Get ready to relive the glory as Wisconsin sports had a weekend to remember, and we're here to tell you all about it. From the Brewers' sweep of the Cardinals to the Bucks showing the Pacers how it's done, our recap is as thrilling as the games themselves. Discover how key players like William Contreras and Freddy Peralta led the charge, and take a look at the hardwood where Damian Lillard's 35-point spectacle left us all in awe. We're cutting through the noise and bringing you the pure, unadulterated thrill of victory.
Then, let's talk shop. As college sports navigate the turbulent waters of athlete commitments, we're breaking down the implications of Conor Esesian's headline-making move to Nebraska. We'll also hash out Badger Men's basketball coach Greg Gard's contract extension and speculate on what this means for the future of the team. It's a candid take on the shifting sands of college sports, discussing how player dynamics are being rewritten before our eyes and what that means for the long game.
Wrap up your sports fix with a sneak peek at what's coming up on the sports calendar. We're setting the stage for the Bucks' next face-off with the Pacers and prepping you for the Brewers' clash with the Pirates. Plus, we've got a fresh take on the current MLB standings—trust me, you won't want to miss our analysis of the Brewers and Braves' tug-of-war and the AL East's unexpected leaderboard. Tune in for a preview that promises to keep you on the edge of your seat, eagerly awaiting another action-packed week in Wisconsin sports.
Get ready to relive the glory as Wisconsin sports had a weekend to remember, and we're here to tell you all about it. From the Brewers' sweep of the Cardinals to the Bucks showing the Pacers how it's done, our recap is as thrilling as the games themselves. Discover how key players like William Contreras and Freddy Peralta led the charge, and take a look at the hardwood where Damian Lillard's 35-point spectacle left us all in awe. We're cutting through the noise and bringing you the pure, unadulterated thrill of victory.
Then, let's talk shop. As college sports navigate the turbulent waters of athlete commitments, we're breaking down the implications of Conor Esesian's headline-making move to Nebraska. We'll also hash out Badger Men's basketball coach Greg Gard's contract extension and speculate on what this means for the future of the team. It's a candid take on the shifting sands of college sports, discussing how player dynamics are being rewritten before our eyes and what that means for the long game.
Wrap up your sports fix with a sneak peek at what's coming up on the sports calendar. We're setting the stage for the Bucks' next face-off with the Pacers and prepping you for the Brewers' clash with the Pirates. Plus, we've got a fresh take on the current MLB standings—trust me, you won't want to miss our analysis of the Brewers and Braves' tug-of-war and the AL East's unexpected leaderboard. Tune in for a preview that promises to keep you on the edge of your seat, eagerly awaiting another action-packed week in Wisconsin sports.
Thank you how we doing everybody, and welcome to wisconsin sports on the go with Trage. I'm your host, trage. It is Monday, a fantastic Monday here in the great state of Wisconsin. You know what makes it even better. You know what makes this last weekend even better, and not just the weather. The weather was fantastic, don't get me wrong. The weather was great. But you know what makes it even better A sweep of the Redbirds, the Bucs they look like something on Sunday night and get the win there against the Pacers had a big lead in that.
Speaker 1:One Made it close, right. They made that baby close near the end there, maybe a little too close for comfort, but I mean never really was in doubt. The Bucs handled the Pacers. I mean just a great weekend. Just a great weekend all the way around. Not much to complain about. You know, the only thing that kind of put a damper on the weekend was if you are a Connery season fan.
Speaker 1:We did see Connery season make his decision. He will be heading to Nebraska, so the Badgers will get to see Conor Esesian twice a year now with Nebraska there, I think twice a year. I don't know how it's going to shake out now that the Big Ten is getting bigger. If they will see Nebraska twice, I don't know about that. I haven't seen the schedules or anything or the plans for it, so not sure of it. But I would imagine twice a year you're going to get to see Conor Esiason once again. So Conor Esiason makes his commitment and I want to say the word commitment, but I don't want to at the same time. Right when I think of the word commitment, that means you're committed to that place, and nowadays does it really feel like guys are committed to universities anymore? Or does it feel like it's kind of just the day job, right, we're just going there for our day job and when we're sick of that day job we're going to leave and go to another one. I don't feel like it's commitment anymore. I feel like it's more or less just. I don't even know what you'd call it. I don't even know what you call it A temporary stay. It's like a hotel, right, it's like a hotel. We're in some hotels now. Aj's store has been to like seven different hotels in the past seven years. Now I mean just ridiculous, just ridiculous all the way around. I am working on a little bit of a. I got a little congestion going on, so my voice goes a little bit. That's what's going on, so don't you worry, we're going to make it through it. Though we had, I mean, we're going to get into all the action Lots of action going on over the weekend there.
