After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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That's BetterHelp.com. The Denver Nuggets are NBA champions for the first time in franchise history and they clearly were the best team in the NBA and ultimately over the course of the postseason you could see them morph and change and grow even better, even stronger. Thanks to the cajoling of Mike Malone, his refusal to be satisfied with even a sweep in the Western Conference Finals, the fact that he knew how to press all the right buttons.

Yes, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray but wow what a cast of role players around them who could step up and it was a long time coming but anything worth having is worth sacrificing and waiting for. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We've let you hear the two local calls from Jason Jackson on Heat Radio, from Jason Kosmicki who cried I'm pretty sure on Denver Nuggets Radio, the national call with Mark Kessisher on ESPN Radio also from Ball Arena. Lowry right sideline gets it in, gets it back, shoots a three, no good. Rebound Caldwell Pope, 10 seconds to go.

Miami's not going to foul. No team in NBA history's waited longer. After 47 years the Denver Nuggets are finally NBA champions. They take down the Heat in five games.

The Nuggets the 2023 NBA champs. Mark Kessisher now joins us from Denver. Now that I don't know if the confetti settled at all I guess that's actually what you need to tell us Mark but first of all congratulations on another NBA Finals. What's it like in Denver right now?

Oh my goodness Amy, good to be on with you this morning. PJ Carlessimo, part of our ESPN Radio crew of course. We're not leaving the NBA Finals with another midnight dinner so we just got back. Mike Breen was there, Mark Jackson was there, a bunch of Lisa Salters was there and it was harrowing to try to get from Ball Arena to the spot we wanted to get to in Denver. They were shooting off fireworks, all kinds of horns honking through the night. Every time you're stopped at a red light, you know motorcycles or sports cars would rev their engines and get all the smoke coming off their tires and I'm sure it's gonna go deep into the night and it's funny you say confetti because I just got back to the hotel room and I put down my work bag, I opened it up to grab my computer and it looks like about 10 pieces of blue, yellow and red confetti just fell out.

Well that's because of where you were posted up. I actually can see you even as the highlights are airing on NBA TV that you were directly next to the heat bench on the court so every single time Mark Spolstra is on a close-up or the camera zooms in on him, you and PJ and Doris Burke are right behind him. I can only imagine what it was like to be in the middle of the mayhem as the confetti is falling, yes it gets in your bag, but yeah what's it like to be right in the middle of that on the court?

That was a lot of fun. It's a little bit of inside radio and inside broadcast but more and more we're getting moved off the floor and you know up to the upper bowl as they continue to sell the seats. The Nuggets have a great setup. We sit in the visiting television portion during the regular season and it's just great to be in there and really feel it especially for a championship at home. It was fun watching Nicole Jokic's brothers, not far from us, basically like a wedding move.

Pick up Michael Malone and throw him up in the air a couple times like he just got married and you know just to see Jamal Murray, bloodshot eyes, you know the tears. I mean this was a big comeback for him obviously from his injuries. It was good to see Michael Porter have a very productive game. He was going to be the guy that had the championship ring that just muttered about having an awful finals but will accept the ring and so it was good to see him. And then of course you know the star of the show who'd rather not have any attention at all in Nicole Jokic just grabbed that spotlight and really planted himself as I hate to be recency biased but you know probably a top 20 player when it's all said and done.

Well and P.J. Carlissimo said on your post game show as all this is happening because I was listening on ESPN radio that he is the best player in the NBA and yet have you ever seen a more unassuming finals MVP when he accepted that trophy? I was wondering Amy what it was going to be like because we had him before game one or game two I think it was. You know they bring a couple of players, a couple of coaches.

We have our own little room at ball arena. We're down in Miami and every time I think it was Roz Gold on Wooday who was doing the interviews would ask a question legit questions like not really trying to dig or you know he'd too much praise. He would just roll his eyes and would look down and didn't want to talk about it. Really wanted nothing to do with it and I'm wondering if you win a championship what would he be like? And it was good to see him smile up there.

