Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - How many runs do the Cubs have to be down for you to count them out? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: May 6, 2026

This hour is brought to you by Menards. Save big money at Menards. The views and opinions of Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies, literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey. The sports thoughts of Rahimi Harrison Grotie may change at any time. It's just sports.

Okay, thanks. Bye. Two on 1043, the score. And of all the things I did not expect to hear, now that the Bulls have their executive, vice president of basketball operations, was the words Tom Thibidot and Bulls together. Is it a dream come true for me?

So this article came out, Tom Thibbino and the Bulls are connected in this article. He has this sentence. League sources say Tom Thibodeau is also very interested in a comeback. No, not really. I want to dismiss it, Layla, because you said you didn't know what to say when you read the news. I knew what to say.

It was a one word thing. No. No. No. No. No. Jerry Rinesdorf, the guy who fired Tom Thibodeau. Like Jerry and Michael.

Okay. Mostly Jerry. Okay. Okay. Has he ever fired someone and regretted it? Oh, God. Here's a guy that feels like, you know, jump off a bridge. Tom Thibito, to come back to Chicago would have to make some concessions.

So who says you can't teach it? an old dog some new tricks. That's it's a old dog new tricks. You sure can't eat the young will and puppy. It's about anything. Tips doesn't care about time. Like, time is undefeated. And Tips is like, I don't care how many minutes are in this basketball game.

You're playing all of it. This is not how the world works anymore. This is four years now. I'm not changing. If you really want a clean slate, is somebody who you know exactly who they are as a coach, is that the answer? No.

No. The answer is no. No, by the way, is a clean slate. complete sentence. N. O. Period. No. But I like it. Or better than N.O. period. You know what's better than that? N.O. exclamation point. How about new?

Look pretty good to me. Pretty handsome guy. Strong tough. Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 104.3. The score.

This is Rahimi Harrison Grody on a very fun Wednesday. As we mentioned, we will introduce Bryce and Graham to you live at 12 o'clock. In the meantime, we're going to talk about the Cubs, the White Sox, and so much more. But before we get into the Cubs and a question, I want to ask all of our listeners, Marshall, and you yourself and our producers, Ray and Tyler. This is the case where, like, I'm listening to Tyler Bueber Bueber's Open. Happy birthday, Tyler. Happy birthday, big fella.

Thank you, yes. We're doing it. We're old. And because we also. believe in time is not something that you have to acknowledge, except when you want to, just like Tibbs. Is this a case where two rights make a wrong? Bryson Graham and Tom Thibbido? No. Again, no. You're pushing hard. I love it. I love your passion for it. Because you think Tibbs is a wrong in this scenario, but I'm saying they're both a right that make a wrong. So ultimately

it's still a wrong. I don't understand why you think Tibbs is a right. That's my problem. He's consistent. I know exactly who I'm getting at all times. About everything. Yes. I also know that volatility is a thing. And the last time he separated ways with the Chicago Bulls. It was about a volatility and toxicity issue, correct?

Did he change or did they? Wouldn't they both have to change to fix the problem? I'm not asking grown men to change. I'm just saying... You just asked if they did, though, and I'm just telling you. But I'm asking. I can't ask somebody to change, but we can ask if they did. If they did change.

I don't believe both parties have changed. I believe stubbornness is the thing, unless you go with the TLR method, which is the thing that exists. See there? See there? Tony Larissa didn't change either. No, he didn't. Existential crisis. Tony LaRosa went elsewhere and won multiple world championships.

And went to the whole thing. Tom has not done that. Tips has not done that, Laila. You know, the older I get, the more I just realize that there are two types of people in this world. People who love Tom Thibodeau and people who don't. I love Tom Thimito. I love what he's done. I love...

But the loyal... He inspires weird loyalty out of some people, like me and D. Rose. Does he inspire that weird loyalty out of someone with the last name, Rinesdorf? That is the question. So more basketball discussion will be had on the show. But in the meantime, here I am last night. watching a game. We're again, I know what I'm probably getting out of the individuals involved, Marshall, Cubs and Reds. And we love James and Taya and we understand who he is. We know that the

home run ball is something that will happen. And you're not asking him to change, correct? No, you know why? Also, because I know that James and Taya will change himself when he wants to because he likes to adjust. Okay. He does. I know who he is. And he's not afraid to tell you how the sausage is made. He's not afraid to tell you what pitches he's working on in a season. And then I'm like, oh, there's a home run ball. There's another home run ball. And then I'm like, I'm not even stressed out about it that much because I'm asking myself at this point, how many runs do the Cubs have to be down right now in order for you to say this team isn't out? Because guess what happened yet again? For the fifth time during the stretch that the Cubs have had, five different players, five different

