Cincinnati Reds Fall OUT of Playoff Spot with Loss vs Pittsburgh Pirates; Podcast, Recap, Highlights

Cincinnati Reds Fall OUT of Playoff Spot with Loss vs Pittsburgh Pirates; Podcast, Recap, Highlights

All right, Nick. Uh, not the not the cleanest start of Chatterbox Reds and not the cleanest start to this series. I’ll be frank to say that uh something’s buggy’s going on. I don’t know exactly what it is. I have a suspicion it’s my internet which is just causing other things to be goofy at this very moment. Nothing that I can really control. And uh we missed the ninth inning, Nick, but there wasn’t really a whole lot of uh excitement to be had anyways. It would have been a real real real shame. And I would have been extremely upset of the hundreds of shows that we’ve done here if there was something special that happened in that ninth inning and we weren’t on to have a part of it. But uh guess we move on to tomorrow and we’ll obviously have a lot to talk about tonight. Nick, yeah, I’m like five seconds behind like myself on the thing, so I have no idea how this is going to work, but we’ll do the best we can. Yeah, this isn’t going to work then. Uh, let me Are you even hearing me? I don’t even I can hear you. Yes. It’s just that clearly there must be like a massive delay. I I’m going to see if I can like reset your feed. I I don’t know if that’s a thing or not, but I’m going to go ahead and try it. Um because ultimately there’s just something buggy that’s going on with the software tonight. And I just don’t know what I mean. The other only option I can think of is if it doesn’t clear itself up in the next call it minute, then we just make a a crazy audible and try to fire up uh a classic classic Streamyard, which isn’t obviously ideal, but you tell me where you want to go and hopefully this will kind of catch itself back up. Yeah, I don’t. It’s crazy. Like face is like 10 seconds behind what I’m seeing. Um well, like I said, I I I don’t know. See what we can do. We can do am I like delayed for you? No. Well, I mean, it’s hard for me to know, but I can. Sounds good to me. But like I’m saying right now is like right after you say what you say. Yeah. All right. I just won’t look at you and I’ll just try to not focus on that and we’ll do a show. I mean, yeah, just put a piece of tape. I just have to like not look if Yeah. Yeah. If I look it’s gonna you The crazy thing is I think you you’re actually Say something. Say something. You are fine, but like me myself is delayed on my end by like 20 seconds. I don’t know. Maybe it’s the people on YouTube too. I don’t know if they’re seeing that too, but I just won’t look at myself. I’m going to actually like minimize myself out of here. You do whatever you got to do, my friend. I don’t I don’t know how to fix any of this if we’re being completely honest. So, if our audio audio sounds good to me, which is obviously maybe what’s most important, but uh yeah, go ahead and I guess we’ll we’ll redo it. You I I’m basically just asking the sentiment of you know, where we go from here. We obviously can jump into a a plenty of topics of conversation. The crowd, Hunter Green, decision, the offense, Brady Singer. There’s there’s plenty to to dive into, but I guess really is there anywhere that you’d like to start before we jump into the old box score recap. Well, I have a guy that sent me uh tickets to give away, so I guess we can give that away. I don’t really even know how to do that. Um, do you have any ideas how to give away some tickets? Yeah. Um, I will I say what we do is is we pick somebody in the comment section right after the show’s over so everybody gets a fair shot and by the time that you post Well, the problem the problem is is this is just a fun night. Um, the problem is is that the tickets have to be redeemed by midnight. So, like that’s why I put it at the top of the show and try. How about this here? I’m going to take some stress off your plate. Okay. You’re gonna you’re gonna share some thoughts about the Reds. I’m gonna go grab a pen. Okay. I’m gonna write a random number on a piece of paper. Everyone in the comments that can legitimately go to the game. You can’t you can’t be like you have to be able to go to the game. This is for tomorrow. It’s for It’s for tomorrow or Thursday, but obviously there’s only two games left. It’s a voucher. If you want tomorrow, it has to be redeemed by midnight. So, it’s a voucher ideally. I mean, yeah. All right. It’s a voucher. So, if you can go, you can claim it on either for tomorrow and or Thursday. And I’m going to write a random number down. You’re going to have to guess the number in the chat. And then there you go. We’ll pick somebody in the chat that’s capable, again, to be clear, capable of going to the game. Is that fair? Sounds good. All right. We want to just do a box score recap while we do that. That seems like a that seems like a real good plan. All right, perfect. You write down that people in the chat, put your number in if you’re want to go. All right, Reds taking on the Pirates. Game one of three in the biggest series in the history of Great American Ballpark. Brady Singer against Johan Oedo. The Pirates scored four runs off Singer in the second inning, capped off by a two-run bomb by O’Neal Cruz. The Reds responded in the bottom of the second. Steer walked and Ellie de la Cruz destroyed a two-run home run to make it a 42 game. Singer would end up getting through five in the third innings, taking up seven hits, but didn’t give up any more runs. didn’t walk anyone, did strike out three. Connor Phillips was fantastic in the bullpin, inning in two/3, perfect innings with three strikeouts. Graham Ashcraft and Scott Barlo each through scoreless innings, but the Red’s offense did nothing outside of Ellie de la Cruz. Ellie had three hits. The rest of the offense had two. Reds fall 42. Reds now 80 and 77. Needing help from the Chicago Cubs, who are not helping the Reds at the moment. They currently trail uh they currently trail the Mets 7-6. If that score holds, the Reds will be a game out of a playoff spot. All right. Um deep drives of the day. Well, we didn’t we didn’t have uh we didn’t have more than one. We needed to have more than one, but we did get one thankfully. We didn’t have any hits, but Ellie de la Cruz, his 21st home run of the year. a bomb.com. 415 ft, 106.3 off the bat. That would cut the deficit in half to give the Reds a 4-2 deficit. Win probability at the time would be 33% and we all know it’d wind up being 0%. Um DSC, they are a leader, as we all know, in renewable commodities. For bofuel production, specializing in used cooking, oil collection, aggregation, and sales. Visit www.deepsouthcommodities.com. deeps southcommodities.com for more information. Thank you to John and his team at DSC. All right, let’s get this out of the way. Um, I currently I currently don’t see I do see I do see at least one number that looks like it is correct and that number is two. Who is two? David Shaw. Looks like David Shaw is two. And I pulled that number just based on Oh, there’s there was there was No, no, there was there was two twos. Looks like actually Robert was the first two. Okay, Robert, I’m going in. Sorry. Sorry, David Shaw. Looks like Robert was ahead of you. All right, so Robert, here’s what we need you to do, Robert. You’re going to have to figure out a way to do this. Either DM me on Twitter or Facebook message Chatterbox Sports. If you can’t figure out a way to do that, uh, well, sorry, I don’t have another idea on how to get you tickets. So, either direct message me on Twitter at Nicholasp Kirby or Facebook message Chatterbox Sports, and I’ll try to get that to you as we’re doing this show. So, okay. Um, here’s the issue that I currently have. Well, I guess I could pull it up my phone now. I was going to say I I my my my computer is just not acting in appropriate manner. So, as far as keeping up, keeping tabs, we were going to have the bug obviously in there for your uh for your Mets and Cubs