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Billy P from The D and Chet here. Thank you all
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podcast with your hosts, Chet West and Bill Patterson.
Welcome to the Detroit Tigers Litterbox and it's
celebration time. Victory chicken on a Thursday
chat with your champagne. Pop those champagne
bottles, baby. We're going to the division series,
Billy. Traveling out west. Saturday and Sunday,
the Detroit Tigers are going to be playing the
Seattle Mariners at Safeco Park. And I do think
the better team won in this series as painful
as it was at times, Chet. The Tigers won today,
Thursday the 2nd of October, 6 -3. They lost
game two of the series, 6 -1. It was actually
a pretty competitive game until the eighth inning
and then the Guardians pulled away. And then
they won Tuesday, game one, 2 -1. And I keep
hearing if you heard this as well that the team
that wins game one in these wild card series
is like grossly favored to keep going forward
and win the series. Yeah, which I just. I didn't
know that. I would have thought, I mean, in this
series, Tigers come out win game one. I felt
pretty good going into game two. But, you know,
I would have thought after the Indians took game
two and in the fashion they did it in, that they
would have easily just grabbed this game today.
Admittedly was kind of going into it saying,
I don't know if we got it to get this thing done
today. I really didn't know if we did. And to
be honest, it looked very dicey there for a while.
I mean, once again, leaving runners in scoring
position. Not getting them in. That was driving
me crazy for this whole entire series. And finally,
it's like the offense. I said it to you guys
in the text chat. It's like the offense took
an x lax and everything started flowing again
inside of one inning. I will say this, though.
They must have had Cleveland Polish boys delivered
to the locker room. They must have. to loosen
things up a little bit. I will say this, our
pitching throughout this series did a pretty
good job. The Cleveland Guardians do not have
the strongest lineup top to bottom. It's been
talked about quite a bit. They are, their strength
is their pitching and they have a very, very
good pitching staff. So maybe this was a case
of good pitching, beating good hitting for them
throughout when our hitting wasn't going and
we finally broke through. I don't know. The way
I look at this, Now you get the Mariners who,
they likewise, I mean, things only get harder
as you go into the postseason, but I'm glad we
made it back to the division series this year.
It's, I think the wild card would have felt a
little bit light as a result for what we had
done this season. But when you start off the
way we did, winning the way we did in the first
half of the season, all of a sudden expectations
just go sky high. Bill, your thoughts? Yeah,
I think like I alluded to earlier, the better
team won. I still can't. It's inexplicable what
happened the month of September to the Tigers.
The pitching was good in this series. I'm going
to tell you right now, my game ball goes to one
Javier Baez. He was the best hitter the Tigers
had. Is he back being Javier Baez? He's Javier
Baez. And then aside from that, you got to give
a shout out to Scoobble. You got to give a shout
out to Mize. You got to give a shout out to Flaherty.
And then you also have to give a shout out to
Will Vest, Kyle Finnegan, and Tyler Holton that
was excellent. So the pitching was really good.
The only guy that really. didn't deliver was
Brennan Hannafee, but he was the wrong man out
in some of those matchups. So yeah, the Tigers
are moving off to play Seattle at Safeco Field.
And I'm just doing an early look in on this chat.
Tickets are twice as expensive for these two
games in Seattle as any other Milwaukee, Toronto,
Philadelphia. And then the reason being - Well,
they're excited for their Mariners right now.
Yeah, I believe this is the first time they've
made the playoffs in 10 seasons. So I think it's
part of that. Yeah. Excuse me, scratch what I
just said. I didn't look at the Philly tickets.
Those are much more expensive than the Seattle
tickets. That sounds right. Have you been to
Safeco Field? I've never been to Safeco. I've
driven around outside of it. I've never been
in it. Been to Seattle a couple times. I get
the feeling that that town is very connected
to their ball club. They're not what you would
call a major market team. So there's a lot of
excitement. On their team, they play, you know,
in the downtown ballpark. It's huge. Has a retractable
roof. This time of year, it should be absolutely
gorgeous. They have possibly the best August
and September anywhere in the country. I love
it here in the Midwest. I know you do as well,
but they have. I've enjoyed all this time I've
spent out there. 60 to 65 degree days, 55 degree
nights. They don't have insects this time of
year. Beautiful sunsets. The water keeps things
nice and reasonable, but the sun shines. So it's
gorgeous. Now, fast forward to late November,
December, January, you're going to be lucky to
see the sun and deal with a lot of rain. With
that, let's talk a little bit about just the
quick snapshot on this. The Tigers played six
games against the Mariners this year. They played
them the second series of the year after they
got swept by the Dodgers in Los Angeles, went
up and then took two of three, the first two,
and then lost the third second series of the
year against the Mariners. Then they faced him
again the weekend before the All -Star break
at Comerica and got swept in a very, very uncompetitive
fashion. That was a, that was like the beginning
of our sort of gradual descent to hell roll downhill
towards September where we started. We just didn't
have as good a second half as we had a first
half. Our first half was incredible. Do you now
their, their rotation is pretty darn good. They're
going to roll a guy by the name of Logan Gilbert
out there for game one. I would assume it will
be Logan Gilbert for game one. And he, he and
Scubal are going to go at it. And I am very excited
to see how this whole thing shows up. You're
talking about two of the best pitchers in the
American league there. And that's again, playoffs.