walk-offs. They win three to two in ten innings. Lela, when you look at the Cubs and you understand how they are built, built to have an offense that should be one of the best in baseball all season if they stay healthy. And maybe even if they don't stay healthy because of the depth that they have put together here and the ability to put together different lineups for different purposes for different types of weather because it is Wrigley Field and we're still in May

and it's still a little breezy outside and it's still a little chillier than I would like it to be as we head towards Memorial Day weekend. But in that same vein, understanding that they've had the pitching setbacks that they've had both in their starting rotation and in their bullpen, the ability to just believe you're going to win

in my mind carries a lot of weight. And I think if you ask the Cubs themselves, players, and at this point, coaching staff, the belief is doing a fair share of the lifting of, hey, we're down, let's lift ourselves up by the bootstraps, proverbially speaking. And they've been able to do that more times than not. I mean, 17 and 3 stretch is like you've won 85% of your games

for what amounts to an eighth of the season. That's it. I mean, the stretch that things. on not only do we celebrate it for what it is during the time, but then you also, it does remind you of going back to other seasons. I know Grody brought this up last year when we were talking about the Cubs and them getting to the playoffs and there were shades of the 2016 team reminding you. You know, you've had that same feeling or you had that same confidence. One of the biggest pieces of the 2016 team to me, and I'm not saying this is the team that

wins the World Series, but it's the feelings that it invokes. And how good was the two out hitting during that time? You know, up and down the lineup, you saw guys producing, especially 7, 8, 9. You know, you saw it like once again with two outs, they were able to do it. And then you see last night on Markey Sports Network that the Cubs, over 36 games, are off to their second best start over that span. Second to 2016, they were 27 and 9. in 2026, they are 24 and 12 that ties the 1969 team.

There are all these comparisons. And then I think there's just another concept of this, which is, dare I say, in the words of we are good, they know that they are good right now. They know they're good because they can just look at their record and know 24 and 12 is something that not many other teams have been able to do. There's a lot of teams that are within shouting distance of 500, whether on the positive side or the small side.

The reality is, after being under 500 for a time, you can go back to the last time they were under 500. And that was when they lost in a three-game set to the Philadelphia Phillies on April 13th. They were 7 and 9. They were two games under 500. That's it. And then they went 17 and 3. So we'll get into that flashpoint looking back at that now a little bit later in our show.

want to do that next. But just having that mentality and then seeing what we're seeing on the field where even watching, you know for yourself, two home runs doesn't bother me. Solo home runs especially, let those guys get theirs. Being down doesn't bother you using Jamison Taya on Javier aside and then three more pitchers to get to Ryan Rawlison, who ends up earning that win because it's in extras. When you see all of the pinch hitters that were used, you know, for Matt Shaw as well, Moises by Astaireg is brought in. You know, you see Michael Conforto get brought in.

All these different decisions that are being made. None of that bothers you because you have confidence in this team the way you do. And the confidence is well earned because it's one thing to come up with a walk-off win like they did two nights ago. It's another thing to do it back-to-back days on a team. that's hot on your trail and you know is a good team because they're above 500. Your whole division's above 500. And you have to remember, when you ask the question, Lela, like how many runs is too big of a deficit for them to be able to come back from?

Right. I was going back and trying to put my number down. Is it four? Is it five? Is it six? Not one. Not two. Maybe it's not the LeBron Heath.

No, I think the LeBron is app because he kept going, right? He did. Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five. that puts you at six, correct? Yeah, you knew what number he was chasing at the time. Six is my number. Here's why six is my number. Because the last time they were down by five in a game,

they came back and won the game. They were down six one. And the last home game that they, or excuse me, the first home game that they won on this now headed towards history winning streak. You know, they won 14 a row back in 2008. They're on the verge of time. tying that. They're at 13.

Yes. On the, like, they could do it tonight. And they could do it tomorrow and, and surpass that streak, right? They were down six to one. James and Tyone was on the hill. And despite him giving up three home runs, because he gives up a couple of tyones and something that was not a tie own, a Grand Slam. They come back and win.

