Chicago Cubs CRUSH Paul Skenes + Magic Number Update

Chicago Cubs CRUSH Paul Skenes + Magic Number Update

I’ll tell you this, maybe all the Cubs need to do in October is face ski. [Music] You are Locked on Cubs, your daily Chicago Cubs podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. You are Locked on Cubs, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Alongside Samber, I’m Matt Cozy. Sam and I are lifelong fans, taking our passion into discussion with you on all things Cubs. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account. Use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Cubs were able to do damage against Paul Skins in a 4-1 win over the Pirates Tuesday night. With the victory, the Cubs are getting closer to clinching a playoff spot. Later, we have a magic number update as we go around the National League and more trivia. That’s right, trivia for a second straight episode. Wow, always a good time. Michael Bush put the Cubs in front moments into the game with the solo homer to the top row of the right field stands. It was in route to the Alagany there. Michael Bush now has 29 home runs. Other scoring plays, Pete RBI single. Haps sacrifice fly. Pete sacrifice fly. Nico her went three for five and is now hitting 301. And Cade Horton outpitched Paul Skins and may have nearly locked up his rookie of the year case. We’ll talk about that. And a forsome of pitcher Sam Pomearance, Kitridge, Theelbar, and Keller out of the bullpen. Where would you like to start? as it was another straightforward day in Pittsburgh, PA. Yeah. Well, I’d like to start right there because it wasn’t another straightforward day in terms of on paper, you were facing the Sai Young of the league. Uh the P the Pirates were the favorites. This is not a this was not a typical the Cubs just beat the Pirates. The Pirates were minus 130 in this affair and the Cubs kind of just slipwalked their way through it. And I mean that as a compliment. It was an easy win. Um, you know, and they they had a chance to break it open later in the game. They couldn’t do it. And um, you know, I I think it’s a good sign that they’re able to handle a guy like Ski because those are the type of dudes you’re going to see if you want to make a deep run. Uh, Peralta, King, uh, Misarowski, uh, if you get real far, Yamamoto, um, Suarez, Lazardo, Sanchez, Scubble. Oh, yeah. That would be if you face school bowl. Go Cubs, you know. Uh maybe I’ll be there. Uh by the way, I’m going to be I I I got to get my dad some playoff tickets. He wants to go to the wild card game. So, we going to put your name in for that pre-sale. I don’t hopefully I’m just going to ask I’ll ask some listeners to help me out and I’ll pay him full price. I don’t know how to do any of that. Uh we’ll see. Anyway, two hits for Bisteros. How about Pete? 90 ribbies. Yeah, he’s having a great year. Well, he I think he’s having a really good year. Don’t I think he’s having a really good year. Yeah. Yeah. He was having a great year. Now he’s having a really good year. Gotcha. Gotcha. Did you hear that uh uh report from McGregor today where he she was talking to him and he said he kind of had to get out of the box of like trying to hit homers and do all that stuff? Did you listen to that? Yeah, I think so. I, you know, I can’t keep track of all the reports anymore and talking to Chris Hap and there’s a baseball. Got it. Okay. Yeah, I I I found that sandwiches and I black. Um, the only guy that really didn’t get on base today was Willie Castro, who Oh, man. I I have a student, uh, shout out to Jake. He He despises Castro. Well, I’ve said this and for good reason, by the way. The guy does nothing pretty much. Well, I’ve said this. This will be now time number nine on the show. It’s funny. People People really don’t like this guy. Well, because I don’t understand. When I advocated when we advocated for getting I thought he was supposed to play verse lefties only. Yeah. It’s it’s puzzling. And he’s in the lineup every day versus righties and he can’t hit. Now the Cubs two right fielders can’t play right now, right? So he’s playing by default and he really is, you know, he makes Jr. Cand last option, it seems. He makes Jr. Candelario Oh no. look like Jimmy Fox. Remember when Candelario came in, he had a good first couple of weeks or whatever and then he couldn’t hit. I thought he had a good first couple of