Speaker 1:Greg Gard for all of you non-Greg Gard lovers out there and I am on the fence, I'm right in between. I'm not going to lie, I'm not a Greg Gard lover and I'm not a complete hater. I'm right in the middle. I'm right in the middle on did receive an extension. He got a. The men's basketball coach, greg Gard, agreed to a five-year agreement, was extended through May 31st, 2029 now. So he did, did get an extension onto his contract. He already had that little extension there and they just added on a little bit more there. So now he's extended through 2029. So good, good, good, good, good news there.
Speaker 1:I guess for Badger Nation nation. There's a lot of people upset about it. I, I, you know you can't blame him for the nil crap that's going around college basketball now. So I, I don't know it's more of the x and o's part that you would blame with greg guard. You know you'd blame with Greg Gard. You'd blame with his team's lapses about mid-season right now, where they fall apart after good starts. That's where you can kind of knock Greg Gard, as of late Recruiting hasn't been a bad recruiter.
Speaker 1:I mean, yeah, you wish Madison could draw five-star recruits like Kentucky or Duke. That'd be okay, not going to complain about that. But it's not expected. It's not something that just happens Now. With the way that the transfer portal works and everything like that, greggard's going to have to change his philosophy in Madison. The years of let's get a guy in, let's develop him for a couple of years and then let's implement him in, that's gone. That's gone Because if those guys that you bring in, if they have any kind of talent and they're not getting playing time, they're just going to head off. They'll head off to a different university. They'll be able to play right away. There's no penalties, no nothing. Just get to hop their name into the portal there and head somewhere else. So I mean, with some of the guys that he's lost over this past offseason you could say, well, those guys are heading to lesser D1 teams or they're heading to D2. They're not going to make it anywhere, big right, and I get that, I get those. But you, you got your Connor Assisians leaving. You got your Chucky Hepburns leaving. That's a different kind of animal now and now he's got to be able to dig into the transfer portal and be able to replace that Because, yeah, you have Daniel Freetag coming in. I get that. I get you have Daniel Freetag and I hope that nothing but the best from him in this upcoming season.
Speaker 1:But the way that the college basketball game is heading, you looked at these teams last season, every team that made it into the Sweet 16, you look at all those teams. You look at their roster makeup. They had maybe two, not more than much more than two guys on their roster that actually started there, that actually started at that university. I mean, look at purdue. They had a couple of different guys on that team, who I mean. You look at one of the big ones there for purdue. Um, and the big thing for purdue is they added some transfers in. You look at even teams like yConn. Uconn was big in it Transfers coming in. So I mean you just look across the board even a team like NC State. Nc State had a lot of transfers on that team.
Speaker 1:Wisconsin's going to have to get with that trend because, yes, bringing in recruits, young talent is still going to help you down the road if those guys stay. But at the same time, if you're going to be able to compete in a league now where guys are moving I mean, look at indiana's got three guys who have transferred over and I believe most of them are in the top 30, top 20 of most transfer portal ranking, uh ranking the players. So to compete with even a team like that now you're going to have to be able to add pieces, right. Maybe it's a guy like Tyrese Hunter, coming out of Texas there he was with Iowa State. I believe he was with Iowa State when the Badgers played them in the NCAA tournament and then he ended up at Texas. Now he's transferring again. Maybe it's a guy like Tyrus Hunter. He's gonna bring experience at point guard position which you just lost with Chucky. You know, and we're gonna hear from Frankie Fidler tomorrow, uh, today here, I believe, actually today I believe he's uh announcing his commitment today. But with Chucky leaving, I am not holding, I'm not gonna say that I think Fiddler's coming to Madison either. I am going to take that one as a no.
Speaker 1:So you're going to have to be able to dig into this transfer portal and be able to find some guys, find some help and I don't think it's just one guy, like they did with AJ Storr. I think you're going to have to find a couple. I really do. I mean, you're going to have Nolan Winter, probably step into Tyler Wall's shoes a little bit right, but you're going to have to add some experience. You're going to have to add some like a Chris Voigt, a big man, somebody who's going to be able to come in off the bench and scrap for you. You're going to have to add another guard, probably a wing, right. So you're going to have to dig out there and see what you can find in the transfer portal.
Speaker 1:That's where the Badgers I mean, they really have to be looking right now. And that's where Greg Gard yeah, you just got this contract extension, but you got to be able to work the system. Now you have to be able to change with the times of college basketball. Yes, you learned underneath of Bo Ryan, and Bo is a fantastic coach, but Bo built guys, he built recruits through the years. Now you're in a stage of college basketball where you have to be able to dip into that transfer portal, into free agency, and build a team.
Speaker 1:And that's where I think Greg Gard needs to really improve on heading into this next season and years after that if he wants to keep that, keep the extension alive and also keep Badger fans happy as bringing in some of this talent there in the transfer portal, because right now I'm hearing a lot. I'm hearing a lot of a lot of names that the Badgers are looking at, they're reaching out to haven't seen any action. That's the big thing. I got to see action, I got to see something come and then we're going to. I mean then, and only then will we believe that Greg Gard is doing a fantastic job recruiting some of these guys into Madison.
