Weekly Update June 10, 2024

Baseball – MLB: Reds and Yankees had a streak going. White Six finally break their losing streak. Skenes vs Ohtani. London series ends in tie.

Baseball/Softball – NCAA: WCWS Semi wrap up. Final 4-peat! / Super regionals – only 1 game left. Lots of SEC teams in.

Basketball: 2-0 for BOS. Team USA for WBB and Clark not on it.

Golf: Scheffler wins again. Rahm WD and US Open this week!

Hockey: Stanley Cup Finals Game 1 was quite a goalie performance.

Olympic Sports: All over the track. NCAAs and injuries at NY GP.

Tennis: French Open: Djokovic out and Alcaraz wins. Swiatek dominant again.

Quick Highlights: Football, WNBA and Horseracing.

Baseball – MLB:

• This week in the MLB:
  • The Reds scored 13 runs in their game against the Rockies on Monday to win by 10! They would get into double digits again beating the Rockies 12-7 on Wednesday. That game they were trailing before a 6-run 9^th inning to win! The below .500 team has now won 7 in a row. That was until Sunday when they lose to the Cubs with the exact same record. Streak over!
  • On Tuesday, A’s Joey Estes had a perfect game in the works until the 7^th inning when the Mariners broke it up. Not only did they do that, they got the win 4-3. The Phillies had 8 hits but no runs until Bohm hit a HR in the 8^th to tie up the game and take it to extra innings. The Phillies would win in 10 and sweep the Brewers this week.

• • Wednesday The Red Sox had a huge upset of the Braves shutting them out 9-0. That game got the BOS team to .500. The Giants had lost 6 games in a row until their game against the Diamondbacks where they got a grand slam to win 9-3. They would then win the next two as well before losing to the Rangers on Sunday. The Pirates beat the Dodgers in a face off of the stars of the sport: Skenes vs Ohtani. Skenes got the last laugh.

• • The White Sox lost 14 in a row on Thursday dating back to May 21 including 2 close ones to the Cubs 7-6 both times this week! Then the Red Sox put the beat down on them 14-2. However finally on Friday, CHI got 3 HRs and win 7-2. They would also win on Saturday 6-1.

• • The Mariners put up 7 runs in the 1^st inning and added another in the 4^th before the Royals got one on the board. But once they started, the racked them up. The Royals came all the way back from that 8-run deficit to win in regulation 10-9. 3 runs were scored in the 9^th to win the unlikely game.

• • The Yankees were on an 8-game winning streak before running into the Dodgers. Then the LA team had their number, beating them in 2 of their 3 game series including an 11-3 victory on Saturday. The Blue Jays managed to beat the Orioles 2xs this week after losing the first 2 of the matchup. Bird teams seem to be the down fall as the last time they lost multiple games back to back was to the Cardinals.

• • Two games on Sunday went into the 10^th. The game of socks ended in the 10^th when the Red Sox beat the White Sox 6-4. The A’s/Blue Jays also went into the 10^th when the Blue Jays scored 3 on a double to put the game away.

• • In the London series, the Phillies won game 1 7-2 and Bryce Harper did the typical soccer celebration of knee sliding after he got a HR. Game 2  was also a close one. We were 4-3 Phillies going into the 9^th when the Mets rallied almost going through the entire line up, bases loaded and getting 3 runs across home plate. NY up 2. Then the Phillies returned the favor with bases loaded and a run scored when a killer double play ended their hopes, losing 5-6. The London Series ends in a split!

Baseball/Softball – NCAA:

• Semifinal wrap up. We had a winner-take-all game 3 between Oklahoma and Florida on Tuesday after Florida got a huge upset win over Oklahoma on Monday. Game 2 was awesome! The tone was set in the very first inning when both teams got 2-run HRs. Florida continued to add to their score by getting a HR in each of the first 3 innings, going up 5-2. But the Sooners aren’t reigning champs for nothing. The comeback started in the 4^th with a 2-run HR. But the Sooners were still a run shy going into the 6^th with 2 outs. But getting runners on with a double and a walk, Ella Parker got a single to bring in the tying run. P Maxwell got a 1-2-3 inning in both the 7^th and 8th innings. Yes we went to extra innings. Star Jada Coleman was the leadoff batter and hit the ball just over the fence to win for the Sooners and advance to the National Championship series to start the next day.