series. Yeah. And then Castro had one good game. his first game. He made that throw from right field, too. The only reason he’s going to make the roster is that he could just play every position. Yeah, I mean, he I guess so. I would like to go back to my my notepad. I don’t know. I don’t know if he’s going to make it or not. Two hits for Swanson. I think he will, but Shaw’s been struggling for a bit. He got a base hit. I’d have to look into that. Yeah, it doesn’t seem like it. You mean at the plate? Yeah, he’s he’s been in a funk for quite a while. He’s gotten a little bit cold. Yeah. Do do you want do you want the evidence? Sure. Uh in September he’s batting 189. Yeah. Uh Paul Ske threw a careerhigh 33 pitches in the first inning. Yep. 92 pitches total in three and two/3. He got hit around but he got hit around hard. Yep. During, you know, I think all se were all seven hits hard hits. I think it might have been five of them. Well, he sure didn’t he sure didn’t fool uh fool Bush. He did not. He did not. Cubs finished with 14 hits and five walks on the night. And is this the night that Kade Horton won the rookie of the year over Drake Baldwin and Isaac Collins? Yes. Kate Horton finishes five innings, three hits, one run, one walk, six strikeouts. He outdels the Sty Young award winner and Kate Horton all but locked up the Rookie of the Year tonight and just a joy to watch. 100%. And not only did he lock up the rookie of the year, I think he locked up starting game one of the postseason series. I think we’re pretty much there. Wow. Um I that’ll be exciting. I think I’m there. And Horton and King. And you know what? Let me let me say this. If it doesn’t work out with Horton, let’s say he pitches poorly and everyone says, “Oh, it was too big of a spot for him.” Well, it hasn’t been too big of a spot for him to be the best guy on the team the last six weeks. These are important games that he’s pitching in and he’s fine. So, like, you know, there’s this world we all we live in this social media world where there has to be a wrong answer. If he goes out there and he doesn’t pitch well, maybe it was just he didn’t pitch well. Because let me tell you something, and I’m not in that dugout, but I’m pretty good at observing from afar. This kid is showing no signs of having any fear or any nerves whatsoever about the moment. Yeah, he’s all all business, all moxy, all presence. Zero. And as a Cub fan and as a co-host of this program, I have no problem with him going to start the biggest game that we’ve ever covered. None. That’s amazing. That’s really fun. That gets me jacked up. And uh wonder if they play game two starter. As her Brooks would say, high condition. This is your time, so go out there and take it. Yo, you can’t be just dropping nuggets like that. What a great movie. Miracle. Not even a hockey guy. Matthew Boyd and Johan Oedo on Wednesday. 11:35 a.m. First pitch. Sorry. Uh Boyd last five starts. I have to give you the stats. 28 and 2/3, 30 hits, 19 runs. Who’s this? Nine walks, 20 strikeouts. That’s Boyd, K, Matthew. Yeah. Five.97 erraas last five starts. You were on this early. I wasn’t and I was wrong. Cubs are currently minus 154 favorites on FanDuel. Overunder run total is eight as the Cubs go for the sweep. And if they win tomorrow, regardless of all the other teams, uh they clinch a playoff spot. We have details on that right after this. Today’s episode is brought to you by our great partner at Prize Picks, the daily fantasy app, where making the right call can actually pay off. You and I make make decisions every day. But on prize picks, being right means cashing in. With football back, prize picks is the simplest and fastest way to get in on the action. Just pick more or less on two to six player projections. And you can turn your takes into real prizes all in less than 60 seconds. It’s quick, easy, and it’s going to be your favorite way to follow along with football. More or less passing yards for Josh Allen, more or less rushing touchdowns for Saquon Barkley, and so on. Download the prize picks app today and use code locked on MLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code locked on MLB for $50 in lineups after your first $5 play. Prize picks. It’s good to be right. Shout out to the Everydayers and you can become an Everydayer by joining us for every episode throughout the week. Well, if the Cubs complete the