10-4-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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That's betterhelp.com slash positive. Thank goodness producer Jay is back. He missed this marvelous compliment he got from one of our callers on last night's show. Right, I said callers on last night's show. Weirdly enough, they all waited until Jay was not here, like the inmates running the asylum. When Jay wasn't around to man the phones and to play Gatekeeper, all of a sudden, all these callers got through. Jay, what does that mean? Why is it that when you're behind the double-paned glass, no one calls or I don't know of anyone calling, but when you're away taking care of personal business of some sort and watching your team get crushed.

Wait, what? When you're gone, callers in droves. On last night's show, we got bombarded by intelligent, respectful and mostly on point phone calls and yet that does not happen when you are over there.

Why? Do you refuse to answer the phones? Are you too busy talking to your friend Steve? You know, just doing a bunch of things. Maybe I get cut off sometimes, but if we're having 15 callers in droves and maybe I got to start answering the phones a little more.

I think you might need to. They had some worthy points. My favorite though, right in the middle of all of our callers who were responding to the question of what we learned in the first month of the NFL season. And in addition to that, responding to the conversation with Scott Miller about the baseball playoffs and the matchups and some of the perennial powers versus the upstarts.

We had great baseball and football conversation, but right in the middle of all of that, one gentleman called to ask, what does it mean when a team scores 21 unanswered points? He just needed some info. He just had to, he didn't understand what that meant.

And so he just was calling the local radio network rather than Google it because that would be way too easy. He decided that he would rather have us to explain it to him. And that was it. That's all he wanted.

And then he was gone back to his business. He trusts you. It's nice.

He trusts the internet. Now see, if you would let those people through to express themselves and to ask their pertinent questions, well, the show might sound different. It might. Did you have fun while you were away? Not at all?

Not even a little bit? It's been like, but it really just ruined my entire day today. I'm still like trying to rid myself of this stink of MetLife Stadium and it's just not going away. How many Seahawks fans were there? Because I have friends who were Seahawks fans who went to the game. They were there in droves. They were Seahawks fans all over the place.

It was a little surprising. I got there a couple hours early, tailgate hangout, and they were just all over the parking lot. They were invading your personal space?

A little bit. Were they annoying? No, they were respectful actually. I wouldn't think that Seahawks fans would generally be over the line. We're not talking about Eagles fans here. Right.

Okay. So then my next question is, did you leave early or did you wait until the 11th sack of your quarterback, Daniel Jones? Yeah, we saw all 11 of those. Because people started, like after the pick six, everyone started to head out and we're like, all right, well, if everyone's going to head out now, we might as well just wait and, you know, rather than sit in the parking lot for an hour, just sitting here. And either way, it just wasn't going to get better. Yeah. Then all the Seahawks fans started coming down and like cheering for their team and it just had a bask in that.

It just wasn't good. That's got to be awful. It's going to be a little bit like being the Chargers who play the Steelers or I don't know, any of those teams, even in Las Vegas where you have Raiders Steelers, so to speak, Cowboys fans travel very well.

Yeah. I can imagine that that gets to be a little bit annoying. Remember it maybe not the case now, but with the commanders in previous seasons when they were really bad, how much the players complained about the fact that it wasn't a home field advantage. Instead, it felt like it was a home field for the other team. So that that's not something that I would think the Giants are used to, but I bet that didn't happen during Eli's days. No, I was thinking that like probably, probably like a bunch of season ticket holders just maybe saw the opportunity to make a little bit of money on these Monday night football tickets, sold them up for a little profit to Seahawks fans and they just ate them all up.

Too bad they missed 11 sacks. Yeah. Yeah. It was a sight. Last question before we get down to business of the hump show. I told the peeps 24 hours ago that I would bet money that you started heckling and booing, whether it be the fans, but it sounds like they were not on your bad side or your own team. I was pretty sure considering our previous sports experiences in person that you likely took the chance to heckle and to boo. How much of the heckling and booing did you engage in? There was heckling. There was a lot of booing. I knew it.