On April 12th, yeah. Since that point, I've been like, all right, they've turned it on. They've proven what they can do. Well, and again, there are so many. times where, like for example, we are used to seeing a team underperform like the expected Wobah, you know, that's a step that's out there a lot. And I think you're used to seeing guys play under the line of the baseball card, as we like to say, under the back of the baseball card when it comes to the numbers, because we're usually talking about it in that way. And

when people overperform, you're just thrilled and they're on a heater. But when you see a lineup perform where something that is seemingly unlikely to happen, where consistency and that elusive this whole lineup one through nine is good for a hit or good for clutch base running or good for something that will help you win. That's the rarity. And so when you're seeing it happen day in and day out on this basis like this, it deserves to be celebrated. And I think it's also reflected Marshall in how we're hearing the Cubs talk about themselves. This is a question that Craig council has been asked a lot over this home win streak over the last 17 out of 20, as we've mentioned. But I feel like his best answer was the one he gave last night. You just make yourself

hard to beat. You know, that's what the kind of the, you develop this resilience and this hard to beat mentality. That's, that's what it creates, I think. And I think a belief system, like we're down in the eighth, we got a shot. And it's not always like that. And comebacks and late inning stuff creates that. Sometimes you just need to see it to believe it. And I think this team is doing that. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 of the score,

and that was Craig Counsel after the game yesterday. And I think he's right. You do need to see it to believe it. You need to identify it with it. Feel it. All the things. And at this point, Craig Counsel's gone from his wow from two nights ago to, I guess this is what we're doing.

That's what it feels like. Do you know who he sounds like? Ben Johnson accepting his team's fate last season. T-Dog, 847 says the Cubs are the Caleb comeback bears. 309 says this Cubs team is giving me the same feeling I had watching the bears. Down late, no big deal. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel that a little bit when I was thinking about the discussion going into the office today.

You can text and call us 312, 644, 67, 67 is our number. And the way that Craig Counsel described it is the way I've been looking at it, because when you ask, okay, well, how big of the number is it to come back? The reason six is such a big number here, and that's the number that I landed on. It is a touchdown, so you're still in the vibe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the reason why I believe when you say, what is the number of runs that the Cubs would have to be down

where you're actually thinking, okay, they may not come back and win the game. It's six because this. If it's three or four or five, that's just a couple of innings of different guys doing work. And what I love about this specific Cubs lineup, which reminds people probably, if you're looking at it from an overall baseball standpoint,

of what the Dodgers have put together, honestly, is that all different thirds, three-thirds, whether it's one through three or four through six or seven through nine, can beat you at any given point in a ball game. Any of those guys is capable of going, yard. Any of those guys is capable of just getting on base and keeping a rally going or starting a rally for that matter. I also like the challenge issued by 815. Sox will be ready for overrated cubbies

on May 15th. Next week, the hype for Crosstown is going to be real. Wait, is it next week? Next week, Marshall. Are you ready? I mean, if I wasn't ready, I guess I am ready. Guys, I just have one question. What's the question? Just can we not? Can we just in... What do you mean? Do you want? But please don't be fighting in the stands. The last thing I want to see is a fight in the stands.

And then people are like, oh, that's what happens. When the game goes on on the cell... Stop it. No. These are South Side games, I'm assuming. Well, there's just more room to fight. If you don't want them to fight, maybe you don't play Nuck if you buck. That's just my personal suggestion.

I mean, fair. I do love Nuck if you buck. But you know what happens when you play Nuck if you buck. In the vein of our generation's hip-hop, don't start no stuff. won't be no stuff. Keep that in mind, too. But don't start stuff there. Yeah, 815.

Overrated. Cubsies. Overrated. No, that's the right amount of starting stuff. That's the right amount. Dump them. Dump them. The Cubs are not overrated.

The Cubs have earned their wins. The Cubs are an impressive baseball team all the way around. I just like it when everybody has swag. I know. I hear you. I like it when everybody has something to puff your chest about. I like it when the games are exciting. And I think for both of these teams, no matter which side of town you root for,

the games have been exciting. Whether it's the, you know, frankly, the White Sox losing last night, if you're going to beat them now, it's going to be tight, one run loss, or the Cubs winning the last two nights in walk-off fashion against, again, a good team. You beat a team twice a row. A very good Reds team, especially on the road. There's still four, there's still four games over 500. And understand this. Coming into the series, Leila, they were 12 and 1 in games decided by two runs or less. The Reds were. They were 12 and 1, and now they're 12 and 3 because the Cubs are like, oh, so you're due

for a close loss is what you're saying. Well, and I know I joced about the Jamison Tyone home run ball. He only gave up two earned runs. Two earned runs over five and two thirds, five strikeouts, one walk. I take it because I know what I'm getting. And that's the beauty here. I feel like Jamison Tyone is the best of the ERA and the low fours guy. He's got a four point two.