Guys were patting them on the head but you're right he held that trophy and he held the Bill Russell award and he was holding his daughter. I mean just unbelievably cute and I heard you know I haven't watched all the post game stuff yet but I'm sure you have already um you know sent it on to your audience that you know he's like what when's the parade? Thursday? Yeah I gotta go home. I don't think so.

That's too long of a wait for me. Mark Kestisher is with us from Denver where he barely made it back to his hotel room after calling another NBA Finals on ESPN radio. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. This was another really tight game. It was tied with two minutes to go and if you think about the number of times the Heat had I don't know eight consecutive points in the fourth quarters of these games clearly came back to bite the Nuggets in game two there in Denver. What was the difference? These were not major blowouts.

They were really tenacious battles. What was the ultimate difference for Denver? I think uh well for Denver I mean they're such such a team more so than Jokic and Murray you know had the dueling 30-point triple doubles in game three um you know Eric Spolstra threw just about every defense he can all the different adjustments you can get the ball out of Jokic's hands get the ball out of Murray's hands and the difference to me was you know in game four Aaron good Aaron Gordon uh you know stood up and so did Bruce Brown off the bench with you know Jokic five minutes on the bench in foul trouble and they're double teaming Murray. They have so many weapons and that's what if you didn't watch Denver basketball during the regular season and you know Jokic and you know Murray you don't know anybody else and Michael Porter Jr. for as much of a struggle as it was in the Finals had a great return from his third back surgery this year had a really good season Aaron Gordon was kind of the missing piece for these guys you know he was a guy with the ball in his hands athletic as all get out in Orlando on a losing team and he finally got to the point where you know he wanted a chance to play for a title and he was able to work a trade out with Orlando and accepted a role as you know a role player for as good as he is and Kentavious Caldwell Pope excellent defender three-point shooter won a championship in the bubble Bruce Brown who we talked about you know another guy they got it a really good contract who it's all about team like there's no ego on this team and they they take their orders from Michael Malone who's one of the great coaches in the league and has been for a long time long time assistant and we already talked about Jokic who has as little ego as you can for a two-time MVP and now a Finals MVP and it's a team and it'll be interesting to see you know championship parade summer read all the great quotes about you and then come back and see if they could do it again but but outside of Bruce Brown they're gonna have all these guys back you know the the core of this team is signed up and you know I don't like to talk you know back to back too soon but it is a team that is going to be positioned very well in the Western Conference. Jamal Murray you mentioned the emotion and really the release as he's there on the court and it all comes flooding back it actually reminded me of what we saw with Klay Thompson in the NBA Finals last year and how emotional he was after coming back from his injuries he's obviously an incredible shooter there's so much more to him you've watched him develop you were in the bubble actually when the Nuggets kind of serve notice that they were a force to be reckoned with how have you seen him grow change maybe become a better leader over the course of his time with the injuries and then returning to the game? I think that's a great point is him becoming more of a leader I think you get perspective now he's much younger than Klay Thompson but I noticed last year in the lead up to the Finals Klay Thompson had a different perspective than he ever had like he was so happy to have the game of basketball back now he had back-to-back really bad injuries and didn't know if he was ever going to play again to that level or win a championship with that group and they did so it's a different story but I think Jamal Murray who was fast tracking in the bubble missed two post-seasons you know we were talking to him yesterday in our interview room and it was Doris Burke who did the interview yesterday and she talked about you know what were the dark times like and he said the dark times didn't last long there was darkness in the beginning of him rehabbing but he said you know after a few weeks he noticed improvement little improvement and another week later little improvement and then all of a sudden he realized I'm putting more you know plates on the on the weight rack and I'm able to do a little bit more and from then he said his disposition changed completely and he watched Nikola Jokic you know carry a team without him without Michael Porter to a six seed in the playoffs last year and even though they got knocked out early you know they had a sense once he got back this year once he got into his groove this was a team to be reckoned with and I think I said it at the end of the broadcast Denver snuck up on a lot of people but they shouldn't have you know they were number one in the west December 20th they took over sole possession of number one in the west on Christmas day and no one caught him since and they had a great run through the playoffs winning 16 out of 20. I mean this is just legit team and I think Murray recognized all the hard work they put in and that they're just in the middle of it now and it was and his parents flew in from Canada it was very overwhelming I'm sure. Have you ever heard a saltier side of Mike Malone than the last month even in Miami a couple of I guess it was last week couple of nights ago he's insulting the press room tonight he's telling the media not to ask him any stupid questions and ruin his mood I mean he really took it to the next level in the way that he was able to push buttons but also he was done with the nuggets getting disrespected done. He was absolutely especially from his lead player as well he wanted to make sure he took every opportunity with his press conferences to let people know how good they are and how good his star player is and I get it because we've been with them for the last month and when they beat the Lakers in game one and then in