game. Obviously, they’re still early, guys. Let’s let’s let’s like if anything, let’s try to be somewhat optimistic here, okay? All right. Let’s be let’s be somewhat optimistic. It’s middle of the sixth inning. Game’s not over. Not even close to being over. And uh Cubs only trail by one. Ideally, yeah, they they wouldn’t have blown their lead. They got off to a good start. And uh obviously the Reds are incapable of getting theirs. So, um, Craig is, uh, just chimed in. I’ll have Craig, as we go along, punch in the score of the Mets and Cubs game along with the bottom ticker as we kind of move forward through this through this show. So, we’ll reference it, I’m sure, at times, but the reality is is that uh, we’re going to do a show on the Reds and not the Cubs and Mets. Big game. I think I think I’m I think I’m caught up. Okay, good. I’m I I’m I’m seeing my actual mouth move when I talk. Okay. Well, so here we go. Here we go. Anything is possible. Anything is possible. Um it’s disappointing. I I guess that’s where I’ll start. Uh there’s no doubt about it. It’s once again yet another opportunity that this that this team, franchise, organization had sitting right in front of them to be able to kind of execute and put their foot down. But I I I’m kind of tempting or or laying off the idea of um I’m just laying off the idea of getting extremely frustrated because they did just sweep the Cubs on a four game set. You just don’t do those types of things. Would I have liked them to put the foot proverbial on the neck tonight? Yes, I would have. I would have loved that. And I feel like if they could have capitalized and won a baseball game tonight, um you still feel really really good about this Cubs Mets series and in the way that the the Cubs are going to find a way to win a couple of those games. I still feel that. But it didn’t happen. Um and it happened in I guess Nick, the manner in which you kind of expect with this team, which is who they are. And that’s that’s been my message all along. I don’t want to keep beating a dead horse with the same sound points that I’ve always had, but this is who they are. This is who they are. Nick, if you don’t get some big hits, they’re not a good enough team to kind of give themselves a ton of opportunities and they finally cash in eventually. No, they’re only going to get a handful of opportunities every night, especially if they don’t hit the ball out of the ballpark. And if they didn’t hit the ball out of the ballpark, Nick, guess what? They score zero runs. Well, how you feel about this game just depends on what happens at Chicago. I mean, like, if the if if the the Mets come back and win this or sorry, if the Cubs come back and win this, you know, I’m going to feel completely different at the end of the night. That’s the the weird kind of spot you’re in with with September baseball. Um I I I this game in particular, like it is what it is, you know, like you lost a game and yes, it might feel like, oh, you just went four straight against the Cubs, then you lose to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates. Well, some of that’s baseball. Like it just doesn’t always it doesn’t always match up pretty like like you’re going to win games you shouldn’t. You’re gonna lose games you should win. That’s kind of how it is. I mean, the the bigger like question and the thing that if the Reds ultimately don’t make the playoffs is going to be this gamble that they they made tonight that they lost tonight. Um, and it might not end up costing the Reds, but you know, you had an opportunity to go with Hunter Green tonight. And, you know, maybe Hunter Green gives up four runs, too. There’s no guarantee, but Hunter Green’s a better pitcher than Brady Singer. So, he could have gone with Hunter Green. also gives him a chance to start on Sunday. Um, and but the the thing that kind of sucks is like Hunter could could dominate tomorrow and lose a one- nothing game and and you know what I mean? And then like yeah, you you you could go 0 and2. You try you you went for two and 0 and you could go 0 and2 and that’s kind of the gamble the Reds took. And so far it’s not looking well. And they also a factor that I guess we probably didn’t even talk about is is I guess Trevinho has to be Singer’s personal catcher. So that also weakens your lineup because Tyler Stevenson I felt pretty confident about where he’s swinging the bat. He’s another guy that can hit the ball out of the ballpark. Um and so yeah, I mean they gambled and they lost. Um they lost so far. I guess it’s it’s still a little bit incomplete. I I I I don’t really feel the same way you do about the the Cubs Mets. I I know I get the idea of it, but the reality is is that if the Cubs were to find a way to win tonight, then you would have, you know, you would have basically found a way to be two up with so many to play. You keep the magic number. Now, you give the chance really to give the magic number up and give it right back to the Mets. And on top of that, you know, you could have gone from six to four in one night from a magic number perspective. Instead, you go six to five. Like these all add up. They all add up. I I I I I I get the idea of feeling better because you didn’t lose the game or lose ground. But you also gave up. As I’ve said before, when you didn’t capitalize earlier when the Mets were struggling, you didn’t gain ground. And that’s kind of like losing ground. It depends on however you want to look at. If you want to spin it in your head that they’re not losing ground, well, they’re losing ground because they didn’t gain ground. And just however you want to look at it, you can look at it. I don’t care. The reality is is that I guess the frustration that I have and and is just we’re going to get so bogged down around here about who should have start whether it was Hunter Green or whether it should have been Singer and all. We scored two runs. I don’t care who you are. You can’t expect to go win a game scoring two runs. They did it a couple times last week. I get it. But that’s just no way to be successful. It’s not even remotely uh a possibility to be consistent when you do this. And yet, we’re going to sit here and say, “Well, Hunter Green could have shut him out.” Yeah. Yeah, he could have, but he could have given up a three-run home run in like the third or fourth or fifth inning. The bullpen could have given up a run, too. Like, this idea that they have to be so perfect every single night to win is just nauseating. How about somebody gets a big hit? Like we going to sit here and debate till the Cows come home on who should have started and all I’m saying is it doesn’t matter if we can’t get a big hit. And I don’t want to pick on guys tonight. That’s not my goal. I know that Matt Mlan had a really tough game today. He’s he’s played better of late. I know people are going to look at his statistics throughout the course of the year and say he’s been bad and that’s fine. You can say he’s bad. But I don’t I don’t truly, to be honest with you, know what a replacement looks like at that position. There’s not one. I mean that’s that’s kind of like where I’m at with it. I I don’t know how you can I I people are saying Sal okay Cabrian Hayes has been a good player. He’s struggled very very very badly of late. I get it. Maybe Sal Stewart does pencil in to play third base, but let’s not forget he hit a double play. Like he he he hit into a big double play as well. It’s not like he’s got a flawless record. I don’t know. TJ Fredel had a had an opportunity to uh to to have a big at bat and he got a big at bat and Marte unfortunately didn’t get the big hit and he hit a ball extremely hard to right field that was caught. Yes. But it’s it’s just I guess where I’m at now is is that I’ve complained about this offense so much that I’m numb to it and this is who we are. And I I I I hate to say it, Nick, but I just I I come to expect this. I really do. And I don’t mean that to be negative. Just being honest. This is this is very predictable. I I don’t mean it to be so like I hope it doesn’t come off negative. I’m just saying that if you’ve watched this team all year, this is not a surprise to me. Nick, I I disagree a little bit on on the whole Hunter Green thing about it not mattering. I mean, they scored two runs. Nick, are you going to sit here and suggest to me that that that he fixes the problem? 