for you are. But you still feel pretty good about when he's on the mound. You know how I know that? The Cubs have won his last five starts. You know? Everybody does, he has a point one war on the season, James and Tyone. But I don't, how many times, Marshall, and we'll get into this a little bit in our next segment, but how many times are you like, oh no, here's like the bottom half of the lineup or, oh no, you know, can they overcome? Not just the Cubs, any team you're watching where you know that version of the team may not be able to overcome two solo shots. You don't feel is confident in the lineup. This is not those teams. I like the idea of a PCA and a Dansby Swanson and Miguel and I, whoever you got the bottom third. Think about how we felt about facing

Andrew Abbott last year. Well, he does throw from the left side. Lefty was dominant last year. Is that a problem for you? No. No, it was not. I mean, he still did his thing. He still went five and two thirds and he still didn't give up an earned run. But he walked four battle. and he only struck out for. And then you just start chipping away. The Cubs, by the way. And that's exactly what the Cubs did. Layla, the Cubs, by the way,

highest OPS in baseball against left-handed pitching this season. I just wanted to point that out, 8-18. It would appear they addressed a concern of theirs. Highest on-base percentage at 373 against left-handed pitching. Sacking against lefties as far as average at 276. They saw their weakness last year and said, okay, we'll fix that right quick. 6-3 says, I played Nuck a few bucket of bar.

bar once and that was the end of the night for the bar. Yeah, it's a dangerous song. And then again, I'm like, because we know some of the DJs at Sox, like Jorge Mad Jazz. I'm like, or do you play it just to see what happens? And see, that's the, I've worked with Ozzy Guy in too long. That's what that is. More Cubs talk and then Sox at 1045. 312, 64, 64, 67, 67 is our number. We appreciate all the discussion and the vibes is we have this checkpoint here on this May 6th, the Cubs and White Sox seasons. You can also join us on Twitch and YouTube. We are the score Chicago on both entities.

Our Twitch mob is up and chatting. We say hello to them. Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, Max Curtis, and Cody Westerlin. Man, our Twitch chat, our YouTube, and our social media. Our producers are Ray Diaz and Tyler Buehberbaugh, the birthday boy. The birthday ball? I like that. It's not as good as Moises by Aslamos.

I'm working on it. You're workshopping some very good hybrid names of late. Okay. I'll keep working at the workshop. Braden Friar helps us out as well. So let's do that next as we broadcast life from our scores, Hyundai studios brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. And when we have breaking news on the score, it is sponsored by IDOT.

Speeding in a work zone is a no win. Mind the signs, avoid the fines. We will examine how you felt back during that Phillies game and take a look at the stretch that's happened since then. and there were signs. And it all goes back to that game on April 12th, I think, when we saw James and Tyone on the Mounted Home at Wrigley. We'll do that next.

Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi, Harrison Grody on 1043, the score. One-0 pitch from Mall to Bush. Bush, he would have chop her up the middle. It goes through into center field. Danzby's going to score. The Cubs are going to walk off the Reds. Two nights in a row.

Delacruz plays this ball off to the side that got by him. That was amazing. I thought he would try to block the ball. He did not. It gets by him, and Danby scores easily, and the Cubs walk him off two days in a row. And the Cubs dug out empties at first base. Michael Bush ties the game and then wins the game here in the 10th inning.

Wow. You know what? Dare I say, Ron Coomer, thanks to our Northwestern Medicine Cubs Radio Network, that Michael Bush, after getting four RBIs the other day and getting the game important, too, here in this scenario, going three for four with a run scored and a walk, that he was knock in and bucking and ready to fight? I think this is impossible. I think I asked for an impossible favor out of fans,

and I'm sorry that I said no fights for crosstown. I don't think it's happening based on a very small sample size in our text chat. and our text line, I regret that. So in the meantime, I feel like the Cubs are doing us a solid with the energy and the socks are doing us a solid with the energy. And we're getting suggestions on our text line. And here's what happened is somebody who's mentioned walk around the club, 847, and now I'm really worried.

I've already worried about the energy for next weekend in the best way possible. So you're either a believer of one of these two theories, right? When it comes to cross-town and the idea. idea of fighting, right? Yes. You're a believer that one fan base would want to fight because your team is terrible. They need something to do in the game. The games will blowout, whatever, right?