game two it was always about what the Lakers have figured out and you know how can the Lakers get back into it it was never about how great the nuggets were so I understand that he was always good with us because first of all I got PJ who's known his dad since before Michael was born so he has the ultimate respect for PJ and Doris Burke as well you know whom you know he has ties with and of course she covers the the team over the many years he's been here so we had it easy but he had great one-liners for us too that he shared with the media you could tell he had him prepared he was preparing his ad libs the night before and I love the one today where they asked him if he was able to sleep you know leading into the game and he's like I slept like a baby as in I woke up every two hours and cried so you know he's got a great he's got a great sense of humor he's one of my favorite guys to cover and so is Eric Spolstra and it was a really easy series for us to navigate yeah I feel for the heat because Jimmy Butler it was if it was ever apparent that he wasn't 100 it was tonight I mean he literally had no lift through three quarters and whatever he did in the fourth quarter and it was all guts and guile and typical Jimmy Butler never say die we saw him in the hallway after the game and I just shook his hand and I said I know you're not a hundred percent and that was a heck of an effort and he's like thank you very much I said I'll see you next season I mean it's amazing how far that Miami team went this year right I want to ask you about Eric Spolstra in a second but before I move on you mentioned Doris and PJ and actually because I was listening to your your post game I heard Doris drop in what felt like a a nod to some of the veteran coaches who have been fired uh it I don't know who specifically but we've seen a bunch of them right Nick Nurse I know he's been rehired Doc Rivers um Monty Williams obviously there's a bunch of guys who lost their jobs um even oh well Mike Budenholzer even though right even though their championship coaches and she said one of the reasons why Denver is succeeding is because they've stuck with Mike Malone they didn't fire their coach the first opportunity they got the first opening they got and that this consistency and this core group and being able to have that over the past what eight years it's really a key to their success uh you're with these these two a bunch they're immersed in the NBA did you guys ever talk about it did you hear anything about from them about these coaches getting fired oh yeah especially being with PJ I mean he's very sensitive to it obviously because he's been fired before it's his profession and um you know every time I'll always bring him like the hot takes you know in the morning because I don't think he really watches too much television and I'm not sure he reads the bulletins that come onto his phone and I'll just be like hey I hear Mike Budenholzer's in trouble in Milwaukee and then he'll just curse a blue streak with like what more do you got to do and most of them are tied to him because you know Bud was in San Antonio when he was there with Pop winning those championships with Parker and Ginobili and Duncan and so both of the guys he knows Brett Brown when he was in Philly same kind of thing so it touches a little bit of a nerve but I think Doris's point was great because especially this year when you saw teams that competed for championships came up short had championships previously were in NBA finals previously and there's just you know there's no more rope that you get to kind of build on it and Michael Malone remember he got fired in Sacramento right in his second year in his first trip as a head coach and he comes to Denver and their first three seasons they don't make the playoffs and I remember in that third season they went to the last day of the regular season Denver and Minnesota were tied for the eight seed in the west and they were playing head to head the last day of the regular season it was a game that I almost had to call last minute I remember I got a call from the television producer it fell through and Minnesota beat Denver in overtime so his third year doesn't make the playoffs in about as cruel a way as he can and they stuck by him you know and they don't have you know the high draft picks they've developed most of their guys they have the great run in the bubble and they figure you know we're moving on up from here and then injuries set them back so you know the fact that the cronkeys you know and Calvin Booth who's now the GM Tim Connolly before him now in Minnesota stuck with him is just a testament that when you leave it to the basketball people who have knowledge and Michael Malone does and his staff does as well I mean they got most of them are sons of coaches including Michael you know good things can happen there's just not enough patience in all of professional sports in North America so it's uh you know I understand what Doris was saying and she made a great point. Just as a side note I actually heard Jamal Murray say the same thing to Mr. Kroenke after the game when they were he was embracing him and just said thank you for sticking with me thank you for not giving up on me thank you for not moving on he actually said that when I was injured so it certainly seems to be at least with the Nuggets a philosophy for that ownership group it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio Mark Kestisher from Denver so I truly believe Eric Spolster could be a motivational inspirational speaker I mean the number of times that he's pulled me away with his big picture perspective about how failure is key to resiliency and adversity is key to success and and even playing up that whole well I don't really think he was even using it as an angle just reminding us over and over this heat team really symbolizes a group of guys who've been overlooked who've been underestimated and how much he appreciates them for that we talk about coaches right well he's been in place almost two decades what about his style and what about the heat make them a contender every year first of all it's funny you mentioned you know how great he seems at motivation and you know always having the right thing to say because at the end of our conversation yesterday off tape uh Roz Goldenwoody had asked him you know kind of like hey when you grew up like did you read like psychology books did you go to college and you were like a psychology minor and he just laughed he was like