Do I know him or what? It was horrible. And then I even got mad at a Seahawks fan who really didn't do anything, but I was just, the whole mood was just negative and he like stood up for like, and like didn't sit down for like a minute. The play was like, it was over anyway, but I was just like, sit down, like try to watch. Like, even though I wasn't, but I was just taking it out on him. I was standing in front of me in the Seahawks jersey.

Oh, you're one of those people, huh? It's just, I didn't want to, but it just kind of happened. It was just horrible. It was, the whole game was just dreadful.

Dreadful. It was not, well, the first maybe five minutes were exciting. How were the burgers and dogs? Those were good. The tailgate was fun.

I know food is your favorite thing. Well, it has to be now, considering your football team is awful. Man, that's done. That was fun. And your baseball team is no better.

It's even worse. Who am I to talk? At least my football team finally has a win. Oh, we're in the same boat. Yay! It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Yes, producer Jay is back just in time for the start of October and baseball playoffs because October is the fulcrum.

Also, he sent me a text today. Wow, there's so much good NBA! Oh, alright. I'm not in NBA mode yet, but I do imagine that it'll be entertaining for us to trot out some of the superstars who are talking about how their teams don't look anything like what they were five months ago. Goodness, there have been a lot of big names who have changed uniforms. Oh my God.

We'll get to a little bit of that. Though, Jimmy Butler did not change uniforms, only his hair do. I'm not a dude, so I can't really comment on men's hair as much. I would never presume to tell Bob what to do with his hair.

I honestly wouldn't. However, one of these days I'll tell you a major sacrifice that Bob made. I think initially he made it for me, now he likes it. But initially it was just because he knew I would prefer it.

I did him a favor, now he says thank you, but at the time he only did it for me. So maybe I'll share that with you on this edition of the show. But I can't presume to know why or what or how come. For Jimmy Butler, producer Jay, would you care to weigh in on another man's haircut? Generally not someone who notices a haircut or like, oh hey you got a new haircut. That's not me to say that, but Jimmy Butler's I would notice. I don't love it, but I respect it. You respect it?

What does that mean? He's going for the emo look and he pulled it off tremendously. I mean it looked great, but he should probably change that back for the season. Okay, let's hear him. Just because this has got to be the place to start. Our first piece of audio on this edition of the show. Jimmy Butler sporting a new look.

What's this? This is my emotional state. I'm one with my emotions, so this is what you get. I'm emo.

Leave me alone. Jimmy Butler, never change. On that note, it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Yes, it is the hump show.

Middle show of the work week. Get through this one and we are home free. Although Bob is going home on Wednesday, which makes me sad. No, I'm not going to cry. I'm absolutely not going to cry. It'll be alright. We only have to go another three and a half weeks, which seems like forever. Here's the number that I'm trying to keep in mind. Seventy-five days.

Seventy-five days. Send your questions for Ask Amy Anything, the non-wedding version of Ask Amy Anything, to our show Twitter After Hours CBS. Just look for the bright orange box. I did retweet it on my own account, so it's there as well. And then you can also find it on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence. If you would like the wedding questions answered, I haven't even shared, no joke, haven't even shared on Twitter or Facebook part two of Ask Amy Walks Down the Aisle, and yet you already have found it on your own and are liking it and sending your comments and much to the delight of producer Jay, though he was playing hooky, we have many more subscribers to our YouTube channel than we did when he decided to play hooky.

So thank you for that. Actually, Jay really needs that tonight. He needs you all to remind him that he is greater than the misery of his football team. He needs a pick me up, if you will.

I do. Like a big time pick me up. To the tune of eleven sacks and three turnovers. That's essentially fourteen negative plays.

And that's just talking sacks and... Oh yeah, I saw them. Every single one of them. Right in front of my face. All in their glory. Live. Or misery.

Live in color. So Jay needs you all to pick him up and support and encourage him and remind him that it's just football. There's good in this world still.

There is good in this world. There are more subscribers on YouTube. Oh how twisted.

That's actually very twisted. So our YouTube channel is easy to find. By the way, I haven't even told my family, most of my family, although some of them have found the videos on their own, I haven't even told most of my family and friends yet about the...

