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Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show

5 On It & Bruce Levine talks Cubs (Hour 3)

14 May 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

2.866 - 9.294 Unknown

It's time for 5 on it. Rahimi Harrison-Grote. Bring you five topics on their minds today. On 104.3 The Score.

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10.856 - 11.296

I got 5 on it.

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Chapter 2: What topics are covered in the '5 On It' segment?

13.018 - 27.135 Unknown

This is Rahimi Harrison-Grote. We are broadcasting live from our Blue Cross Blue Shield performance stage where the grand prize drawing for our score sweet steaks giveaway is happening at the end of the 12 o'clock hour. 5 on it.

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27.622 - 49.326 Leila Rahimi

Number one. That's right. And this segment is sponsored by AlmostFreeTeeth.com. Save on dental implants today. Here's question number one. On a scale of one to ten, on the Ben Brown Confidence Index, trademark, where do you rate right-hander Ben Brown's chances at being the Cubs' stopper in tonight's series finale in Atlanta against the Braves?

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49.525 - 65.828 Unknown

You know, I like the measurement that is the Ben Brown Confidence Index, the BBCI, if you will. But here's my issue with the Ben Brown Confidence Index today. I think it is stopped by the CSCI, which is the Chris Sale Confidence Index.

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65.968 - 67.891 Marshall Harris

That one is higher. It's a really good index.

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67.911 - 92.198 Unknown

It's really like the CSMEDI, the Chris Sale Mow Him Down Index. Oh. Because I feel like that's what he's been doing to opposing batters. So it's 6-2 with a .220 ERA and 56 strikeouts to his name already. Ben Brown, get through the first inning. Get through the first inning as best you need to do it because I know that that is his bugaboo.

92.619 - 110.632 Unknown

And he says if that sets him back, then everything else gets set back because of it. But the bigger issue may be, will he get any run support? Because with the way the Cubs have been hitting and the way that they haven't been getting on base enough, I just am not sure what's going to happen when Chris Sale might be on 10 tonight in Atlanta.

111.413 - 121.45 Marshall Harris

Here's the problem, Layla. Chris Sale has made eight starts. You mentioned the strikeouts. In those eight starts, only twice has he given up more than one earned run.

121.514 - 124.258 Unknown

So on the Chris Sale mow him down index, that's pretty high.

124.759 - 129.866 Marshall Harris

And in those two starts where he gave up more than one earned run, guess what? He lost.

Chapter 3: How does Ben Brown's Confidence Index impact Cubs' game predictions?

131.048 - 150.897 Marshall Harris

So I have a pretty good feeling that the Cubs are going to score more than one run off of Chris Sale. They're going to load up, and this is the advantage that Craig Council has with the depth of his lineup. They're going to line up all the righties and Ian Happ and put them out there. So Matt Shaw, come on down. Carson Kelly behind the plate.

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151.079 - 176.462 Marshall Harris

I feel like this is an opportunity for the Cubs to go down swinging. And I don't mean that in a swinging and missing situation. I mean, they're going to go down swinging. They're going to hit Chris Sale. They probably have about a 50-50 chance of winning this game. Ben Brown's not going to go deep. At the same time, as far as the index goes, I'll put it at a 6%.

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177.742 - 181.347 Mark Grote

So you're a little bit above average confidence.

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181.367 - 188.818 Marshall Harris

Yeah, I got a little confidence in Ben Brown. He's not going to match Chris Sale as far as innings go, but I think he can keep them hanging around. That's the goal here.

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188.838 - 205.203 Mark Grote

Yeah, you know what I'm worried about is the fact that the Cubs pitchers in this series have been giving up big hits to the guys in this Braves order that you don't always expect to get the big hits. Like, yeah, it's Mike Yastrzemski, who had the big RBI double yesterday.

205.303 - 206.044 Unknown

Mauricio Dubon.

206.024 - 229.757 Mark Grote

Yeah, exactly. Had the big three, was it a two-run blast off of Phil Maton? And that's another thing. You know that they're going to be getting into the bullpen relatively early, unless there's a plan that I don't know about to stretch Ben Brown out a little bit more. As I said in the last segment, he has not thrown more than 50 pitches in a game this year, has Ben Brown.

229.797 - 248.98 Mark Grote

We all understand that he had been... a reliever and highly successful at doing that. So all of that to say, I'm at about a five here. I do think that the Cubs are going to hit Chris Sale today just because we don't expect it and weird things happen and the Cubs are due. So they may get to Chris Sale.