you know no like I don't really have any of those skills but his father who um worked in the NBA he was not on the operations side you know the basketball operations side he was more on the business side his dad worked for the Portland Trailblazers the Buffalo Braves I think he was even in Denver here for a brief moment um but he said his dad would always have these you know uh psychology type books that were around and he would make his son read them so he thinks maybe some of that you know he just you know uh kind of absorbed and uses it but you're right he's so good at it he's such a great coach um you know he his roster was undermanned completely you know through all these rounds so it's just remarkable I mean just think about it you know we talk about how things could change you know if Kevin Durant has his foot beyond the three-point line Mike Budenholzer probably doesn't win a championship in Milwaukee right in the second round in that seven game series a couple years ago and then I just think that you know the Heat were down three with three minutes to go in the second playing game after losing the first one at home and if they don't come back and win that game you know we have a completely different bend on this Miami Heat team not so much on Spoe I think he's already written his resume um you know for the Hall of Fame but you know Jimmy Butler um you know beating Milwaukee the number one seed you know beating Boston the number two seed in the conference finals you know in a seventh game on the road it just goes down as a disappointing season if they lose to Chicago and so um he just can do more with less we've seen it time and again and they've got some important questions to answer this off season because it was befuddling why they did not play well in the regular season it really was so I have no doubt they're they're great cap people uh they'll get in some good players uh hopefully you know Jimmy Butler certainly will be healthy by then bam out of bio is a terrific player and uh they'll probably have seven more undrafted guys that they'll uh you know turn into really good NBA players and they'll they don't seem like they're ever gonna tank no it's gonna be the middle yeah toward the top that would go against Pat Riley's religion he cannot do that and I just I wish they would not always take the the most difficult path to success but they do they refuse to do anything the easy way that's the Miami Heat all right so all this prep that you do hours and hours and hours as you traverse the country it clearly pays off uh do you have wendy fever because I think that's next the NBA draft yes I uh after 17 years last year I wiggled out of hosting the draft I did the hour I did the hour pre-game last year and it looked like I was on the hook to do it this year and I got my notice like last week that I once again have wriggled out so I will host the uh the first hour before the draft uh next Thursday on ESPN radio and um but I still love it as much as it's a chore and I was glad to not have to do it anymore I will be going to summer league on July 6th or 7th whenever that starts and working the draft and talking to all the guys who are in the green room is basically your prep and so I have to do a little double prep when I get to Las Vegas so the the good and the bad little time off coming which is fun a little time off little travel uh too much prep that's what I always say about Mark every time I talk to him when he's on the road he's got I've got I've got a couple more hours of prep before I can sleep but it like what more do you need to do you seriously same teams five times I know I did say that too it's because I have great confidence in your ability to to regurgitate all this information all right thank you for unloading for letting me unload it this is the final end on your show you got to use it uh you can find mark on twitter mark kestescher m-a-r-c k-e-s-t-e-c-h-e-r long time espn radio voice voice of the nba finals I know you haven't done a hundred yet like Mike Breen but you got to be getting close man oh I don't think so uh he was about 10 years ahead of me so I've been in the 30s somewhere oh so I got a long way to go to catch him but seven times calling the finals and 13 times before that hosting the finals so it's been an honor to be able to do this for 20 years and uh hopefully I can squeeze out a few more before they uh tell me to ride off into the sunset put you out to pasture just kidding stop it I hope not blue factory for me no stop we're so old there was an article today that was released about me I got interviewed by my uh colleague Peter Schwartz it was all about how after 20 years after two decades Amy Lawrence is not finished I'm thinking holy crap but my old two decades I had one on air where uh Jeff Green checked into the game and I was like man you want to talk about old this guy was drafted and played for the Sonics back in those seven and DJ looked at me with like eyes of fire and he goes you know who coached that team oh yeah you're old that's right so good old and seasoned well I prefer seasoned and mature so mature all right well thank you that's a good one yes and then mature and wise yeah wise experienced yes there you go used no we don't like that well travel safe thank you so much for a couple minutes congratulations uh incredible call as always my friend good to talk to you appreciate it Amy always great to be on your show see mark is really and truly the best but also I feel like as his friend I need to allow him uh to share some of this prep we weren't joking about that he does hours of prep for every game even though it's the same two teams in a series and because he's got two people in his booth with him he doesn't often get to use it all so I felt the need to allow him to to share some of that great stuff good stories from him and good perspective from his partners too on ESPN radio we met my very first day at my previous network and we've been fast friends and allies ever since make sure you find him on twitter it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio you are listening to the after hours pod T-Mobile's network can help keep you connected to all your favorite podcasts when you're out and about whether you're an early bird looking to dive into a daily news podcast or a night owl who wants to catch up on the latest reality tv drama T-Mobile will keep you connected on their strong and reliable network T-Mobile covers more 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that's