13 times. 13 out of his 18 starts this season, he’s allowed two runs or less. Nine out of his 18 starts, he’s allowed one run or less. Five, he’s allowed zero. In how many innings? I mean, in how many innings? The bullpen didn’t give him a run tonight. So, all you needed all you needed was five and a third. That’s I I again, I said last night, I kind of made the case for why I I understood it, but I’m saying they gambled and they lost. They lost that gamble. Hunter Green clearly gave them a better chance of pitching five and a third scoreless innings. And now you’re in a spot where Hunter has to match Paul Sk. You went for 2 and 0 and now you’re risking going 0 and2. And yes, it’s possible Hunter gives up more more runs, but I’ll take I would have there’s a bunch. Is Brady Center in your playoff rotation, Nick? Yes or no? Yes. Then what are you then? What are we talking about? I mean, Brandy Singer, if you want to say he’s he’s been one of their best starting pitchers over the last month. And yet now, since he has one bad outing, we’re going to say we’re going to on the flip side say, well, he shouldn’t have started because of he he gave up four runs. And I get it. He gave up four runs. I’m not sitting here saying that he had a good outing. He didn’t. He did not have a good outing. And the Pirates are not a very good offense. I understand that. But I I guess where I’m at is like I just it’s just hard for me to sit here and get upset about the pitching when we have Gavin Lux hitting third. We have Matt Mlan hitting sixth. These guys are not good enough to be hitting in those spots. We’re not a good enough offensive team. That’s just the that’s the flatout truth. If we don’t want to come to terms with it, that’s fine. Keep lying to yourself in the face. But they’ve got to be better offensively to be worth a damn. I’m so tired. And I’m not saying this is all on you. I’m so tired of us always feeling like we got to we got to win tonight. We score two runs. We got to find a way to win. We got to pitch. We got to pitch Sai Young. We got to go find Nolan Ryan. We got to get Hunter Green. We got to have Paul Skins. We got to have Scooball Ball. We got to have whoever else. Randy Johnson. We got to have all these guys to win baseball games. Get a hit. Get a hit. Matt Mlan, step up and get a hit. That’s what we need. I I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. We every single night we get on here and we’re like, “Oh my gosh, Santion gave up a run in the eighth. We lost two to one. Pagan blew it. We lost three to two. You’re allowed to score more than four runs. I’m so tired of killing us. We’re killing ourselves inside because we want to win these games and we think that it’s kill we think that it’s possible to win these games consistently because they’ve been so good.” And I’m not disagreeing with you. It could have made a difference because that’s how good we are. But it’s just so disingenuous as a holistic view to say, “Well, we made a mistake tonight because we’re because our pitching staff gave up four runs and now here I go again screaming and yelling. Everyone’s going to say, “I’m crazy.” I’m just tired of this pitching staff always, always having to be the ones who do it. One time can I get somebody to step up and get a big hit. Ellie did it tonight, too. By the way, for all the people that say Ellie isn’t clutch in the biggest game of the season, there you go. What are they scoring runs in Chicago, Nick? Holy smokes. Seven to seven. How do you score that many runs in a game? It takes us a week. Well, well, they weren’t facing Hunter Green tonight. It doesn’t matter who we face. We could be facing some kid that just walked out of TripleA. In fact, Matt Mlan had a kid, a rookie that came out of nowhere. No one knows who he is. The kid was on the ropes. He swings at a first pitch nut right down the nut and he can’t do anything with it. Anyways, I’m done yelling. I promise for all the people that hate when I yell, I’m done yelling. But the reality is is I’m tired of sitting here debating whether or not we could have won a game where we scored two runs. Two of them. That’s pitiful. Done. But I’m going to listen to you now. I’m going to shut up and listen to you tell me why we should have. I don’t I don’t really have anything else to say. I just think that I I’m not even crushing them for not I’m just saying they gambled and they lost. I feel like that’s worth mentioning. They gambled and they lost on this one. Maybe tomorrow he might go out, but he’s not available for game 162 now either. But you also said that you trusted Brady Singer to pitch above Andrew Abbott. I still do. Okay. Well, then he can’t pitch in 162 as a playoff game. Why do you want to pitch against the LA Dodgers? Like if if if Brady Singer isn’t good enough to pitch against the Brewers when they probably could care less in game 162 to win and get you in the postseason, why do you trust him against the Los Angeles Dodgers when you have to win a game to get to the next round? Just because we can say we got to the playoffs and feel better about ourselves. Yeah. And you’re still alive. I mean, that’s fine if you want to say that you feel better about yourself, but he’s going to have to pitch if you trust him enough. If you trust him enough to pitch in the playoffs against the Dodgers, I would like to say that you should trust him enough to pitch against the lowly Pirates and to pitch against a Brewers team that’s probably packing their bags or not really packing them because it’ll be a home playoff series, but probably figuring out if they can go and check out their uh family for a few days and where they’re going to go on. Maybe they’re going to go to Cedar Point for a few days. That’s where I’d like to know. But no, we we don’t want to do that because we don’t think he’s good enough to pitch against those team. Anyway, I I’m not angry. I I just think it’s I give up. I I thought you were on the side that you didn’t like. I do I will say this. I do think that Hunter Green should have moved up, but I’m also not going to sit here now on the back half of this thing and be like, “Oh, they gave up four runs. What a mistake. I mean, we scored two. Yes, if we would have lost six to five tonight, Nick, I’d probably be a little more animated.” Yeah, I would. But the reality is is that now we scored two runs and we think to ourselves that we could have won with a different pitcher. That’s how the Reds have to win these games. Most of the Red’s wins are going to have to be games where they pitch well. This team is built around their pitching. Yeah. I I just I I get it, Nick, but two runs is an insanely low amount to ask your starting pitcher to be able to go out and and and win a game with, I should say. Yeah, I agree. I agree. But, you know, we’re we’re picking between tough spots at this point. I’m with you. I’d rather argue about the fact that Gavin Lux is hitting third. Yeah, I The whole top of the lineup to me is just nuts. Like, I’m with you on that. I I just I get like I get like I I’m already I’m ready to move Ellie back up. Like you can’t wait around. Like the top three of the lineup is just insanity to me. Like Fredel’s an average hitter. Marte has not really looked like he’s a much of anything. And Gavin Lux is an average. I mean, you have three pretty much average hitters and one guy that maybe that has potential in Marte hitting one through three in your lineup. Yeah. It’s just like they always choose the side of the guy that has I don’t know maybe a better profile to have a little more contact over the guy that can hit the ball over the fence every time they that they’re given the