00:00But Grant McCauley was there, is there, and Grant, what a moment for Austin Riley.
00:05And I'm curious to know, what are guys saying on this team?
00:08Because they never gave up on this guy.
00:11Yeah, and I think that's really the prevailing thought, right?
00:14I asked Walt Weiss about it, and he said, look, I've had the utmost belief in him
00:18that every time he goes up there, this could be the at-bat or the swing that turns his season
00:23around.
00:23You would never know by being around Austin if he was having his best year or his worst year.
00:29He just never seemed to let that follow him around or somehow invade the space in that clubhouse.
00:35He just went through this mental battle to try to get himself back on track all year,
00:39and it's a tough game.
00:41I mean, it's a game of failure, and we saw it.
00:42And I talked to Austin throughout the season, and he said, I've learned that baseball is a very humbling game,
00:48and it'll throw a lot at you.
00:49And he went through it this year, but the beauty of this postseason and this opportunity is
00:53everything is wiped clean.
00:55You get a brand-new slate, and what you do with it is ultimately in your hands.
00:59And that's where he found himself with a chance to put the Braves ahead,
01:03and he did just that with that huge three-run homer the opposite way.
01:06I'm sure that lifted a great burden off of his shoulders, and there were a lot of excited teammates
01:11and coaches, managers, fans.
01:14I know you heard that.
01:14Chris Sale said he was watching underneath, but his TV was on delay.
01:17So he heard the roar of the stadium first, and then was like, oh, goodness, what's happened?
01:22And then he got to watch it.
01:23But those two were sitting at the dais together just a few minutes ago,
01:26and there were a lot of questions to Chris Sale.
01:29Mine was about Austin Riley, just like what the belief from one player to another in this team means,
01:34especially this time of year.
01:35And he said that's one of the things that makes our team great.
01:38And seeing Austin come through, I think everybody got a lot out of that,
01:42and not just Austin Riley for that big swing,
01:44but hopefully that's something that gets him going,
01:46and that's something that's a sign of things to come for the Braves in this postseason.
01:49Right on.
01:50And you mentioned Chris Sale.
01:51We'll get to him getting pulled in the seventh.
01:53Your thoughts on that?
01:54The first inning, we'll go chronologically.
01:56What about the – I told Carl, I expect Monty Harris to be Spider-Man and get everything.
01:59Was that just one of those fluky things over his head?
02:03I think that was a weird shadow ball, to be honest with you,
02:05because if you looked at center field, it was the shadow of the scoreboard,
02:10and up at the top where it says Truist Park here,
02:12you could see that down in the center field warning track area.
02:17And I think that as he went up, even with the sunglasses on,
02:20once it hits the shadows, if you lose it for a fraction of a second,
02:23that's the difference in making a game-saving catch
02:26and having one that just kind of ricochets around,
02:28and that's ultimately, I think, what Harris was dealing with there.
02:31Okay.
02:31All right.
02:32Let's talk about the decision with the pitching.
02:36Did you have an issue with the way this went today,
02:38and why Walt Weiss decided to pull Sale when he did?
02:41It was a question we were talking about.
02:44Obviously, it worked to our favor, but Grant, your thoughts?
02:46Yeah, I'll give you the answer from both of those guys.
02:49Chris Sale said that was the right call.
02:50DeeDee coming in there, it was time.
02:53And Walt had said, I was looking at the stuff,
02:54and it seemed like it was just starting to take in the wrong direction.
02:57And throughout the course of the regular season,
02:59he basically said, I'll give Chris Sale the leash,
03:01and he has to give up the runs for me to take him out.
03:04But here in the postseason, as we know, it's different.
03:06But he got the Braves into the seventh.
03:08He pitched well enough to have not been charged with those three runs.
03:11He was upset about an early walk that led to a run,
03:15then a hit batsman that put runners on the corners there.
03:17And Fuentes, it was just a great job of hitting by J.T. Romuto, I think,
03:22at some point.
03:23The other team is also doing its thing.
03:25It was a 99.4-mile-an-hour fastball dotted on the outside corner,
03:28and he lined it into right field.
03:31Ronald had some trouble with it.
03:32I think that allowed the second man to score.
03:34So a few different things were going wrong at that time.
03:36But I'm of the belief that you go with the guys that got you here,
03:40and Didier Fuentes is one of those guys.
03:42And they've got Robert Suarez back.
03:44I think that maybe there's a hesitation to go to him in that spot
03:46because of the lack of appearances.
03:48He's late.
03:49I don't think that means we're just not going to see Robert Suarez.
03:51But Fuentes has been the recipe in the late innings.
03:55If you need big outs and you need swing and miss
03:57and you need to put down some of the most important outs of your game
04:00to get it to Iglesias,
04:02Didier Fuentes has proven himself time and again.
04:04And Walt was asked, you know, what this is due to the psyche of a young pitcher.
04:07And he said, nothing.
04:09Didier Fuentes is unflappable.
04:10I don't expect this to change anything.
04:12And I would make that move every single time.
04:15All right.
