Hour 1: Odds Yankees Can Catch Rays

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
Late night bites with friends, already hard to beat. That first too hot bite of fries you couldn't wait for, followed by ice cold Pepsi. Now that hits different. Suddenly, the energy kicks back in, the night goes longer, and the laughs don't stop, because Pepsi brings out more flavor, more fun, and more of the moment.
Food deserves Pepsi. Grab a Pepsi Zero Sugar today.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:28)
This is The Michael Kay Show Podcast.

**Michael Kay** (0:30)
I gotta get more Kay.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:32)
Listen live weekdays at 1 on the ESPN New York app and your smart speaker.

**Michael Kay** (0:38)
And a good afternoon, everybody. This is indeed The Michael Kay Show. We thank you for joining us on this Wednesday, September 2nd, 2026 It's me and you for two. Those are the rules of engagement. It's the fastest moving two hours in sports talk radio history. And the big reason for that is you, my esteemed co-host, and you know, the membership number 1-800-919-3776.
That's how you get your co-hosting position for the day. All right. So we've got a big show today. And I'm really, really, really excited about tomorrow because I got a chance to work with my buddy again, Don LaGreca. Tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of the start of the station when the transmitter flickered on. And the first voice heard on the station was Don LaGreca doing an update. And so he obviously is probably the most important talent in the history of the station because he came over from WFAN, a bet on himself and bet on Espn. And 25 years later, he's still here and the host of an afternoon drive show with with Alan and Peter, and we had such fun together doing afternoon drive as well. So for two hours tomorrow, we will bring back the past. And I know I'm looking forward to it. I've been texting with Don about it. He's looking forward to it as well. And we hope you are as well because it's going to be a trip down memory lane. Some of the greatest hits of our years together, some of the things we might regret, some of the things that we embrace as part of the culture that we built. So please tune in. Make it a point to tell your friends and family. Go up to Strangers Today on the street. And you say, you know, it's the 25th anniversary of Espn New York. You should tune in at 1 o'clock. Now, sadly, I have heard that Alan and Peter were a little upset that they were not part of the anniversary celebration, which I don't understand why they'd be upset, since they were not here at the start of the station. Don was, a couple of months later, I was. And, you know, Peter, I think, when the station started, was probably prepubescent. He might have been a teenager at that point. And Alan was a writer for Newsday. So they have no right, they have no calling to be on that show. But, because they want to really stir things up, they're going to have their own little protest anniversary show, After Ours, which will start at 3 o'clock. So that should be fun. That should be fun as well. The whole day should be fun. Because I'll tell you one thing. When I took this gig all those years ago, never thought, never thought that I would be here 25 years later. And to make it even more dramatic, everybody, a quarter of a century later. Wow. Just wow. Just absolutely wow. So that's tomorrow, but I want to set it up for everybody. And we are looking forward to it. We'll start off with the Yankees. Monday in Anaheim, they laid an egg. They lost 10 to 1 They didn't look good. They were lackadaisical, kind of lifeless, made a lot of mistakes, physical, mental, didn't seem like they had good and bad. So you got to credit to Urenia, though, who pitched very, very well.
Yesterday, they looked more like themselves.
Am I thrilled that all doesn't get out of the sixth? No. But his stuff is electric. So I'm not worried about him at all. And the Yankees certainly have enough firepower at the back end of the bullpen to clean things up if a starter gives them six or an out or two under six innings. And that's what happened yesterday.
Spencer Jones with a big home run, Jess Chisholm with a home run, everybody hit.
So it was that sort of night. And the Yankees end up winning seven to three. And by winning, excuse me, they pick up the game they lost on the Red Sox. So again, they're four games ahead of the Red Sox. But they are five games in the loss column behind Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay beat the Mets last night. And the Yes Research Department, which is amazing. I mean, we have guys and gals on the Research Department at Yes that are as good as anybody in these professional research firms that come up with stats. They're that good. And so I get a one sheet before every single show.