The Wild Card round opened with two road teams and two home teams winning. In Atlanta, Austin Riley's three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth turned a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 Braves win over the Phillies (Boston Globe). The White Sox jumped out early and held on to beat the Astros 6-3 in Houston (KPRC). In the Bronx, Cam Schlittler threw 6⅓ scoreless innings on 117 pitches, and Ben Rice capped a 9-0 rout of the Red Sox with a two-out grand slam in the eighth (MLB.com). In San Diego, Michael King took a no-hit bid into the seventh as the Padres blanked the Cubs 8-0 (Times of San Diego). Mikey P is a Bears and Red Sox fan, so he went from Case Keenum's Monday-night win to watching Ben Rice "put it in the microwave." Raphael Esparza saw the Cubs result coming and blames their bullpen and quiet bats. Mikey P questions why Houston started Game 1 with a bullpen game. Raphael criticizes the Phillies' use of Jhoan Duran and the half-empty afternoon crowd in Atlanta, and he shares a White Sox trend that favors the over. It's Wednesday, so it's Rant Wednesday. Mikey P's rant is aimed at fans who write off their team when the starting quarterback goes down: "Just watch the games." That leads into Deshaun Watson's TikTok turnaround in Cleveland. Raphael says Georgia, not Texas, is the best team in the SEC. Coach names five AFC quarterbacks still chasing a ring (Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson) and says Patrick Mahomes is in their way, the way Tom Brady was in Peyton Manning's. Then breaking news: Amazon has extended Kirk Herbstreit on Thursday Night Football, and the deal reportedly includes outs if Prime Video can land Sean McVay (Awful Announcing). Coach can't believe a broadcaster of Herbstreit's stature would sign it, and he draws on his own experience of being "put in a box" at ESPN. Mikey P thinks McVay could follow Mike Tomlin into television. After the BlueChew Gold spot with Vince Russo, Coach and the crew go back to school for the Top 5 games of college football Week 5: No. 3 Notre Dame at North Carolina (UHND), Alabama at unbeaten Mississippi State (Covers), Florida at Missouri (ESPN), Ohio State at Iowa with College GameDay in Iowa City (NBC Sports), and No. 4 Miami at Clemson, where Coach says this is a low point of the Dabo Swinney era (ESPN). Mikey P is all over Mississippi State's Kamario Taylor. Coach likes Florida, and Raphael thinks Miami-Clemson could be the most lopsided score of the night. All picks and lines are the hosts' opinions, and lines move. Housekeeping: Today's show is presented by Betya and BlueChew Gold. Coach and Bro is live at 2 PM ET today. Tuesday's The 2 Count is on demand and had the most first-24-hour views in the show's history. Every BTT show is at one link in Coach's latest post on X. Wild Card Game 2s are today, and the crew covers them on Thursday's show. Big Tommy C was out today. BlueChew: buy two months of BlueChew Gold and get the third free with promo code COACH at bluechew.com, plus 10% off and free overnight shipping on your first order. Episode Timestamps Time Segment 00:00 Cold open: today's show, Betya and BlueChew Gold, Coach and Bro at 2 PM 01:17 MLB Wild Card Day 1: Braves, White Sox, Yankees, Padres 03:15 Mikey P's 48 hours: Keenum's Bears, then Ben Rice 04:34 Ben Rice, Cam Schlittler and the next Yankee era 05:32 Raphael on the Cubs' shutout loss in San Diego 07:21 White Sox win in Houston, and the +1.5 run line play 08:43 Braves rally past the Phillies; the bullpen call and the empty seats 09:46 Raphael's White Sox overs trend 10:27 Rant Wednesday, in honor of Big Tommy C 11:42 Mikey P's rant: Just watch the games 13:48 Deshaun Watson's TikTok turnaround 15:48 Raphael's rant: Georgia deserves the love 17:15 Coach's rant: five AFC QBs still chasing a ring 19:15 Raphael: Malone, Stockton, Barkley and MJ 20:37 Breaking: Amazon keeps Herbstreit, with a McVay clause 22:44 Coach: "I've been put in a box," plus Al Michaels 24:50 Would Herbstreit really sign this? The ego debate 26:14 Mikey P: Could McVay follow Tomlin to TV? 27:43 BlueChew Gold: "Just Wrestling" with Vince Russo 29:36 CFB Week 5 #1: Notre Dame at North Carolina 32:43 #2: Alabama at Mississippi State 35:39 #3: Florida at Missouri 37:54 #4: Ohio State at Iowa 40:06 #5: Miami at Clemson, and Coach on Dabo 42:47 Why team totals are the play this season 43:23 Sign-off BTT Studios delivers the best in sports, entertainment, and culture. Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@watchbttsports Instagram: @watchbttsports Twitter/X: @watchbttsports #BTTStudios #Podcast #Sports #Entertainment Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