249.2 - 259.993 Mark Grote

But I'm also fearing that the Braves may put some runs up on the board, too, because it's not like they have the best offense in the league and they haven't exactly exploded in these first two games. Five runs in the first one, four runs last night.

Chapter 4: What are the implications of the Cubs' recent losing streak?

355.842 - 357.525 Unknown

A carpet rake back in the day.

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357.706 - 362.175 Leila Rahimi

I think squeegees have to be for, like, two out of three. Squeegee? Get your squeegee out for two out of three.

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362.275 - 364.52 Unknown

I don't know, because a squeegee covers more ground.

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364.6 - 372.635 Mark Grote

Doesn't that connote rain, though, too? Yeah. Wet and whatnot. I think the squeegee is too dependent on other outside factors.

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372.655 - 375.12 Unknown

I mean, you can use it for your windows and stuff. Just clean them.

375.38 - 386.32 Marshall Harris

Squeegee. I want to point out two things here. You mentioned Chris Bubich. His best start of the season came against the White Sox earlier in a 2-0 win back on April the 10th.

386.3 - 388.423 Unknown

That's a different team you see in a day.

388.524 - 411.18 Marshall Harris

I hear you. In which he struck out 11 batters, gave up just two hits, had one walk in a 2-0 win. So that's by far his best outing of the season. The only outing in which he struck out double-digit socks. But it is a very different game this time around. Just when you look at the box score of that game and understand that Edgar Carroll was batting cleanup.

411.26 - 413.944 Marshall Harris

That tells you everything you need to know right there.

Chapter 5: How does Chris Sale's performance affect the Cubs' chances?

508.672 - 515.5 Mark Grote

Maybe, are we looking at a Tristan Peters situation, maybe? Maybe he does something heroic.

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515.74 - 518.523 Unknown

Your weird pick-to-click, is that what's happening here?

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518.583 - 524.631 Mark Grote

I've turned this question into my weird pick-to-click. Actually, I'll go mainstream. I'll go pop culture.

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525.772 - 549.535 Mark Grote

Mune, you know, we need the Mune. Oh, he's due? He's due. It feels like we're due for a Mune Murakami pop out there today. So, yeah, no, I feel pretty good. You know, Anthony Kaye has been okay 2-1 with a .489 ERA. And as you said, what, zero war? Is that where he is right now? A perfectly average pitcher. Just an average pitcher. He's the most average pitcher in Major League Baseball.

549.515 - 557.127 Marshall Harris

A zero war. If you can maintain that throughout the season and end with a zero war, you didn't hurt, you didn't help, you just filled out a need. You got us some innings pitched.

557.147 - 562.275 Unknown

You're basically office space. You're office space of Major League Baseball.

562.315 - 564.539 Marshall Harris

Give Anthony Kaye his stapler back.

566.362 - 569.667 Mark Grote

The Sox will sweep today. So it's a sweep. We all believe that.

Chapter 6: What is the significance of the upcoming White Sox series?

823.976 - 843.53 Leila Rahimi

Number 5, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. Number 4, Chargers QB Justin Herbert. At number 3, your Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. Woo! Number two, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes. And number one at the top of Colin Coward's list is Josh Allen. Do you agree with Caleb Williams' placement on this list?

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843.55 - 867.925 Unknown

I like where Caleb Williams is placed, but this is some disrespect to some MVPs. Some legit MVPs. And I think they're getting away with this because of the all important phrase, quote, career momentum, which is brilliant. Because if I were working in marketing, I would steal that for everything. I'd be like, they have career momentum. Like you can say it about anything.

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868.346 - 883.778 Unknown

But Lamar Jackson should be higher. Matthew Stafford should be higher. Justin Herbert, that career momentum is, I think, the key as to why he's fourth in this. I'm happy where Caleb Williams is. You can't argue. The potential is there. It's not just career momentum.

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883.91 - 892.48 Marshall Harris

Forget about career momentum. I think what's carrying this list and justifying the third place for Caleb Williams is the durability part. That man ain't never missed a game.

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893.081 - 895.324 Unknown

No! Everybody knock on wood.

895.444 - 917.577 Marshall Harris

Everybody find wood. Knock. Knock on your head. But you understand what I'm saying. Durability, he's at the number one on this list because you can't have more games than him as far as a 100% participation rate for Caleb Williams. At the same time, A lot of these quarterbacks have way more career momentum than Caleb Williams. I would argue that Matthew Stafford has more career momentum.