opportunity. I mean, and you hit you hit home runs a lot more often in the first inning when a guy’s like trying to figure it out and makes a mistake and it’s like, well, you you leave your home run hitters like for the second inning after the guy’s kind of been able to to navigate through three average hitters. I guess the only way that that that Tito obviously wins this whole thing about the starting pitching non-starting pitching thing is like I said before if they’re capable of finding a way to get in and Hunter Green goes out and shoves. That’s that’s that’s the way he wins because he could just say, “Well, I’m interested in Hunter Green being available for a three-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers. I’m not interested in the fact that he’s not going to be available for a three-game set against the Dodgers. Uh I I I’d actually respect Tito more if he came out and just said, “Hey, for all these and and I’m just being a little crass here. I’m not trying to be like, you know, for all of these losers that are considering the fact that if we made the postseason the the the the championship of the world, then then good for them. But my goal is to get into the postseason and actually win. We’re going to try to win some series and do something that they’ve not done around here since 1995. And if you don’t think that I’m going to have Hunter Green available against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game set, then you’re crazy. And that’s the good that’s the best argument he could have. And that’s that that that makes a lot a lot of sense to me. Um, but you’re right. We’ll see. We’ll see if you win tonight. But Trace, if you win tonight, I get it. You can see if you pick up a game, you could get to 162 and not even need that win and not even have to pitch him. I agree. I agree. That was that was also part of this this whole calculus. So, it was you’re right. And listen, I’m not going to sit here and act like I wasn’t on that side. I I I very much was. I’m just trying to play devil’s advocate. And the and I’m a little emotional from the standpoint that I’m I’m just I’m just so taxed on always feeling like we got to rely on this starting pitching to be the freaking superhero that they are. And and I and I and I know that that’s what we’ve done for most of this year. And maybe that’s why I’m a little frustrated is because just one time it’d be nice to win a big game. one time. It’d be nice the Pittsburgh Pirates come rolling into town and you treat them like they’re the Pittsburgh Pirates and you take them to the woodshed just once. That’d be nice. Yet, we find ourselves once again making this Pirates team look a lot better than they are. This isn’t the first time and it won’t probably be the last. And yeah, we have a absolutely difficult matchup tomorrow that we’ll get into later, but uh but I just keep falling back to the offense as the Cubs find a way to get out of the uh the seventh and they are heading to the bottom of the seventh tied seven to seven. So uh they are stretching and wriggly as we speak, Nick. Hopefully they find a way to score some damn runs and do us all a favor. Anything else that you take away from the night offensively? I Matt Mlan had a tough night. You bounce into three double plays, I think, and you know, realistically speaking, you just didn’t have a whole lot going for it. Yeah, tough night for everyone not named Ellie. I mean, but Ellie swinging the bat, I mean, is is certainly a positive development. Um, it’s it’s tough right now though, man, when you have Trevinho in the lineup. Yeah. And you have Cabrian who’s not right. Um I I think Kabrian I think the the the the back issue is probably why his offense is is so um it’s just hard to have like both of those guys in the lineup together right now um at at the bottom of your lineup. I mean yeah Mlan had a terrible night. He also had the biggest hit on Sunday. So if you want to forget about that and you know if he doesn’t get that double on Sunday, you know the Reds might not even be in this spot. So yeah, he had a bad night. Um, so did uh Noel Marte. Uh, so did Gavin Lux. No, I know. Well, there’s a lot of people that had bad nights. I MLAN’s probably sticks out the most because he came up with maybe the the the best opportunities in my opinion. Um, even even the at bat that he got after after Ellie’s home run, I thought was a pivotable a pivotal at bat because I felt like if he was capable of finding a way to get on base there, it just kind of a snowball effect and maybe maybe it unravels there for the Pirates, but unfortunately it didn’t. And Mlan also bounced into a double play and and had an opportunity with guys in scoring position, wasn’t capable of getting them in uh earlier in the game as well. and and Mlan’s going to be a little bit of a whipping stick for this fan base just because for the vast majority of the year, he’s not played well enough, especially when you factor in the expectations for for what this fan base had for him coming in. And and uh he’s been very abysmal in in clutch situations. Um but you know what, I’ll just openly say like there’s a chance that it’s a small sample size. Maybe he gets extremely hot and he’s one of those, you know, postseason heroes if they are able to make it in the postseason. So, I just don’t think that there’s a I guess all I’m getting at is there’s not a replacement for Matt McClean. Like, do you see one, Nick? Like, I know you’ve always defended him, but I say like there’s not a realistic replacement. Could Brian Hayes, there is. There there’s an easy one, right? Um but there’s not one for Matt Mlan. It hasn’t reared its head yet with with the defense at third base, but you know, for a team that already struggles to score runs, um you know, you put a bad defense out there, it’s just could could make it even worse. Um, and I get I I understand like there’s people that just like screw it, you know, I’ll live and die with with guys that can hit, but um I mean when you’re going to have to win games, especially in the playoffs, you know, 2-1, 3-2, maybe one one- nothing games, um you know, your defense matters a lot and and Matt Mlan’s defense at second base matters. And Matt Mlan had been playing very well um up until tonight. I think he had like a 128 WRC plus um over the last like three weeks. Um so yeah, I don’t I I I I think Matt Mlan’s your best option at second base. Yeah. Uh one thing I want to point out, I actually don’t defend Barry a whole lot, but uh Jared did put in the chat in the ninth inning, Barry did say, “I’d go after Ellie.” Sadak said, “Why would you go after Ellie when Mlan’s on deck?” Well, I mean, I I I I give Sadak some grace here because maybe there’s a lot of moving parts there. But let’s let’s face it, if you have a two-run lead in the ninth inning, you you if if Ellie hits a home run, it’s quite literally the same thing as if he if he walked in away. Like, it’s I know that sounds crazy on the outside, but you you aren’t you aren’t pitching around a guy to to put him on base and let the go-ahead or the tying run, excuse me, come to the plate. That’s just it’s just not a thing. I mean, no offense to Sedak, but I get the sentiment. I get the idea behind it, but that was a crazy crazy move by Sadak for saying that and Barry was right. So, shout out for Barry for that. But uh yeah, I I don’t I I just these are one of those shows where it’s tough because I know there’s a lot of interest right now and there’s a lot of people that are excited and I was excited and and and and it feels like just a huge letdown. But the truth is is that they find a way to go win tomorrow and it just makes today feel somewhat irrelevant because you got to factor in a loss in this series somewhere because it’s just unrealistic to expect them to sweep. If you find a way to win tomorrow, then you’re kind of right where you thought you would probably be two games into the series. And uh that’s just really where I’m trying to get my headsp space in, Nick, is to just