Baseball: Lots of updates. Braves at the top. Standings Update. New HoF inductees.
Basketball: Michael Jordan selling Hornets.
Football: RB get together. Young signs deal with Panthers.
Golf: American wins Open handily. Bhatia wins Barracuda.
Olympic Sports: TdF finale. Phelps final WR falls. So does W Mile WR.
Soccer: USWNT get 1st WC win this year over VIE.
Baseball – MLB:
- This week’s updates: The Dodgers grand slam snapped the Orioles 8-game win streak beating them to start the week 6-4. The Guardians ended their 4-game skid with a 11-0 shutout of the Pirates. The Giants took the Reds to the 10th inning before they won their 6th game in a row. The next night they also won in another close one 11-10 but that is where their lucky ended losing 2-3 to end their streak at 7. The Rangers upset the Rays getting the winning run off a wild pitch in the 9th. The Texas team won 3-2. Ohtani got his 35th HR in the Angels 4-3 victory over the Yankees in 10 innings. Rockies P Abad gets his first win in 6 years by beating the Astros 4-3 on Tuesday. The Phillies got their 4th straight win after beating the Brewers on Tuesday. That would be the end and they would go one to lose the next 4 straight. The Padres upset the Blue Jays 9-1 thanks to P Musgrove who got his 8th straight decision. The Diamondbacks snapped their 4-game losing streak and against the Braves no less. The score of that game was a wild 16-13. They would also win again on Wednesday as the Braves hit a slump. The Cardinals got a 3-run HR in the 10th to win over the Marlins 5-2. P Eovaldi pitched 6 scoreless innings which helped his Texas team beat the Rays 5-3. The Rangers would go on to win the next game as well sweeping the Rays! The A’s finally got a win after 8 straight losses beating the Red Sox 3-0. They also beat them the next night thanks to 3 2-run HRs. The Pirates came back to win after being down 4 runs and ending their 5-game skid. The Cubs hit a grand slam in the 5-run 8th inning to take the game over the Nationals 8-3. Rookie P France held the A’s for his Astros win 3-1 on Thursday. The Braves finally bounce back with Olson hitting his 31 and 32 HRs to win 7-5 over the Diamondbacks. The Blue Jays might have been scoreless the day before but they return the favor on Thursday 4-0 over the Padres. Speaking of shutouts, Mariners beat the Twins 5-0 as P Kirby tied his career high 10 Ks. We knew the Orioles vs Rays game would be a good one since they are only separated by 1 win. It went into the 10th before the Baltimore team got the W and the solo AL East lead. They split the first two games but the Orioles would get the final laugh winning the last two in close ones. The Yankees needed the series with the Royals as before that they had lost 9 of the last 11 games. They would sweep the Royals. Braves Austin Riley had a HR in his 4th straight game to aid in the W over the Brewers 6-4 on Friday.
- Continued: Angels star Ohtani allowed 4 HRs in their game against the Pirates but the LA team still gets the victory 8-5. Might be why the Pirates are 42-55. The Dodgers were feeling it at Globe Life (where they won the World Series in 2020). They outscored the Rangers 27-8 in the first two games. The Reds had an impressive back-to-back-to-back HRs in the 6th to win 6-2 over the Diamondbacks. The Mariners had a 5-run inning to rally over the Blue Jays 9-8 on Saturday. Fittingly, Nationals SS CJ Abrams hit a HR on his bobblehead night as the Washington team routs the Giants 10-1. Yankees 1B Rizzo hit his first HR since May of 2020 and went 4-for-4 at-bats in the Yankees final win over the Royals. On Sunday, the Marlins finally shook off their 8-game slide after beating the Rockies in the 10th inning 3-2. Also going into the 10th, the Phillies beat the Guardians 8-5. But I’ll do you two better, the White Sox were trying to avoid the sweep putting up 3 runs by the 6th against the Twins, however the MN team rallied in the 8th scoring 3-runs to take the game to extra innings. Then both teams had 1 each in the 10th and finally the Twins got the last laugh and the sweep with another run in the 12th. Ohtani made an argument to stay as he hit a HR in the final game before the trade deadline, contributing to the Angels 7-5 win over the Pirates.
- Let’s check in on the standings shall we?
- In the AL, we just had the match up to take the lead this week. The Orioles are on top… barely with 61 wins and a winning percentage of 61.6%. The Rays have the same win total but only a 59.2% win percentage. The Rangers are in 3rd with 59 wins.
- The worst in the league, the A’s and Royals are tied with 28 wins. Then there is a jump up to the White Sox with 41.
- In the NL, it’s a lot more cut and dry. The Braves lead with 64 wins, the Dodgers sit in 2nd with 57 and there’s a tie for 3rd between the Brewers and Reds at 55. The Diamondbacks and the Giants are nipping at the heels of the top 3 with 54.