They're special. The special Ask Amy Walks Down the Aisle video is part one and two to answer all of your wedding questions. Well, almost all of your wedding questions, but you don't know what that means until you watch the videos. There may be a bit of a cliffhanger. There may be.

So on Facebook and Twitter you can find the links. You can send tonight's questions for Ask Amy and you can also like, subscribe, send your comments to our brand new videos on YouTube. Speaking of asking Amy, guess who's joining us in 45 minutes from Southern California? Our friend Amy Trask. It's time for another episode of Team Amy Radio.

We decided it's been way too long and it actually took us a few weeks to set this up because she's, as always, in high demand and has a brand new adventure. Do you know that Amy Trask is now a podcast host? I'm telling you, this is the kind of podcast slash audio that you do not want to miss because when she gets started telling stories about Al Davis, you learn something. She takes you inside the mind of Al Davis and the epic battles the two of them used to have. So make sure that you join us all the way through this hour and top of next hour we get Amy Trask here on the show. Longtime Raiders CEO, now with CBS Sports and has a brand new podcast. Did you know she's a poet as well and a connoisseur of ice cream?

It's maybe the reason why we bonded. So that's coming up in 45 minutes. We've got four wildcard series that are now underway. We've also got Mike Tomlin. I don't know if you've ever heard him like this before. We've trotted out the stat many times that the Steelers have never had a losing record with Mike Tomlin as the coach. But it's only week four and everything is up for evaluation. Everything is under a microscope. Everything is being scrutinized in Pittsburgh.

Mike Tomlin weighs in on changes for the Steelers as we move into the second month of the NFL season. It's put up and shut up time. Oh, it's beyond that.

And I mentioned this on our last show in passing. I told you that I and I do draw a line. I'm not saying I've never done it, but it's something I work very hard not to do. Call people names. Call people garbage or trash.

I think that's so disrespectful. Especially when we're talking about athletes who are performing for our entertainment. It really bothers me when fans talk about athletes and use those terms, garbage or trash. You can say they played like garbage or trash if that's what you believe. But to call people by those terms is offensive and it's disrespectful. And it's just wrong over something as ridiculous and meaningless as sports.

And I do mean that. You will never hear me say my job is important. You will never hear me say that what I do is impactful. I mean, I entertain.

That's what I do. This show is not rocket science. It's not going to change the world. At least not talking about sports. Sports are for our entertainment. I get that they're a big business for the owners, for the coaches, for the general managers, for the players. Sure, it's their careers. But honestly, it's our entertainment.

And we get so caught up and so carried away to the point where some fans, and I'm sure it's a select few, it's a very small minority, will actually send death threats over something as ridiculous as sports. So when I hear a journalist, well, I won't call him a journalist. I'll call him a former pro athlete turned analyst. Use that term to describe a fellow athlete, someone who has also made his way to the highest level of the game. Whether or not you think he's good at what he does, whether or not you think he should have the position that he does, I'm astonished that an athlete would call another pro athlete in the same sport trash or garbage. And wouldn't you know, in this particular instance, an opponent is coming to his defense.

If you don't know the story, we'll get to it. But I am uber impressed with what Micah Parsons does on the field. And now I'm even more impressed with the man that he is as he takes a stand off the field on his podcast.

It's one of my new favorites. Oh, watch out, New Heights podcast. You may be replaced by the Micah Parsons pod.

That's the funny thing, right? We used to use the word episode. Now we just use ep. We used to use the word podcast.

Now we just use pod, not escape pods like we have in Star Wars, but pods as in podcast. That's what the cool kids say. Jay, we're not so cool. Okay, I'll just put myself in my own category.

I'm not so cool. I think a pod racer. Like Star Wars.

Like Phantom Menace. X-A-Bulba. That is a fantastic reference. You are forgiven for playing hooky from the show and for booing and heckling. No, I needed to do that. That had to happen. For your own sanity.

Well, we missed you. Even Ellen in St. Louis who, get this, was on the elliptical at three thirty in the morning. Wow.