• The Final National Championship series started Wednesday. New series for the Sooners who were going for the 4-peat and Texas was going for their first natty ever. Action got started immediately. Sooners got a 2-run HR in the 1^st and Texas star Maya Scott got one for Texas. After that it was all Sooners, going up 7-1 into the bottom of the 6^th and the Horns were in danger of a run-rule. But they weren’t going to give up that easy and with some not-great fielding by OU, Texas scores 2 more but it wasn’t enough. Sooners win game 1 8-3.
• Game 2 was a must win for Texas to take it to a Game 3. 78% of the team’s who win game 1, win the series and we’d only been to a Game 3 6xs in the last 18 years. Texas drew first blood in the 2^nd with a run and would score 1 in each of the next 3 innings. But the Sooners got a 2-run HR in the 2^nd and after bases loaded in the 4^th, score 3 more. Sooners up 5-3 going into the 6^th and they brought out their OSU transfer and hero of the FL series, Maxwell. Texas scored but could’ve had more if Scott hadn’t looked to advance from 1^st and got tagged out to end the inning with only 1 scored and a couple women left on base. You could almost feel that that was it. The Sooners put the nail in the coffin in the 6^th with 3 more runs and seal the victory 8-4. It was the first time that 5 different pitchers had been used in the final game. Oklahoma wins their 4^th straight national championship in softball, one of only 4 women’s teams to do so. 5 seniors were apart of all 4 teams. What a send off!

• Finishing up Regionals: #4 UNC/LSU was a great matchup. UNC put up 2 in the top of the 1^st. LSU then answered with a run in each of the next 3 innings to go up 3-2 all the way until the 9^th. UNC got the run they needed to tie up the game. Then the Tar Heels got another in the 10^th to advance and avoid the upset. #9 Oklahoma was not so lucky. UConn scored 7 runs before the Sooners managed to get 1 but it was too late in the 9^th. Huskies upset the Sooners as a Top-10 ranked team to not advance to the Supers.

• Super Regionals began Friday. #8 Florida State put the beat down on UConn who was the final team to advance to the Supers. The Noles won that game 24-4! Nothing else too crazy happened.

• Saturday had a lot of runs scored that day! Every game (except 1) had a team score 10 runs. The only one that didn’t was the #4 UNC/WV game were the Tar Heels advance after winning both games and the 2^nd with only a score of 2-1. #8 Florida State also put away UConn in 12, winning 10-8 in a close one but the Noles advance. #12 UVA beat K State in Game 2 of their series 10-4. Cavs advance as well. #2 Kentucky shutout #15 Oregon State 10-0. The Beavs only got 1 hit. #3 Texas A&M beat Oregon 10-6. #10 NC State put up 18 on UGA who got 1. Unranked Florida upset #6 Clemson 10-7. And in another huge upset, Evansville topped #1 Tennessee 10-8 after trailing 4 runs going into the bottom of the 4^th. So that series goes to a winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday.

• Sunday had only 1 game 3 and the rest for Game 2s. Game 3 between Evansville/#1 Tennessee and the upset run officially ended after the Vols easily handled Evansville 12-1. #2 Kentucky was tied 2-2 with #15 Oregon State in the 7^th when a (I think) foul ball gets away from the Beaver catcher and a runner from 2^nd makes it home. Quite a play that ended up being the game-winning run. Wildcats advance. Oregon went off early in College Station and the Aggies cycled through a couple of pitchers. The Ducks got 3 straight HRs in the 1^st and were up 7-1 going into the 4^th. But the Aggies’ 7^th inning was insane – with 9 runs scored including a grand slam. At least 5 batters were walked in the inning alone by Oregon. It was enough to put the game away 15-9! Aggies advance. Florida has a storied baseball history and it showed. The game was back and forth. Florida got it started with a HR by one of the biggest stars in the NCAA, Jac Caglianone to go up 2 in the 1^st. Clemson then put 3 on the board in 3^rd. Florida added one in the bottom to tie it up. Florida then added on and built up a little bit of a lead. Clemson was down 3 runs going into the 9^th Down to their final 2 outs, they get the 3-run HR they needed to stay alive. Then we go into extra innings. No runs until the 13^th when Clemson hit a HR and you thought that was it and we were going to a Game 3. But then Florida gets a double with 2 outs left to win by 1 and crush Clemson’s hearts and upset the Tigers to advance to the CWS.
• NC State should’ve saved some runs from Saturday as they dropped Sunday’s game to Georgia 11-2. And now are the only matchup left to play tonight in a Game 3. Winner goes to the CWS and loser goes home.

