Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Jose Urquidy dominates to help White Sox avoid sweep, beat Cubs 3-0

Episode Date: August 20, 2026

This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 The Score. We're happy you joined us. And the sixth and final installation of Cross Town this year did not have the same whizbang that the previous two games had at Wrigley. But my goodness, did Jose Orkitti make Chris Getz look like a genius? Because he just went out there and absolutely shunned. I don't even think you needed Sean Newcomb. I don't know that you needed Grant Taylor.

Orkini was beyond efficient. He absolutely sparked. in his outing. And I think that's a fair word to use. He just mowed him down. He was remarkably good with his at-bats that he dominated. I think Craig Counsel said something along those lines. But only 68 pitches did Jose or Katie throw.

And he made every one of them count. I don't even know what to say. You tip your cap. But at the same time, you would like it if the Cubs didn't have fewer hits then failed double plays in the game yesterday. So those are my two biggest takeaways. Erkini went out there and shud. Nobody could hit except for Tyrone Taylor.

And they failed to turn double plays with ground ball pitcher Clay Holmes on the mount. Jose Orkitti was not just a revelation as he turned back the hands of time to his Astros. We're going to the World Series days. It was very astros Jose Hurtigini. Absolutely. It's not just that, though.

It's the way it laid out perfectly for a, completely depleted pitching staff on the south side. And Sean Newcomb did his job. He went to two innings. He did what Brian Hudson could not do. First off, he retired PCA in his first abat. He didn't just give up, you know, not a home run. He just sat him down.

Yeah. I mean, Sean Newcomb goes two innings. And yes, he did do the thing that no other socks pitcher Wrigley had done before him. But at the same time, after seeing Arcady, I'm like, did you even need to use Sean Newcomb there? Oh, yes. Did you even need to use Sean Newcomb for those first two innings? Couldn't you have saved him too?

68 pitches is very efficient. Understand in a major league game this season, the man hadn't thrown more than 52 pitches. So I think once you go like third time through the order, you are pressing your luck. He faced one over the minimum. He faced 19 batters. What pressed his luck when he gave up only two hits and had eight strikeouts?

Hey, man. Not just eight strikeouts. He struck out eight of the first 10 batters that he faced. Listen, it was dominant. You could say it didn't have the quote-unquote. Make sure I'm quoting you right. Wisbang, is that the terminology used? I do use Wisbang a lot.

Okay, so that's what you called it. But look, nothing was going to have, quote, unquote, whizbang the way the first two games did, unless, you know, the Cubs walked it off. So by that definition alone, if the White Sox win, there's less, quote, unquote, whiz bang. I think you have to give credit where credit is due. When a guy goes out against the second highest scoring offense in baseball

and strikes out eight of the first 10 batters he faces, that to me is whiz-bang because it's like, whoa, all of a sudden this dude is out here looking like Sy Young's ghost? Like, what are we doing? I mean, that was the cop Ray and I went to the game because it was a beautiful day and life is too short and I can't watch every game inside. And I hadn't, I'd gone to a Cubs rooftop in May. Catch me outside. How about that? And that's exactly it.

So I had gone to a Cubs rooftop in May, but that was it. That's the only baseball game I had attended, which is stupid. So Ray had tickets and I was like, I'll take the extra tickets. So Ray and I just, you know, saunter on up to our seats. And then Ray, how do we explain? We just sat there in silence. We didn't even get water. We didn't get Diet Coke.

At one point, Ray thought about a cut water, but they were like, I don't know, man. I was hoping that there would be something because I am a Cubs fan, that there would be something to celebrate. And then I would then get my drink, my cut water that I was hoping to have. And I was like, I'm still waiting for that moment. Jose or Kitty killed all vibes. It was amazing. Here's my question, though.

It was pretty great, actually. Be honest with me, Ray. Be very honest here. Was the mood dampened once PCA didn't hit a home run to lead off the game? No, I literally said... We also sat in a pocket of socks fans. We did. We absolutely did.