sweep on Wednesday, then they clinch a playoff spot. Uh if they don’t, they can still clinch a spot. Basically, they need each of the Reds, Diamondbacks, and Giants to lose once. Uh, that’s combined actually as we’re recording and Wednesday. Uh, so Sam, maybe you could update a little bit of the scoreboard for us by the time we get out of here. Cubs, Pirates tomorrow. We know that Red’s Cardinals and then the Giants and Diamondbacks are playing each other, which is why this has gotten a little muddled since Monday night’s win. Uh, at one point the magic number was three, then it went to two, now it’s one. And, uh, we’ll we’ll we’ll see. They could clinch on on Wednesday, which would be which would be amazing, Sam. And it would be uh really we we we we’re going to need to celebrate that tomorrow appropriately. This this first of all, yes. Secondly, this Diamondbacks thing with the Giants is I mean this is Yeah, I meant to play back your reaction to that from last episode. I broke the news to you, right? Yes. Yes, you did. Okay. And they are now a game over playing the the Giants. The only thing that they got going against them is that the Mets look like they’ve writed the ship a little bit um as they’re blowing out the Padres’s here. But quite an interesting finish there these these last week or two. I suspect the Mets find a way to get it done. Um I I playoff teams are going to be, you know, the division winners, Cubs, San Diego, New York, but you know, it’s um it’s great. And as far as the Cubs go, hopefully my dad believes they’re going to make the playoffs now. Um Oh gosh, I hope so. Yeah. Well, you never know. Um they’re gonna clinch on Wednesday. I think it’s going to be a special moment for us. It really is. I mean, I I I don’t think that’s crazy. I mean, it’s not the moment we were hoping for in terms of the division, but look, I don’t think I don’t think I’m out of line when I say this. Doing this show is fun no matter what. It’s especially fun when you’re covering a team that’s going to the postseason. You know, it’s it it just is. It’s it’s it’s a special thing. And, you know, you you you do it every day, right? Five days a week we’re doing this and so you feel basically the whole year. Yeah. And you feel a part of it. You feel really connected to it. Like I feel like, you know, especially with the way my social life is now, I I feel closer to Nicoer than I do some of my friends. So, um, you know, and him and I have never spoken. So, uh, I just want to make that clear, you know, but, um, it’s a cool feeling. I never wavered. I thought we’d make it. uh uh you know, even when when it got real low, I just I wanted the division. I’ve accepted that now for about a month that that’s off the table. And uh you know, you you know, postseason uh uh seasons do not come, especially for the Cubs regularly. I mean, you you got 98, I was, you know, four. Uh uh 2003, that’s five years in between. 07, four years in between. Then you had 08. Then you waited all the way again to 15. Uh uh and now we’ve had to wait a few more years. So uh playing postseason baseball, take advantage of it. Yeah, I’m just excited. I I don’t think my excitement has wavered. I I think the Brewers thing did escalate and escalate quick and they basically by virtue of going 33 and zero at one point um combined with their three or four streaks. Um but but the playoff the first wild card they’ve basically had this whole time since they’ve gotten knocked into that pool of teams. They’ve been in a playoff spot literally since the 10th game of the year and they have ingredients here that could produce a run and I’m going to continue to enjoy the process on a dayby-day basis. Uh, I would like to get the first wild card card spot wrapped up sooner than later. I think that Sunday, that last Sunday of the year, game 162, maybe even game 161, could be used as spring training games if they want. And Tucker might need it. Well, yeah, I think he would play those uh at this rate. I really hope to he should lead off like the rest of the year once he comes back so he can get the most played appearances. Um, don’t you think? I mean, that’s not even a joke. Yeah, he won’t do they won’t do that. Well, he’ll bat second then. Yeah. Uh, so yeah, this is just a fantastic time. I really want to soak this in. I want to celebrate it. And I I I really think that as you look back on the