Basketball – NBA:

• Thursday started the Best of 7 NBA Finals.

• • Game 1 was boring! The Celtics came out hot, putting up 37 points in the 1Q compared to Dallas’ 20, already building a 17 point cushion. They added to that before halftime, going into the locker room with a 21 point lead. The Mavs had a slightly better 2H but still not close enough. BOS won easily 107-89.

• • Luka Doncic was downgraded to Questionable on Sunday before game 2 with multiple injuries. Knee sprain, ankle soreness and a thoracic contusion are all listed. While that sounds bad, he has been ‘Questionable’ several times in the post season and played every game. And indeed he did play, scoring 32 points and got his first triple double in Mavs finals history. Dallas was winning with 11 minutes to go in the 3^rd but then BOS went on a 10-0 run late in the 3^rd to get momentum back at home. Dallas tried to get it back but ultimately fell 7 points short. We got to Dallas now with the Mavs down 0-2.

• Team USA has been announced for the women’s basketball team for Paris. Despite a lot of familiar names, you know who is not on it? Caitlin Clark. Although she leads rookies in scoring and almost every other stat, the roster is full of veterans including 9 returning Olympians.

Golf:

• Scottie Scheffler had the lead after 54 holes despite having a triple bogey on the 9^th. It was closer than it should’ve been on Sunday though. The course was being a little bit of a witch with an average score of 75 and only 6 players coming in under par. Even Scottie shot a 74, his worst final round in 2 years. Colin Morikawa gave him a run for his money with a final round score of 71 to close the gap to 1 final stroke and it came down the final hole. Colin hit his ball into the fairway bunker, had a nice up and down to still make par but it wasn’t enough to unseat World #1. Scottie has now won 5 tournaments this season and looks to be playing some of the best golf we have seen in a long time. Perfect timing to go into the US Open on his first father’s day as a dad. Newborn son, Bennett was in attendance.

• Big news from the Houston LIV event. Jon Rahm withdrew with a foot infection. He is TBD for the US Open this week. This opens a big opportunity as Rahm finished top 10 in all 4 of the majors last year including winning the Masters. As for the winner of the LIV event, MEX Carlos Ortiz finished with a score of -15 to win by 1 in a close tournament. Ortiz has to love Houston as his solo PGA Tour title is also from the big city, winning the 2020 Houston Open.
• US Open this week and its going to be awesome at Pinehurst. Adam Scott was gifted a sponsorship exemption today to play in his 23^rd straight US Open and 92^nd straight major. That is the 2^nd longest streak in golf history. He has a long way to get to the top though as Jack Nicklaus played in 146 straight majors. Scott is currently ranked 61^st in the world and you needed to be top 60 to make it.

Hockey:

• Stanley Cup Finals have begun with Game 1. It was all Preds who got a goal in each Period. The final one was with an empty net with just 4.4 seconds left. Goalie Bobrovsky had 32 saves to help his team win Game 1.

Olympic Sports:

• NCAA T&F Championships was this weekend to wrap up the 2^nd to last NCAA Natty on the line. And man both came down to the final event for the team title.

• • The women’s day was incredible. Meet records fell all over the place. Arkansas got a super sweep in the 400m, meaning they got 1^st – 4^th and a killer 29 points. Only 4 teams have swept an event ever (1-3^rd) and not since 1996. They also won the 4x400m and set a new NCAA record with a blistering time of 3:17.96 which averages 49.5 per person. Oregon’s shot putter Jaida Ross was so dominant in her event that any of her 6 throws would’ve won her the title. Stanford Whittaker took the 800m to win a first for the Cardinal in that event. Ole Miss sprinter McKenzie Long completed the triple crown successfully (4x100m relay, 100m and the 200m) in the same year that her mom died. To win the HJ, jumpers had to hit the Olympic standard (6’5”). FL Parker Valby won the 10km and the 5k (although she was .2 seconds off the Olympic standard). That makes her a 5x NCAA champion in this year alone! She was the CC champ, indoor 3k, indoor 5k and now 5k and 10k outdoor champ. Talk about dominance.