Speaker 1:There I saw that it was rumored that Chucky Hepburn's NIL rate was about 700 to 750,000. Player. But if Chucky's getting 700 to 750, that is rough for mid-main, not mid-majors, but for some of these major programs trying to compete, because you can't afford even a guy like that. So if that's Chucky's going right, what is the rate of some of these other guys, some of these other high prolific scores out there? What is their going rate? I mean I saw AJ Storr was talking about a million. What is the going rate of even average dudes anymore? I don't know. I don't know. It's definitely an interesting time in college sports and I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. So with that, before I jump into the Brewers, I just want to talk about Badger News a little bit there. But before I get into the Brewers here, I want to mention a couple of our sponsors here.
Speaker 1:Quick of the show. First, game Day Supply in Onalaska. Do you have a sports club or team? Are you looking for some sweet custom uniforms or apparel? Check out the awesome crew at Game Day Supply in Onalaska to help your team get the sweetest gear. Find them on Facebook at Game Day Supply or online at gamedaysupplynet. Also, your hometown team, century 21 Gold Key Realty. Call Peggy Sue or Anna to find your dream home. Or if you're looking to sell, find them on Facebook at your hometown team, century 21 Gold Key Realty, or stop in and see them at their location in Marshfield, wisconsin. Also, marshfield Motor Speedway is located just three miles outside of Marshfield, wisconsin there. Also, marshfield Motor Speedway is located just three miles outside of Marshfield on County Road H.
Speaker 1:You got to get down to the track. They just had their spring eve of destruction this last Saturday From what I saw fantastic. I wasn't able to get down there A little windy, had a bunch of other stuff going on. I could not make it down to the track, which was sad, but from what I saw it was fantastic down there at the track. So get down there. Get down there. This summer plan some fantastic summer days and nights down there. Track marshville motor speedways. Find the schedule on facebook just search marshville motor speedways. Or find it online just search marshville motor speedways, get to their web page and find the schedule. Get down there to the track.
Speaker 1:But with that I want to get into the Brewers a little bit. A weekend series sweep of the St Louis Cardinals, and there's nothing better than that. The only thing that's better than a weekend series sweep of the Cardinals is a weekend series sweep of the Cubs. There's nothing better, nothing better than those two things. I don't care much about the Reds, I don't care much about the Pirates, but when you sweep the Cardinals and Cubbies, that's fantastic. That's fantastic. You walk away from that one a happy man.
Speaker 1:So Brewers Friday night it was a nail-biter. Brewers took the lead in the third inning there with a run scored in that third and then going into the bottom of the ninth, trevor McGill tried to get him to go two innings couldn't get through him there. And well, that added a little bit of spice to it, because then Yoel Piamps came in, walked a guy, cardinals tied it at one. We went to extras and in extra innings in the 10th we saw the man, the myth, the legend himself, and that would be William Contreras knock in another run. This dude is raking on all facets right now. This guy is, if there was an early season MVP, this is your guy. This is your guy. In William Contreras he was actually. He had both RBIs in the game and actually you know, you want to even hear better both guys. Who scored the two runs was Blake Perkins. He started at second there in that top of the 10th and he also scored the other run there in that third inning. That gave the Brewers both their runs off of William Contreras' hit. So that was fantastic Brewers 2-1 winners in this one.
Speaker 1:Looking at the Brewers in this game here, hitting was a premium. I mean he had Contreras two for five, one for five for Adamas there. Adamas I mean as much as people hate Adamas. He's been swinging a very good bat start to year. I love his approach at the plate. He's not jumping on crap pitches to start. He's waiting. He's waiting patiently. He's getting a good like. We saw a good fastball knocking in the left field, just simple hitting from Adamas not trying to hit the long ball. That's the big thing. He's not trying to hit the long ball exclusively right now, he's just trying to drive the ball out there. And that's what we've been waiting to see good stuff out of Adamas there. So Adamas gets a hit. And then Per could I mean, if it wasn't for Contreras hitting as hot as he is, perkins is right behind him there. I mean Perkins in this one, two for four, two runs scored. Like I said there, he had his average up at 341 in that game there.
Speaker 1:The rest of the Brewers? They go cold in that game there. Outside of a few walks there, frelick had a few walks. In the leadoff spot, ortiz and Hoskins both drew a walk and then Terang had a couple walks. Outside of that, I mean, bases were at a premium for the Brewers in this one and on the opposite side for the Cardinals. Much of the same, much of the same. Freddy Peralta was fantastic in this game. Six innings, four hits, two walks, seven strikeouts Got that ERA down to 1.90. Fantastic day from fastball Freddie. We saw Elvis Piguero for an inning there. He was, I mean, pretty darn good in his one inning there. One strikeout.
