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Speaker 1: Please to be joined by one Joe A. Spota here

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on Sports Talk seven ninety. It is the Matt Thomas

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Show with Ross. Matt is out today, Joe, So we're

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gonna give you a break from him. You just got

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me today. How how about that win last night? Very important?

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We know this is a big homestand it had to

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feel good to start it off with a win. Jord

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On Alvarez situation nowithstanding.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Ross, thank you for having me again. Uh yeah,

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it was. It was big win, big week here, big

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home stand for us at home, every game matters, and

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I think yesterday we we you know, we prevailed through

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a very difficult you know, uh day. You know, the

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injury to your Don obviously took the air out of

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us early in the game, but we were able to

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uh push through it and Zach Cole came came out big,

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and we came out with a big win, big game one.

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But again, you know, it's hard to ignore the injury

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to your done and what it means to our club.

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But hopefully we were here from a doctor. We hopefully

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we get some good news and we could get him

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back on the field.

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Speaker 3: So no, no update as of this moment.

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Speaker 2: No, he just actually he's seeing the doctors right now.

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He came in got some treatment done before seeing the doctors.

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So hopefully in a couple of hours we'll we'll find out,

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you know, the extent of this injury.

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Speaker 3: What what did you see on that plate? It was

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it was so weird.

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Speaker 1: It was it looked like there was it was like

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there was a banana appeal on on home plate.

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Speaker 3: It was just such an odd play. How did you

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see it?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it was it looked like his foot just slipped,

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you know, slippery from home plate. You know, Uh, I

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know that usually early in the game, the first you know,

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the first inning or two, you know, when they water

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the infield. When the water in the home plate area,

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you know, our guys usually put a towel on the

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on you know, like on top of the plate to

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keep the home plate from from getting wet. Uh. Maybe

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he spikes kind of slid from alderneath him. I don't know.

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It was really it was really weird the way it happened.

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So hopefully we we we hear some good news here

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in the next hour or two. Uh.

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Speaker 1: And yeah, also on that play Tony's Paris Chica, did

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you I know you mentioned in the post game. You

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didn't see the play, We're able to see that he

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put up the stop sign, and I'm just curious, you

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know about that type of process. We know that hitters

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work with hitting coaches, pitchers work with the pigeon coaches,

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stuff like that. What is that like with you talking

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to Tony Paris Chica and the decisions to where it

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seems like, you know, sometimes guys go through his stop

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signs and score, and that was another situation like that

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last night.

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Speaker 2: You know, for me, it happens throughout the league. You know,

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one thing that I've always told our base runners is,

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you know, Tony is there to help you, but the

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group base runners the one that don't need a third

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base coach. So for example, on that particular play, I

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did see that Tony put his hands up, but yo

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done did look over his left shoulder, He did pick

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the ball up. He saw that you know, uh, what's

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his name? My Garcia was taking his time and kind

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of running the ball in and you know, you're done

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kind of instinctionally used his instincts and he score on

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that play. So it's you know, obviously we'll we'll have

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a conversation as a group. But we always encourage our

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players and once to get to that base, find the ball.

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You could make decisions based based on your momentum, where

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you at and what the defender is doing that particular play.

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Speaker 1: Astros manager Joe Spotta was here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Well,

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let's get to some positive news. Zach Cole coming in

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to replace Jordan in the lineup. How about that guy?

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A couple of hits, another big home run, three runs

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driven in. I mean, how fun has that been to

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see to watch him and put him out there and

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having the kid opsing over fourteen hundred.

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Speaker 2: Man, it's it's been fun. And we we you know,

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he got he got better throughout the year, and he

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did some things in the Mounto leagues that you know,

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obviously open our eyes and put him on the radar.

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And we have been looking for a little offensive spark

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here the last couple of weeks, and you know, he

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was knocking on the door. He was loud enough where

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we thought that, you know what, this might be the

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right time uh to do this. And he has provided

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that spark. He has provided that energy, the power that

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that the hit tool, getting some big hits, and you know,

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we need we need some spark the next two weeks

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and and and hopefully he can provide some of that,

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some of that and can you know, uh trick down

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to everyone and you know, go hitting. Its contagious. So

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hopefully it Zach Cole provides that the energy that we've

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been that we've been searching for.

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Speaker 1: On that home run at bat, I thought it was

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extremely impressive. He gets down to two strikes, and we

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know that pitchers like to go with four seamers up

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in the zone. Those can be tough pitches to get to.