season, Yes. since basically this the the return from the All-Star break. They’ve won one, they’ve lost one. They’ve won one, they lost one. But now since late August, I believe they’re 11 and six, right? Since the 29th of August, that Rockies opener. And so maybe we, you know, we can backdate that into the postseason where, oh, they won, you know, 15 out of whatever or whatever it ends up being or 16 or 17 out of this. They’re doing exactly they’re doing exactly what we talked about in boxing with the greatest of all time, Muhammad Ali. They lost their big match to Frasier, and now they’re just they’re kind of winning here, doing what they need, you know? Okay, you split with Ken Norton. That’s fine. Okay, you beat Floyd Patterson a third time. Okay, great. You got this. Okay, you beat Okay, then you finally get a chance to beat Frasier that second time and all roads lead to George Foreman 1974, but in this case, it will be the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS. And you will get your shot to rewrite history. Yes. So, we will have coverage of every playoff game. Uh, right. I tried to think of something with like Canelo and Terrence Crawford. It didn’t work. What What a performance are always. What a performance by Crawford. Hey, before we move forward, also comes five games up on the Padres’s now. How into how into the Nicoer batting title thing are you? Cuz I’m pretty into that. I think he deserves that and he’s got a real shot. Trey Turner to come back to help the odds. Or he could just hit 306. Well, that’d be quite a quite a ride. He’s hitting here. I have it right in front of me. Over his last 30, he’s hitting 342. No, it’s it’s a major storyline that we need to be the leaders of. He might win the batting title. Absolutely. He’s five points away and he goes they go to Cincinnati. Uh, you know, that’s a good place to hit. Yeah. Um, let’s see. Speaking of Cincinnati, so Diamondbacks, Giants, and Reds are all right behind the Mets. Brewers, Phillies, Dodgers, all division leaders. Cubs play the Reds, Mets, Cardinals to finish the year. So that’s that’s interesting. Um Sam, the biggest thing for me with the Cubs right now, they’re not going to be entering this series with the Padres’s tired. No, it’s not like they’re going to be grasping at straws. In fact, it’s the opposite. There are concerns that couple guys, one in particular, might not have enough time to ramp up and be ready for postseason action. I do think we need to keep a close eye on Boyd and Emanaga and then load management, especially Keller, Eelbar, and Kitridge. But otherwise, they’re in a great spot. One more thing to keep an eye on. Oh, okay. Yeah. The weather. The weather. You mean the regular season games? No. Leading up to this Padres series. It’s been a very warm 70s September. I don’t want that. I want cold temps for that series against San Diego. Number one, they don’t play in them very often. You know, 50°, 40°, wind hauling in. So, it helps our pitchers and we know how to score uh uh just enough runs. That That’s what I want. I don’t want 75 degrees. I I don’t want that. It’d be nice if it was Cubs Padres’s the conditions. We saw Cubs Padres’s in April. Absolutely. And the Cubs should have swept that series. They won the first two. We had literally gloves and hat on. Okay. All right. Cubs go for the sweep over the Pirates on Wednesday and they could clinch a playoff spot if they do it. There’s other scenarios as well, but that would be the the most optimal, I think. Uh, coming up next, more home run related trivia. Please stay tuned. This episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Most people can’t name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there is Monarch Money. It’s an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or your phone. Monarch is built for people with busy lives. If you put put off organizing your finances, Monarch is for you. Monarch does the heavy lifting for you. 