Speaker 1:In his appearance Trevor McGill looked good. I mean, he looked good To me. I don't know why the Brewers tried to stretch him. I get what the thought was, I guess, but I'm not stretching McGill. He's coming back. He's come back off injury. He had the concussion protocol. He's coming back. Just give him that.
Speaker 1:One inning, one inning, he was fantastic. Next inning he ran into some trouble there. So in his inning and two-thirds of work there, one hit, one run. One of them earned two walks and a strikeout for him. And then Pajams came in for a third of an inning and he gave up a walk there, which was the one run that was added to McGill's line.
Speaker 1:There I would have brought Pajams in. I'm going to be honest, pajams right now is my closer. So in that position, one-nothing game I'm bringing in Piamts. I got to be honest with you. Mcgill did his job. One inning, that's what I needed out of McGill. He set up Piamts for that ninth inning and then we stuck with him. You want to get as much as you can out of a guy. I get that. You maybe wanted to save Piamts for the weekend, but you had a day off the day before. You had a day off Thursday. You're coming into this Friday game 1-0 game. I'm not pushing guys any farther than I have to. I'm letting it roll with Pions there in that ninth inning and well, they brought him in late and the walk gave him up there but got out of it then and that would be it for the Cardinals for scoring in this one.
Speaker 1:Milner came in in the bottom of the 10th one inning, two strikeouts and a walk given up for Milner. A fantastic save there for Milner in that one. Pions did get the blown save in that appearance there. I don't know how I feel about that. Right, I mean, you get thrown in with the bases loaded. Should it really be against you? Right? I mean, if I got thrown in there, bases loaded, and I just missed with a pitch, just missed, and a guy drew a walk, right, if it was Arenado, whoever it was, drew a walk. Or, like Wilson Contreras, right now he's lighting up the ball. So if I'm pitching on the edges and he draws a walk off something borderline and now I get the blown save out of that. I would just, I don't know. I get it, I get why it's. I mean a blown save for pie umps, but at the same time it's like I, yeah, I mean whatever, whatever. So pie umps does get the blown save, but the brewers do get the win two to one there in 10 innings. That led us into the Saturday matchup, brewers looking to take the series early in this one. They wanted that Saturday game and they got it. 12-5 was the final in this one.
Speaker 1:Brewers. They got two runs early in this one there on the Reese Hoskins home run and then three runs in the fourth, four in the sixth and then they had added on runs there in the seventh and the ninth and that led to the Brewers with 12 runs, 18 hits in total for the Brewers, six for the Cardinals in this one, and well, I mean a lot of it. Dl Hall. Dl Hall struggled in this game once again. Now he's on the IL right. We've seen him go to the IL left knee sprained. What I like to call that injury is. I just got lit up and now I'm on the IO, but on the IO. Maybe that's been his problem this whole time. I don't know. All I know is that he struggled early on here and he can't get past the third inning. So that is a worry, that is a big worry and hopefully this little time off here on the IO gets him right. So DO Hall.
Speaker 1:Three and two thirds, five hits, four earned runs, three strikeouts, five walks. In this one the walks were a problem, the walks were a problem and they set up other problems for him. So DL struggles. But Bryce Wilson, he comes in and says well, I'll take care of it. One and a third there zeros across forward for Bryce. Bryce looked good in his appearance there.
Speaker 1:Holby Milner back-to-back days inning and a third. He had a strikeout, solid day for. Holby Uribe then came in for an inning and two thirds. He had two walks and two strikeouts. And then Diego Vieira came in for an inning. One hit, one earned run, one walk and one strikeout for Vieira. So the Brewers bullpen does their job, slams the door on the Cardinals there in this 12-5 game.
Speaker 1:Frelick 2-6. In this one. Contreras stayed hot 3-6 in this ballgame. Adamas 2-6. Hoskins 2-5. We saw Oliver Dunn go 1-5. Sanchez 2-5. Sanchez has been hitting the ball a little bit better. He's hitting the ball right. He's hitting the ball a little bit better. He's hitting the ball right. He's hitting the ball now. So that's good news there for Sanchez. Blake Perkins stays hot, stays hot. Game two two for four in that ball game. Bryce Terang two for five. And then we saw Jackson Churio go two for three in this one. Terang and Churio go back toback with the home run ball in this one. Showing off some muscle were the rookies in this game here, and I mean some of the vets too. You saw Adamas send a double out there. We saw Contreras continue to hit Reese Hoskins big home run early on to set the table for the rest of the day. Rattle Michaelis right away. Right, you got to rattle him, you got to rattle them, you gotta rattle them there. So good stuff.
Speaker 1:Brewers win that saturday game 12 to 5 that set up the match on sunday going for the sweep. And well, if you love pitching matchups, this was the one. This was the one to watch. Colin ray was the unsung hero in this game. Colin ray, five innings, five hits. Hits, three walks, three Ks. He had himself in some jams early on in this game. Some bad-looking situations, bases loaded, he'd have a couple on and it was like, oh boy, aaron Otto's coming up, or we'd have I mean Newport coming up, or whatever it was. And it was like, oh boy, here we go, here we go, they're new bar coming up, or whatever it was. And it was like, oh boy, here we go, here we go, they're gonna find a gap out there. It's the cardinals, they're gonna find a way. Colin ray slams the door pitch.