You want to talk about sanity? She said she was on the elliptical so she could wake up before she walked the dog and then went to the gym. That is way too much work for me. A pre-workout before the gym? A pre-workout before walking the dog and then going to the gym. Wow.

I wish I had that drive. That's hardcore. No way. Well, first of all, I don't go to the gym.

But I definitely wouldn't do a workout before I went running. No. No, that's the workout. That's it. That's all you get.

That's all we got. On Twitter, A Law Radio. We already have a welcome back Jay tweet.

On our show Twitter, After Hours, CBS. We're going to dive right into these four playoff games. Four wildcard series underway. And since when did the Phillies turn into a big bad?

Man, it's like big brother flexing his muscles because, you know, he's been there, done that. Some good stuff from the openers of these three game series. Also on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, we're glad to connect with you. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on our hump show on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Swung online to third. It's fair. Out of the reach of Berger. It's down the line. Rojas will score. Bohm around first.

Headed for second. He's sliding in with an RBI double. And it's one to nothing Phillies. Lead off second and third. The infield in the pitch. Basketball lined into center field. A base hit. J.T. scores. Rounding third.

Heading for Ole Miss Castellanos. The throw to the plate is in time. Fortes was able to grab it and make the tag. Castellanos stumbled coming around third just a little bit. But it's two nothing Phillies. Rojas bounced on the ground. Through the middle. Base hit for Pache.

Strolling home is Bryson Stott. RBI single. And the Phillies are on top three to nothing here in the fourth inning.

Getting you to the good half of your week, it's the Hump Show on After Hours. What a difference a year makes. And not because the Phillies didn't start out the same way a year ago. Do you know they've won six consecutive game ones in the playoffs? And so this is a big deal.

You get game one and it changes so much. But what a difference a year makes when it comes to the Phillies and their perspective. There were zero to low expectations for the Phillies this time last year.

Especially considering their path to reach the NLCS, forget World Series. They were considered an upstart, a cool story. They had an interim manager. They had fired one in May when they were 12 games below 500 or something like that. The little engine that could, they slugged the ball and they got hot at the right time. And they fought their way into the playoffs. And then they started taking teams out, including the Atlanta Braves.

But it's not the case anymore. There's no more interim manager. Now there's a stacked lineup that includes a Trey Turner. And this wild card week, they are the team to beat.

Been there, done that, can show you how to do it. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. And I do think it's fascinating that now they are hosting a team from the NL East. So same division in the Marlins.

Scott Fransky with the call on the Phillies radio network. And even as they scored three runs in the first couple innings, they could have had more. They were actually three for 14 with runners in scoring position. And they left seven guys on base. And so because they didn't take advantage of some of the other opportunities, they needed to use the pitching and the defense as well. Alvarado ready. He kicks in the one-two pitch. Swing and a miss. He struck him out.

A cutter puts away Gurriel. And the Marlins leave the tying run aboard here in the seventh. Once again, Scott Fransky on Phillies radio.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Kind of funny, actually, you may have seen this pop up or heard them mention it on the broadcast. Every Phillies starter, there was a pinch hitter who didn't end up recording a hit. But every Phillies starter had a hit. But Bryce Harper was the last one to get a hit and to get on base.

And so, yeah, it was a total hit parade once Bryce joined the party. The 0-1 pitch. Swung on, ripped down the left field line. It's going to be a base hit for Castellanos. Harper is off to the races around second. He's heading for third. The helmet comes flying off. They're going to wave him to the plate.

The relay home is not in time. Harper scores from first as Castellanos is in at third. And the Phillies take a 4-1 lead. You know what's really funny is that he blew right through a stop sign, and yet I feel as though we've seen that version of Bryce Harper forever, right?

Hair flying, helmet comes off. Bryce Harper. Just going right through the stop sign and hauling ass to home plate. It's just so classic. And now it's really the epitome of what the Phillies can do.

They're bold, they're brash, and this is nothing new for them. So they score their runs in the third and fourth innings against the Marlins, and then they're able to protect. They tack on another run in the eighth. Jake Kimbrel gets the save of Zach Wheeler's big victory, and he was impressive.