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That way you don’t miss any of the great Cubs content we’ve got for you. That includes the Cubs postcast with Joe George live after the final out of every game. All right, Sam, as you know, the Cubs have six players with 20 plus home runs. Uh, would you like to name them or would you like me to do it? You Yeah, let’s save the trivia for the trivia. Bush, Pete, say a half, Swanson, and Tucker. Carson Kelly has 17. He can give the Cubs seven guys with the 20 plus. Can you name the two other teams that have uh at least five players with 20 homers right now? There’s only two teams that have it. Oh, in baseball. Yeah. Oh, man. You really just come at me with at all angles. Um, this is a current present day trivia. Got it. Got it. Okay, sure. Let me just get my mind all the clubs. Um, the New York Yankees. That’s correct. They have I’d like to name them. They have seven players with 20 plus. Go ahead. I’m going to guess Aaron Judge is on there. [Music] Um, great delivery. Thank you. We’re not talking about a pizza. Uh, former Cub Cody Cody Bellinger is on there. Yeah. Five to go. Uh, is Chisum on there? Yeah, he’s got 31. He has 31 homers. Uh, or no, I’ve high 20s. High 20s right now. Someone else is 31. That you’d be shocked. Ben Rice. Ben Rice is on there. Uh, Trent Gisham. Yeah, he’s got 31. Did I say Stanton yet? No. So, now you have only one more. Um, went through it pretty quick, too. Oh, I know. I know. I know my Yankees. Uh, Rice. Uh, Wells, correct. Nice job. Yankees have a chance to make some history. That’s no joke, folks. because only one team has had eight players with 20 plus and Anthony Vulpi has 19 homers. Does he really What’s he have about 34 errors? I don’t know. I don’t watch enough Yankees baseball. All right. The other team, what’s the other team? The This other team has So, the Cubs have six, the Yankees have seven guys with 20 plus. This team has five. Dodgers. Okay. So, the Dodgers have four, but they’re really poised to add to that because Betts has 19, Muny has 18, and Smith has 17. So, I’m wrong. That’s the short the long way of saying I’m wrong. Well, yes. So far, who’s having a good season that hits a lot of homers? Uh, yeah. Oh, I really thought it was the Dodgers. Um, well, you’re on the right coast. Okay. Well, it’s not I It can’t be the Angels. Um, Giants. Well, Angels have four players with 20 plus. Oh, the Padres’s. No, Giants. Padres’s the Athletics. Nick Kerr, Shay. What’s the whole point? Oh, sorry. I mean, what what are we doing here? Yeah, the a It is the A’s. I mean, this is insanity. Who are the five players on the A? Well, you just said four of them. Did I really? I’ll have to play the tape. Um, all right. You said Curts. That’s my cousin’s favorite player. Yeah. Langelers, you said. Right. Rooker, you said. So that leaves me with two. Uh Butler. Yeah, man. And Tyler Solderstrom. That’s correct. Should have got that. No, those stays got a good one through five, man. They’re going to be a playoff team next year. Mark my words. Wow. I what I actually bet they’re over this year. I think it was like 70 and a half. I don’t know if they’re going to get it. And would you be interested in naming the three teams who have zero players with 20 plus homers right now? Wow. Um Pittsburgh. Yep. O’Neal Cruz has 19. Colorado. No. Yeah, Hunter Goodman’s having a great year. Yeah, terrible guess. Awful. Should be disqualified for that. All right. Well, this is locked out. Um, Yelich has got it for Milwaukee. Does anyone on St. Louis have it? Yeah, one person. Okay. I’m feeling like an AL centrally. AL East and NL Central. Nobody. Nobody on the Reds. Ellie de la Cruz hasn’t homerred since July 31. He has 19. And you said AL Central Baltimore. That’s correct. Jackson Holiday just has 17 dingers. I’ll tell you, you want to talk about most disappointing teams in baseball, Atlanta obviously takes the cake, but Baltimore, I mean, they got to re-evaluate everything. This is Locked On Cubs, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day for your second listen. Check out the allnew locked on MLB game night every game, every night, all season long. Get local analysis on a national scale. Find MLB question that answers it. Yeah, that was that was ridiculous. I started doing first and last name of A’s. I mean that was, you know, on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. We’ll be back after Cubs Pirates on Wednesday. He’s Sam Olber. I’m Matt Cozy. This is Locked on Cubs. Shout out to Matt Cozy and Sam Olber, host of my favorite podcast, Locked on Cubs.

Cade Horton outpitched Paul Skenes as the Cubs defeated the Pirates. The magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 1! Plus: Trivia for the second straight episode.

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