And the other theory is, if both teams are good, that raises the chances of a fight because there's more talking of feces and whatnot. You know what I'm saying? Like that's... You're synonyms for... How are they worse than the actual swear word? I can't say what type of talking you would normally say because FTCC... Bleep.

bleep, but you don't have to bleep feces. That's the thing. It's a natural thing. This and the other thing, he says, sounds so much worse. What, defecation? Is that the thing you're talking about? I didn't think on the Wednesday, 10 days before the first crosstown game that I would be here mentally. But then, Nuck, if you buck plays, then we got texters, bringing up songs.

So which way are you, are you on the belief that if both teams are good, that elevates the chances of a fight? Or are you the belief that if one team is bad, that elevates, that elevates, that elevates, elevate it to the chances of a fight. I don't know, but you know what? I'm going to go and find out. We need to examine this. 312, 644, 67, 67, a topic we will examine for 10 days. And I'm not even kidding. And that is the beauty of it is that both teams have a lot of, they have a lot to play for. Yes. And that's where we're at in this. Before we get to the sock side of it, We're, they also were ready to fight and tried to come back against the Angels yet again. And they have a chance to win yet another series yet again.

He knows on the mound, right? Noah Schultz. There it is. And we've seen him put together some real progress already in a very short amount of time. Let's go back to just some of the fun with the numbers of the Cubs and the 13 straight at Wrigley. You brought it up earlier. We have to go back to April 12th. That is when this began.

And that is the Sunday that we were in Vegas, by the way. So after yelling at the TV for two games on a lovely weekend at Circa, watching the Cubs lose at home to the pirates, then we see the turns start to begin. That was the comeback where James and Tyone, as you mentioned, gave up three home runs, including a grand slam. Layla, they were down six to one showing no signs of life on offense. I was like, oh, this is going to be a fun Monday show we do

where we talk about the Cubs getting swept in their first division series. Right. 773 wants a knuck if you buck explanation. It's just, it's fight music. Like you play and you're hyped up and then if you got to like, it's just, you play it and people are inspired to fight. And the lyrics also will indicate that. There are some songs that when it plays, people just get amped up in their energy levels. And if there are other people around, they literally start bouncing on. It's like the hip-hop version of a, I want to say a Mosh Pit because Mosh Pit is more like a friendly

like, ah-ah. But same idea. But same kind of. vibes and then next thing you know somebody you don't know comes into you a little bit too hard and knock if you buck. All right. Well, apparently the entire text line agrees that there will be fights. Okay, so I'm sorry.

I'm sorry for asking that. That was really silly of me. But getting back to the game at home at Wrigley that was the turning point. That was the beginning of this 13 game win streak. Now additionally, when you look back at the schedule for the Cubs, it wasn't just

the brief win or at least what it seemed like at the time during that stretch. It was what happened next, where I remember talking to you, Marshall, about this. That Monday, we're wondering how the series is going to go against the Phillies and then the Mets, who at the time were not playing in the same tail spins, Philly a little bit. But we didn't know what was ahead of us when it came to two teams with very established rosters, spent a lot of money in the off-season as we have talked about. and then we see another loss that happened that next day.

That was the one where Philly scored 13 runs. Here's the issue with the Philly game, right? In that game in which obviously Javier's side was not good, right? And I was thinking, okay, this is really bad. Kyle Schwerver is doing whatever he wants. It's just bad. It's a bad baseball game. Kyle Schwerver was rubbing it in.

At that point, you're extra lamenting that he wasn't. a part of this team. That was the 13th of April where we saw them lose 13 to 7 to begin that road trip against the Phillies. But here's the thing. They were up 13 to 2 in that game and then towards the end in the 8th inning they score five runs. And in my head, I'm thinking, okay, even though they lost this game 13 to 7, I can just put that on a very bad start by a pitcher. Like the fact that they lost the game. A clunker. Yeah, it was a clunker. And you're going to have clunkers from guys who operate out of the four and five hole in your starting rotation from time to time, especially if the guy is a guy who got called up who wasn't even on the big league club when the season

started. But I was like, but this offense, this offense is showing me some fight. They showed the fight on Sunday. They showed more fight on Monday. And at that point. That's the Nuckafew Buck element, guys. That's it when you're showing the fight. At that point, when they scored the seven runs, I was like, okay, they've got better pitching going

tomorrow. They'll be fine in this series. And they were. They used an opener the next day. And they won the game. They've won 17 of 20 cents. But I go back to the Sunday game and here's why I think that was the turning point of what we've seen because that was their first walkoff win of the year. In this stretch of 20 games, they've added now four more walkoff wins. And the energy that that brings, when you have more walkoff wins over a 20 game stretch than you even have losses. Right. That tells you what type of team this is and what type of belief they have that even though

James and Tynol leaves the game and is down two to one. He said it to people when he came off the mound last night. Oh, we're going to win this game. That's it. And you know what? We have him talking after the game about that level of confidence. You heard what Craig Counsel had to say. Well, here's what Jameson Tyone said.

