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00:00A doubleheader of playoff baseball on this Thursday. First, it's game three of the ALCS
00:06in Cleveland. The Guardians return home in an 0-2 haul against the Yankees. Can they win their
00:12first game of the LCS? It's game number four up in Queens between the Mets and the Dodgers. The
00:20Dodgers dominant once again in game three last night. Will New York even up the set? Will LA
00:25be only one win away from a National League pennant after tonight's contest at Citi Field?
00:31Those are the questions we will pose to the host of Newswire. That's Craig Misch starting at 11
00:37a.m. Eastern time and our Major League Baseball insider here on the Spiz Grizz. Craig, as always,
00:44thank you for your time. Thanks for being here. Yeah, and games today, five o'clock Eastern.
00:50Games tomorrow, five o'clock Eastern, and then the game baseball plate ends for 2024.
01:00Back to only the night games, Donnie. I mean, you're going to have to watch it on replay,
01:05I guess, you know. It's tough. Donnie doesn't like night games because he might have to go
01:09to sleep. World Series, one o'clock starts across the board, even in LA, one o'clock Eastern start.
01:1510 a.m. like the old days. Break the records. Get rid of the stadium lights,
01:20get rid of prime time. Could be Ebbets Field back in the day. I agree. Completely agree.
01:26Completely agree. And I think Craig does as well as he is here with us. So, Craig,
01:31you know what we like to do? Whether it's the postseason, regular season,
01:34even before the year, we got to touch them all. It's time for the Daily Bases.
01:39Game three last night at Citi Field, before this Thursday in game number four. Craig,
01:46the Dodgers dominant once again, eight zip. The victory for LA, capped off by a monumental
01:53three-run shot into the third deck from Shohei Otani to make it seven zip. Max Muncy adds on,
02:00eight nothing, all Dodgers last night. Fourth time in 11 years,
02:05all Dodgers last night. Fourth time in the last five games in this postseason for Los Angeles,
02:12shutting out the opposition. Craig, let's start with the pitching staff for the Dodgers.
02:17What is Walker Buehler and Dave Roberts and everybody in LA figured out?
02:22Yeah, what pitching staff really should be the question? Because they, I mean, generally
02:25speaking, they've only had two starters and, you know, I guess fortunate for them, they have the
02:29lead and they have their ace in the hole, so to speak, with Yamamoto getting ready to pitch the
02:34next game. So look, I mean, I do think I have this series more pegged than the other one,
02:39where, you know, the Dodgers are just not going to be able to get away with throwing openers in
02:45the next four or five games and win them all. So this is one they win. My guess is maybe even they
02:50win another one and then they lose one and then they win one. It feels like this is just going
02:55to be back and forth until they get to the World Series. But then, you know, the issue is for the
02:59Mets is that the Dodgers offense is just so good and the longer they hang around, they're going to
03:03score some runs. Am I surprised that they just keep pitching these shutouts? Yes, absolutely. But
03:09at the same time, again, they have shown a propensity to get beaten up after a win like this.
03:14And so I guess it still remains to be seen. But I still see this being a back and forth series. I
03:20would say that that was a big win for LA last night to win that first emotional game in Citi
03:27Field. Playoff game. Really big win for them. If we do take a look at the series situation right
03:33here, Craig, the NLCS new odds coming out here. The Dodgers, the Fandles Sportsbook, a minus 380
03:38price to win this series. The Mets at a plus 300. The games now listed at five and a half over,
03:43heavily juiced at minus 290. And the Dodgers are minus one and a half. If you're looking at that
03:47run line here for the series, are we thinking that the Dodgers are moving forward or
03:52the Mets get after tonight, maybe tomorrow night, take the lead before we get back to Chavez Ravine?
03:58Yeah, no, I still think it remains to be seen. I think the Mets price is probably good right now.
04:03If you feel like they have a chance to win, you'd want to do that. And obviously, Don,
04:06if you want to take LA, you got to wait to hope that they would lose the game.
04:10I still see the Mets winning at least one more game in the series. I don't think LA wins the next
04:17two. But it would be silly for me to sit here based on what we have seen and think that the
04:23Dodgers are going to lose game six and game seven at home and get knocked out. That just doesn't
04:28seem realistic at this point. So I understand why the Dodgers would be favored here. But as I
04:32suspected all along, I do think six, seven games, Dodgers do win. Mets will fight, though. This is not over.