point.me cash baby there's nothing holding me back you take me places that tear up my reputation manipulate my decisions baby there's nothing holding me back Amy's taking your calls at 855 212-4CBS there's nothing holding me back good morning Amy thank you take my call I love your show you help keep me awake and alert hey Amy how you doing good morning good morning I'd like to congratulate you by the way that you have been to the program tonight I woke up about one something I've been with you ever since hey God bless you Amy good morning how are you I'm great hey Amy I love listening to you hello hello hey hey how you doing our first time caller love your show love you wonderful in the words of Rick Flair this is After Hours with Amy Lawrence me the NBA champion has been crowned what about the Stanley Cup champion that could come on Tuesday night we'll see if the Nuggets can follow up and we get two series that end in five games on their own court slash ice got to tell you I was really impressed with Nicole Jokic not only because of what he does on the court but rather than grab his teammates his brothers are coming after him he's got his family there could have gotten to them first instead what he does is turn and congratulate every single one of the Miami Heat he finds them all he actually gets to them before they get up to the mid-court line where the coaches are going to explain exchange pleasantries and congratulations Jokic wants to be sure he does essentially the hockey handshake line he is class he's a class act he's a great NBA ambassador he's a guy that in Serbia he's told us that initially whenever he gets home everywhere he goes in his small town people want to talk they want to get his picture they want to say hello now they're going to want to congratulate him but that after a week or two that all dies down and he just walks around like he just walks around like a normal human except normal humans don't get text messages from the greatest tennis player on the planet both Serbian athletes now Novak Djokovic called the Joker in tennis Nicole Jokic called the Joker in hoops what an incredible two days for Serbian sports fans he texted me for real yes he texted me yes yes he texted me for real he didn't lie yes i mean he's i mean he's amazing of course in his sport and he's making the history every time probably he's gonna go as one of the best ever if not the best ever how about that Novak Djokovic now has the 23 Grand Slam singles titles winning at the French Open in Paris on Sunday and he reaches out to Nicole Jokic maybe to say your turn maybe to say i did my job you do yours that's real cool and Jokic also was asked about European basketball right because if you are on board with him being the best player in the world there's maybe a debate about that we saw he and Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo who's Greek and African right we saw those three guys who were able to push each other and propel their teams to top seeds right in Denver and Milwaukee and then of course the Sixers being the three seed third best record in the NBA this year they certainly were valuable to their franchises but who was most valuable ultimately Embiid wins probably in a late surge in the regular season as Jokic is hurt Jokic gets the finals MVP though which is infinitely more valuable so he's become if not the best player in the world then one of the top two or three and now we've got a player who will be the number one pick in the draft which is next week actually next Thursday is the NBA draft he comes from Europe as well and so European basketball part of the expansion project of the NBA it's critical it's a major portion a major component of the league success because of players like Jokic and it's cool to hear him talk about the the role and how it's grown even in the NBA we have impacted on teams but of course americans are the majority of the league and they supposed being a baseball play-by-play broadcaster demands a blend of learned mechanics intense preparation and a calm sense of entertainment how hard is it to do this job let's talk to the ones who do it this is matt speakey and I'm Matt Speakey this is Matt Spiegel my new podcast the PBP Voices of Baseball will bring those conversations to you as the best working and former broadcasters tell you why and how they do it new episodes come every Thursday all summer long follow the PBP Voices of Baseball on the Odyssey app or wherever you find your podcasts because they are you know in America USA I mean I don't know how many gold medals in a row and then Spain won it last year but but I think there is some european players and there will be some european players um contributing to win and uh and giving that edge or to the good teams to win to win championship well forget giving an edge Jokic is the centerpiece and on the night that they clinched the first title in Nuggets history it's not a triple double but it's a double double in 42 minutes in spite of early foul trouble 28 points 16 rebounds four assists as the shooting woes were evident for both the heat and the nuggets he's pretty consistent now Aaron Gordon gets to play alongside him sat down with the NBA TV crew and raved about Jokic he understands how the offense is supposed to work how the defensive schemes are working and I see that too because you know I try and do the game at the same way so we've been like we've been just on point from like day one I got here you know I mean we've just been able to see each other and it's just gotten better and better it's it's really neat the way they've been glued together if you will it's a core it was developed through the draft and over the draft and over time Mike Malone is referred to as eight years with Jokic and his seven years with Jamal Murray other guys that have been part of the draft and sure a few free agents in Aaron Gordon's case trade deadline in what is it 2021 this wasn't easy and it wasn't a quick fix this wasn't it's the NBA where everyone plays with his BFF no there weren't guys demanding to go to Denver this was a slow burn but it it lasts because of the consistency and the time and the effort put into it and the patience I love hearing that from Mark the patience that the Cronkis had with Mike Malone and with Denver's development I just know this the Nuggets are done getting pushed around they are now kings of the NBA all right on Twitter A Law Radio who is the best player in the NBA actually just said to Jay maybe we should do a poll.