I'm falling behind way too much. I hate it. It's not me. It's I need to get better at that. But that being said, like you can't. change anything when you're out there. You just have to make the next pitch. And tonight it was like finding ways to be creative. And the backdoor cutter to lefties was pretty good. Righties. For whatever reason, I feel like I'm not having as hard of a time. Lefties.

There's some big misses early with like the fastball and curball. So just I'll work at that. But yeah, I think it's, you know, kudos to like Tommy, Casey and then Miggie catching me just to to find a way to get me back and counts and, you know, just to kind of fight those command things that are going on. And then he had another comment after the game where he was. talked about the confidence of being able to win. And he can say all of that. He can tell you why he's lost a game. But he echoed the same kind of confidence in his team about knowing how they were going to win a ball game.

When you can talk like that, I think, Marshall, and you can be that down. It's good to be able to come back and be able to say, we know that we've got this enough to make sure it's going to happen. Again, one of the best offenses in baseball, and they've played like it through this stretch. understanding that, hey, our pitching may be great one day, it may be average. And certainly, when you talk about a pitcher who's had the seven starts that Tyone has and has a point one war, that means he's been just a tick above average, wins above replacement. His presence in the rotation has been just a tick above average. But that's okay when your offense is doing what it's doing, and you're not a tick below

replacement or a negative war. You've done well enough. You've given your team chances. outings where he's given up three or four runs. But guess what? If a starting pitcher in 26 gives up three or four runs, that means your offense is right there in the game. They're within striking distance. I just, I did not have that same feeling after watching the Cubs have to come back and just overcome 7 to 6 against Pittsburgh. And then they lose 13 to 7. The 10 to 4 win on Tuesday that next day was a surprise. The 11 to 2 was even more of a

surprised to take the series. Then I'm reading reports about how the Phillies have had their worst homestand in 17 years. Then we see them go 12 and 4 against the Mets for the first one, four to two in the second game, two to one and the other one. And again, there are different ways of winning ball games. And it's just like you said, walk-offs, five different people involved in the walk-off. There's a confidence in understanding that even when you make a mistake, even when the game isn't as ideal as you want when you want to perform, this starts to add up. And you know what, Marshall, I'm going to go even further.

You remember what happened in that 7 to 6 win over the Pirates? The discussion that day started with Michael Bush being in an 0 for 30 stretch, and then he gets called upon to pinch hit in that game. I remember, and it's not like he hit this bomb to end the game either, right? So he did well enough. And you go back to what happened last night and understand Bush's role in that, going three for four, homering. It feels like everyone in this lineup is doing, if not showing out every night,

they're doing enough over the course of, let's say, a series, right? Everyone's contributing every series to making sure that they win series outside of what happened in LA. It's so true. Keep listening for your chance to win. qualify first for the score's sweet stakes when you hear this cue to call. I love Riggily. I loved it as a kid. I loved it as a player. I love it as a broadcaster. So when you hear that cue to call later in the show, be caller number six to the score contest line at 312-540-0-670. And you can qualify to win the score sweet stakes where you can win a sweep for you and nine friends, 10 people total, to the Cubs against Sacramento on Wednesday, June 3rd. qualifiers, which is what happens when you call,

must be present at our station for a live drawing during the Rahimi Harrison Grady Show on Thursday, May 14th. That's our show, where the Grand Prize winner will be determined. For official contest rules and complete details, visit the scorechicago.com. It is all brought to you by James Hardy building products, siding with the Cubs. Let's talk about the White Sox next,

because they tried their hardest to sweep the angels, and they got really close. So now they've got themselves in a position to try to win the series today. We'll examine the 4 to 3 loss last night and why you should still pay attention. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Spares tight end, Cole Kamet. Cole, welcome to the party, pal. Well, thanks for having me.