But I said to Layla, well, the streak is over. The streak is over. So, no, it didn't dampen the mood. I mean, you can't have a lead off home run every day. The streak is over sounded pretty damp to me. Jose or Keating making sure the Cubs only had two hits and it was one dude and it was the number nine batter. That's what dampened the mood.

And listen, I've said this many times before. I love and hate my children equally. But I came there to see hits and runs scored and sunshine. And I got some sunshine and nice cool breeze. Common and Jennifer Hudson were there. I'm sure they thought they were going to get some hints. You guys, both of them. No.

They were in the front row and we were in Section 230. But do you know what, Ray? All of you disappointed Comin and Jennifer Hudson. That's right. With your lack of offensive production. No. Brayton Montgomery said you can't be disappointed in me. Brady threw a whole ass fastball.

I'm doing things on offense and defense. Watch this. I'm going to get two hits, one of them to score two runs and put the game out of reach of a team that, you know, only gets two hits from its nine-hole hitter. But also, I'm going to show you what a canon that I have, why I was out here hitting and pitching in college. Braden Montgomery, first of all, Tyrone Taylor,

I put it more on him than I do, Brad Montgomery because like, what are you doing? He leaned towards third, then went back to tag. No, no. In that situation, no, no, no the story here. No, no what the scouting reported. Situational baseball, yeah, and your scouting report, but not just that. It just wasn't a deep enough ball.

Like we saw Brad Montgomery. He was in perfect position. You're way too close to second base, and there was poorly timed defensive judgment all across the diamond yesterday on the Cubs part. But that was just, it was no. nowhere near deep enough for you to do that. And you're pressing because you know you can't buy a hit as a team. You're the only one who could.

And I think that's why he just thought, like, Pekar Armstrong and you're just send it to the moon. You know, you're just out here living free. And you got gunned down. Layla, Ray, Tyler, let's be honest. That throw from Braid Montgomery was like your favorite album. No skips. Just a straight laser on straight through the air.

Like, Miguel Vargas had to bring it down to tag him. Like it was not like, oh, I hope it takes the right bounce. What bounce? This ain't bankhead. What bounce? It was one of the more beautiful throws I see. Are you kidding? Coming from right field.

It was a 70 grade fastball. It was over 90 miles an hour. Think about that. Tyler. Think about that. Layla, Layla, the way that replay lined it up for you so that you could see the angle of him throwing it to the third basement. There was no replayer, Ridley. Oh.

Oh, well, that. Okay. That actually does, that tracks. No, there actually was a replay because I begrudgingly did watch that. Are you did? There was. I just stared at the field dumbfounded at what I just saw, trying to figure out if the third base coach was involved. The thing that's crazy is at that point, it was a one-nothing game.

So that double meant something. And him being at second base meant something. And it wasn't like, oh, we're at the bottom of the order. No, sir, you are the bottom of the order. Here comes those guys who produce runs after you. Just stay on the base pass and give your team a chance to do something. PCA had a chance. Say Suzuki and Alex Breggman didn't get a chance.

But you know what else? It wasn't even just the disgustingness of the lack of hits. It was also the abject lack of walks. There were only three in the game. Sayas Suzuki had one. Pedro Ramirez had two, rather. Pedro Ramirez had one. And most importantly, when you look at Jose Orkid's day,

it's not that he got through six innings on 68 pitches. It's that out of those 68 pitches, 51 of them were strikes. He was like, I ain't giving y'all free nothing. If you want to get on base, you hit it. And this is a lesson, I believe, that White Sox pitchers en masse can learn because too many times the reason that White Sox lose games, this series included it, obviously,

is because they put too many men on base via the free pass. Well, how about this number? You love Risp. Did you see the Cubs Roders and Scorres position number? It was lacking. Oh, for two. Is that different from the four for 16? How did you guys, how did you like those two times that you had runners in scoring?