try to move on. And I know that that’s probably not what people want to hear on a reaction type show, but that’s just kind of what I think is best for Reds fans is to say, “Hey, you know, we we we missed an opportunity, but we move on.” And every team will time that you thought this team was dead. They’ve come back. So, if anything, you got to show some faith or trust in that part of this team. And um yeah, I mean it’s not the most beautiful answer, but the one that I’m that I’m currently having. Yeah, I just I mean at this point just stay alive. Just keep staying alive every day and um they didn’t do their part, but you know, the Mets haven’t really done their part for for quite a while. So, um how about Connor Phillips, though? I mean, man, what a what an outing by him, you know? I mean, retiring all five batters, striking out three. Uh, I mean, man, he looks like Does he look like the I I know Tony Santon’s been great, and I I spent a lot of time talking about him with Mike last night, but is Connor Phillips right now the Red’s best reliever? I’m not going to go that far. When you have Santon and those guys in the back end that have been that have been very I’m not I’m not saying I’m not saying most most trusted, most uh sure fire thing. I’m just talking like in terms of like not even stuff. Maybe just like in terms of the highest upside like in the playoffs, does Connor Phillips have the highest upside of anyone as a reliever in the playoffs right now? And part of Santion’s problem is the poor guy’s been worked down to the bone at this point. So, he has that working against him. I I don’t want to downplay what Connor Phillips is or has been. I think he’s looked very very good. that helps your case. But I would ultimately say there’s just a handful of guys that I would trust way more than Connor Phillips right now back there. And maybe that’s not what you’re getting at, but I think that’s part of it. It’s like, hey, this guy’s got some really really really good not only stuff, but he’s also feeling like he’s he’s stepping into a role and he’s feeling comfortable doing it. I I I had said and I think it’s true that he’s probably one of the better surprises that this organization as a whole has had. Um I I kind of thought he was done to be honest. I I just got sent to the complex league and I thought there was a chance that you’d never see him again because it just felt like the wheels were falling off and he’s bounced back and he’s bounced back in a big way and found a role in the bullpen. He’s getting fired up, throwing 100, you know, 100. I don’t know if he got up to 101 yet, but um I know he was in triple digits a few times. And he’s got, I guess, a mechanic change that they pointed out during the broadcast of him kind of holding his arm a little bit lower. Um kind of a little bit lower than his chin, his lead arm. I’m talking about uh I don’t know if that’s making as big of a difference as maybe it’s truly made out to be, but I’d say I trust Martinez. I I trust Santion. I trust Bean. um more than him, but I mean he’s kind of penciled himself in there to be a guy that can strike guys out, which is a big thing in the bullpen, Nick. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Um thinking about the I don’t know if we got I don’t know if we got a tickets thing. I don’t know if anyone’s contacted me about the tickets. So, okay. Who was our number two guy? David Shaw. David. David Shaw, I still in the chat. David Shaw, uh, send me a message on Twitter or message Chatterbox on Facebook if you want those tickets. We uh we gave our other guys some time, but I haven’t got anything. So, hold on. Yeah, make sure they didn’t message Chatterbox instead of me. But, yeah, I don’t see anything. Well, um, we’re at a point in the show where I’m going to do some supers here real quick. Um, and I I gotta tell you, it’s disheartening. Uh, it’s completely disheartening here as the Cubs do find a guy to get on base here. They get a flaring single from our man Turner. I forgot he was even on the Cubs if we’re being completely honest. But uh nonetheless, the big man and former Dodger uh one on in the bottom of the seventh. Future talent says Ellie gets hot. Everybody gets cold. Yeah, listen. I hope not. It’s That is a funny point though. Yeah, Ellie was cold for the longest time and he finally gets hot and there’s nobody there to help him on a night like tonight. But uh he had a great night. Ellie had a great great night. Jacob Doyle says, “Uh if you think we need to sign a good hitter this off season, we can’t be friends. If you don’t think, yeah, listen, the offseason’s the offseason. I get we’re in a spot where we’re frustrated with the offense tonight. And I am as frustrated as probably anybody, but it is baseball. I will openly admit that. And hopefully we can go out find a way. Let’s just say I’m pipe dreaming here a little bit. But they go out and they hang up a six or seven spot on skins through four innings tomorrow. And next thing you know, the offense is right back on track. So, uh, pinch runner for the Cubs. Man on first base, two outs. Bottom of the seventh. And, uh, Matt Shaw is currently up. I think that’s his first name. I don’t even to be Cubs well enough to know. But, um, other news of note is Hurlo 78 says, “Even my sevenyear-old asked in the second inning, why the heck Mlan?” Well, Mlan, that’s one hell, that’s one way to spell it, I must say. there. Earlo batting sixth because Fran Kona. Yeah, I don’t know. I I don’t I don’t know why he’s hitting seventh or sixth, excuse me. But um it it’s it’s it’s tough. It’s it’s it it’s I’m I’m just tired of doing the lineup. I’m tired of the offense not performing. It just feels like we just kind of keep doing the same song and dance as the Chicago Cubs do steal second base. So, let’s see if we can’t find a way to feel a little positive about that. Noah Downing says, “Here comes Nick Kirby to do propaganda for Matt. He’s trash. I don’t care what stats you follow. He’s trash.” Uh, it is a coping mechanism night. And typically when there’s a coping mechanism night on Chatterbox Reds, Nick Kirby is the one that takes all the heat. And you know what? I got to stick up for you, Nick. I mean, you try your best to be positive. You give guys grace. Uh, I get it. And no matter what you do, you’re always going to get railroaded on nights like tonight. So, I’m just going to tell you, you put a lot of work in this. You know a lot about ball. Don’t let the folks that get upset at you. You know what? I I I needed a trace. You know, I woke up today. Chatterbox Res the number 13 podcast in the United States. Man, I’m feeling good. Like, wow. I’m I’m I’m working good. You know, just had a baby, but I recorded an hour long show on on and off. Davis, I really want to help provide some content. So, thank you, Noah. I needed to be knocked back down. Thank you, brother. I I I can’t be walking around the house, you know, with my chin up that high. Um, all right. Trevor Rogers, is that his name? Or is it Taylor Rogers at this point? I don’t know. We had one of those Rogers brothers. He wasn’t worth a damn, but nonetheless, the other Rogers is out here walking, guys. First and second, the only one worth a damn. Yeah, first and second base with two outs for the Chicago Cubs in the bottom of the seventh. Kyle Craraven says, “What kills more rallies, home runs or Matt Mlan?” All seriousness, that guy sucks baseballs, guys. I mean, listen, I know Matt Mlan had a bad night, but we don’t have any other options. All right, let’s be honest with ourselves. We don’t have any other options. I get it. Matt Mlan’s struggled tonight. He did. He struggled. I’m not here to tell you he’s not. Pete Garden tool, he’s back, baby. He said, uh, we need to grow a set and beat an inferior 67 67 win ball team. Uh, bring in Tony Robbins for a pregame speech. I don’t give a damn. Whatever it takes. Uh, Pete Garden Tool, man. I like it. I appreciate it. Uh, Tony Robbins, that’s your first choice to come in and give a