We're going to get this. We got Gavin Williams
with Cleveland and he's, he's yet again, another
great young pitcher coming up. So you're really
not. Getting you're not gonna have too many weak
starting pitchers going forward Especially in
those games one two and three George Kirby's
in there Brian Wu is an excellent young pitcher
He's gonna be and I think he's like their number
three guy behind Luis Castillo is there too So
this is going to be a challenge and I'm real
excited to see Julio Rodriguez play in the postseason
Of course, you're gonna get Cal Raleigh Of course,
Eugenio Suarez will be out there, somebody we
talked about around the trade deadline. What
are you looking for as far as, what do you think,
where do you think the Mariners can beat us?
In just about every facet of the game. Just about
every facet of the game. I mean, you take Scoopal
out of the equation, they're starting pitchings
better. You, regardless of who you want to throw
out of our bullpen, their bullpen has been better.
And then their one through nine starting every
day is much better. And they've made a couple
key trades. They traded for Josh Naylor, the
brother of Bo Naylor, who we just saw plenty
of in all these guardian games. And, you know,
they do have Eugenio Suarez. I mean, the big
names are going to be Cal Raleigh and JP Crawford.
I just, I, the ballpark plays big, Chet. So.
How the Tigers would, I guess your question is,
what do the Mariners do? Well, they do everything
well. There's really nothing they don't do well.
We know the Tigers, they run the base as well,
but they're not fast. The Tigers clearly are
struggling with runners and scoring position
and they struggle to manufacture runs. The Mariners
are good at all these things and their roll pen
is as good as you're going to find probably in
the American league. How the Tigers win it is
I think. the bookend of what you wanted to ask
me. And that is if the Tigers can continue getting
guys on the bases, it's a huge ballpark and they
can run and behave a lot like they would the
Tigers would at Comerica. And they weren't able
to do that at progressive field because it's
a little bit of a band box. So I think this plays
to the Tigers, you know, no call to nature, but
to their natural habitat. Sure. And so I think
we're playing in two pitchers parks for this
whole series. Yes. So theoretically, the offense
should be down a little bit anyways. Tigers have
to take one of the weekend games coming home
with the series tied 1 -1. If it's 2 -0, I don't
think great things are going to happen. This
co -host is going to be in the D. So if you want
to say hi. Location. Maybe you can. message the
show and maybe I'll set up a meet and greet.
Catch them early, folks. Catch them early. One
of the finer establishments in and around Comerica.
If the Tigers do split, I like their chances
to wrap this up at home. Yeah. We have to take
the one in Seattle. We got to get the one in
Seattle. And then you come home and you finish
it out. Best of five series. It's, you know...
Wish they were all seven games to be honest.
I don't really like I certainly don't like the
best of three series I don't feel like we get
a good taste of things there I like how it ended
up for us here against Cleveland worked out great
But I'd love them all to be best of seven series
to be honest if we could get there We're never
gonna get that though. The postseason would take
forever. I do wonder how things will go against
their pitching staff They have a good pitching
staff. So If our offense keeps going down this
weak path, I just don't know that our bullpen
can keep up. I'm glad we got to the division
series to get past it. It's going to take, it's
going to take quite a bit of probably luck and
a little magic and mojo to get through this.
But you know what? I, they can do it. They just
got to play their best ball. Absolutely. And
I do think getting, I don't know if the monkey
off the back, but whatever on your back. off
your back. I mean, the Guardians had gotten to
the point of being the Tigers' Achilles heel
and still may be in the future. I mean, this
is not over. You're not going anywhere. Yeah,
this isn't over by any stretch. And I love that
it's developing into a great rivalry. I'd rather
it be the Guardians than I would, no offense
to your hometown, the Twins or the White Sox,
my hometown. I do not disagree. Kansas City feels
too far and remote. So I was shocked to see it
was last year was the first time the Tigers had
played the Guardians. in a postseason or the
Indians for that matter. Well, while you bring
up Indian guardians, loyal listener Brett L sent
an awesome photo from Cleveland. We talked about
how they decided out from Brett. Good. And OK,
remember how you and I talked last time about
the the bridge, the namesake, the guardian namesake.
Yeah. When they decided to convert from Indians,
which was offensive to some. Yeah. And maybe
many or whatever. So they switched to Guardians.