Nikola Jokic, Joelle Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, other no no I didn't say that actually here's here's what I said Nikola, Giannis, LeBron, other he said that's not fair you have to put Joelle in the poll all right fine but we're asking you two to answer the question on Twitter A Law Radio on our Facebook page too who is the best player in the NBA is it Jokic are you actually on board with Jokic now or do you believe he's still a stat patter all right so bunch of your posts coming in on Facebook now and you can find me on Twitter Jay will retweet from our show account from our show account After Hours CBS you could say the same thing right now or you could debate the same thing about Major League Baseball he may very well be the best player on the diamond and he's at it again in a critical series good to have you with us hope you survived your Monday with a flourish with a flare it's After Hours CBS Sports Radio you are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Next pitch on Shohei swings and drives the ball deep out there into center field in the second deck it is out of here Shohei Ohtani he took his time to get back in the box and then he powered one out that one might be in the 450 range and this game is tied at five boy he absolutely hammers this fastball this is going to be 450 plus this is second deck out in left center field this is After Hours with Amy Lawrence Shohei Ohtani ties the game between the Angels and the Rangers in the seventh inning you hear the calls there on the Angels radio network Terry Smith with the play-by-play that was home run number 19 but Shohei in a game that goes into extras saved the best for last Reagan still pitching first pitch on Shohei lifts one high hits it deep out into left field and that ball is gone Shohei Ohtani has hit his second home run of the night a two-run shot the start off the 12th inning I'll tell you what Monday night has been show time in Arlington it was Shohei Ohtani back in the fifth inning actually in the seventh inning that tied this game and now Shohei with another home run gives the Angels a two-run lead here in the 12th yeah this was the first game of the series four game series big series we had to win this game we really wanted to win and the defense came through the relabors came through at the end and I'm just glad we got the victory this was Shohei Ohtani with a two home run night he's now up to 20 dingers and 50 RBI and yes a huge series the Angels have no choice they want to stay relevant in the A.L. West they've got to use this series as a springboard it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio Angels actually down 5-1 after the first three innings but Ohtani helps them rally and they're able to win in extras if you look at the MLB standings we talked about this last week it's too early to scoreboard watch I totally get that but the Rangers they had been they had been the hottest team of baseball for a couple of weeks surging to the top of the A.L. West and then adding to their cushion over the World Series champion Astros well the Angels they were falling behind they were actually if I remember correctly only two games above 500 they were starting to fade and I'm thinking oh no here we go and why is it important well a they haven't made the playoffs since 2014 and this seems to be their MO year after year they start out hot they give their fans some hope and then they either fall off a cliff because of injuries or ineptitude or both Mike Trout doesn't finish the season and they become an also ran or an also walk and also limp but here they are they've won two in a row back to back seven of their last ten and they're within five and a half games of the top of the A.L.