04:40Game number four tonight. Jose Quintana gets the start for New York.
04:44The Mets a slight home dog at Citi Field. Yoshi Yamamoto makes his debut here in the NLCS against
04:53the Mets. Did pitch and was brilliant in the winner take all game number five against San Diego
04:58on Friday. Minus 138 in favor of LA. The market working back to the Amazons ever so slightly.
05:05Total of seven. We've seen at least eight runs in all three games so far in the National League
05:10Championship Series. So, Craig, let's go to the ALCS in game number three tonight in Cleveland.
05:16The Yankees taking care of home field advantage, winning both in the Bronx and a 2-0 series lead.
05:22Just two wins away from the first pennant for New York since 2009. We go to Cleveland, though,
05:30for the first time. But the Yankees and Clark Schmidt remain a road favorite. Now minus 122.
05:37How do you see game three playing out? Will the Guardians win their first or will the Yankees be
05:42just one win away from that American lead pennant? Yeah, you would have to think that and you know,
05:48I'll stick with Cleveland here. You would have to think that Cleveland throws everything at the
05:54Yankees tonight because they have to win this game. I'm not going to be foolish to think that
05:57if the Yankees win, they're not going to win the series because 3-0 they're going to. I still think
06:02Cleveland gets in the series. They haven't lost a home game yet. They were dominant there all
06:06season long and we saw what they did to the Tigers in game five. I do think Cleveland is
06:11victorious tonight because I think that they have to be and the Yankees don't really have
06:16to be and I think that's probably the difference here is they can sort of preserve things for game
06:20four. I haven't found the Yankees to be dominant in the first two games that they played. They've
06:26shown some issues, you know, with the base running and Cleveland, by the way, had bases loaded a
06:30couple times twice and didn't score some runs. So similar to the last series, I do feel this is far
06:36from over, but clearly, look, if the Yankees win tonight, they're going to win the ALCS. There's
06:41no question about that. Minus 800, Craig, is the price on the Yanks. Heavily favored to win this
06:47series. If Cleveland can win game three, just how many games might we see in the American League
06:52Championship Series? Yeah, I still think this series goes deep six, seven games. You're never
06:59getting a good price with the Yankees ever, so nothing would surprise me here, but maybe this is
07:04the time to sort of hedge a little bit, take Cleveland for the series, and if they win tonight,
07:09then you could actually go the other way and take the Yankees if you feel they're going to win.
07:11Should be a good series. I think both go six, seven games. I like that, Craig. We like that.
07:16That's what we want in the LCS. We appreciate your time. See you on Newswire in a bit. More
07:21on the Early Line next. A doubleheader of playoff baseball on this Thursday, and Donny
07:26Rightside breaks both of them down here on this Thursday on the Early Line. We start in Cleveland.
07:33It is game number three of the ALCS, the first in the land with the Guardians looking for their
07:39first win of this league championship set. The Yankees winning both in the Bronx and a road
07:44favorite entering game number three today in Cleveland. Line actually working to the pinstripes,
07:50minus 122. Clark Schmidt gets the start for the Yanks, total seven and a half. Matthew Boyd
07:56will at least open for the Guardians and Steven Vogt on the other side. DRS, what are the numbers
08:02telling you who wins game number three? I don't know who's going to win game number three. I
08:07preface it by this. Do I think the Yankees are a better team? Yes, I do. Do I want to take a side
08:11in this one? No, I don't. Because you're right, the ramifications for Cleveland from their pitching
08:15side of it is, it is a kitchen sink game. You go down 0-3, you're just saying, oh, can we force a
08:20game, maybe win one of these, and you're not even going to make it back to New York. But the angles
08:24I want to focus on, Clark Schmidt's starting pitcher here for the New York Yankees. The one
08:27thing we know about him on the season, decent pitcher, not a bad pitcher. If you look at his
08:32last 30 days, which is always so important to me, 85 batters he's faced, he's actually been,
08:36out of those 85, 37 has been against righties. He's a right-handed pitcher. He's been dominant.
08:41An 0-33 iso and a weighted on base percentage of 249. But this is what I teased earlier in the show,
08:46his last 48 plates appearances that he's had, pitching against left-handed batters,
08:51that's a 200 iso and a 370 weighted on base percentage against of those 48 batters.