Into the sixth inning, he allows just a run on five hits and a couple of walks. And he had told us going into this series that they were expecting a raucous atmosphere in Philadelphia. And being the home team, they got to start on their own field. And, yeah, the playoff crowd, the atmosphere, Wheeler says it was juice. It's got to be the atmosphere and the adrenaline going. As soon as I stepped foot out of the dugout to go stretch out there in the bullpen, the crowd went nuts and I got chills. So it started right there, and I think it just kind of carries into me doing the baseball.

It definitely helps. That's what this team is all about, man. We're a family in here, and it's 40,000 people out there, plus 26. It started last year as well. And it's just we all vibe the same way, and we have such a great team, such good personalities in here that matched so well with this fan base and this city as well.

Just a lot of fun. And like I said, we've just got to keep this going, leave no doubt, understand that it's a really good team over there, and it's nice to be able to win that first one. But we've got to take care of business and get it done. One way the Phillies get a leg up is by winning that opener. And in a three-game series, I'm not sure there's anything more critical than winning that first game. It's after hours, CBS Sports Radio, the Marlins, one of those surprise teams to get into the playoffs similar to the Phillies last year with a wild card.

The offense gets essentially shut down, not just by Wheeler, but also Jose Alvarado, who had that strikeout to strand a couple runners in scoring position in the seventh inning. And so for the manager, Skip Schumacher, now you've got to get your team ready to go in Game 2. I think they know what's at stake. They know what tomorrow means, and we're going to do the same thing we've always done, is go in game plan and try to win and beat Nola tomorrow. That's what we have always done, and I don't think that's going to change tomorrow. I'm not sure how you all feel about the straddled start times. We got the two American League games in the early afternoon window, and depending upon where you are, but the game in Tampa, did you all see the attendance numbers for the game in Tampa? Unbelievable, though it was a 3 o'clock start Eastern time, so 3 o'clock Tampa time, even earlier for Rangers fans, right, in the Central time zone. And they've got them set up the same way for the next games on Wednesday. It again starts with Texas at Tampa Bay. Then it's Toronto at Minnesota. So the order of play on Wednesday is also the same.

Now maybe that's because they want to give each of the teams, or they want to give the matchup the same amount of downtime or recovery time, if you will, same amount of time in between the two games. But it's, yeah, it's a tough sell in Tampa anyway at the Trop, or I guess at St. Pete, at Tropicana Field. And the Rays attendance was not even 20,000 people. That's the announced crowd, not even 20,000 people.

Lowest for a, ready for that, this is a nerd alert, and it's astonishing. Lowest attendance for a baseball postseason game since the 1919 World Series. If you take out the pandemic, right, so the COVID pandemic, where there weren't fans attending, or where they were limited for quite a while. So take that out. Lowest attendance for a playoff game since the 1919 World Series.

Men lie, women lie, but the numbers don't. That is gross. Now baseball's not doing the Rays or the fan base, the team, any favors by giving them two games that start at three o'clock in the afternoon on weekdays. And I'm not really sure why they straddled it this way, I don't know. It would seem as though in order for each of the home teams, especially when you're just talking about the first two games are both being in the same place, why not do one early and one late? Except again, the problem that you run into is turnaround time.

So let's just say for the sake of argument so you understand what I mean. Marlins and Phillies began, what, it was around eight o'clock, or just after eight o'clock, Philly time. And also this is part of the challenge is that all four of the home teams are Eastern or Central time zone. So you're looking at trying to put them in prime time, yada yada yada. So the Phillies and the Marlins start just after eight o'clock Eastern.

If you then turn around, it's not like it's never happened before, it has. But if you turn around and put them at the three o'clock Eastern time, start on Wednesday, well then you significantly reduce their turnaround time. Even though games right now are, what, two hours and forty minutes on average? They have done it in the past. Baseball has given some series these odd turnaround times and I bet it'll happen when we get to the division series. Other than that concept, I can't really understand why they would set it up the same exact way. And you know when it comes to the game threes if necessary? Same thing.