Speaker 1:Fantastic for the brewers, something that the brewers needed a pitcher to go five, that's what they needed. They really needed somebody to go five and ray was able to do it for him today or yesterday. There, five innings, five hits, three walks, three strikeouts solid day out of. Colin Ray got that ERA down to 2.08.
Speaker 1:Bryar Hudson in this one Hudson's been fantastic for the Brewers. Hudson has been downright fantastic for the Brewers here. Two and a thirds innings zeros across the board, four strikeouts for Hudson. Elvis Baguero in two-thirds of an inning there, one hit and one walk Got out of there. And then Paiamps gets to save an inning pitch and a strikeout. Yoel Paiamps gets to save for the Brewers. Bullpen for the Brewers does their job.
Speaker 1:And then we look down the line up here for the Brew crew in this one. Sadly, contreras was held hitless in this one. Held that average though heading into this Monday matchup with Pittsburgh he's going to be sitting at .354, so nothing to shake your head at. William Contreras is hot. Frelick 0-3 on the day. Weimer did come in. He went 0-1. Adamas stays hot for the Brewers 2-4 in this game here. Hoskins 0-4. Perkins 1-3. He's sitting at 354. And then we have Bryce Terang 333. After this one. Two for
Speaker 1:four. In that ball game Owen Miller delivered the big blow. I don't think many people are going to say that started this year because everybody had kind of written off Owen Miller as even being a factor into this Brewers team. One for four in this one. But he came up with the only RBIs in this game, a single In the. I believe it was the top of the seventh yes, the top of the seventh there. Owen Miller singled in a couple of runs there and that was the only scoring. The Brewers needed Ortiz 0 for 2 and Churrio 0 for 3 in this one with two strikeouts. I mean Brewers six hits, cardinals six hits. I mean it was back and forth, just a pitching duel, that's all. This was a pitching duel. Who was going to be able to break score column first and the Brewers scrapped it out there. Owen Miller comes up with a big hit for the Brewers and helps the Brewers prevail in this game here over the Cardinals. Brewers moved to 14-6. After this weekend series sweep, the Cardinals dropped to
Speaker 1:9-13. Looking at the standings right now in the MLB I mean looking at the Central right now the Brewers have a two-game lead over the Cubs, now 14-6. Cubbies sitting at 13-9. That is followed up by the Reds at 12-9. They are two and a half games back. And then the Pittsburgh Pirates sitting at 500 out 11-11. After that hot start. They are two and eight in their last 10 games. Brewers seven and three in their last 10. To add some perspective on that, looking at the Cardinals nine and 13 on the season, six games
Speaker 1:back. Looking at the run differentials, I mean you're looking at the Brewers plus 35 and that is tied for first in tie, for first in the nl with the atlanta braves right now who are also plus 35 right now. I mean that's good company to be in, if you ask me. That is a very good hitting team in the braves. So to be right there with them, that is solid all the way around. Braves have scored a little bit more runs, but the brewers have allowed a little bit less there. So that's your big difference maker. So brewers leading the central right now, good stuff there all the way
Speaker 1:around. Looking at the nl west, dodgers, they're up top 13 and 11 right now. And then we're followed by the padres, the diamondbacks, the giants and the rockies all sitting around there. I mean padres game back, diamondbacks game and a half, giants two and a half games back. So all relatively close there in that NL West, the NL East, right now the Braves up top 14 and six, followed by the Phillies sitting at 14 and eight right now they're a game back. Then you have the Mets 12 and nine on the year, two and a half games back. Nationals four and a half games back at 10 and 11, followed by the Miami Marlins. That's an interesting story. I did not expect Miami to be as bad as they are right now 6-17 on the year, 9.5 games back, 4-6 in their last 10, a negative 38 run differential. The only one worse in the NL than the Marlins is the Colorado Rockies. They have a negative 47 run differential right now. Doesn't help. They're playing at Coors right. That doesn't help their runs allowed there. So I mean good stuff there in the
Speaker 1:NL. Looking at the AL right now Yankees up top in the AL East right now, 15-7 overall. Half game back are the Orioles 14-7. Yankees 5-5 in their last 10. Orioles have been hot, 7-3 in their last 10 games. Brewers that last game of that series that they won the Orioles did it just sparked them. It must have just sparked them. Thank gosh, the Brewers left town before they got hot,
Speaker 1:though. Looking at the rest of the AL East there we have the Red Sox two and a half games back, 13 and 10. The Blue Jays 12 and 10, three games back. Tampa Bay Rays three and a half games back there, 12 and 11 overall there. Moving to the AL Central, we have the Cleveland Guardians 16 and 6 overall right now. They've been hot, 7 and 3 in their last 10 games there. They are followed up by the Kansas City Royals 13 and 9, three games back, 5 and 5 in their last 10. Detroit Tigers 12 and 10 overall. Four games back. The Minnesota Twins 7 and 13,. 3-7 in their last 10 games right now. And then we have the Chicago White Sox Three wins on the year, 3-18 overall right now, 12.5 games back, 1-9 in their last 10 games they're negative 71. Run differential They've scored 45 runs, given up 116. That's crazy. That is craziness, if you ask me, right there. So, white Sox, they're bottom feeders right now. They might end up worse than the Oakland A's and the Oakland A's are doing just about everything they can do to
