00:00I mean, they got Boston here tonight, right?
00:02Boston coming to town.
00:04They should be able to hit with anybody, but my goodness,
00:09they just, some of those at-bats are just awful,
00:12and they're still hoping guys are coming back off the IL.
00:16Yeah, I don't know.
00:17I don't share any confidence in Pittsburgh right now, Joe.
00:20I just think, look, I'm not like one of those guys
00:24that immediately points to injuries and says that's the reason,
00:26and truthfully, is O'Neal Cruz even that great?
00:29Probably not.
00:30He'll be back, I think, if I'm not mistaken,
00:32either this weekend or next week.
00:34But to me, Joe, they took, you know,
00:37the injury to Ryan O'Hearn crushed him, man.
00:40Like, this guy was having an incredible season,
00:43and now, you know, it's, you know, Reynolds and, you know,
00:48Brendan Lauer, those guys just trying to do too much maybe.
00:51I did not like what I saw from Pittsburgh this week,
00:55and the only thing that you could see there in the standings
00:58that does make a little sense,
00:59why this kind of lines up a little more for them
01:02than it would have in the past is, as we talked about,
01:04we knew Boston was going to regress back to the mean they have.
01:07Now, they're not going to win every game anymore.
01:09They're back to being 500.
01:11That's probably what they're going to be.
01:12And the other thing about Pittsburgh
01:13is they actually play pretty well at home.
01:15So I do give them a puncher's chance in this series against Boston.
01:20I would probably bet Pittsburgh to win the series,
01:24but it would be close.
01:26It would be very close for me because they see the first two games,
01:30Joe, they seem very lifeless.
01:32They weren't playing well on defense.
01:33Yeah.
01:33This kid Valdez, who was doing so well,
01:37all of a sudden has now fallen back a little bit.
01:41So you're not getting any value at all laying Boston minus money now.
01:46Boston is not the same team they were two weeks ago,
01:48winning every single game.
01:49It's over.
01:50They're back to being 500.
01:51By the way, 500 for Boston, Joe, the rest of the season,
01:54gets them in the playoffs.
01:56But don't start thinking they're going to win 70% of their games
01:59the rest of the year.
02:00It's not going to happen.
02:02Yep.
02:02Yeah.
02:03It was very strange because I kept waiting for, you know,
02:06okay, the back, all of these bullpen arms that Pittsburgh went out
02:09and got to address that.
02:11It'd be great if you actually scored some runs so you could utilize them.
02:16They can't use them.
02:18It's, it's absurd.
02:19I mean, Weaver, I kept waiting for Weaver.
02:22I don't think he pitched once in your series, right?
02:24He didn't pitch.
02:25No, he did not pitch.
02:26Doval came in, you know, in a, in a blowout at the end.
02:32Lake Bakker came in and gave up a lot of runs.
02:34Yeah.
02:36Look, Pittsburgh is not making the playoffs, Joe.
02:38You can't lose O'Hearn, you know, O'Neal Cruz.
02:43Skeens is not the same.
02:44Their bullpen's blowing games.
02:46Pittsburgh's not a playoff team.
02:47They're just not.
02:48I think, I mean, they may finish last and heads are going to roll at the end
02:52of the season with that team, without a doubt.
02:55Yeah.
02:56It's, I mean, listen, they got a little right, you know, 13 to one win was
03:00nice yesterday.
03:02PNC Park, they have been better.
03:04You're right.
03:0430 and 30 this year at PNC.
03:06They are much better.
03:08They are Jake Bennett on the mound for, for the lefty for Boston.
03:12A Bubba Chandler, if he doesn't walk, guys, certainly has enough swing and miss stuff there.
03:18Yeah.
03:19Yeah.
03:19They could be okay there.
03:21So.
03:21It's a tough one.
03:22And the Pirates.
03:23Tough game.
03:24No.
03:25I, you know, I don't, it just, it's hit or miss with them.
03:29If they can play from in front and get that bullpen working, they're going to be in some
03:34games.
03:34But I don't trust, like you said, Boston is coming back down to earth here tonight.
03:39Pretty good price.
03:40Should Pittsburgh really be a dog, a minus 115 dog at home tonight?
03:46No.
03:47No.
03:47No.
03:48I'm with you.
03:49I think there's some value there tonight with the Pirates.
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