Weekly Update July 31, 2023

Baseball: Lots of updates. United Bay area for the ‘Sell’ initiative. Ohtani not being traded has himself a week.

Basketball: Bronny James heart issues.

Football: Openly Gay Assistant in NFL. Rodgers take a pay cut. Colorado to the Big 12.

Golf: Hodges wins handily at 3M. Playoffs imminent.

Olympic Sports: Swimming World Recep. USA top medal count but AUS beats us in golds.

Soccer: USWNT tie NED 1-1. GER < COL. Mbappe for 1 year worth $1.1Bn?!

Baseball – MLB:

• This week’s updates: The Texas rivalry has been settled for the season and the Astros won 5 games of the 7 game series. The first two games this week were close with the Astros taking both 10-9 and 4-3 but the Rangers won the last 13-5 highlighted with a grand slam. The Giants lost their 6^th straight game to the Tigers on Monday but it ended there as they won both games against the A’s. The Royals upset the Guardians as Perez hit his 200^th The Twins got the win in the 10^th inning over the Mariners 4-3 to make the Seattle team exactly 50-50 on the season. Also going to extra innings, the Blue Jays had a 3-run 11^th inning to take the W over the Dodgers. Tuesday saw a different outcome with the Dodgers winning in extra innings. Continuing on Tuesday, the Angels were up 6-2 in the 9^th but gave those 4 runs back in the bottom of the 9^th as the Tigers rallied to take the game into the 10^th. But the Angels did end up finishing the job, winning 7-6. The Subway Series was split 1-1 this week as the Mets take game 1 thanks to Verlander’s pitching 9-3 but the Yanks take the other 3-1. The series sits at 2-2 all season. Royals P Greinke takes his 16^th straight road loss toe he Guardians. The Cubs won the Battle for Chicago this week winning both games with a combined score 17-10. The Diamondbacks stopped their 5-game skid by beating the Cardinals off an 8^th inning rally. Brewers P Peralta tied his career high of 13 Ks to take the game over the Reds 3-0. The Red Sox swept the MLB leading Braves in their 2 games this week. Judge may have returned for Friday’s game against the Orioles but it was the Baltimore team that got the win with just 1 HR in the 9^th to win 1-0.

• The Royals had the ultimate dream ending to their game over the Twins with a grand slam in the 10^th to win 8-5. The Cubs may have had a rocky start to the season but this week got back to over .500 and are on a win streak that currently sits at 8. That ended Sunday with a loss to the Cardinals 0-3. The Red Sox won their 5^th straight with a W over the Giants on Friday. That streak would end there as they lose the next day 2-3. Astros Pena had himself a day with a career high 4 RBIs in the Astros 17-4 rout of the Rays on Saturday. Braves Acuna stole his 50^th base of the season and hit a HR in their 11-5 win over the Brewers. At this rate, Acuna is projected to end the season with 79 steals! The Angels avoided the sweep by the Blue Jays with a win on Sunday in extra innings 3-2 in the 10^th. The Braves did sweep the Brewers as Olson gets 5 runs with 2 different HRs to win 8-6. Pirates RF Palacios got a walk-off 2-run HR on his birthday to beat the Phillies in 10. Verlander carded his 250^th career win on Sunday against the Nationals The Giants beat the Red Sox in the 11^th 4-3. The Reds shutout the Dodgers 9-0 and the mariners did the same to the Diamondbacks 4-0. The Padres upset the Rangers and swept them with the final win on Sunday.

• A’s and Giants’ fans united to buy ‘Sell’ t-shirts during their match up this week. The Bay area teams are supportive of the sell mantra as they want to keep the A’s in the area.

• On the same day that the team announced they weren’t trading him (right before the deadline), Ohtani threw a shutout and didn’t allow a runner on base til the 5^th The Angels won that game 6-0 and the other game in the double header 11-4. Ohtani hit 2 HRs in game 2 as well to add an exclamation point on his decision. The team is looking to make their first playoffs since 2014. They sit at 55-51 so far this season. The next game, Ohtani hit the 39^th HR of the season but also left the game with leg cramps. The Blue Jays beat the Angels 4-1 in that game. Ohtani came back to pitch he next game and lose 6-1.
• The Mets have traded star P Max Scherzer for an IF to the Rangers in a blockbuster trade! The day the trade was made public, to add insult to injury, the Mets were upset 11-6 to the Nationals. The Rangers also lost that day 0-4. That was the 6^th loss in the last 8 games for the Dallas team.