pregame speech. I I got to tell you, there’s probably plenty of people I can think of to give a speech. Uh, Tony Robbins isn’t bad. I I’ve not listened to a ton of his stuff, but hopefully we can find a way to come in tomorrow and score more than two runs. Kyle Craraven says, “Trace with the top rope.” Thank you. Uh, Mike Dean says, “We knew it wouldn’t be easy. Flush it next.” That’s the type of super we need right there. That’s the type of super we need right there. We just got to flush it. Move on to the next one. And Quil of the Great said, “The Reds are so far in their own head versus the Brewers. Going to Milwaukee, having a win to get in get in is a recipe for disaster. No matter who pitches, we still got two more games against the Pirates, guys. Let’s focus on them first. All right, we’ll worry about the Brewers when we got to go up to Milwaukee. Uh, future talent said, “Because of poor hitting is our identity. We all knew this matchup is every bit of may the best pitcher win. Go Cubs.” Uh, yeah. I mean, it’s part of it. It’s who we are. We should we should just should we should I guess we should just adopt it, believe it, love it. I don’t know. the Steeler fans get upset back in the day when they would give up like 17 points in an NFL game and think that they that think that the defense should have held them to 10. I don’t know. I’d have to ask some Pittsburgh Steelers if we played the Pirates if there’s any Steeler fans in here. Is that genuinely how the talk of the town would be is when you have that good of a defense, you always think that they should have just held everybody to 10 points or less. Maybe. So, Dante Ryan says, “Just wanted to thank you guys for the great content. I will be there tomorrow and we need to fill the park.” There you go. See, Nick Dante comes in. He’s ready to pump the spirits back up. Soon as you feel like you got knocked down, maybe a a peg or two, he’s ready to put you right back at the top where you belong, Nick. So, there you go. He’s thanking you for the content. He’s going to go down to the park tomorrow and they’re ready to fill it up. So, uh there you go. Thank you, Dante, for the super chat. And Neil Harris, Trace Ice Cubes. Uh Neil Harris as a loyal supporter as I am of uh of Waffle House. No shame in my game. Samuel George says, “Uh I want to shout out the fans. I know early on it looked like no one was there, but they showed out for a Tuesday night.” And you know what, Nick? I think that one’s a good one to discuss uh here in just a bit. I know we have uh Harrow uh who also says there’s no other options, but Mlan looks handicapped uh at the plate. Yeah, listen. I mean, I don’t know. What do you want me to say about Matt Mlan, guys? He’s been he’s he is what he is. He He’s not been as good as we would hoped him to be this year. He’s played better. He had a bad night. He had a bad night. But I do want to say I want to say on the positive side of this thing, um our fans, you know, people are going to make fun of this maybe. I think they delivered. I know that it looked terrible at the beginning of the game, but these 640 start times are what they are. The Mets get out of the jam. For those that were wondering, it is headed to the top of the eighth inning now tied 7-7. We’ll keep an eye on it as we go through here. The fans The fans showed up. They they they didn’t give unfortunately they did not get the the uh the opportunity to showcase themselves, Nick. It seems like the Ellie home run came earlier in the game and they really wouldn’t fill it up by that point and then by that point they never gave them another chance to get super excited, Nick. But I’m hopeful that tomorrow they find some more opportunities and they make an impact and we can finally have our magical moment in Great American Ballpark to get us to the promised land. Yeah, I actually got a text from uh Andrew, guy who helps us out with our social medias at the game tonight said uh crowd is great. first time I’ve been to a game. He’s been to a lot of games this year and the fans were actually interested in the outcome. So, um, firsthand report, you know, sounds like they were there. Um, you know, Brady Singer was walking off the mound. They gave a nice ovation when they flashed the score on the board. Fans were really into it. So, yeah, I think, you know, there’s going to be some people I think there was some some pictures of early in the game uh, where that that probably went viral. It’s a 640 star time. it’s hard for people to get down there on time and I’m sure the Reds also probably don’t have as many workers with the tickets because a lot of those are kids that were in school that are gone and so it’s harder to get people in. So, um I’m sure some people that that try to dunk on the Reds early, but I think that there was a I think there was a very respectable crowd for the second smallest market uh in Major League Baseball uh on a Tuesday night in September. I thought that was a pretty good crowd and from what I heard on the TV, they sounded pretty into it. So, shout out to them. I completely agree. Um, we have ABS Nick coming in 2026. I think I called this as soon as they had decided that they were going to make it a part of the All-Star game. Seemingly was their first opportunity to sneak that in there and let everybody kind of get a taste of it. If you’ve ever been to a minor league game over the past year or two, you kind of have gotten an opportunity to see a glimpse of what that looks like. And it’s such a good, seamless, quick process. It felt like, and I think I even text you the very first time that I had actually seen it. I was uh at a at a Nashville Sounds game and they were, you know, challenging one of them and it popped right up on the video board immediately when they challenged it. They kind of had that whole tennis effect to it. If you’ve watched the tennis match, how they kind of review it that way. The ball kind of slowly appeared in the strike zone and showed whether it was a strike or not a strike. crowd goes, you know, crazy or they they get upset depending on the result and then they change the call immediately. It’s literally every bit of a 10 15 second process. It’s nothing crazy. It’s not like they have to go and get their headset on and and talk to New York or nothing like that. I love it. I think that it’s something that it’ll be interesting to see the the strategy or or or some of the hitters that perhaps maybe get a little over anxious about using it and uh and or the pitchers or catchers, I guess. But I love it. I know you’re a big fan of it, Nick. You’ve been asking for it for a while. uh a huge opportunity to uh to kind of again advance the game of baseball for Manfred. And I think he did it he did it again. As much as people don’t like him, yeah, something long overdue uh that that baseball should have had a long time ago, but I I guess uh betterly than never at some point they’ll have the full every pitch will be will be automated. But it’s one of those things that I think it it probably makes sense to start off this way. um make people accustomed to it and then maybe, you know, slowly find ways to work it in even even further. Um but yeah, you you won’t even know it’s you won’t even really notice it after maybe the first couple weeks. I think it’ll be very much like the pitch clock. When the pitch clock started, it was a huge deal and then like two weeks into the season, it was a a no topic. And now I don’t even no one even thinks about the pitch clock anymore. um unless there’s a timer violation, which is very rare to even see. So, yeah, it’ll be something that that just becomes such an integrated part of the sport. Um uh Matt Wilks did some really great research on this. Uh Matt Mlan was the batter that’s been screwed the most on, uh incorrect calls this year. Um Ellie was second most and Ellie’s kind of always had had a lot. The pitcher that by a wide margin got screwed the most was Nick Martinez. I would not have thought that, but Nick Martinez had had a net of 