Weekly Update July 8, 2024

Baseball: MLB this week. Standings. All-Star roster announced.

Basketball: James duo in LA. Tatum new contract.

Football: Khyree Jackson dies in car crash.

Golf: Names to know from John Deere – Davis, Clanton and Springer.

Olympics: Paris Diamond League WRs and an injury. Tour de France updates.

Quick Headlines: Soccer. F1. WNBA.

Baseball – MLB:

• This week in the MLB:
  • There were only 3 games on Monday and they were all close. Astros and Blue Jays had the same amount of hits but the pitching of the HOU team won out to end the game 3-1 Astros in regulation. The other two games both went into the 10^th. The Mets/Nationals ending was nuts! The leader on the win probability chart changed 15xs. The Nationals got their final run needed in the 8^th inning to tie it up 3-3. The 10^th was a hit fest. The Mets got a 3-run HR, a triple and another HR to put up 6 runs. The Nationals then answered with 3 runs of their own but obviously that fell short. The Brewers/Rockies game also went to the 10^th. There were 4 HRs, 3 by the Rockies and that’s exactly who won the game 8-7.

• • The Mets would beat the Nationals the next night too also in 10 innings. Brandon Nimmo bought in 2 RBIs during his return after the hotel accident. On Sunday, he fainted and fell cutting his forehead. Again, the NY team put up 5 runs in the final inning to put the game away again. And again the Brewers/Rockies were in a close game when a Milwaukee batter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to get the final run to win by 1.
  • Wednesday Astros star Alvarez hit his 3^rd straight game with a HR and another star Altuve was the tiebreaking hit to win 9-2. The Tigers killed the Twins 9-2 with a grand slam, 4 HRs and 3 triples. The Diamondbacks got 16 hits and 12 runs in their beat down of the Dodgers 12-4.
  • On July 4^th is there anything more American than baseball? There were 14 games that day. The Red Sox/Marlins game went to the 12^th after being tied 2-2 in regulation. Both teams then got another 2 each in the 11^th. Boston then got 2 more in the 12th and Miami only managed to get 1 and take the loss. The Twins beat the Tigers 12-3 in just 7^th innings as the rain cut the game short.

• • The Astros/Twins game was a high scoring one. Final score was 13-12 and the Astros got the better of this one. The Pirates hit 6 HRs including 2 grand slams in their rout of the Mets 14-2. The Cardinals were trailing the Nationals 5-3 going into the 8^th innings when they got a run in the 8^th and a HR in the 9^th to tie it up and take it to extra innings. The Cardinals then got another one in 10^th but the Nationals tied it up again. The Cardinals were on a roll though and got another in the 11^th that got unanswered to get the W. The Red Sox/Yankees also went to the 10^th and BOS got the 2-run HR in the 10^th.

• • The Yankees got revenge the next day winning 14-4 over the Red Sox. And speaking of high scoring games, the A’s put up 19 on the Orioles to win by 11. On Sunday we had a couple of shutouts. The Red Sox kept the Yankees off the board winning 3-0. The Cubs won 5-0 over the Angels. The Braves upset the Phillies, keeping the NL leaders without a run, beating them 6-0. On the flipside, the Rangers killed the Rays 13-2 and the Royals out up 10 on the Rockies. 30 HRs were hit during the games on Sunday including 6 for multiple runs.

• Let’s go through the standings as we are in the final week of games before the All-Star Game.
  • In the American League, it is top heavy. The Guardians have the best win percentage although they have 1 less win than the Orioles do (they also have 1 less loss). The Yankees are 3 games back from those two. The White Sox hold down the bottom on their own with just 26 wins and 66 losses.
  • In the National League, the Phillies lead with 58 followed by the Dodgers at 55 and Brewers at 53. The Marlins and Rockies are tied at the bottom with 32.

• The ASG roster has been announced, the Phillies topped the teams with 7 team members. The Padres and Guardians sit in 2^nd with 5 a piece. There are 32 ASG first timers and 19 players under the age of 27. Paul Skenes, the star P from the Pirates, is one of those and is up to be the starter for the NL – bigtime for just 10 starts into this career but he does make fans tune in.

Basketball – NBA:

• Luka will not be playing in the Olympics as Slovenia was eliminated by Greece (and a familiar name Giannis) in an Olympic qualifying tournament.

