselves in
a fight with the fighting Phills Game four this afternoon

(46:38):
right here an NFI seventy l A Sports