00:00I know we'll talk about the American League, too.
00:02And when we last talked about that on Friday, you know, it was more of a coin flip, I think,
00:07for me, who won the series, given the fact that Chicago won the first two games.
00:10But what I mentioned to you, I think, does hold true.
00:13And I think it's going to hold true this week, which is Cleveland's hot.
00:18Cleveland's the hot team right now in the postseason.
00:20They've won three straight games.
00:21I think they're going to give the Rays a battle, too, Joe.
00:24I think we could see two six-game or seven-game series in both the American League and National League.
00:30I think don't underestimate Cleveland, especially when they get back to their building.
00:34I think they're going to win some games in this.
00:35I think we're going to have a ton of fun.
00:37You and I, I suspect, next week will still be talking about both these series.
00:43Yeah, this should be a fun one tonight because I could not disagree more.
00:47The Rays are not the White Sox.
00:49They are not going to strike out 75 times in a five-game series, Craig.
00:56Seventy-five strikeouts in a five-game series.
01:00That is not what the Tampa Bay Rays are going to do in any way, shape, or form.
01:07That's a whole other discussion there.
01:09But that game should be, I think, fun tonight with Rasmussen making sure they don't score any runs at all
01:16here.
01:16But Foster Griffin has a chance to earn the value that they put on him for trading him.
01:22He's very good with the Guardians.
01:24I'm not quite sure the use that they—and I wouldn't be shocked maybe if they roll out an opener here
01:31for some reason.
01:32But it's very strange the way they've deployed him against the White Sox, wasn't it?
01:37They brought him in in a third inning in one of the games.
01:40It just—it feels like—is he a starter or is he not?
01:44Is he the bulk guy?
01:45What is Foster Griffin here in this series?
01:48It definitely seems like he's the bulk guy here.
01:50Yeah, I mean, you just said it there.
01:51I mean, he was a starter for Washington and then a starter for Cleveland for the majority of their season.
01:57But, you know, that certainly changed.
02:00Strange.
02:00So if I'm reading the room correctly here, I think you and I should do a little side wager here,
02:06which is we both like Tampa Bay in the series because I like Tampa Bay too.
02:11But I am going to guess that I can make the wager for you and I both together.
02:18And if you will agree, then we could just move forward, friendly wager head-to-head, which is I am
02:24going to go over five and a half games in the series, and you are going to go under five
02:29and a half games in the series.
02:30Is that correct?
02:31Does that sound accurate?
02:32Oh, that is—listen, if they score over five and a half runs in the series, I would be shocked.
02:41Okay, fair enough.
02:42So there we go.
02:43We have a friendly wager.
02:44Five and a half runs.
02:45Yes, five and a half runs.
02:47We have a friendly wager.
02:49I got Tampa Bay winning in seven games in that series.
02:54Seven?
02:55All the way through.
02:56Oh, my goodness.
02:58Unbelievable.
02:58You have a lot more faith with the Guardians than I do here.
03:02I will say, though, two of the better defensive teams that are going to go out and into seven-game
03:07series as well.
03:08And you have to be a good defensive team when you don't hit for power at all, which neither of
03:13these two teams were great.
03:15We know the Guardians don't hit for power at all.
03:17But again, you can walk him, and then where does the power come from?
03:23So they don't have a ton of power, but I do think they're rested.
03:28I think they have the ability to pretty much go any which way they want.
03:33I think it's a bad matchup tonight against Rasmussen.
03:37I don't see him giving up a ton of runs.
03:41But at the same time, I'm not sure that we're going to get a ton of runs from Tampa either.
03:45This feels like this could be an old-fashioned, especially if you think it's going seven.
03:52We're not getting an 11-6 game in this series.
03:56That I do not see happening here.
03:58Probably not, but you never – one of the games could go over.
04:01But, yeah, like if you were to say seven games, I would – if it did go seven, I would
04:07say five of the seven go under.
04:09But, you know, you never know.
04:10One game could get bullpen heavy late in the game.
04:13Look, I think what – look, it hasn't changed for me.
04:16I mean, I thought Cleveland would beat Chicago from the start.
04:19Well, yeah.
04:20And I thought it was wrong, and then all of a sudden they came back, and honestly, it's better to
04:24be lucky than good.
04:25Cleveland certainly probably didn't even deserve to win that.
04:28But the biggest difference for Cleveland now, which the dynamic has changed for them, is Jose Ramirez is Jose Ramirez
04:36again.
04:37So all of a sudden, that at least gives Cleveland a shred of hope that they can hang in this
04:42thing.
04:42With Jose Ramirez of the last 10 years, you're talking about a Hall of Famer.
04:47Or Jose Ramirez of the last 10 months, you're talking about an irrelevant player.
04:50I mean, I hate to say it, but this is like the first year he's not going to finish in
04:53top three MVP voting in a long time.
04:56But he's back now.
04:57And so all of a sudden, that's a game-changing player.
05:01He won the series against the White Sox.
05:03Jose Ramirez won the series against the White Sox for Cleveland.
05:06Their pitching also held it down.
05:08So, look, I'm just excited for both of these series because I think they're going to be close.
05:12And then I think the World Series will not be seven games this year.
05:18That's my prediction there.
05:19We've had too many series going seven and six.
05:22I think it could be a quicker one.
05:24But I do think that the championship series have a chance to go the distance in both.