• It is official that Bronny James and LeBron will be playing together in LA for the Lakers. Bronny was drafted in the 2^nd round and according to the team earned his spot despite only playing one year at USC. But remember that he had a heart episode as well. LeBron got a new deal for 2 years for $104MM.

• Klay Thompson is now a Dallas Maverick which ends the Golden State Warriors run of the big 3. Celtics star Jayson Tatum has a new deal for 5 years and $314MM to stay in BOS. Also the team is being put up for sale. The estimated sale price is a whopping $4MM. For all the free agency news, click the link.

Football:

• Khyree Jackson, Vikings rookie CB, died in a car crash on Friday night. He died along with 2 of his college football players. 3 cars were involved in the crash which apparently was caused by a car changing lanes at a high speed. It is thought that alcohol might’ve been involved.

Golf:

• We have ourselves a new PGA Tour winner, Davis Thompson broke the John Deere Classic scoring record with a score of -24. He would get 6 birdies on the front nine on Sunday and found himself in a solo comfortable lead. Super random but he is also the 3^rd straight winner form a certain AirBnB now being called the ‘Trophy House’ after the last two winners JT Poston and Sepp Straka also stayed there. He is the 24^th first time winner at this tournament. Michael Thorbjornsen tried to compete with Davis by carding 9 birdies in his final round including 6 consecutive birdies but would fall 4 shots short of the victory. Not too bad for starting the tournament ranked 200 in the FedEx Cup, he would go up 79 spots.

• • Hayden Springer had a killer start to the John Deere as he started with a 59! He started 27 on the front nine but then got 5 pars on the back 9 before finishing eagle-birdie to get that magical score. He is just the 14^th player to do so on the PGA Tour. He would finish the tournament T7 with a total score of -21.
  • Another name to note from this tournament, Florida State Luke Clanton. He is an amateur but is the first one to finish back-to-back Top 10s on the PGA Tour since 1958! He got T10 at the Rocket Mortgage last week and T2 this week. Someone to keep an eye on for sure.

Olympic Sports:

• The Diamond League was in Paris on Sunday. KEN Faith Kipyegon broke her own WR in the 1500m by .07 seconds. That wasn’t the only record to go down that day either. UKR Yaroslava Mahuchikh broke the WR in the W HJ which had stood since Rome 1987 – 37 years! That jump was 2.10m (6.88 feet) absolutely crazy! Decathlon WR holder Kevin Mayer from FRA fell during the 110 hurdle race and withdrew. He did walk off the track but we are only 3 weeks from the Olympics where he is one of the favorites in his home Olympics.

• Yesterday’s stage (9^th) was the 3^rd won by a FRA rider since we started the race. Anthony Turgis took the Troyes stage but alas Tadej Pogachar is still in the yellow jersey. FRA Julien Bernard, a cyclist competing in the Tour de France, was fined $223 for kissing his wife during the 7^th stage of the Tour de France which was a time trial.
• Some RUS wrestlers (10 in all) have declined the invitation to compete in the Olympics as neutral athletes as some of their top competitors were left off the list including the reigning 2023 World Champion.

Tennis:

• Wimbledon is in full swing and we are up to half way through the fourth round with some of the Quarterfinals being set.
  • On the men’s side: ITA Sinner had a tough battle with USA Shelton who took it to tie breakers on the 3^rd set but managed to get it done. BUL Dimitrov was injured so he withdrew before the first set even ended so Medvedev advances. ESP Alcaraz putting away FRA Humbert but not after dropping one set 1-6. Tommy Paul is the only USA so far to advance. But we have 4 matches left and Fritz is still in but he has to defeat Zverev to do it. Djokovic is still in and he will play DEN Rune tomorrow.

• • On the women’s side: #1 POL Swiatek got upset by KAZ Putintseva in the 3^rd TUR Ons Jabeur and CAN Andreescu also lost in the 3rd round. GBR Raducanu lost in the 4^th round to AUS Sun. ITA Paolini beat USA Madison Keys after she retired. Then we had an All-American match between #19 Navarro and #2 Gauff. Navarro got the huge upset in straight sets to make her first Quarterfinal appearance. That’s some major names out of the tournament already. #4 KAZ Rybakina and #7 Paolini are the only ones left in the top 10. 4 remaining women are unranked.