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And it was up in the zone by Jack Lder

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throws a good four seamer and he got around on it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, he you know, Jack Ltder, he executed his pitch,

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but Cole was ready for it. Uh. He had a

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nice swing top of the zone. And I'm telling you

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it's it was, it was. It was very impressive. How

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he's been able to make adjustment in the small sample

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size of our bats he's gotten, but everything starts with

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his preparation and he's he comes to the ballpark, he's

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he understands what pitcher trying to do. He knows his strength,

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he knows his weaknesses. He's he making an adjustment of

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bat to a bat, So hopefully we keep that going. Man,

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we need someone. Uh.

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Speaker 3: Also good news in the game last night.

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Speaker 1: You were able to stay away from Brian A Bray

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you for a few games and you got him to

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close the game out. Got into a little bit of trouble,

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but was able to get out of there and close

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another game for you.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we've been you know. Our our

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offense in Atlanta allows us to you know, stay away

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from from a Brew and and and King also, and

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I was able to use King for for five outs

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last night. Hopefully we would go out there, we score

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some runs today and we could give those guys a blow.

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But yeah, you know, always been good for us. A

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few rough outings the last last week, but he's the

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guy that we lean on. He's been good for us

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for many years. This guy has been lights out in

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the postseason. This guy is one of the best relievers

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in the game. So I feel really good when he's

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out there.

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Speaker 1: Astroz manager Joe Spott continuing with us here on a

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Sports Talk seven ninety a j Blue Ball on the

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Hill getting the start for you tonight. Uh, do you

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have any expectations as far as a pitch count. And

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also I'm just curious about what you've seen from him

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when he first comes came up to now to where

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to me, just his body language and everything on the hill,

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he just looks like he's full of more confidence.

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Speaker 2: And you nail the uh, you know, you nail the

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head the nail on the head there. It's just a

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level of confidence that he's pitching with every outing his stuff,

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you know, gets better, execution gets better because he knows that,

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you know, we you know, what pitches work with him,

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works for him against certain hitters. We've been you know,

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he started gains for us. He has been a really

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solid reliever. Wanting him to go out there and give

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us a couple of innings today, uh pitch counts. Uh,

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you know, we we open to see how far he

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takes us, right, we we really need him to cover

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some some innings early and hopefully we can we can

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hand the ball to our bullpen, uh with the lead,

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and we can we can you know, we can win.

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We can win it back to back series.

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Speaker 1: And most importantly, Joe, how do you feel about that

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old school look with the pants up to the knees.

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Speaker 3: That it looks Yeah, I do.

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Speaker 2: You know what I do to right this generation of players,

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they kind of like that that look. I don't mind,

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you know, the players swag. It's something that goes with

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with with this age and you know, I'm all about

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players pressing themselves and and being themselves and it's and

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it's it's great for the for the for the for

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the sport. As long as we continue to respect the

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game and play the game the way he's supposed to be,

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have no problem with it.

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Speaker 1: Jose L two missing some time over the weekend with

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the foot played yesterday, how's he doing.

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Speaker 2: He's doing, He's doing well. We're still monitoring the foot.

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You know, this is something that is not going to

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go away immediately, but he is good enough to go,

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and he knows the importants having him on the on

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the field and where we at h in the season.

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Uh So we will continue to monitor his foot and

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make sure that, you know, we get him ready to play.

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He's he communicates very well with us, letting us know

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how he feels. But right now, you know, right now

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he's in good to go.

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Speaker 3: Are you?

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Speaker 1: Of course, a lot of important games, basically every game

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very important down the stretch.

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Speaker 3: What is that like for you?

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Speaker 1: Now and a manager in your second season. As far

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as wanting to do you treat these like playoff games?

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Do you want guys to kind of to be loose

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and free and easy? What what is your approach as

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far as a managerial style down the stretch here?

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Speaker 2: Both you know there, I want my players to be

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relaxed and lose. Uh. These players know what we what

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we're playing for while we're fighting for the purpose of

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every game. They know I don't need to remind them.

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And for me, well, of course, it's going to be

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a level of uh, you know, more intensity in and

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and more you know, pedal to the medal if you will.

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You know, it's this kind of like a playoff atmosphere

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right now. The next two series are huge for us,

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so there's going to be more quicker, you know, earlier moves,

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more aggressive moves, trying to keep our lead or trying

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to extend our lead in a game, just trying to

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give us the best chances to win the game.

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Speaker 3: All right.

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Speaker 1: Astros manager Joe Aspota are weekly guest here on Tuesdays

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on The Matt Thomas Show with Ross.

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Speaker 3: Managers Joe spot. I appreciate the time.

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Speaker 1: As always, we'll talk to you down the road and

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good luck and get a win at dik.

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Speaker 3: In Park tonight.

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Speaker 2: All right, bus, thank you, all right, there you go.

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Speaker 3: Astros manager Joe aspotted