38 incorrect pitches called against him. No one else on the Reds had more than a net of 15. Uh and and like uh for instance um Andrew Abbott had plus eight. So like that’s a wide margin between Abbott and and Martinez. So, um, and I think some of that would probably fluctuate year to year. I I think that it was just bad luck that Martinez was the guy probably this year. Um, but yeah, I think it’s great for the sport. It’ll be interesting to see like, you know, guys who aren’t great at framing. How does this how does this kind of help out? I don’t I don’t think it’ll maybe have like a massive swing because they’re still going to be calling a large part of it, but the umpires are going to be held accountable a lot better. So, you’re going to have, I think, naturally, more consistent strike zones throughout the game because they’re going to be sick of getting challenged. And the other thing that I don’t think people think about with this is that I actually think this is going to make umpires look better in some ways because I think that the success rate was only like 52% in the minor leagues of of teams challenging. And I think there’s going to be a lot of times where a player is going to challenge and they’re going to get it wrong. And even people watching at home are gonna be like, “Oh, that’s for sure. He’s got that.” And then you look at it, oh, it actually did hit the corner. Um, so I actually think this will probably I this is healthy for the umpires because I think it the way we treat umpires is not healthy. Myself included. I’m as guilty as anyone. Um, and so at least kind of you’ll have that kind of uh uh part of the sport fixed. I agree. As I’m trying I’m trying to hold focus here, Nick. I’ve got to be honest with you. I’m watching this game. Yeah. I I and I I wanted to make sure that we got a chance to clip that ABS. I I do have one take on the one more take on the ABS that I think that people are somehow thinking that framing or receiving isn’t going to be as big of a deal, but you hit on it a little bit. You still are you still are calling a vast majority of these pitches balls or strikes based off the way that you view them. I do agree that these umpires might get better at understanding when they’re getting tricked and when they’re not getting tricked, but but truth be told, you still can steal a couple pitches that guys just aren’t sure on and they don’t want to take the risk of challenging it because they’re just not totally sure, but you did convince the umpire to call it a strike. So, I still think that there’s I I genuinely still think that there’s a a value to it. Now, maybe it’s not as much as it used to be, but um but I I I just don’t want that to go by the wayside and people just assume that you could just be terrible at receiving. It’ll be interesting to see if like if if catchers that try to do this drastic framing kind of get punished because let’s say uh Contrarus of the Brewers was the guy that we we have all seen steal a ton of pitches. Well, if Contrus in the first inning makes some drastic frame job and then the the Will Benson challenges it and wins, does the umpire in his head go, “Oh, yeah, you you screwed me. Now I’m going to like almost go the opposite way and maybe do you get what I’m saying? Where it could like swing the other way because, you know, there’s a human element to this. Um, I I almost think there there could be some ramifications for catchers where we’ll still try to frame, but we’re going to not make it as dramatic because if we try to really fool the umpire and right off the rip we get we get kind of busted for it by by a batter challenging um that umpire might be more prone to to to try to screw us later. Oh Jesus, you’re ahead of me. I was worried about this because obviously right now as we listen or as I’m watching there is uh you can’t be that far ahead of me. You’re just upset because they didn’t call a strike a ball there. Is that what you’re upset about? No, you’re ahead of me more than that. This is disappointing. He hits a home run. He hits a home run. Thought the wind was blowing in. He hits a home run. Okay. Okay. Well, the Mets scored nine runs tonight. They scored nine runs. Kate Horton was on the mound. He had a 0.9 something erra in the second half. Oh man, this sport is stupid. Talking about the starter. Yeah, the Cubs starter tonight, Kate Horton. Um, the Reds caught We thought the Reds Well, they still think the Reds caught a break, but yeah, they he was supposed to start against the Reds. He got pushed back. Did you see Santana got moved to the Mets series as well? Santana got moved for the Marlins. I think his name’s I think it’s Santana. Sandy Alcantara. Canara, thank you. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They uh they adjusted their starter. We were supposed to have old old stormy weather son Ryan who’s not a good pitcher and he’s no longer listed in the probables. Uh yeah. No, they have uh Edward Cabrera, Sandy Alcantoura, and Yuri Perez is probably the toughest of those three. So, um yeah. Well, that’s that’s deflating for being honest. But listen, got some more baseball, Nick. Let’s talk about it as we wrap this thing up. Little who, what, when, where, and why. Uh what a disappointing obviously situation we find ourselves in Chicago. But the game’s not over. It’s not over, folks. We still got six outs left. Six outs left for the Chicago Cubs to find a way to score more than nine runs. Yeah. See if we can be done. Uh they scored nine Reds against the Reds in four games. I don’t know. That’s the thing about the Reds is they just make sure that the offenses don’t look nearly as good as they maybe they are. But it is what it is. is just uh just being we’re just Reds fans. That’s all we are. So, uh we’ve talked about Gohead. The Cubs scored seven runs in four games against the Reds that have scored seven runs against the Mets tonight and aren’t winning. All right, timely and appropriate. Uh as always, you can text and or call 988 when you uh need some help. It’s okay to not be okay. You can also visit mantherapy.org. gets anonymous hotline 247. Um, if you ever find yourself or someone else that is in a time of crisis, please, as always, remember you can text and or call 988, visit mantherapy.org as well. It’s okay to not be okay. Uh, we also have the red hot sale event from Omaha Stakes. I know this last night I even they got a little dessert little apple like it was like kind of apple critter. I don’t know. Those are fantastic. Oh yeah. Boy. Oh boy. Oh yeah, those, my friend, are absolute fire. I know Omaha Stakes is trying to sell steaks and everything, folks, but don’t sleep on the desserts. You can also, as a as a big opportunity, uh 50% off sale on their site right now. Visit omalstakes.com. You can get an extra $35 off using the promo code chatterbox. That’s ch h a tt er b ox. Uh uh once again, 50% off redhot sale event. on omahalstakes.com. Visit or excuse me, use the promo code chatterbox at checkout cha t- ox and you can get an extra $35 off. Fall is around. It is near. It is here, folks. If you want to get yourself something on the grill that you know is going to taste good, then it is time to get you some Omaha steaks. And as I said, and I know Nick agrees, you can also very much count on those uh apple critters that I just had last night. They were Have you tried the Have you tried the gourmet Franks yet? I have not gotten to those yet. Oh. Oh, buddy. Save it for a special night. Okay. Well, I will. How about when the Reds post? How about this? When the Reds clinch, I’m going to get me some uh gourmet sausages from Omaha Steak and I will also light up a cigar. There you go. Cubs going with Edwin Diaz in the eighth. Hey man, they don’t they they know they need to win. They’re going for a six out save. Yeah, it’s time for him to blow up, too. He’s had a lot of good outings in a row. It’s time at some point that guy’s going to blow up. He’s got the Alexis in him somewhere. Yeah, that DNA that that genetic trait’s