I heard it was a big day. So naturally, I dropped everything I had going on today. You've complained a lot through the years about not being able to hear the score on the 670 AM dial when you're inevitably cruising around down. downtown and now that we have an FM signal call you can now hear the score all day all the time all you want you can hear all the bears hot takes you want well that's perfect i'll make sure i last that in the locker room beautiful back rahimi harris and grody midday's tindle two on 104 three the score there's the breaking ball turns it over the right side christen the first and that'll do it white socks leave the bases loaded in the ninth and we'll lose a tough one to the Angels four to three. That is the voice of John Triffon on the call on CHSN and the White Sox and Angels round out their series.

Today we saw some of the usual suspects contribute for the halos in that four to three win. Sox are still just two games under 500 at 17 and 19. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, the score. And Zach Nito broke quite the slump. He was 0 for 23. prior to getting a hit in this game and then ultimately getting a home run that helped decide the ball game. Mike Trout also hit a home run. Are you surprised?

No. He was going to have a game in the series, right? You just hope he doesn't have multiple games in this series. Two for two with two walks and, I mean, he's Mike Trout. He got a base four times and one of them he circled them all. So yeah, that's it. He's Mike Trout. You don't want the Zach Nitos to beat you.

But once again, it was still a close game. This one nodded it too. after an inning, and then the White Sox are able to try to chip away. You know, they go to the seventh inning. We see Chase Midroth get his first home run since opening day. And it's kind of the same idea, Marshall, where guys who you don't always expect to be the ones trying to contribute are out there trying to make this one close for the socks. I think the biggest thing, Laila, and watching the White Sox lately is just understanding that people

are, as you said, multiple people are contributing. and you're trying to see who settles into what roles, because it is still early in the season. This is a very different lens to watch this team than say the team on the north side, because a lot of them don't have a ton of major league experience, so they're still finding their way. So to see, like, a guy like Chase Midroth

get put into the leadoff spot against a left-handed pitcher, and to come up with results, that's great. Colson Montgomery, out there playing both short and eventually moving over to third base, or, excuse me, third and short. and I think the biggest thing for me was as much as I wanted Munataki, Munataki, excuse me, Murakami to be in the lineup.

I understood why he wasn't until he comes into the game and is in the lineup, not just like in a pitch hitting situation, but he's actually out there playing first base. And I was like, huh, it just made me question, like, what was the plan here? Because if you want to give him the day off, that's one thing. But if you give him the day off, give him the day off. give him the day off.

Yeah, I think it's, it's, you want to give him the day off, but then you realize he gives you your biggest chance to win, and you have to understand that even in a winnable game, you might have to lose the battle and win the war, so to speak, if you really wanted to give him that off day. Eric Fetty didn't have his best day. I feel like the angels were seeing his sinker really well, and they were able to turn on it.

And then there was the story as to why Nito credits, his resurgence in this game. Did you know about this? No. So the headline from our friends at MLB.com Nito breaks out of slump with Homer thanks just Pokemon cards.

Oh, the breaking up, yeah, I did see that actually, the Pokemon. I didn't know that was a thing. So he, Mike Trout had texted him prior to the game that he had just received a large box of Pokemon cards and he wanted some help opening the pregame. Trout with a little veteran teammateship there.

And Nito said he pulled a rear And forgive me if I'm not saying this correctly Because I don't play Charzard card Charzard? I think it's Charzard. It is Charzard? Yeah, it is. So that was his omen

The things were changing for him And it worked. The angels have been struggling. They needed this one badly. I'm not, I wasn't expecting the White Sox to go to Anaheim and sweep, right? I still think that the angels, if they're smart, probably end up trading a guy like Jorge Salare.

There's a big push from a lot of people like Keith Law, namely, on if you can move Mike Trout somehow, you try to do it just to get the bevy of talent that would come with it. I don't disagree with that statement. It's a matter of just, does Trout want to go anywhere? I mean, he's a guy who has no trade clause, he's a 10 and 5 guy. I mean, does he want to go somewhere? He didn't seem to want to go anywhere the last time he had.