08:57If we look at that lineup for Cleveland, every once in a while, teams like Arizona Diamondbacks
09:01have the ability to put out a left-handed lineup with a lot of switch hitters. Most teams can't do
09:06that. Like, hey, you can really get after a right-handed pitcher with lefties. We have three
09:10in the lineup tonight, two in the lineup tonight, four in the lineup tonight. You know what? Kwon,
09:15Manzardo, Ramirez, Naylor, Brennan, Jimenez, Naylor, and Roccio, either all lefties or
09:22switch hitters. You have one right-handed batter in that entire starting nine tonight.
09:27So, as I said, looking for that leap of faith. I don't know if they can win this game,
09:31but you're going to give me team total three and a half at the Fanblue Sportsbook at a plus
09:35102. I think Cleveland get the four runs tonight. You look at the first five guys in that lineup,
09:40they've all done very well against right-handed pitching, even though 6, 7, 8, 9 have technically
09:44struggled against right-handed pitching. Sometimes you just have to look at the equation,
09:48home team ready to get after it. If they score four runs, does that guarantee they win the game?
09:53No, it doesn't. But I do think that's a sneaky total. Same way I took the Mets in their game
09:57number two after getting shut out in game number one. Sometimes the numbers make sense and you just
10:01have to roll with it. DRS, I think it's a great look, right? Plus 102 to go over three and a half.
10:08Does it guarantee a win? Not necessarily. Cleveland is going to start with Matthew Boyd.
10:13We'll see how many innings he gives the Guardians today before they try to get to those high
10:17leverage guys in the back end of the bullpen. And of course, it's all hands on deck. You can't go
10:22down 0-3 here in this best of seven ALCS. But with a place to go over three and a half to score
10:29four runs at bare minimum for Cleveland today, that is very similar at plus 102 to the money
10:35line now at plus 104. Why not just look there and control one aspect of it for the Guardians?
10:43Game number four tonight at Citi Field. It's the Mets and the Dodgers. LA, of course, victorious
10:49last night 8-zip in Queens. They've got a 2-1 series lead. They're a road favorite today.
10:55Line working against the Dodgers ever so slightly. Now minus 138. Yoshinobu Yamamoto makes the start
11:03for LA on the road. His first in the LCS. Jose Quintana has been incredible for the Amazons this
11:10postseason. They're a home underdog. They're looking to even up the set. Total is seven.
11:15What do we see tonight in Queens? Similar weather to what we saw last night, Ben. Low 50s to start
11:21that game. Nine mile on our wind, but blowing in from left field here. We'll see if that makes a
11:25difference. But also, when I just talked about the Cleveland Guardians, sometimes you got to take a
11:28leap of faith and trust those numbers. This one's going to be interesting. Jose Quintana, left-handed
11:33starting pitcher for the Mets, has been really good over the past month. Has 88 batters at his
11:37face and iso against 0-51. Weighted on base percentage 2-12. Equal opportunity. Dominant
11:42against right-handed batters. Dominant against left-handed batters. He does like the nibble.
11:46He's going to need that strike call that's just off the plate. Here's the problem that you run
11:50in with the Dodgers. Hey, Quintana should be able to keep the ball in the ballpark, and I agree.
11:53Seven out of their nine hitters tonight, elevated iso power numbers against left-handed pitching
11:58over the month. And so many times you look and say, yeah, it's supposed to be Otani and Betts
12:01and Hernandez and Freeman. Look at the bottom of this order for the Dodgers over the past month
12:05against lefties. We'll start with Will Smith. Only 11 at bats, Ben, but a 333 iso power number.
12:10Tommy Edmond, 10 at bats, a 300 iso power number. Max Muncy, 12 at bats, 333 iso power number. Kike
12:17Hernandez, 14 at bats, 231 iso power number. Andy Pajes, 429 iso power number through his last eight
12:25plate appearances against lefties here. I still think this game does not get to eight runs, so
12:29I'll lean on the under. But boy, oh boy, Quintana, who's been very good, is going to have to be
12:33special tonight against that lineup that dominates left-handed pitchers. He has not allowed an earned
12:39run so far in this postseason. Props for special next.