West it's a start the Mariners actually have now fallen below 500 so that division right now really competitive except for Oakland of course while we're talking about the West Arizona hosting Philadelphia so Diamondbacks on the top of the A.L. West and they've padded their lead over the Dodgers now it's actually four games they are one of the hottest teams in baseball with little Bruhaha as manager Tory Lovello was ejected there's a hit by pitch in the third so Corbin Carroll he ends up with a pitch that he said just got away from him he's trying to go inside he wasn't attempting to hit anyone but Lovello actually goes after J.T. Realmuto the two are barking at each other and so Lovello was the first to address it post-game I want to say something that um I have nothing but the utmost respect for J.T. Realmuto um he is a tremendous catcher he's a tremendous player in this league um and you know I I know what it looked like um down it from my level um this this was um you know me protecting our player and him protecting his pitcher and um there was just this disagreement I don't want to talk about what was said everybody's going to ask me what was said between J.T. and I I don't want to talk about it um I knew going out there that I had no right to go out there and the umpire said to me um you I'm going to need to eject you if you don't get off the field right now and I said well I'm not leaving and that's why I got thrown out but I just want to re-emphasize that I've always admired J.T. and the way he plays the game he does it right okay so uh I got that backwards I'm because I'm a dummy I for forgive me I'm I'm actually was just watching it again so Arizona ends up with the first hit by pitch right so Corbin Carroll gets hurt first excuse me for that he didn't hit someone he got hit first in the first inning and then ends up getting plunked again in the third inning but didn't think that the pitches were intentional but Tori Lovello he ends up getting angry about the whole thing and so he goes out there and he gets in the face of J.T. Realmuto who not only was catching but also did you see he hit for the cycle he's the first filly since 2004 to hit for the cycle so after Lovello gets out there and gets tossed well then his team rallies from four runs down and Arizona is able to grab this win nine to eight but not before there were some fireworks that I didn't explain very well because you know it's me it's after hours on CBS Sports Radio