Atlanta Sports Outlook: Braves in Postseason, Falcons Host Bucs

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00:00We go to Chris D'Amino from the fan in Atlanta, and they got a lot of stress in Atlanta today

00:09with the Braves up against it tonight at Petco in the final game of the Wild Cards on a Wednesday

00:16night at around 830 East, 530 West at Petco.

00:22We'll get into Max Fried Chicken in a minute, Chris.

00:25I want to talk about Monday first with you.

00:29What did you think when you saw them up 3-0 in the eighth inning, give up six runs, and

00:38then, you know, Nimmo hit the shot above the chop house, a bomb, then the Albies double

00:44off the wall.

00:45They score four runs and take a 7-6 lead.

00:48And then when Doar hits that bomb to the bullpen in right center, and the Mets win the game

00:558-7 and Diaz closes the door, they celebrate, they get drunk, then the Braves have to win

01:02game two.

01:04They win, they get drunk, then they got to fly six hours to San Diego.

01:10And I thought they looked lifeless last night.

01:13But what did you think of Monday and the toll it took on the Braves?

01:17Yeah, so everybody who kept telling me whoever wins the first game is going to lose the second.

01:22And I didn't really understand that because anybody playing, that's a 1-0 game.

01:27You're a three-run poke away from actually being down in the game that, wink, wink, you're

01:31supposed to win.

01:32I'll tell you what happened to me, and I don't do a lot of questioning, managers got to figure

01:36out what they got, they know who's ready and who they can use out of the bullpen.

01:40But Ronaldo Lopez was used in game two because he had to be, which was basically a side session

01:45because if there's a game three tomorrow, he starts that one.

01:48I would have pitched him in the ninth inning in the first game instead of having Pierce

01:51Johnson out there.

01:52It's the only thing I didn't understand.

01:54Francisco Lindoor is better than Pierce Johnson.

01:56The fact that that happened is not shocking to me.

01:59You had the guy on the mound you didn't really want on the mound at the end of that game,

02:04so it doesn't play out.

02:05The second game, you're just nervous that some backup second baseman that doesn't know

02:09any better, he's going to go hit the three-run double, and you're going to end up going home

02:14instead of going out to San Diego.

02:16So it was a little bit more nerve-wracking than I wanted it to be.

02:20And I found out, and I didn't, I found out Chris Sayle wasn't going in game two earlier

02:24than everybody else for a reason.

02:27And I texted a couple of guys and said, I can't tell you anything, but wait till you

02:29hear what's about to happen between games.

02:31And that was Alex Anthopoulos saying Chris Sayle can't go.

02:35So then all of a sudden, people in the building didn't know quite honestly until they threw

02:38the lineup up on Twitter, their social media account, there was no Chris Sayle.

02:43And I think for a minute, everybody was like, well, sort of like last night, I got a 21-year-old

02:47going out to San Diego, and AJ Smith-Scharber to throw that game.

02:51All of a sudden, game two didn't feel as good as it would have been had Chris Sayle been

02:55on the mound for it.

02:57So if they lose tonight, they're finished.

03:00And his triple crown season basically is one he can brag about to his kids and his wife.

03:07And other than that, it won't matter.

03:09I mean, honestly, he'll get a Cy Young, and it won't matter.

03:13Their season ends because he couldn't pitch.

03:16It's like returning to Boston again with this guy with the injuries.

03:19What is wrong with him?

03:20Is his back really fried?

03:22Yeah.

03:23So he was down about four miles an hour the last start.

03:27And everybody kept saying, oh, maybe it's his arm.

03:30But I believe it's his back.

03:32And it's one of those where you wake up and you go, OK, how do I feel today?

03:34Well, I can't go get a side session in.

03:37Now all of a sudden, even if he felt great tomorrow and you said, or today, fly him out

03:42to San Diego, he hasn't thrown a baseball enough.

03:46Now, I will tell you, based upon the way he's attacked it this year, this has got to be

03:50killing him.

03:51It's got to be.

03:52And Scotty, I agree with you.

03:53Whether it's Otani, whether it's Judge, whether it's Lindor, whether it's Jackson Merrill,

03:56Churio, everybody starts at 0-0.

03:59Everything is gone in October, and you have to prove it all over again.

04:03It would be incredible if after all the injuries this year, the one given that you had, and

04:08he was the one given that you had, he's not able to go at all in a postseason series that

04:13you get bumped.

04:14It would just be, I don't want to say fitting as to how this year went, but it would be

04:18closer to fitting than anything else.

04:21They have, I think, been really average with all of the problems that they've had with

04:27injuries.

04:28And it's not your fault, my fault.

04:30It's nobody's fault.

04:31It's not their fault.

04:32They had a brutal season.