got to trickle down at somewhere, some way, somehow, my friend. We’ll see. Uh we’ve been talking about this matchup for a long time. Everybody in the world knows who it’s going to be. Uh but we’ll get to it anyways. We got who, what, when, where, and why, Nick. And uh it’s a massive opportunity and a big big big spot for the Cincinnati Reds. Yeah. Uh Reds going up against Paul Skins. Uh Paul Ski currently minus 20,000 to win the NLI Young. So that seems like a a pretty much a lock. Um Ske coming off his shortest start of the year only went three and two/3s. Gave up seven hits, three runs, actually walked three batters against the Cubs. Uh prior to that he was pretty good. uh 0.38 erra in the four starts prior to that. Good news though is the Pirates are only 16 and 15 in starts that Paul Skins has started this year. And of course that was not against all pitchers of Hunter Green’s caliber throughout the year. Uh the bad news though is Skins is 4-0 with a 0.39 ERA in four career starts against the Reds. the only start this year gave up seven hits which tied his season high but uh six shutout innings, zero walks, eight strikeouts. Ellie’s three for nine. Gavin Lux is four for eight with two doubles. Mlan’s two for three. Steer’s three for 10 with a double. TJ Fredo one for nine and then a whole bunch of uh after that. Hunter Green coming off of course his one hit shut out of the Cubs. uh green a career 2.51 erra against the Pirates but just a one in4 record only start this year seven innings two hits zero runs one walk eight strikeouts then of course green threw seven and a third no hit innings against the Pirates back in 2022 in a game that we do not want to talk about uh so yeah um Pittsburgh overall 14 for 69 against uh Green that’s a 203 average O’Neal Cruz and Brian Reynolds are both 4 for14 14 and both have a home run. O’Neal Cruz has two. Sinsk’s 0 for8 with six strikeouts. Gonzalez two for seven. No one else with more than uh three at bats. So yeah, I know a lot of people are going to be like, “Ah, Paul Ske tomorrow,” but I’m going to be like, “Ah, Hunter Green tomorrow.” I mean, like, you know, I mean, skins has 10 losses on the year. I mean, that’s 10 and 10. Yeah, he’s 10 and 10. So, it’s not like it’s it’s not like you can’t beat the Pirates when he pitches, but we also understand that Paul Skins has had the Reds number two. So, we’ll find hopefully a way to to to break that streak tomorrow and give this fan base in this city a chance to get extremely excited and the Cubs at some point are going to have to come through for us. I mean, that’s just the facts. So, let’s find a way to see if the Cubs can’t do it tonight. Nick, um, as we wrap up this show, any kind of parting thoughts, I guess, before we say so along because ultimately we got a ninth inning to watch. It doesn’t look like the Cubs are going to make any progress or any kind of noise here in the eighth, but maybe, just maybe, they can find a way to muster up some courage in the ninth. No, Suzuki Suki gave it a drive. All right. Well, that means she’s he’s a whole hitter ahead of me, which means that I need to get off here and watch uh the Mets try to collapse once more. But as always, thank you guys. If you if you haven’t, please hit the like button on the way out. Uh super chats, if we have any more me double check and make sure I didn’t miss any before we get out the door. Um let’s see here. Ron James says, “Do not pack GAP.” You can you can take it where they gave it to you, Ron. No thank you. We need to pack it all the way. Rick Pitan uh or Pit Karn Pitan, I’m sorry, Rick, but he says Logan. Cindy says, “Hi from Nashville. Go Reds.” All right. Well, folks, it’s a disappointing night. Okay, let’s not act like it’s not. It’s a disappointing night. We’re going to go to bed. We’re going to wake up tomorrow. The sun’s going to come out and we’re all going to say, “You know what? We got another meaningful game to watch.” And that’s all we can That’s all we can do. That’s all we can do. It’s over with. It’s done with. Let’s hope the Cubs can find a way to do what the Cubs are never capable of doing, which is find ways to win meaningful baseball games outside of the one year they had Rizzo and and and you know the the whole bunch. Schwarber, Bryant, they also had Chapman. Remember Chapman? He was a pretty good pitcher. But anyways, that’s it for this show. Very much love each and every single one of you. Hit the like button on the way out and go Reds. We’ll see you tomorrow and hopefully they can find a way to take care of skins. Till then, we love you. Have a good night. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Trace Fowler and Nick Kirby will be LIVE in the 9th inning.

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As the 2025 MLB regular season hurtles toward its October climax, the Cincinnati Reds (80-76) welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates (67-89) to Great American Ball Park for a three-game series opener on Tuesday, September 23, at 6:40 p.m. ET. For the Reds, this matchup is a high-stakes affair in their frantic push for the National League’s final wild card spot, where they’re tied with the faltering New York Mets and just a win away from breathing easier. The Pirates, mired in the NL Central basement and out of contention, arrive as spoilers, fresh off a feel-good sweep of the Oakland Athletics but carrying the weight of a dismal 23-52 road record.

Cincinnati enters on fire, riding a five-game winning streak that includes a dominant four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. This hot streak has vaulted them from irrelevance to relevance, thanks to a potent mix of timely hitting, aggressive baserunning, and lockdown pitching. The Reds boast a robust 44-34 home mark, where they’ve won their last six contests at the hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park. Offensively, they’ve averaged 5.2 runs over their last 10 games, fueled by the dynamic duo of shortstop Elly De La Cruz and third baseman Spencer Steer. De La Cruz, the electrifying 23-year-old phenom, is slashing .263/.336/.436 with 20 homers, 83 RBIs, and a league-leading 100 runs scored—his speed and power make him a constant threat on the basepaths, with 67 steals already. Steer, meanwhile, has been scorching lately, batting .296 with four homers and 10 RBIs over the past 10 games, providing the steady production that anchors the lineup. TJ Friedl (.257 average, .360 OBP) adds on-base consistency, while Will Benson’s recent slugging (.731 over 10 games) brings pop from the outfield.

In the broader NL playoff picture, the Brewers have clinched the Central, but the Reds’ wild card fate hinges on this series and the New York Mets slip-ups. A win here could propel them into a tiebreaker scenario, while a stumble risks fading into September irrelevance. For Pittsburgh, it’s about pride and building momentum for 2026. Expect De La Cruz to ignite the crowd early, Singer to navigate traffic, and the Reds to grind out a 5-2 victory—keeping their postseason dreams alive under the Cincinnati lights.

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Andrew Abbott, Scott Barlow, Hunter Greene, Zack Littell, Nick Lodolo, Nick Martinez, Zach Maxwell, Emilio Pagán, Connor Phillips, Lyon Richardson, Tony Santillan, Brady Singer, Brent Suter, Yosver Zulueta, Will Banfield, Jose Trevino, Elly De La Cruz, Santiago Espinal, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Noelvi Marte, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer, Sal Stewart, Miguel Andujar, Will Benson, TJ Friedl, Austin Hays, Gavin Lux, Rhett Lowder, Alfredo Duno, Tyson Lewis, Steele Hall, Cam Collier, Chase Petty, Edwin Arroyo, Héctor Rodríguez, Graham Ashcraft, Fernando Cruz, Jeimer Candelario, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Edwin Ríos, Jacob Hurtubise, Blake Dunn, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Frank Robinson, Barry Larkin, Tony Perez, Joey Votto

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