[Sounder: “Sports Radio 670 The Score” stinger → crowd murmur → theme fades]
Laurence Holmes:
Good morning, Chicago. Laurence Holmes with Dan Jiggetts. The Cubs are seven games in, and the story right now is missed chances. Record: 2–5. Home: 0–2. Road: 2–3. Last night in Oakland? Eleven hits, zero runs, a 2–0 loss where Kevin Tapani gave you eight strong and the bats left 13 men on. That’s the show today.
Dan Jiggetts:
That’s April baseball when it hurts, L. Tapani: 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K—that’s a winning line most nights. But Jimmy Haynes gives the A’s 6 scoreless, and then Fetters, T.J. Matthews, Billy Taylor close it. The Cubs go 0-for-9 with RISP, hit into a couple of momentum killers, and here we are.
Holmes:
Big picture, though—there is a template that works. We saw it on the desert leg. The split in Arizona came from two very clean wins:
Cubs 2–1: Geremi González dealt for eight, Rod Beck locked it down, and Sammy Sosa unloaded a 424-foot shot to center.
Cubs 5–4: Kerry Wood out-dueled their lineup, Beck finished it, and Sosa drove in three.
That’s your identity: starting pitching + one big Sosa swing + Beck for the handshake.
Jiggetts:
Right, and the rotation is set the way you want it: Wood, Tapani, Trachsel, Clark, González. The top looks fine; the middle needs to firm up. Steve Trachsel gets the ball next in Oakland—give the pen a clean bridge, and suddenly you’re flying home with a split instead of a skid.
Holmes:
Couple of positives from last night before we open the lines: Mark Grace and José Hernández each with two hits. Tyler Houston two knocks. Shawon Dunston with a double. The traffic is there. It’s about cashing it in.
Jiggetts:
And remember: Henry Rodríguez is on the 10-day IL (knee). That’s a middle-order bat missing when you’re hunting for a gapper with men on. Doesn’t excuse it, but it explains some of the squeeze.
---
Callers & Clips
Caller (Nate in Park Ridge):
“Fellas, it’s seven games. Sosa’s already got two homers, five RBI. You’re one timely hit in Oakland from everyone feeling different.”
Holmes:
I hear you, Nate. But the league doesn’t hand out partial credit for loud outs. You’re 2–5 because the offense hasn’t finished innings. That’s the reality check.
Jiggetts:
And the fix isn’t magic. It’s situational hitting: lift a fly ball with a man on third, go opposite field with two strikes, stop chasing pitcher’s pitches with traffic on. That’s April homework.
---
Midday – Boers & Bernstein (clip)
Dan Bernstein:
“Let’s cool it with ‘they’re built for October.’ You’re 2–5. You just got blanked 2–0 while stacking 11 hits. If you want to make that a ‘good sign,’ Who you crappin’?”
Terry Boers:
“And I like Tapani’s start as much as the next guy, but if you strand thirteen, you can’t call it a bad-luck loss. That’s a self-inflicted loss.”
---
Back to Holmes & Jiggetts
Holmes:
So here’s where we land. The things you can trust: Wood looks the part, González gave you a blueprint, Beck has the ninth despite a bumpy path. The thing you must fix: runners at third with less than two outs. Do that, and this flips fast.
Jiggetts:
And it can flip this week. You get Trachsel in the Coliseum next, then home cooking. You don’t have to win ten straight—just stack series. Split here, take two of three when you get back to Wrigley, and suddenly 2–5 becomes .500 talk.
Holmes:
Final word: No panic. But urgency? Yeah, it’s time. 2–5 is a hole; it’s not a grave. One professional offensive night and we’re having a very different conversation tomorrow.
[Music bed rises]
Holmes:
We’ll keep the lines open—What’s your confidence level with Trachsel on the bump? And who’s your “must-wake-up” bat? Grace for gap power? Sosa for the knockout? We’ll hit it all after the break. This is 670 The Score.