917.857 - 924.432 Marshall Harris

Drake May has more career momentum than Caleb Williams. That would be my argument. So I think he's a little high at number three.

924.853 - 926.797 Unknown

Sam Darnold, who won the Super Bowl.

927.198 - 941.738 Marshall Harris

Yeah. Again, career momentum. Does that count? Exactly. So the durability, I think, is playing a large role because as far as production goes, yes, great in the fourth quarter. But most everybody on this list has been more productive.

Chapter 7: How do the Cubs and White Sox compare in their current seasons?

1262.306 - 1263.168 Mark Grote

It was, yeah.

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1263.188 - 1268.578 Unknown

I think you should be able to sing and dance joyfully, no matter what the case is. Just saying.

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1268.558 - 1278.973 Mark Grote

Sox about to be singing in the rain. Are you going to do a little dance? Are you going to dance for the crowd here up on the stage? This is not that type of show. Oh, we could dance. We could laugh. We can be merry.

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1279.193 - 1281.136 Unknown

Yeah, you know who might not be, though, with you?

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1281.336 - 1281.537 Mark Grote

Who?

1282.138 - 1283.82 Unknown

Our next guest.

1283.9 - 1287.265 Mark Grote

Oh, that's right. I forgot about Bruce. I'm out of here.

1287.565 - 1296.979 Unknown

Bruce will join us with not just a report from the White Sox looking for the sweep, but some heated baseball talk has emerged at the score. We'll do that next.

1298.461 - 1315.542 Mark Grote

Rahimi Harrison-Grody. We are the best show in this town to have the coach and or quarterback sit right here. Because we're here for a good time. We are here for a good time. We're fun. We're funny. We're serious sometimes. Sometimes we cry. Sometimes we laugh. Like, this is perfect.

Chapter 8: What are the expectations for the Cubs against the Braves?

1717.417 - 1741.102 Bruce Levine

Well, I just think they've run into two really good teams. Texas, you know, has underperformed all year, but they have the ability, as we saw, to outpitch people like they did the Cubs this weekend. The Atlanta Braves are arguably the best team in baseball right now. I mean, you can say the Dodgers are going to be or the Padres are going to be or the Cubs are going to be. Atlanta is right now.

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1741.462 - 1744.285 Bruce Levine

So when you're going up against them, they're a formidable team.

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1744.265 - 1769.426 Bruce Levine

offensively they're formidable defensively they pitch you difficultly they have a great bullpen so with all that said losing to them is not disgraceful but it is frustrating the fact that you've seen a team like the cubs streak twice win 10 games twice and in between that a three game loss uh losing streak and now four game losing streak It's the baseball season.

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1769.486 - 1791.187 Bruce Levine

They're still on pace to be a 95-win team that would probably easily win the division. I'm not saying they're going to, like some people on the station say, but I will say that they're going to be a competitive team, and it should be fun to watch all year. That said... The starting pitching is something, you know, with Ben Brown getting stretched out. I heard you guys talking earlier.

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1791.647 - 1805.92 Bruce Levine

Mark alluded to the fact that he's only had 46 pitches as the top number. I think he's going to have to go to 65 or 70 tonight, fit into that rotation. Colin Ray is not going to be perfect every time out as we saw last time.

1806.38 - 1817.091 Bruce Levine

So there are question marks and, you know, eventually we'll get around to talking more seriously like we did last Friday about the trade deadline and them being able to pick up a pitch. or along the way.

1817.792 - 1831.697 Mark Grote

Could Ben Brown go longer or do you expect that he'll be very similar to actually the last time the Cubs won was the Friday game against Texas where he went through the four innings and they win behind him. Could they stretch him out further or are they going to continue to be careful?

1831.998 - 1853.517 Bruce Levine

Ideally, they're only going to be careful. He's physically fine. The pitch count should be 65 or 70 today. Hopefully, that's five to six innings of good baseball. You hope it's not in four innings because that would be the alert sign that things are not going well.

1853.632 - 1872.255 Marshall Harris

Bruce, you talked about May commentary for radio purposes and otherwise, but let's be honest here. I mean, the White Sox have exceeded expectations so far from a team standpoint. And here's the difference in my eyes between them and the Cubs across town is it feels like they have more shots in the arm on the way, like with Kyle Till rehabbing right now.

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