It's the same thing. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I wonder if the Rays fans will show up with a little more passion, with a little more volume, a number of bodies. It can get loud in there, but it was nowhere near capacity.

Again, not even 20,000 people. The start time wasn't scheduled by MLB until late Sunday, right? So until all the teams, and even though we knew who the playoff teams were, but until all the matchups had been set, they didn't announce the start times until Sunday evening. Maybe that plays a part. But honestly, maybe this is baseball just throwing in the towel and saying, we know you're not going to show up.

So we're just going to give you that early afternoon time. The thing that boggles my mind is that I think just a week or so ago, the Rays announced that they're going to build a new stadium in St. Pete in the area. Which I just don't see why if no one's going to come, especially to a playoff game, why would you build a billion dollar new stadium in the same exact location where the fans clearly don't want it to be? I wonder if part of it is that they hate the drop.

Yeah, maybe. Everybody hates going, everybody, most major leaguers would tell you they do not like playing at the drop. It's obnoxiously loud, number one, when there are people in it. But it's a weird metal sound, a tinny sound. Like a warehouse.

It is. And it's also got that awful feel where the balls will bounce above your head for heaven's sakes. And then the phenomenon that you see, I mean, relatively often, where a ball hits a pole or metal up at the top at the roof and bounces down at a weird angle. So I don't believe that most major leaguers would tell you they like playing there. And I think it's probably the same for the fans. Maybe they're going to change what the stadium is like.

I mean, this is, it's a dome stadium and it's just, it's awful, it's an awful atmosphere. However, if baseball is throwing them into the early window, just accepting that they aren't likely to draw, ugh. I wonder if anybody at MLB would admit that. They are routinely among baseball's lowest in home attendance. And of course, routinely among baseball's lowest payrolls. And yet, in spite of that, they still make it to the playoffs and they've made it to the World Series a couple of times.

Here's just another little tidbit. Weirdly enough, one of these teams is also in the playoffs. Only three teams had worse average attendance this year.

Can you name them, Jay? The A's. The A's, for sure, because that place is a dump. As much as you want to go to the Coliseum. I have to get to the Coliseum. I will get there next season.

You better hurry. Let me guess, maybe the Royals? The Royals. Alright. And there's one more?

There's one more. It's actually a playoff team. Hmm.

I don't want to say the Twins, but... No, Target Field is a great place to watch a game. It looks really nice. Yeah.

I'm not sure. The Marlins. Okay, yeah, that makes sense.

Yeah, it does. So the two Florida teams, and Miami, there's so many options there that a lot of times, unless you're a winner in Miami, it's kind of like LA. People don't come to your games. Royals, Marlins, A's, and then Rays, with the worst attendance in baseball this year.

But to have not even 20,000 at a playoff game, especially the opener, and to have the lowest attendance for a postseason game since 1919 is... That's jaw-dropping. On Twitter, After HoursCBS, send your questions for Ask Amy Anything. Also on our Facebook page, our YouTube channel, easily found by Googling or searching for the name of the show. We're going to continue through baseball, and we'll get to a couple more series the next segment.

Amy Trask from LA at the top of the hour. The 0-1. Ground ball towards the middle. It's a base hit. Yelich scores. Contreras stops at second, and the Brewers have a 1-0 lead. Two-strike pitch. Fly ball deep left. It is way back. It is gone. Tyrone Taylor on a two-strike pitch goes deep for a two-run bomb.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. It would seem, at least I would have expected, that a three-run lead, especially after the first couple of innings, for the Milwaukee Brewers would have been more than enough for their starter, Corbin Burns. Honestly, it's not like I thought the game was over and turned it off, but as I'm watching, I'm thinking, wow, that's a nice luxury to hand to your Game 1 starter. And I would say there was a great level of confidence there, except that's not how the game played out, and you can hear the disappointment in Burns' voice. The offense did a great job coming out and swinging the bats and scoring runs early, and I just did a poor job after that of executing pitches.