Basketball – NBA:

• Brony James, the oldest son of LeBron, suffered cardiac arrest at USC during practice on Monday. He has since been released from Cedars-Sinai hospital and is home resting. This is on the same week that Damar Hamlin is back in full pads and full practice.

Football:

• Jaguars assistant strength coach, Kevin Maxen, is the first openly gay coach in US men’s pro sports. While there are notable female assistant coaches who are out and an openly gay coach in the WNBA, Maxen is the first I the big 4.

• QB Aaron Rodgers has agreed to take a $35MM paycut by agreeing to a two-year $75MM deal to play with the Jets. This move earned him praise from one of the best, Joe Namath.
• Colorado set to leave the Pac 12 for the Big 12. The Big 12 announced they are looking for another member. Any takers? Rumors are swirling and Arizona, UConn, Gonzaga have all been mentioned. This does not bode well for the Pac12 whose commish was quoted saying Dieon Sanders directly effects their tv contract which they still have not signed..

Golf:

• To say Lee Hodges dominated the 3M Open would be an understatement. He won his first PGA Tour title at the 3M Open this weekend by 7 shots in a wire-to-wire win and tournament record low 260 final score. His 63 opening round, 64 2^nd round and 66 third round combined to have him in the lead by 5 strokes heading into the final round. He entered the week ranked 74^th in FedEx Cup rankings and now sits 33^rd, well inside the first two playoff rounds. Unlike JT, his fellow Crimson Tide golfer, who missed the cut at 3M and sits #75. The top 70 after Wyndham advance to playoffs so not looking good there.

Olympic Sports:

• Swimming Worlds:
  • CHN Haiyang Qin swept the breaststroke as in the 50m, 100m and 200m – that’s insane! And did so in WR time in the 200m. AUS Stubblety-Cook, the former WR was in the heat and got second. The new WR 2:05.48 by almost half a second. Qin has 3 individual golds and 1 in the mixed relay in this worlds of CHN’s 5 total. There was a 3-way tie for 2^nd in the 100m Breast (ITA, USA & NED).
  • 19 year old AUS Mollie O’Callaghan set the WR in the 200m Free joining her teammate Titmus breaking the 400m free, who got 2^nd. Mollie broke ITA Federica Pellegrini’s mark by 0.13 seconds. Every record set gets you a check for $30,000.
  • USA Katie Ledecky won the 800m Free as she always does by 4 seconds. This is her 16^th individual gold at world championships, which breaks Michael Phelps’ mark of 15. This is also the 6^th straight time she has won this event. Ledecky took the 1500m earlier in worlds and a silver in the 200m. that makes her total 21 golds (including the relays).

• • Sticking with breaking Phelps’ records, SWE Sarah Sjostrom won her 21^st individual world championship medal by winning the 50m Free on Sunday. Phelps had 20. Sjostrom is 29 years old and is still at the top. She set the WR in the event in the semifinals, lowering her own WR by 0.05 seconds. She also took the 50m Fly on the same night as her record breaking semifinal. Another name that’s been around for a while LTU Ruta Meilutyte won the 50m Breast, breaking the WR by 0.14 seconds, a WR that she also tied in semifinals. The previous WR holder UTA Pilato got 3^rd. Meilutyte also won the 100m Breast on Day 3.
  • CAN Summer McIntosh, a favorite of these worlds, won the 400m IM on the final night. And the 200m Fly earlier in the meet. Lily King had a disappointing championships only grabbing a silver in the 50m Breast. She was outside the medals in the other two.
  • The AUS Mixed team broke the WR, which was their own by half a second, beating the USA and GBR. The women broke the WR in the 4x200m free relay as well over the USA and CHN.

• • After winning both 4x100m medley relays on Sunday, the USA sits at the top of the medal total with 38 but only 7 golds (20 silvers, 11 bronze). AUS took the top spot by golds with 13 (7 silver, 5 bronze). CHN is third with 5 golds, 3 silver and 8 bronze, totaling 16.
    • The US golds were: Hunter Armstrong in the 50m Back, both 4×100 medley relays, Ryan Murphy 100m Back, Kate Douglas 200m IM, Katie Ledecky 800m and 1500m Free.
    • USA was left off the podium in the M50m Fly, M400m Free, W50m Free, W100m Free, M200m IM, W200m Free, M200m Fly and M200m Free.