Speaker 1:lose. I saw I don't know if you remember Brewer fans out there, but Estre Ruiz, if you remember him. We traded him off. We got Contreras there in that Sean Murphy-Contreras three-team deal there. That went all the way around. The Brewers only gave up
Speaker 1:Ruiz. Well, ruiz was the hottest hitter on the A's team, I believe when he was originally designated for assignment. He was batting. I just wanted to check that out. I had the stat there on Ruiz, he was batting. I just wanted to check that out. I had the stat there on Ruiz. He was batting. Very well for this. I was trying to find it there. I'm not going to be able to find it here, not going to be able to find it. I know he was batting in the 300s. Let's just go with that. So Ruiz is in the 300s. He gets sent down to the minors and high it was
Speaker 1:high. 300s start the year, get sent down to the minors. They said that he was striking out too much. He had one strike out on the air, so they sent him down. Now he comes, but he comes back up and in his first at bat back to the majors he hits a home run in his first at bat back with the Oakland A's. Right after that they designate him for assignments. He gets designated for assignment after he hits a home
Speaker 1:run. The only thing that I can think when I look at the Oakland A's right now is it is straight out of the movie Major League. You are watching in real life the Major League movie, where I mean we already know the team's moving right, but we're going to do everything we can to look like absolute crap. Until then, why would Ruiz have been designated for assignment? This guy was batting high 300s, if not 400, to start the year. He had one strikeout. He gets sent down to the minors. He comes back up, he hits a home run and then you designate him for
Speaker 1:assignments. That's ridiculous. That is completely ridiculous. The A's are a dysfunctional crap show. That's all I can say. And it is. It is just I mean, lack of better words pathetic on the ownership it is. It is. You can field a decent ball club, you can. You have a decent player in your weeds, led the majors and stolen bases, and yet you designate him for assignment after he hits a home run. That's ridiculous. This team is
Speaker 1:ridiculous. I mean, a lot of people think the Brewers have it bad and sometimes I hate ownership with the Brewers because we don't make moves. But this is bad. This is the epitome of bad. So not good stuff out of the old good days. But hey, they're not dead last in the MLB right now, so that's good news, right? That's probably why they did it. They're like we have to get down to the bottom. They did it. They're like we have to get down to the bottom. Why are you hitting home runs for us? We're not trying, we're not trying to be good here. So what the hell? So we got to get rid of you there. So interesting stuff there. I mean I I just saw that today and I was
Speaker 1:baffled. I was baffled. I was like are you kidding me right now? I mean this is this poor guy. What can he do and is he supposed to strike if he struck out? This is what I want, know and I wish we could have saw both sides. If he would have struck out, what would they have done? Would they have kept him right? Or is it because he hit the home run? Like what was it what caused? I mean, it's just stupid, just all the way around
Speaker 1:stupid. So I mean looking at the AL West getting out of the AL Central. Looking at the West, like I said, we have the Rangers up top 12-11. Mariners at 10-11 right now. They're a game back and then the Angels at 9-13. Two and a half games back. The Oakland A's 8-14. That's why they have too many wins right there. Three and a half games back there of the Rangers and then the Houston Astros starting out pretty rough for the Astros down there 7-16 overall right now. Five games back Negative 28 run differential right now 3-7 in their last 10 games. Not something I thought I'd say about Houston Astros, especially after they made that move for Hader. I was like this team is loading up for another run. Now they're running at the bottom of the league. So interesting stuff right there in the MLB. But before I get to the Buc, the mlb, but before I get to the box, I'm gonna get to the box today before I get to the box. I gotta get to the last couple of our sponsors
Speaker 1:here. Quick of the show. First and foremost, we have sport and spying clinic in greenwood, wisconsin. If you've been injured recently, and whether it was on the basketball court, the baseball field, the softball field, you were at work, whether y're all gardening and you just felt something pop right and you need some physical therapy, stop in there and see Chad at Sport and Spine Clinic in Greenwood, wisconsin. He'll get you right. He'll get you back to work, back on the court, back on the field, whatever it is, he'll get you back there. Sport and Spine Clinic in Greenwood, wisconsin. Sports scenes, sports sports cards and memorabilia. Stop in there in the marshall mall and see al. He has everything you need, from sporting cards, from memorabilia to jerseys, model stock cars he's got it all. Sports scene in marshfield, wisconsin, and also pittsville farm and home center. At the store they serve you anything from hydraulic hoses to red roses. Stop in and see the awesome crew at pittsville farm and home center in pitts, wisconsin. You got to get down there right now. It's getting closer to spring, getting closer to summer. You got to get down there and get all your gardening supplies from Pittsville Farm and Home Center there in Pittsville, wisconsin, but with that man, oh man, oh