- At the bottom, the Rockies with 39 wins, Nationals with 41 and then the Pirates with 43.
- In the AL, we just had the match up to take the lead this week. The Orioles are on top… barely with 61 wins and a winning percentage of 61.6%. The Rays have the same win total but only a 59.2% win percentage. The Rangers are in 3rd with 59 wins.
- Scott Rolen and Fred McGriff have been inducted into the HoF for 2023. McGriff played from 1986-2004 for 6 different teams. He had 493 HRs which put him T29th on the All time list. He won the World Series while playing 1B for the Braves in 1995. Scott Rolen was a 3B for 4 different teams. He won the World Series in 2006 with the Cardinals, won NL Rookie of the year in 1997 and won the Gold Glove Award 8xs. He had 316 HRs and was previously inducted into the Cardinals HoF.
Basketball – NBA:
- Michael Jordan is finalizing the sale of the Hornets. The NBA has signed off. He has owned the team for 13 years and would remain a minor stake holder. The buyer is supposedly a ground led by Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin. Schnall owns a minority stake in the Hawks and Plotkin already had a minority stake in the Hornets. The Hornets went 27-55 last season.
Football:
- Star RBs from around the league, you know the ones that your fantasy team is devastated if you lose them at the beginning of the season, got on a Zoom call to discuss the position. Basically that they are not getting paid their worth. Two players (one is Saquon Barkley) have a franchise tag placed on them but have not been able to reach a deal with their team. That situation drove this meeting. The last contract that was over $10MM was Browns Nick Chubb in 2021, despite many players being worth that. Chubb is signed through 2024 but no money is guarantees starting this season. McCaffrey is the highest paid RB at $16MM/yr. TBD what will come from it but super interesting that players from a bunch of different teams are getting together to discuss it.
- Almost in direct contrast (but not actually), #1 draft pick Bryce Young signed his deal with the Panthers for 4-years valued at $37.9MMfully guaranteed. You’re hearing a lot about NFL right now as rookies go to training camp on Saturday and team practices follow the week after. CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson remain unsigned.
Golf:
- USA Brian Harman took a 5-stroke lead in the 2nd round on Friday and pretty much never gave it up. Even with the torrential rain, he did not relinguish the lead, showing a lot of composure for a guy who was about to win his first major. He won by 6 shots over Tom Kim, Sepp Straka, Jason Day and Jon Rahm. 6 shots is the 2nd largest margin of victory only behind Tiger Woods who won by 8 in 2000 at St. Andrews. At the age of 36, Harman is the oldest first time major champion since Sergio Garcia won the 2017 Masters. Tommy Fleetwood played well early and only grew up 30 miles from Royal Liverpool. Rory McIlroy won at this course back in 2014 but no one could compete this week.
- For the first time in PGA Tour history, two lefties have won in the same week. That 2nd winner was Akshay Bhatia who took his first PGA Tour title at the Barracuda Championship while others were across the pond. Patrick Rodgers started hot but Akshay’s 3rd round propelled him to the top of the leaderboard. We still needed a playoff to settle it though. It only took par for Akshay as Rodgers’ drive ended up in a divot and he finished with a bogey. Rodgers now has 246 PGA Tour starts without a win, in direct contrast with his college career at Stanford where he is tied with Tiger Woods and Maverick McNealy for the most wins in school history.
- #GFHint: The Barracuda is the only tournament that uses the Stableford method which means the highest score wins. This method lends itself to more aggressive play. For example a birdie is worth double the penalty of a bogey so you might as well go for it. Birdie is +2 vs Bogey is -1.
Olympic Sports:
- The Tour de France has concluded and it was a successful title defense for DEN Jonas Vingegaard taking the 110th edition of the iconic race. He beat Tadej Pogachar by 7m and 29 seconds. The final stage which is mostly ceremonial but sometimes lends itself to the sprinters was won by BEL Jordi Meeus at a photo finish between 4 riders. GBR Adam Yates got 3rd The 3 week race spanned 2116 miles through 8 mountain stages across 5 ranges.
- Swimming Worlds:
- It is the end of an era. Michael Phelps’ final solo WR has fallen. FRA Leon Marchand broke the 400m IM record on Sunday at Worlds by over a second. The old mark was set back in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics. This was the last of his 5 individual WRs to final. He does still hold 2 as part of the US relay team in the 4×100 and 4x200m free. Fittingly Marchand trains at Arizona State under Phelps’ old coach Bob Bowman.
- That was the 2 of 3 WRs to fall on Day 1 of Worlds. AUS Ariarne Titmus beat all kinda of stars in the 400m Free with a time of 3:55.38, 3 seconds ahead of Ledecky. AUS also set the 4x100m free relay record for the women. The USA took bronze in that relay after ITA. In another shocker, the GBR team who was the favorite got DQ’d in the heats for an early takeoff.