• • On the men’s side, Florida got the 3-peat in a close one with the lowest team score since 1971. After 12 events (of 21), they weren’t even in the top 5 and they were still trailing Auburn by 5 points going into the 4x400m relay. The only NCAA record to break was the Decathlon with Texas Leo Neugebauer with a 8961 point total who successfully denfedned his outdoor title. The only other successful defense of their title was UGA’s Marc Minichello in the Jav. There was also just 1 team to win two events! That means 20 of the 21 events were won by a different school (except UGA who won the Jav and 400m).

• Reigning 100m Olympic gold medalist, JAM Elaine Thompson-Herah was helped off the track at the NYGP Sunday with an Achilles injury. That is HUGE news for the sprint community as she is the favorite for the 100m and 200m, where she is trying to match Bolt as the only person to win both events in 3 straight Olympics.

Tennis:

• The French Open has been decided. Big news from early in the week and something I illuded to before the Quarterfinals was that defending champ, Djokovic withdrew from the tournament after tweaking his knee in the 4^th We now know that the knee injury is going to require surgery.
  • On the men’s side, all 3 Quarterfinals were decided in straight sets and had no upsets (with the exception of the withdraw). #4 Zverev dropped the first set to Ruud who got the benefits of Djokovic’s sitch. But then swept him to advance to his first French Open final. #2 ITA Sinner vs #3 ESP Alcaraz was a close one going the full 5 sets. Sinner got the 1^st and 3 but then dropped the final 2 to let Alcaraz advance to his first French Open final. Alcaraz came back to beat GER Alexander Zverev after dropping the middle 2 sets. But after that he turned it on, winning 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. The match lasted 4 hours 19 minutes and had plenty of errors to make it anyone’s game. The 21 year old ESP, Carlos Alcaraz has now won his 3^rd GS on a 3^rd surface, winning one in each of the last 3 years. He was 1.5 years younger than his idol, Nadal to do it. This makes him 3-0 in GS finals now. Alcaraz now just needs the AUS Open to complete the career GS.

• • On the women’s side, #1 POL Swiatek advanced easily beating #5 Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2. USA #3 Coco Gauff dropped set 1 to Ons Jabeur but then rallied to advance to the Semis and play Iga. The other half of the bracket was a big upset! #12 ITA Paolini beat #4 KAZ Rybakina and even bigger news was that #2 Sabalenka fell to the 17-year-old RUS phenom Andreeva. She was down 1 set and actually came back to do it! Absolutely incredible but that was where her luck ended. Paolini destroyed her in the Semis 3-6, 1-6. Coco also fell easily 2-6, 4-6 to Swiatek. Iga continued that momentum in the final, easily winning over Paolini 6-2, 6-1. It only took her 68 minutes. That is her 4^th French Open title (3^rd in a row) and 5^th GS title.

Some quick highlights:

• Football: CFP bowl game schedule has been released and bowl games will now start on the same day as the Army/Navy game. Games will also go into January ending with the National Championship Jan 21^st. That means for the first time, we will have NCAAF competing with NFL for TV audiences.
• Football: NCAA will now allow sponsors to put their logos on the field in 3 different spots including 1 in the middle at the 50-yard line and this can be done on a game-by-game basis.

• WNBA: CT Sun finally lost their first game of the season to the NY Liberty on Saturday 82-75.
• Horseracing: Dornoch wins the Belmont Stakes after being either 1^st or 2^nd all race. Preakness winner Seize the Grey and Dornoch were neck and neck all race until the final straight. Sierra Leonne left too much work to do on the final straight away. Dornoch is the brother of 2023 Kentucky Derby winner, Mage.

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

• Mon 6/10
  • Orioles at Rays @ 5:50pm on FS1
    • Burnes vs Pepiot
• Tues 6/11
  • Phillies at Red Sox @ 6:10pm on TBS
• Wed 6/12
  • Congressional Baseball Game for charity @ 6pm on FS1
• Thurs 6/13
  • Angels at Diamondbacks @ 8:40pm on FS1
    • Cannings vs Pfaat
• Fri 6/14
  • Rangers at Mariners @ 9:10pm on Apple TV+
  • Angels at Giants @ 9:15pm on Apple TV+
• Sat 6/15
  • Cardinals at Cubs @ 1:20pm on FS1
    • Pallante vs Imanaga
  • Yankees at Red Sox – or – Rangers at Mariners @ 6:15pm on FOX
  • White Sox vs Diamondbacks @ 9:10pm on FS1
• Sun 6/16
  • Yankees at Red Sox @ 6pm on ESPN
    • Stroman vs Crawford

Baseball-NCAA:

• Mon 6/10
  • Super Regionals – Game 3: 10. NC State vs 7. Georgia @ 6pm on ESPN
• Fri 6/14
  • CWS Game 1 @ 1pm on ESPN
  • CWS Game 2 @ 6pm on ESPN
• Sat 6/15
  • CWS Game 3 @ 1pm on ESPN
  • CWS Game 4 @ 6pm on ESPN
• Sun 6/16
  • CWS Game 5 @ 1pm on ESPN
  • CWS Game 6 @ 6pm on ESPN2
• Mon 6/17
  • CWS Game 7 @ 1pm on ESPN
  • CWS Game 8 @ 6pm on ESPN
• Tues 6/18
  • CWS Game 9 @ 1pm on ESPN
  • CWS Game 10 @ 6pm on ESPN
• Wed 6/19
  • CWS Game 11 @ 1pm on ESPN
  • CWS Game 12 @ 6pm on ESPN
• Thurs 6/20 – If necessary
  • CWS Game 13 @ 1pm on ESPN
  • CWS Game 14 @ 6pm on ESPN
• Sat 6/22 – CWS Final
  • Game 1 @ 6:30pm on ESPN

Basketball – NBA:

• Wed 6/12
  • Finals Game 3: Celtics at Mavericks @ 7:30pm on ABC
• Fri 6/14
  • Finals Game 4: Celtics at Mavericks @ 7:30pm on ABC
• Mon 6/17
  • Finals Game 5: Mavericks at Celtics @ 7:30pm on ABC
    • If necessary
• Thurs 6/20
  • Finals Game 6: Mavericks at Celtics @ 7:30pm on ABC
    • If necessary
• Sun 6/23
  • Finals Game 7: Mavericks at Celtics @ 7pm on ABC
    • If necessary

Football – UFL:

• Sun 6/16
  • UFL Championship: San Antonio Brahmas vs Birmingham Stallions @ 4pm on FOX

Golf:

• Thurs 6/13
  • US Open – Round 1 @ 5:30am on USA
• Fri 6/14
  • US Open – Round 2 @ 12pm on NBC
• Sat 6/15
  • US Open – Round 3
    • @ 9am on USA
    • @ 11am on NBC
• Sun 6/16
  • US Open – Round 4
    • @ 8am on USA
    • @ 11am on NBC

Hockey:

• Mon 6/10
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 2: Oilers vs Panthers @ 7pm on ABC
• Thurs 6/13
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 3: Panthers vs Oilers @ 7pm on ABC
• Sat 6/15
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 4: Panthers vs Oilers @ 7pm on ABC
• Tues 6/18
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 5: Oilers vs Panthers @ 7pm on ABC
    • If necessary
• Fri 6/21
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 6: anthers vs Oilers @ 7pm on ABC
    • If necessary
• Mon 6/24
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 7: Oilers vs Panthers @ 7pm on ABC
    • If necessary

Olympic Sports:

• Sat 6/15
  • Swimming: Olympic Trials – Day 1 @ 5:30pm on USA & @ 7pm on NBC
    • Finals: M400 Free, W400 Free,
    • Semi: W100 Fly, M100 Breast
• Sun 6/16
  • Swimming: Olympic Trials – Day 2 @ 4pm on USA & @ 7pm on NBC
    • Finals: M400IM, W100Fly, M100Breast,
    • Semi: M200 Free, W100 Breast, M100 Back, W200 Free
• Mon 6/17
  • Swimming: Olympic Trials – Day 3 @7pm on NBC
    • Finals: W400 IM, M200 Free, W100 Breast, W200 Free
    • Semi: W100 Back

Soccer:

• Mon 6/10
  • International Friendly: FRA vs CAN @ 10:30am on FS1
• Wed 6/12
  • International Friendly: POR vs IRE @ 1am on FS1
  • International Friendly: NED vs ICE @ 3am on FS1
• Fri 6/14
  • UEFA Euro: GER vs SCO @ 2pm on FOX
• Sat 6/15
  • UEFA Euro 2024: ESP vs CRO @ 11am on FOX
  • UEFA Euro 2024: ITA vs ALB @ 2pm on FOX
• Sun 6/16
  • UEFA Euro 2024: POL vs NED @ 8am on FS1
  • UEFA Euro 2024: SLO vs DEN @ 11am on FS1
  • UEFA Euro 2024: SRB vs ENG @ 4pm on FOX