[Stinger: “The Score” → commercial]
Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk
Laurence Holmes:
Good morning, Chicago. Laurence Holmes with Dan Jiggetts. The Cubs are seven games in, and the story right now is missed chances. Record: 2–5. Home: 0–2. Road: 2–3. Last night in Oakland? Eleven hits, zero runs, a 2–0 loss where Kevin Tapani gave you eight strong and the bats left 13 men on. That’s the show today.
Dan Jiggetts:
That’s April baseball when it hurts, L. Tapani: 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K—that’s a winning line most nights. But Jimmy Haynes gives the A’s 6 scoreless, and then Fetters, T.J. Matthews, Billy Taylor close it. The Cubs go 0-for-9 with RISP, hit into a couple of momentum killers, and here we are.
Holmes:
Big picture, though—there is a template that works. We saw it on the desert leg. The split in Arizona came from two very clean wins:
Cubs 2–1: Geremi González dealt for eight, Rod Beck locked it down, and Sammy Sosa unloaded a 424-foot shot to center.
Cubs 5–4: Kerry Wood out-dueled their lineup, Beck finished it, and Sosa drove in three.
That’s your identity: starting pitching + one big Sosa swing + Beck for the handshake.
Jiggetts:
Right, and the rotation is set the way you want it: Wood, Tapani, Trachsel, Clark, González. The top looks fine; the middle needs to firm up. Steve Trachsel gets the ball next in Oakland—give the pen a clean bridge, and suddenly you’re flying home with a split instead of a skid.
Holmes:
Couple of positives from last night before we open the lines: Mark Grace and José Hernández each with two hits. Tyler Houston two knocks. Shawon Dunston with a double. The traffic is there. It’s about cashing it in.
Jiggetts:
And remember: Henry Rodríguez is on the 10-day IL (knee). That’s a middle-order bat missing when you’re hunting for a gapper with men on. Doesn’t excuse it, but it explains some of the squeeze.
---
Callers & Clips
Caller (Nate in Park Ridge):
“Fellas, it’s seven games. Sosa’s already got two homers, five RBI. You’re one timely hit in Oakland from everyone feeling different.”
Holmes:
I hear you, Nate. But the league doesn’t hand out partial credit for loud outs. You’re 2–5 because the offense hasn’t finished innings. That’s the reality check.
Jiggetts:
And the fix isn’t magic. It’s situational hitting: lift a fly ball with a man on third, go opposite field with two strikes, stop chasing pitcher’s pitches with traffic on. That’s April homework.
---
Midday – Boers & Bernstein (clip)
Dan Bernstein:
“Let’s cool it with ‘they’re built for October.’ You’re 2–5. You just got blanked 2–0 while stacking 11 hits. If you want to make that a ‘good sign,’ Who you crappin’?”
Terry Boers:
“And I like Tapani’s start as much as the next guy, but if you strand thirteen, you can’t call it a bad-luck loss. That’s a self-inflicted loss.”
---
Back to Holmes & Jiggetts
Holmes:
So here’s where we land. The things you can trust: Wood looks the part, González gave you a blueprint, Beck has the ninth despite a bumpy path. The thing you must fix: runners at third with less than two outs. Do that, and this flips fast.
Jiggetts:
And it can flip this week. You get Trachsel in the Coliseum next, then home cooking. You don’t have to win ten straight—just stack series. Split here, take two of three when you get back to Wrigley, and suddenly 2–5 becomes .500 talk.
Holmes:
Final word: No panic. But urgency? Yeah, it’s time. 2–5 is a hole; it’s not a grave. One professional offensive night and we’re having a very different conversation tomorrow.
[Music bed rises]
Holmes:
We’ll keep the lines open—What’s your confidence level with Trachsel on the bump? And who’s your “must-wake-up” bat? Grace for gap power? Sosa for the knockout? We’ll hit it all after the break. This is 670 The Score.
[Stinger: “The Score” → commercial]
Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk
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