Soccer:

• The USWNT had game 2 of group play against the NED on Wednesday. NED struck first which was the first time USA had been down in quite some time. But moral of this entire game is do not mess with Katie Horan. Horan got a bad foul on her with teammate from Leon, Van de Donk. But she got her revenge with an amazing header. We play POR Tuesday in the final game and it’s going to come down to goal differential but they USA should advance with a draw or win.
• Other games to note: GER had their only group stage loss since 1995 to COL. COL scored in the 52^nd But GER scored with 2 minutes left in regulation and looked to have the tie in hand. But a killer corner kick header in ET solidified the win for COL.

• Saudi Arabian soccer club, Al Hilal, has offered a historical bid for Mbappe for $332MM transfer fee and $776MM salary, which if you cant do math that fast totals $1.1Bn after missing out on Messi. This is just for one year of playing soccer.

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

• Tues 8/1
  • Rays at Yankees @ 6:05pm on TBS
• Thurs 8/3
  • Astros at Yankees – or – Pirates at Brewers @ 6:15pm on FOX
• Fri 8/4
  • Rays at Tigers @ 5:40pm on Apple TV+
  • Astros at Yankees @ 6:05pm on Apple TV+
• Sat 8/5
  • Blue Jays at Red Sox @ 3pm on FS1
  • Dodgers at Padres @ 7:40pm on FS1
• Sun 8/6
  • White Sox at Guardians @ 11:05am on Peacock
  • Dodgers at Padres @ 6pm on ESPN

Golf:

• Thurs 8/3
  • Wyndham Championship – Round 1 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 8/4
  • Wyndham Championship – Round 2 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 8/5
  • Wyndham Championship – Round 3
    • @ 1pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS
• Sun 8/6
  • Wyndham Championship – Final Round
    • @ 1pm on Golf Channel

Motorsports:

• Sun 8/6
  • MotoGP: British GP @ 2pm on NBC

Olympic Sports:

• Sat 8/5
  • Swimming: Worlds Recap @ 12:30pm on NBC
• Sun 8/6
  • Gymnastics: Core Classic @ 3:30pm on NBC
  • Rugby: Premier Rugby 7s Championship @ 5:30pm on FS1

Soccer:

• 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
  • Leagues Cup: Puebla vs Chicago Fire @ 7pm on FS1
  • Leagues Cup: Guadalajara vs Sporting Kansas City @ 9pm on FS1
• Tues 8/1
  • FIFA W World Cup: POR vs USA @ 2am on FOX
  • FIFA W World Cup: VIE vs NED @ 2am on FS1
  • FIFA W World Cup: CHN vs ENG @ 6am on FOX
  • FIFA W World Cup: HAI vs DEN @ 6am on FS1
  • Club Friendly: AC Milan vs Barcelona @ 10pm on ESPN
• Wed 8/2
  • FIFA W World Cup: ARG vs SWE @ 2am on FOX
  • FIFA W World Cup: RSA vs ITA @ 2am on FS1
  • FIFA W World Cup: JAM vs BRA @ 5am on FS1
  • FIFA W World Cup: PAN vs FRA @ 5am on FOX
• Thurs 8/3
  • FIFA W World Cup: MOR vs COL @ 5am on FS1
  • FIFA W World Cup: KOR vs GER @ 5am on FOX
• Fri 8/4 – BREAK
• Sat 8/5
  • FIFA W World Cup: SUI vs ESP @ 12am on FS1
  • FIFA W World Cup JPN vs NOR @ 3am on FS1
  • FIFA W World Cup: Group E Winner vs Group G Runner Up @ 9pm on FOX
• Sun 8/6
  • FIFA W World Cup: Group G Winner vs Group E Runner Up @ 4am on FOX
  • Club Friendly: ManU vs Athletic Club @ 10am on ESPN
• Mon 8/7
  • FIFA W World Cup: Group D Winner vs NIG @ 2:30am on FS1
  • FIFA W World Cup: AUS vs Group D Runner Up @ 5:30am on FS1