Speaker 1:man. I did not think I'd be talking about this today, but the Bucs get game one. They win game one 109-94. And. Well, that first half the Bucs were putting the route on. They were putting the route on. I was texting people left and right. I was like, oh my God, we finally see a game time. Right, we've been waiting for this. We've been waiting to see Dame time all season. We're finally getting it here. I forgot Dame time was only for a half, though, but I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding, no, just kidding there on that Dame time joke there. But Dame plays fantastic in the first half for the Bucs there and that set them up good for the rest of this game, because, I mean, the Pacers scrapped, they put, they made this a game in the second
Speaker 1:half. I mean, look at the first half stats from this game Bucs Pacers. First half, bucs, they were shooting 25 for 49 from the field, 51. They were shooting 9 for 21 from downtown there and 10 for 10 from the free throw line. They had 9 assists. They were fast break points. They were leading in fast break points, leading on points in the paint, had 3 blocks. I mean this team 3 steals, only 3 turnovers to the Pacers,
Speaker 1:8. The big thing when I watched this game was the Bucs came out and they jumped on the Pacers. They jumped on them. The Pacers had done that to the Bucs all year long. They had jumped on the Bucs. The Bucs weren't ready for it. They weren't ready for the speed, the athleticism and everything in between. The Bucs came out in this game and they jumped all over the Pacers and the Pacers got uncomfortable. I mean, you look at Halliburton. He had an uncomfortable game. You look at a lot of these guys. The only guy who had a really good game for the Pacers in this one was Siakam, and Siakam's a been there, done that guy. He's been in these situations, he knows how to play in the playoffs, so he wasn't as rattled. But you look at some of the other young guys Nembhard and you look at Tyrese Halliburton in this game here and Neesith in this one. Those guys were rattled to the point where they weren't ready for what the bucks were throwing at them and the bucks were all over the place in this first, in the first half here and even in the second half. There the bucks weathered storms by the pacers there and were able to control a majority of this game. Pacers did close that gap during the third quarter held the bucks to 14 points. A slow third quarter for the Bucs but they made up for. In the fourth they held on to the win. That's what matters at the end of the
Speaker 1:day. The big thing in the first half, like I said, it was Dame, it was Damian Lillard showing us this is my. I know how to play in the playoffs. I know how to win ball games. Dame, I mean fantastic 35 points all in that first quarter there, our first half there. And you look at Dame in this one. I mean fantastic 35 points all in that first quarter there, our first half there. And you look at Dame. In this one I mean 11 for 24 from the field, 6 for 11 from three, 7 for 7 from the free throw line, 6 rebounds, 3 assists to go along with it there. A great game out of Damian Lillard. But the big factors in this one for me was the presence of Brooke Lopez in the post area. He had three blocks in this
Speaker 1:game. 11 points but a lot of putbacks and a lot of controlling glass, right, a lot of controlling glass for the Bucs in this one. And then you look at Pat Bev's contributions just scrappy, just getting around there. I mean, look at the offensive rebounds in this one. The bucks had, I believe, five in this game in total, but the bucks were in on. It seemed like they were running, and they were running like chickens with their heads cut off into there. And it was only one guy, though right, because all the other guys, all four other guys, were bailing
Speaker 1:back. Why and it was in this game that I was watching I was like this is why? Controlling the transition buckets for this um, for the Pacers in this one? Because you watch this Pacers team and the big thing they want to do is they want to get out, they want to run, they want to get transition buckets. And the Bucs basically said no, it ain't going to happen in this game. Here, fellas, we're going to hold you guys, because 12 fast break points in total in this game for the Pacers, that is low for a team that loves to run. That's where they love to be, they love to run, they love to hit transition threes, they love to get to the basket. The Bucs took those things away and they became the aggressors in this game and I love that. I love that because that's something that we haven't seen out of the Bucs in a while this year is them coming out and acting like the target isn't on their back. The target is on the other team's back and they're the underdog. That's what they played like in this game was they had something to prove and they do. They have something to
Speaker 1:prove. A lot of people talking a lot of crap about the Milwaukee Bucs heading into the playoffs. That is 100% true. That is me. I was talking about both Milwaukee Bucks coming into the playoffs here and this Bucks team in this one showed, hey, you know what we might be a shell of what we could be because Giannis is out, but hey, we're still good, we can still ball out, we can still get after these young guys. Right, because everybody said this Bucks team's old. They got after these