Wait, runner in scoring position. Yeah, it was not happening. So, Erkidi, though, to go six innings where you give up just the two hits, but also you walk absolutely no one. That is what made this game for the White Sox. People weren't getting on base. The Cubs, they are the best team at baseball at simply getting on base. And when you get on base, you create opportunities.

Good things happen. Yeah, and as you mentioned, O for two, like, you're not going to win many baseball games where you go O for two with runners and score position, because at that point, you need the long ball. It's just hilarious. Like, Major League Baseball at MLB.com always has the summary on the side.

And for scoring, there's just two. There's just two plays. It was the top of the six with the Andrew Benintendi single that brought around Miguel Vargas, who Vargas, as Ozzy likes to say. and then it was the Braden Montgomery double. I don't know if this was the Braden Montgomery game or the Jose Orkitty game, but it was one or the other.

I think I lean more toward the Jose or Keity game. You know what's funny? Braden Montgomery was the game changer in this as well. We will address that very question in this little known segment that we do at noon every day called Five on it. That question will be answered by you and by me, and maybe we'll get Ray and Tyler involved as well because I think it's a very good question. And your cousin too. Me and you?

Your mom and your cousins too? Ultimately, though, what a fantastic cross town. Series long, three games apiece, two teams fighting for playoff spots and playing like it from game one through game six, and both of them come out of it still very much in the position that they were in when they went into it. And that's in playoff position. Cubs have a nice lengthy lead in the National League wildcard race while still being within striking distance of the Brewers. for best record in all of baseball. And White Sox, oh, the ALE is a mess.

We're happy to be at the top of the Slag Keep in the ALE Central. I don't know that Slag Heap is the right term for the American League. But it's close. It's close. It's close. Whatever you want to call it, whether there's a pile of fecal matter, whatever you want to call it. No, no, stop with the violent terminology. You said, Slagheap wasn't appropriate, so I was trying to come up with something else that was not.

That you didn't necessarily want to be around. That's too offensive. I think it's got to be something that's like the middle. It's just, it's like a foundation. It's like a bad slab foundation. Like there's a couple of cracks in it. You can't put a basement underneath. It's just there.

Okay. I'll ride with that. All I know is the White Sox is the only team in the AL Central that have a winning record. And they are six games above 500. They are up for, what, four games in the AL Central for the twins? But the point is they needed that game. No matter how you look at it, they especially needed that game. They needed Jose Orkitti to come through.

They needed to make that pitching combination come through. You know, they don't get the day off today. They've got to face the Braves. Sox absolutely needed that game. And they got every bit of it. A pitcher's duel averagely where the wind was blowing in. And credit to them. And appropriately, appropriately cross town ends with a three games split on either side.

You know it's tied overall, right? Like overall. Well then. Well then. And so, yeah, we're right back where we started. And to your point, Leila, they are in this impossible 16 games and 16 days stretch. They're five and four, though. They have a winning record over the stretch, despite having their pitching absolutely exhausted every step of the way.

Except for Jose, go get him, Jose Orquite. I think you fired up Grant Taylor, too. We're going to talk a little bit more about this game just because it was so pivotal for both teams. We'll give out the he deserved better award. I think it's worth hearing about Jose Orkiti's masterful performance because it was excellent and Brayden Montgomery too who deserves every bit of his flowers. That guy just looks more and more like a veteran every single day and that is an accomplishment in and of itself as well. And apparently Ray and I, when we were observing the game, we're not the only ones who felt

the same way about the Cubs defense. So we'll get the expert to also chime in. More on Crosstown. In the meantime, this is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104. The score as we broadcast live from our score, Hyundai Studios, brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. When we have breaking news on the score. It is brought to you by IDOT. At some point in the day, everyone is a pedestrian. Slow down and give them space. Share the road. It's not a game. Our producers are Ray Diaz, Tyler Beterbaugh, Tyler Farangul, helping us out with cutting audio today as well. And then you can call us and text us. 312, 644, 67. We've gotten lovely metaphors for Slagheap. So thank you for submitting those to our chat. And you can join our Twitch mob. Their chat. They're

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