Eric Gomez: "He gives off Messi vibes"

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Darren Smith and John Gennaro kick off today's show wondering why Manny Machado isn't getting criticized for celebrating a player on the opposing team hitting a home run off of San Diego Pares pitcher Michael King, who returned last night and looked about as good as could be hoped for.

Then, Eric Gomez from ESPN joins the show to talk about the U.S. Men's National Team, preparations for the 2026 World Cup (especially in Mexico City, where Eric lives and where the Padres are trying to play a series in 2026), El Tri, the Baja Cup between San Diego Football Club and Tijuana Xolos (potentially including future soccer superstar Gilberto Mora), and this weekend's fight between Canelo and Crawford in Las Vegas. Eric also, as a Padres fan himself, added in this two cents on Manny's comments after last night's loss.

After he leaves, Darren spends some time wondering which World Cup host cities he would most (and least) like to visit next summer before falling back into the conversation about Machado and his relationship with Reds rookie Sal Stewart.

Check out the animated short that Eric Gomez worked on for ESPN about Canelo Alvarez

Here's the public preview of today's episode:

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