a chance to go somewhere as a free agent. So he just re-up. Now, the angel's offered a, you know, insane amount of money. Which now doesn't look that insane, does it? No, no. I mean, it wasn't insane. Let me, let me back up. It wasn't insane in terms of it's too much money to give Mike Trout. It's just like, oh, owners be out here giving people $100 million contracts. Yeah, yeah. And $400, which is what Mike Trout's was over. And so what I'm. saying is a 14 and 23 Angels team that couldn't figure out how to win with Mike Trout in his prime and Shohei Otani. Maybe you get all the prospects you can and hit the reset button. And in the same vein as to what we were talking about with the Cubs, we're talking about a one-run

game for the White Sox. Now, they were no stranger to those and being on the losing side of those last season. It was bad. That's part of the indication of number one. You know, your bullpen is not exactly playoff level caliber. And then number two, just whether or not you have enough offense to be able to withstand it. But even in discussing Munitaka Murakami's availability, Marshall, that gives you an indication. This is a different kind of management of the roster. You know, if you put that guy in the lineup, there's a good chance. Better than not with 14 home runs to his name and knowing how to walk and finally getting a double.

That he's going to help you get over that one run threshold. Yeah, that's why it was difficult to see him come in the game the way that he did go one for two, strikeout. That's pretty like get on base half the time or close to half the time, whether it's a walk or a hit. This time it just happened to be a hit for him. And to wonder how he plays in a different part of the order. Because here he's between, you know, Derek Hill and then Peters and then Sam Antanachi, who even though he's in the nine hole, I hate him in the nine. Do you understand what I'm saying here when I say I hate him in the nine hole? as a lefty.

It might be over-engineering. Like, give him some more at bats. He hits. Yeah. He got a single off the lefty. And he steals bases, too. And he steal base, because he stole a base. And so, understanding that, and when you talk about Murakaki, like, Munataka and Murakami,

when you talk about him and the impact that he has, he has the greatest impact when he's hitting around guys like Miguel Vargas and Colson Montgomery. He was a little too spaced away from those guys to be in there for multiple bats to my life. I get it. I understand it. But I'm saying that's the principle of, hey, you got an off day in a couple of days. Let's just, let's see if we can finish this road trip strong. Is that too much to ask?

No, but I think it goes back to a bigger question, which is how do you give that guy the day off? And not that they shouldn't, but how do you do it? Not the rhetorical, how do you give him the day off? The actual, how do you give him the day off? How do you do this? How do you do this and be okay with it? they were right in that a left-handed pitcher was on the mound. So he's probably, when he gets his day off, it's going to be with a left-handed pitcher on the mound.

And I'm probably overly analyzing this because, one, it's early in the season. You do want to keep him fresh, right? And I just understand the impact that he has, not only when he's hitting 14 home runs, but in other ways he just helps the lineup flow and gets the guys behind him more pitches to look at it. However you want to look at it from a baseball overall perspective, perspective. Miguel Vargas has been playing well. We know what Colson Montgomery is capable of.

I just want to see that continue and I don't want to do anything that would put a hitch in their giddy up, you know? Well, I think this is as good a test as any Marshall to see what happens today. Like examine the lineup today because you're looking at a day game after at least for us a late night game. So you have the chance to win a series. So how are you going to be able to put that together in a way that makes it make sense? It should be fun. And with Noah Schultz on the mound, you have a certain level of confidence because even though this guy hasn't had supreme swing and miss stuff that he's had on display in the minors,

he's gotten out and he stayed in games. And that's the thing. Go five plus. Go six plus if you can. Well, and just put together a body of work. This is about him making the donuts, getting the reps, trying to figure out who he is. But I think what's great for him, unlike a lot of really Bally, who. prospects who are pitchers,

nobody's expecting you to save the team by yourself. This wasn't, this was a call-up that I don't know if it was birthed out of, I don't think desperation, but we've seen those in the past with other players. You don't have to do that. You're going to go out there and work on your game and know that the team is going to do enough, especially in this stretch that we've talked about, to be able to have confidence to back you up.

But what is this lineup going to look like? And I think that that's a better question when you consider the turnaround, travel day after this, what happens? It feels like they brought him up because, quite frankly, he was ready. He was ready to take the next step in his pitching career. I love that. I love the way, like I said, Antonachi's playing, the other three guys that we've been talking about, but also Chase Midroth now got a sixth game hitting streak after a couple of hits.

It feels like if we could just get Kyle Till out here, healthy and good, they can make some type of push. I guess they can just let him rest as long as they want to right now. clearly they don't have a choice right now because he's just not ready. Yeah. And that's obviously something. Maybe I don't know, do you reassess ahead of the homestand when you've got the Mariners coming? That's something I'm sure we will examine tomorrow and Friday as well.

Coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison Grody, it is time for Mike Florio, our weekly chat with the creator and editor-in-chief of pro football talk next.