04:15We're talking with Grant McCauley, guys, live from Truist Park,
04:17brought to you by Mark Spain Real Estate.
04:18What do you think of Mattingly?
04:20Again, guys, we saw the Dodgers do this.
04:22We played them, bring them to the closer early.
04:24What about Duran coming in for the two-inning out,
04:26or two-inning save, I should say?
04:28Yeah, I got to hear Don Mattingly talk a little bit about that.
04:30And it is, I was playing, you know,
04:32guess along with the manager while I was going.
04:34I think he just wanted his best reliever to face the best part of the Braves lineup.
04:39Because conceivably, if Duran gets you through that,
04:42you don't have to face everybody again.
04:45And maybe you go to Alvarado to close in the ninth.
04:47He was going to check with Duran.
04:49If he went quickly in the eighth inning, well,
04:51he might have been out there to throw the ninth.
04:52It might have been a three-inning situation for Duran.
04:55But it wasn't.
04:56It didn't work out.
04:58The Austin Riley at bat, as of right now,
05:01seems to be the one that really just turned this whole game on its ear
05:04and gave the Braves the shot that they needed
05:06and a chance to win this game.
05:08And Rysell Iglesias, the Braves closer,
05:09came in and got into and immediately out of trouble as quickly as possible.
05:13So those things worked out on the Braves' side.
05:16But I can't blame Don Mattingly either,
05:18considering what they've been through,
05:19for wanting to just try to get the biggest out as quickly as he can.
05:23Because I don't know that the Phillies have a best-laid plan for pitching today.
05:26They were just trying to get to tomorrow.
05:28And if they could steal this game,
05:30we'd be having a very different conversation right now.
05:32Grant, what's the bullpen look like for tomorrow?
05:36And what are your expectations for Malley?
05:38Because now, you know, we said it.
05:40He's been the best acquisition as far as the trade deadline is concerned.
05:43And here's a moment to prove it tomorrow, right?
05:45He's been really good for us.
05:47But this is going to be the biggest moment for him of the season.
05:49Yeah, and he's excited about this opportunity to pitch
05:51in the postseason for this team.
05:53And clearly, he's been a big reason.
05:55And I talked to Walt before the game
05:56and asked him a little bit about the belief that they have in Tyler Malley,
05:59given what they've seen the last couple of months.
06:01And he said, I feel really comfortable telling you
06:03that I don't know if we're here without him.
06:05Because you consider where the NL East was for a while in the second half,
06:08where the Phillies get into within a couple of games
06:11and with those huge series.
06:12And Tyler Malley threw some really important games for the Braves
06:15against some really tough teams to help get them here.
06:18So that belief is there.
06:19And the bullpen, everybody's going to be available.
06:22Fuentes didn't have to overdo it today.
06:24Dylan Lee did throw an inning.
06:26Raizel Iglesias threw what ended up being kind of a lower pitch count inning.
06:30So you didn't pitch yesterday.
06:32You hopefully don't have to pitch again in Game 3 if all goes well.
06:36And you'll be able to reset before the DS.
06:38So I think the Braves are exactly where they want to be
06:40with their pitching plan.
06:41And it all starts with hoping to see another great performance from Tyler Malley.
06:45And speaking of pitching, I was telling Carl earlier,
06:47we all saw Christopher Sanchez in the All-Star game, 18 wins.
06:50But he's been .500, and his ERA is over five his last six starts.
06:54Yeah, he is, I think.
06:55And Luzardo, clearly, we haven't talked much about him,
06:58but what a performance for a guy that basically, yeah,
07:01spent all of September on the injured list as well.
07:03Don Mattingly said, quite frankly, we got more than we bargained for.
07:06I thought we were going to get from him.
07:07So, you know, any questions about taking him any further, I think,
07:11are probably misplaced.
07:12You're always going to have to lean on your bullpen,
07:14and I think that's why we saw the Duran thing.
07:16But, yeah, just looking at Christopher Sanchez from the 30,000-foot view,
07:21still one of the better pitchers in the National League.
07:23I expect him to finish top five in the Cy Young Award.
07:25And, you know, that's the kind of guy that, if you're the Phillies,
07:27you love to have out there with your season on the line
07:30because you hope he can rise to the occasion.
07:31But on the flip side, the Braves took game one like they needed to.
07:35They're playing home field.
07:36The Phillies have had to basically empty everything out here
07:39in the final weekend of the regular season and even again today.
07:42So it will be fascinating to see what tomorrow looks like.
07:45But, you know, score more runs than the other guys,
07:47so you don't have to worry about much else.
07:48But I think the Braves, from a pitching standpoint,
07:50have everything aligned the way that they want it to be,
07:53especially now that they've taken game one
07:55and didn't have to overuse their bullpen to do it.
07:57Grant, great work.
07:58Great job today.
07:59Looking forward to tomorrow.
08:01And, of course, we'll have you covered here on Sports Radio 92.9,
08:03the game more from Grant throughout the evening.
08:05And online and then tomorrow, same time, same place, man.
08:09And let's hope we're talking about moving on with the Dodgers.
08:11Grant, great work.