Speaker 1:guys. I mean look at Brooke controlling the paint area, keeping guys out of there. I mean, look, in this one, the Bucs were plus 25 with Middleton in. They were plus 23 with Portis and Lopez. I mean it really. I mean negative five with uh Lopez and negative six with Lillard, but I I'm gonna say their contributions were a little bit more than that, because I thought Brooke played fantastic in the post area. I'm gonna be honest with you, I thought he played very well in the post area at deterring guys from coming in there and deterring shots at the at the point of strike. I mean I saw a couple Siakam would drive and Brooke Lopez was right there and Siakam had a quick kick it out. He had to get it out to somebody else because he wasn't going to be able to finish at the rim there with Lopez. So I thought Lopez played very well in this
Speaker 1:one. Middleton played very well in the second half. I thought he had like 15 or 16 points of his 23 in the second half. There he was a big factor because Dame, he was getting hounded in that second half A lot of double teams against Dame. He was forcing other guys to beat him and Middleton did that for the Bucs 23 points, 10. I believe he had 10 rebounds in this game 10 rebounds for Middleton, 23 points. He had a block also in this game here, did have five fouls. Technically I thought he did foul out, but they gave it to Brooke, I believe in this one so he was able to stay in this ballgame
Speaker 1:here. 9-14 from the floor, 1-4 from downtown and 4-4 from the free throw line. So fantastic night out of Middleton there. And then Bobby Portis 15 points. He heated up there a little bit for the Bucs 7-15 from the floor. He had 11 rebounds. He was all over the place, did rebounds. He was all over the place, did end up falling out of this game but played very
Speaker 1:well. Beasley and Connington nine and six points in this one, but their contributions to what the Bucs were able to do. They hit timely threes right. There's a time and a place where there's a timely three and those two hit timely threes for the Bucs. Cunnington had the big and one three early on in this one and then Beasley hit a couple later in the ball game. There that were timely shots, that kind of weathered storms. By this I mean the big one to weather a
Speaker 1:storm. Was Middleton coming out of that? It was coming out of the third quarter, coming into the fourth and middleton knocked down a big shot for the bucks. That I mean ultimately it gave them. Uh, I mean it weathered that first that that final stretch by the pacers where it was like this team might be able to come back on him. This team was still because it was a nine nothing run to end the third quarter and then, to start the fourth, middleton came out and he banged three and it was like, okay, we're good, we're good. You know, shots weren't falling for the Bucs, something was off. And then all of a sudden it was like okay, we're good, we're good, we're good, we're ready to go. So I thought that was
Speaker 1:huge. It was contributions all the way around In this one from the Bucs. I mean, you're looking at no, giannis, was it hopeful that they didn't announce his decision for the game until late? Possibly, it might be that he might come back sooner than we think. But no, giannis, you get a good effort out of Middleton, you get a good effort out of Lopez and Portis and Dame shows up in this one and then contributions all the way
Speaker 1:around. I didn't know how deep they'd go on the bench. We saw some Adrian Green action in this one. I thought that was good. I think it's good that Doc Rivers will go deep on the bench. I really think it is Keep fresh legs out there. Don't waste away your veteran players here Earlier on in the series, especially with big leads. Let those guys get a little bit of a breather. Bring in some of these younger guys I would even be okay with seeing Ajax or Bishkamp in this one, maybe Gallinari for a little bit and just give some of those other guys some time and then bring them back right, bring them back
Speaker 1:in. I think you, you have to be able to work the benches here in this series, especially against a really athletic Pacers team who likes to run. If they get in a running game the Bucs will get gas. So hopefully we control transition buckets again and the Bucs don't have to worry about that. Because, like I said, big thing in this one transition defense for the Bucs and controlling that aspect of it was huge. So with that Bucs I mean they got game one
Speaker 1:win. They'll face off with the Pacers one more time at the Pfizer. That'll be on Tuesday. Tuesday for that game there, a 7 7.30 start on NBA TV. So we'll get more into that game here tomorrow on the show there and preview it before that one tips off there at 7.30. But we got the Brewers in action tonight here. They're going to be taking on the Pittsburgh
Speaker 1:Pirates. Another matchup there with Pittsburgh. We're going to see Ross taking on Jones there and that one should be a fantastic matchup. That'll be a 540 first pitch there From PNC Park there in Pittsburgh. You can see that game on Valley Sports Wisconsin or listen to it on WTMJ 620 or wherever you get Brewers radio. But with that, that's about all I got for today. We talked about a lot Bucs big weekend win. Lot Bucks big weekend win the Brewers, a big weekend sweep and a lot of news in Badger basketball and hopefully some good news coming up pretty soon here. So with that I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your Monday. But until I catch you guys back here tomorrow, deuces Hoping for the light of day Down to the river. I have held the devil's hand, felt the weight of my own.