Some quick highlights:

• The Semifinals are set in the UEFA Euro. ESP vs FRA and NED vs ENG. 2 of the 4 Quarterfinals went to PKs and the other two had red cards issued. Copa America is in the same spot with ARG, CAN, COL and UGU making it to the Semis. 2 of the Quarterfinals went to PKs (not as surprising as Copa doesn’t play ET) and one had a red card given out. COL won easily 5-0 over PAN. The USA lost on Monday to UGU 1-0.

• F1 was a true homecoming win. Lewis Hamilton, the GBR rider for Mercedes, won his home GP in Silverstone ENG. This was Hamilton’s first win in 945 days (that’s back to 2021 when he was in the hunt for the championship). It was a wet race and he came on strong at the end. This was his 104^th win in his career and he’s the first to win 9xs at the same track.

• Angel Reese got her 13^th straight double-double which is a new WNBA record, overtaking Candace Parker. Caitlin Clark is the first rookie to card a triple-double in a WNBA game and it was against the Liberty – even more impressive.

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

• Mon 7/8
  • Guardians at Tigers @ 5:40pm on FS1
    • Williams vs Flaherty
• Tues 7/9
  • Dodgers at Phillies @ 5:40pm on TBS
    • Miller vs Wheeler
• Wed 7/10
  • Dodgers at Phillies @ 6pm on ESPN
    • Stone vs Sanchez
• Fri 7/12
  • Guardians at Rays @ 5:50pm on Apple TV+
  • Cubs at Cardinals @ 7:15pm on Apple TV+
• Sat 7/13
  • Yankees at Orioles @ 3:05pm on FS1
    • Gil vs Rodriguez
  • Braves at Padres – or – Twins at Giants @ 6:15pm on FOX

Basketball:

• Wed 7/10
  • Basketball Showcase: USA vs CAN @ 9:30pm on FS1

Golf:

• Thurs 7/11
  • PGA Tour: Genesis Scottish Open – Round 1 @ 9:30am on Golf Channel
  • Armed Forces Cup @ 6pm on FS1
• Fri 7/12
  • PGA Tour: Genesis Scottish Open – Round 2 @ 9:30am on Golf Channel
• Sat 7/13
  • PGA Tour: Genesis Scottish Open – Round 3
    • @ 9am on Golf Channel
    • @ 11am on CBS
  • American Century Championship (celeb event) @ 1:30pm on NBC
• Sun 7/14
  • PGA Tour: Genesis Scottish Open – Final Round
    • @ 9am on Golf Channel
    • @ 11am on CBS
  • American Century Championship (celeb event) @ 1:30pm on NBC

Soccer:

• Tues 7/9
  • Euro Semifinal: ESP vs FRA @ 2pm on FOX
  • Copa America Semifinal: ARG vs CAN @ 7pm on FS1
• Wed 7/10
  • Euro Semifinal: NED vs ENG @ 2pm on FOX
  • Copa America Semifinal: URU vs COL @ 7pm on FS1
• Sat 7/13
  • Copa America 3^rd place match: Teams TBA @ 7pm on FS1
  • MLS: Portland Timbers vs Real Salt Lake @ 9pm on FS1
• Sun 7/14
  • Euro Final: Teams TBA @ 2pm on FOX

Tennis:

• Mon 7/8
  • Wimbledon: Round 4 @ 7am on ESPN and ESPN2
• Tues 7/9
  • Wimbledon: Quarterfinals @ 7am on ESPN and ESPN2
• Wed 7/10
  • Wimbledon: Quarterfinals @ 7am on ESPN and ESPN2
• Thurs 7/11
  • Wimbledon: Ladies’ Semifinal @ 7am on ESPN
  • Wimbledon: Mixed Doubles Championship @ 12pm on ESPN
• Fri 7/12
  • Wimbledon: Men’s Semifinals @ 7am on ESPN
• Sat 7/13
  • Wimbledon: Ladies Championship @ 8am on ESPN
    • Replay @ 2pm on ABC
  • Wimbledon: Men’s Doubles Championship @ 10:30am on ESPN
• Sun 7/14
  • Wimbledon: Men’s Championship @ 8am on ESPN
    • Replay @ 2pm on ABC
  • Wimbledon: Ladies’ Doubles Championship @ 11am on ESPN