It's really all it comes down to. When I was executing pitches the first couple of innings, we got quick outs and a lot of ground balls and strikeouts, and then when I stopped executing pitches, they didn't miss. Credit to our bullpen there in the middle innings for covering a bunch of innings and keeping us in the game, and offensively, we were just one big hit away in a couple of those innings from blowing it open and running away with it. But the Diamondbacks, they stuck in there.

They took some good IBs, and obviously they had a big hit there at the end. And the pitch. High fly ball, deep right field, and that one seals on out of here. Long home run, Corbin Carroll. It's a one-run ball game. It's 3-2. And that was no cheapie. There's a drive to right. Back of the warning track at the wall.

That one's gone. We're tied up on a home run by Marte. 3-3. The Diamondbacks have found their bats.

On Diamondbacks radio and before that Brewers radio, all three of Arizona's home runs come off Corbin Burns, but Dori Lovello says after the game that getting the home run from Corbin Carroll, and man, how many big hits has he come up with this season? That's the turning point in this opener. We all exhaled, and I think we collectively got our feet underneath us and felt very good about the direction in which we were going. We felt like if we can compete and keep the game where it was at 3-2 with Corbin, that we would, Corbin Burns, I'm sorry, that we would stay with the striking distance. We felt very good about that. And then, you know, literally seven seconds later, the score is tied.

And then one inning later, we're ahead. So it was a huge lift. I think it motivated us. We were obviously motivated, but we were a little bit staggered by falling down 3-0, but that stabilized. It's a huge hit.

Yeah, no doubt. So they go back to back in the third, and then they get another solo home run from Gabe Moreno in the fourth. But lest you think this is all about the showy offense and the loud bats, oh no, there was one really flashy defensive play.

3-2. Swing. Beats it.

No! Blind drive caught by Longoria. That's a double play. He'll throw to second.

I don't believe it. Oh, the veteran with a gold glove effort in a dire situation. Kind of just jumped and threw my glove up. And, you know, sometimes those plays, I think, it's just a reaction.

Sometimes I don't even jump for those, you know. And for whatever reason, you know, in that moment, you know, obviously we're trying to kind of just leave it all out on the field and threw my glove up there. And I felt it hit my glove.

I couldn't actually, couldn't believe I caught it. And then, you know, just looking around the infield, seeing if anybody had gotten too far off. And Willie got, Willie was just, he was trying to score on that and thinking it was a base hit.

So, big moment for sure. I talked about his steadiness, his demeanor, his experience. And, you know, I just, I have a good feeling when I look out there and he's standing at third base or he's up at the plate. So I can only imagine what some of his younger teammates or all of his teammates were feeling.

37 years old for Evan Longoria, still manning the hot corner. And boy, he does. He leaps, he lunges, he grabs it.

You hear him say, I wasn't actually sure I caught it, but I looked at my glove and there it was. And not just that, gets the double play and they're able to get out of a jam. As for the Brewers, they have opportunities.

They go for, they go just three for 11 with runners in scoring position. So there's the Corbin Burns piece, but they also left a lot of ducks on the pond, if you will. And Craig Council recognizes the position they're in. In a three game series, you lose game one, your back's up against the wall. And you've faced adversity and we got to respond to it. It's as simple as that. So we'll be fine in the bullpen tomorrow.

No concerns there. And we've got to just come out and play a good game. It's funny because I've said to you many times that I actually preferred the single game wild card format. I love the fact that it grabbed you by the scruff of the neck.

If you're a puppy, it grabbed you, maybe punched you in the face right off the top. And I mean, no time to get comfortable, get your popcorn ready, get a cold beverage. No, if you missed the first day of the baseball postseason, you missed a ton. You missed a win or go home game on back to back nights to start off October. So I loved that.

I loved the sense of urgency at the very beginning. But I know sometimes, many times, it's not indicative necessarily of how these teams played all season long. And I don't really believe much that sports need to be fair, quote unquote. I mean, the NFL has a great system where you're one and done. College basketball, March Madness, you're one and done. So it's sports. I mean, you got to play your best or you're going to be out. There's that sense of urgency. But I also understand why a three game series and there still is major pressure and a sense of urgency there, too. All right. Amy Trask will join us from Southern California next.

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