But I have a punchline for you, my friend and
co -host. Guess what the Guardians are on this
bridge? This is going to break my heart. American
Indians. They're 35 foot tall, stone statue that
looks like something out of Lord of the Rings
when they're rowing into Gondor. I mean, they're
massive, Chet. It's an awesome sight. But the
best part, Chet, is I kid you not, it's an American
Indian full headdress. Bow and arrow. If we were
going to Cleveland for a game, though, you did
say you were going to try and climb up on it.
No way. No how. I mean, I'll try. I don't want
to see that. Where's the nearest ER? I don't
want to see that. Yeah, exactly. Well, I do have
to thank our listeners. That's great. I mean,
like giving us photos. He's like, I can't wait
to see you climb this beast. And I was like,
why do I need to climb it? Yeah. But it is interesting
that a guardian is just an Indian in the end
of the day. At any rate, Rhett, thanks for sending
the picture over. We appreciate you as a dedicated
listener and for showing us what a Guardian looks
like. I guess my Marvel thing goes out the window.
I guess that's not a thing in this whole scenario,
which sort of disappoints me. So now we know
what the Guardian looks like, and hopefully you
can save that when we... in the offices and get
our website up and running and do a little more
social media. That will be one of the photos.
I do think I would like to live pod if we ever
go to Cleveland at the base of the statue. I
mean, I'll climb. I didn't mean I'd climb to
the top or anything. I'm not Bono. I gotcha.
The yuppie aid or whatever he did in San Francisco
where he spray painted half of the Embarcadero.
I mean, that's. That's not what this pod's about.
No, we certainly aren't. We stand for more than
that. If we could get back to baseball. Who is,
I'm gonna ask you a question. It's a surprise
question. Who is your pick to click for the Tigers
in this series coming up? I'm riding the hot
hand. I'm riding Javier Baez. You're Javier Baez.
I'm gonna go back to Riley Green. I think he's
feeling a little bit better. I think Z -Max.
playing better as well. And I think you're buying
into this, the pressures off type thing. Yeah,
I as often the boys are going to let it rip.
I think Dingler could perform as well who I picks
not to click. Torres looks like he already got
news from his agent that the next contract's
sitting on his desk. He looks like he's not happy
that the season is still going. Exactly. And
then another guy that I am rapidly losing faith
in and you and I kind of got in a text disagreement
on this is Spencer Torkelson. You're going to
pick on Torek. Chet, he's not hitting when we
need him to, which is runners in scoring position.
I know the whole team isn't, but when you're
a first baseman and you're the big bop in the
lineup batting somewhere between third, fourth
and fifth, most of the season, your job is expected
to do that. We're not asking you to be nimble
on the base pass. We're not asking you to be
a gold glover at first base. We're asking you
to do one of five tools and that is hit for power.
And I don't know how much. He's going to do in
this series. And here's an interesting factoid
for you. The entire starting staff of the Seattle
Mariners, all righties. They don't have a lefty
starter. No, it's not until you get to the bullpen
and then it balances weirdly. It's very, very
bizarre. And even their bullpen, I mean, you're
talking like one or two lefties in their bullpen.
Kind of like the Tigers. Are they allergic to
left -handed starters? It's kind of nuts. They
have Gabe Spear and Caleb Ferguson. who throw
left -handed is very bizarre. And that's it.
So we have a lefty, you know, we have a good
amount of lefties in our lineup. We can roll
quite a few guys out there. So this could be
an interesting matchup situation to look at too.
Too small of a sample size and too small. And
the Tigers were cooked. They were leading into
that All -Star break. They were ready to take
a break. I mean, Zach McKinstry and Javier Baez
were All -Stars. I mean, Gleybar Torres was an
All -Star. I mean, they were basking in their
All -Star votes. It was like a naked hot dog
out of a steamer box. They were basking in their
own juices. I'm going to give you my prediction
after you talk about basking in juices. I'm going
to say Mariners in five. Hmm, I think it's gonna
go back to Seattle. Does it go back to see it
goes back to Seattle? It's two two one, right?
Yeah, and how it works here Tigers and four Tigers
and four they're gonna get it done at home So
that means they got a win one in Seattle and
then get the two at home I'm saying Mariners
and five. We'll see what happened. This could
be interesting. This could be interesting fascinating
series All right, fans. Thank you, Litterbox
listeners. Go Tigers. On to the next one. On
to the Division. On to the Division playoffs.
We'll do a quick update for you all once we get
pitching matchups and game times and all that.
But literally, the Tigers just won 12 minutes
ago. So we are committed to our craft and giving
you your instant reaction. Instant reaction show.
All right. Thanks, folks. Go Tigers. All right.
That's gonna do it for this episode of the Litterbox,
a Detroit Tigers podcast. Thanks for hanging
out with us. We're Bill and Chet. We'll be back
soon with more Tigers Talk. If you're enjoying
the show, be sure to follow or subscribe on Spotify,
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And hey, if you got a minute, leave us a quick
review. Till next time, go Tigers!