04:34And when you don't have a cunea, and it goes on and on, and now you lose this guy, it's

04:41almost like the writing's on a wall that it was just never meant to be.

04:44Now I have to ask you, I already said on this show today that I don't believe Max has been

04:51the Max Fried that everyone knows.

04:54I think a few years ago, he was way better than he is now.

04:58I think he's not dominant.

05:00And I just think that his numbers reflect that.

05:04And I'm surprised.

05:05People are like, oh, they got, you know, Snickers said, we got the best pitcher going

05:09and tonight we just need to win one game.

05:12The guy, Musgrove's favorite over him.

05:15He's like, minus about 18, minus about 20, whatever it is.

05:18And that team is for real that you're playing.

05:21Like they barely had to try last night and they beat you four nothing.

05:24This guy's a tough customer tonight.

05:26Do you think Fried can step up and win this game, or is it going to be another average

05:30performance by him?

05:31Yeah.

05:32Well, he's got a 671 percentage going into his first free agency year.

05:36And what he needs is two GMs, two.

05:40He'd like five, but he needs two GMs not to think the way that you think.

05:43That at 30, now moving forward, he's not worth X amount of money, Rodon money, and maybe

05:48a little bit more.

05:49Because he's been a better pitcher for his career than Carlos Rodon, who got $160 million.

05:54That should be the starting point.

05:56Don't have a good outing tonight.

05:57I don't know how much it changes his money, but it certainly is going to change a little

06:01bit of the narrative.

06:02I can tell you he threw last Friday against Kansas City, who needed to win eight and two

06:08thirds, nine punch outs, two walks, no runs.

06:10It was phenomenal.

06:11It was ace stuff.

06:14And I keep telling everybody that night we were doing a pregame.

06:16And then again tonight when I do the pregame, he can't look like an ace.

06:20He actually has to be an ace because that line by San Diego is favored.

06:24That's the Braves offense.

06:27Everybody has picked up on what the Braves offense isn't.

06:29They're terrible with runners in scoring position, atrocious.

06:32They still were fourth in Major League Baseball on home runs.

06:35As a guy who watched every game, I can tell you it didn't feel anywhere close to that

06:39because man on third, less than two outs, nothing.

06:42Second and third, one out, nothing.

06:44That's been going on all year.

06:45Their numbers, they went through a stretch where they were three for 29, runners in scoring

06:50position, trying to ensure a postseason spot.

06:53So that number is must grow, but it's also must grow up against this Braves offense this

06:56year.

06:57Very interesting.

07:00Let me ask you, do you think they're going to lose tonight or do you think they're going

07:05to win in San Diego and keep their season alive?

07:08So my favorite thing in baseball is the three-run homer.

07:13And I know you guys are talking about deficits, down two-nothing, down three-nothing.

07:17That seems insurmountable now, whereas last year it was whatever, three runs in a fourth

07:21inning.

07:22I got plenty of that.

07:23They struck out 15 times last night, and I'll do the basic math.

07:26That means you had five innings of nothing.

07:28You had four innings to find runs, and they're not a good enough offensive team to do that.

07:32Could Loreano hit one out?

07:33Could Soler hit one out?

07:34Could Ozuna hit one out?

07:35Absolutely.

07:36You're going to have to, because playing small ball and winning, that's not really what this

07:40team could do.

07:41I like them enough today because I've seen them with their back up against the wall,

07:45but Scott, here's the difference.

07:46They don't thump anybody.

07:47They don't win three games in a row by beating the dog out of people.

07:51It's just not who they are, which means their margin of error is really smaller and thinner

07:56than it's been for the last few years around here.

07:58I got, respectfully, a minute.

08:00What do you think of the Falcons tomorrow night at home against Baker Mayfield in that

08:04offense with Evans and Godwin, and the Bucs are pretty tough?

08:08Yeah, the problem is the Falcons' offense isn't.

08:12$100 million quarterback, three top 10 picks, and they didn't score a touchdown.

08:15Now, they won the game, but they've been involved in two games.

08:18Pittsburgh didn't score a touchdown against them, and Pittsburgh won.

08:21It's really kind of strange that it's happened to this team two times in four weeks.

08:24I wish I trusted the offense more.

08:26I just don't.

08:27I don't know if it's a learning curve.

08:28I don't know if it's play calling.

08:30The first week was a disaster.

08:31That was just nobody really understood what happened, but if you can't score touchdowns

08:36in this league, you're asking your defense to do too much.

08:39There's been too many three and outs.

08:40They are on a six for 27 stretch trying to pick up third downs.

08:45Two for nine, three games in a row is what they did, and you don't win football games

08:50doing that.

08:51You've got to get into the end zone.

08:52Thank God they got a kicker who can hit a 58-yarder at the end of the game.

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