- WRs also fell outside of the pool and on the track this week. KEN Faith Kipyegon destroyed the mile WR by more than 5 seconds in the Diamond League meet in Monaco. The previous record was also set in Monaco by NED Hassan at 4:12.33 and is now lowered to 4:07.64.
Soccer:
- The USWNT beat VIE on Friday 3-0. Sophia Smith was MVP of this one as she scored her first and 2nd goals in the World Cup as well as had the other assist. Honestly this was a disappointing result. We played down to VIE level who were one of 8 teams making their world cup debut. USA plays the NED next which is a rematch of the 2019 gold medal match where the USA did come out victorious.
What to watch this week
Baseball – MLB:
- Tues 7/25
- Mets at Yankees @ 6:05pm on TBS
- Verlander vs German
- Mets at Yankees @ 6:05pm on TBS
- Wed 7/26
- Braves at Red Sox @ 6pm on ESPN
- Strider vs Bello
- Braves at Red Sox @ 6pm on ESPN
- Sat 7/29
- Tigers at Marlins @ 3:10pm on FS1
- Skubal vs Cueto
- Red Sox at Giants – or – Rays at Astros @ 6:15pm on FOX
- Tigers at Marlins @ 3:10pm on FS1
- Sun 7/30
- Angels at Blue Jays @ 11:05am on Peacock
- Anderson vs Berrios
- Yankees at Orioles @ 6pm on ESPN
- Severino vs Kremer
- Angels at Blue Jays @ 11:05am on Peacock
Golf:
- Thurs 7/27
- PGA: 3M Open – Round 1 @ 4pm on Golf Channel
- Fri 7/28
- PGA: 3M Open – Round 2 @ 4pm on Golf Channel
- Sat 7/29
- Senior Open – Round 3 @ 11am on NBC
- PGA: 3M Open – Round 3
- @ 1pm on Golf Channel
- @ 2pm on CBS
- Sun 7/30
- Senior Open – Final Round @ 11am on NBC
- PGA: 3M Open – Final Round
- @ 1pm on Golf Channel
- @ 2pm on CBS
Motorsports:
- Sun 7/30
- F1: Belgian GP @ 8am on ESPN
Olympic Sports:
- Mon 7/24
- Cycling: Tour De France – Stage 21 @ 1am on USA
- Sun 7/30
- Swimming: World Championships @ 4pm on NBC
Soccer:
- Mon 7/24
- FIFA W World Cup: ITA vs ARG @ 1am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: GER vs MOR @ 3:30am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: BRA vs PAN @ 6am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: COL vs KOR @ 9pm on FS1
- Tues 7/25
- FIFA W World Cup: NZ vs PHI @ 12:30am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: SUI vs NOR @ 3am on FS1
- Leagues Cup: Santos Laguna vs Houston Dynamo @ 7:30pm on FS1
- Leagues Cup: LA Galaxy vs Leon @ 9:30pm on FS1
- Club Friendly: ManU vs Wrexham @ 9:30pm on ESPN2
- Wed 7/26
- FIFA W World Cup: JPN vs CRC @ 12am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: ESP vs ZAM @ 2:30am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: CAN vs IRE @ 7am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: USA vs NED @ 8pm on FOX**
- Leagues Cup: Portland Timbers vs Tigres UANL @ 10pm on FS1
- Thurs 7/27
- FIFA W World Cup: POR vs VIE @ 2:30am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: AUS vs NIG @ 5am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: ARG vs RSA @ 7pm on FS1
- Leagues Cup: Club American vs St. Louis City SC
- Club Friendly: San Diego Loyal SC vs Borussia Dortmund @ 9:30pm on ESPN2
- Fri 7/28
- FIFA W World Cup: ENG vs DEN @ 3:30am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: CHN vs HAI @ 6am on FS1
- Sat 7/29
- FIFA W World Cup: SWE vs ITA @ 2:30am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: FRA vs BRA @ 5am on FOX
- FIFA W World Cup: PAN vs JAM @ 7:30am on FOX
- Sun 7/30
- FIFA W World Cup: NOR vs PHI @ 2am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: SUI vs NZ @ 2am on FOX
- FIFA W World Cup: GER vs COL @ 4:30am on FS1
- Premier League: Aston Villa vs Brentford @ 11am on USA
- Premier League: Teams TBA @ 1:30pm on NBC
- Club Friendly: ManU vs Borussia Dortmund @ 8pm on ESPN2
- Leagues Cup: Monterrey vs Seattle Sounders @ 8pm on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: KOR vs MOR @ 11:30pm on FOX
- Mon 7/31
- FIFA W World Cup: CRC vs ZAM @ 2am on FS1
- FIFA W World Cup: JPN vs ESP @ 2am on FOX
- FIFA W World Cup: CAN vs AUS @ 5am on FOX
- FIFA W World Cup: IRE vs NIG @ 5am on FS1
