Baseball: This week in the MLB. No hitter watch ruined by a pull in the 7th. Longest game only 11 innings. Metts injured and Cole returns.

Basketball – NBA: For an 0-3 start, Dallas looked good in game 4. The Logo dies.

Baseball – NCAA: CWS begins and it started with a bang.

Golf: US Open win with fans for Bryson. Rory gets pissy.

Hockey: The same as the NBA (so ditto)

Olympic Sports: USA Swim Trails. New and old faces. Ledecky 4x Olympian.

Quick Headlines: Football, Soccer and Cricket?!

Baseball – MLB:

• This week in the MLB:
  • The Astros/Giants game was close the whole time. Both teams had 9 hits a piece and an error and we went into extra innings. But Giants Austin Slater got the final single to get the run in the 10^th and the W. In contrast, Orioles SS Gunnar Henderson hit a HR on the first pitch of the game and got their sweep of the Rays 5-2. Yankees P Rodon got his 7^th straight win in a row beating the Royals 4-2. Mariners Cal Raleigh had every baseball players dream hitting a game-winning grand slam in the 9^th to beat the White sox 8-4.
  • Padres RF Tatis extended his hitting streak to 16 in Monday’s game to help beat the A’s 6-1. 17 was Tuesday and they won that game too. But Wednesday that streak came to an end, they still got the win but still.
  • Tuesday Phillies P Wheeler got his 8^th consecutive win with their win over the Red Sox 4-1. It helps when Schwarber hits 2 HRs. The Yankees destroyed the Royals in game 2 and 3 of their series, 10-1 and 11-5. In those games Judge hit his 25ht HR and now leads the MLB in HRs for the season. The Dodgers killed the Rangers 15-2 with 5 HRs, 4 in the 6^th inning alone.
  • Sticking with that vibe, Twins put up 17 runs on the Rockies although they scored 9. The Orioles won their 6^th game straight on Wednesday. They did drop their next game on Thursday. The Nationals also won their 5^th that same day and dropped their next one. Thursday was a bad day for streaks. The Mariners won their game on Wednesday by 1 run again over the White Sox, this time in the 10^th The Marlins hit a 2-run HR to win by 1 in a walkoff.
  • Longest game of the week was the Phillies/Orioles game on Friday that went into the 11^th The Phillies won by 2 in those extra innings, despite having less hits. The Twins beat the A’s in the 10^th that same night with Max Kelper’s walk off in the first extra inning.

• • The Brewers 3-1 win over the Reds wasn’t anything too remarkable expect that Snoop Dogg was on the broadcast during the game. The Royals got a grand slam in the 6^th to beat the Dodgers 7-2. The Rockies put up a monster 16 runs over the Pirates, needless to say they won.
  • Astros P Ronel Blanco was on no-hitter watch until the 7^th inning when he was pulled. The Tigers would literally get a hit in the next inning but the Astros still won 4-1. Nationals RF Lane Thomas hit a HR for the 3^rd day in a row and his teammate Jacob Young got his first major league HR in their win over the Marlins 3-1. The Twins played the A’s in a doubleheader on fathers day as a make up game from the day before. The Twins won both games. The first was easier with a 6-2 win and the 2^nd was super close 8-7, good thing they got 3 HRs in that game or the result would’ve been very different.

• Mookie Betts broke his left hand after it was hit by a 98 mph fastball. It will not require surgery but will be out ~6weeks is the thought. This is Bett’s first IR listing in 2 years. In contrast Yankees P Cole is expect to make his debut Wednesday after he was injured all season so far with nerve irritation and edema in the elbow.

Baseball – NCAA:

• The CWS has begun! Get ready for the next week as well.

• • Game 1 was a high scoring affair! #1 Tennessee played #8 Florida State and in regulation there was 23 runs scored, 31 hits and 5 errors. Needless to say it was an entertaining game. Literally there was never an inning where a run wasn’t scored! Florida State played catch up but in a big way putting up 6 in the 3^rd alone which was good because they were down 4-1 before that. The Noles led all the way through the top of the 9^th. Tennessee score 5 unanswered runs to win the game 12-11! What a start!

• • In contrast, Game 2 was normal. #4 UNC scored first but the #12 UVA Cavs rallied putting up the next two to take the lead in the 6^th. UNC tied it back up in the 7^th and then put the nail in the coffin in the 9^th to win 3-2, also in a walkoff.

• • Saturday saw close ones! #10 NC State played #2 Kentucky and it was a close one. The teams traded scoring all game. NC State looked like they were going to win, scoring one in the 9^th but then KT hit a HR to tie it back up. The final score came in the 10^th by Wildcat Daly who got the game winning, walk off HR. We have never seen 2 walkoff wins to start a CWS and now we have 3! Florida is the only unranked team to make it to the CWS so when they were down to #3 Texas A&M, it wasn’t a surprise. Aggies led 3-0 until the 7^th when Florida tried to mount a comeback. The Gators would fall 1 run short despite having more hits, bases and runners left on base.
  • Florida State got 7 unanswered runs including 3 HRs through the 6^th. The Cavaliers did finally score in the 7^th but the Seminoles managed to hang on to win 7-3 and eliminate UVA.

• • #1 Tennessee got things started with a 3-run HRer in the 4^th inning and that did not look good for #4 UNC. The Tar Heels would answer with a run in the next inning but that was their only run of the game. Vols win 6-1.
  • Today’s elimination game is already done so I’ll cover that too. #10 NC State struck first with a run in the 1^st but the unranked Florida team rallied in the 2^nd. They won a RBI run and then star Jac Caglianone hit a 3-run HR to put the Gators up 4-1. NC state pulled within 1 in the next inning and then we would have a run each in the 5^th. But that was it as far as scoring was concerned and Florida gets the win by 1. The Wolfpack goes home.

Basketball – NBA:

• Thursday started the Best of 7 NBA Finals. Teams are 0-156 when down 0-3.
  • Game 3 was much closer than the others. The Mavs led by 1 after the 1Q and 1H. But the Celtics put up 35 in the 3Q, outscoring Dallas by 16. Dallas tried to mount a comeback with 29 in the 4^th and Kyrie putting up 35 in the game, highest scorer of the game. Ultimately they fell 7 points short. Now Dallas is in a 0-3 hole in the championship series. If they win the game on Friday, its all over.

• • Dallas needed to win Game 4 to stay alive and oh boy did they. Dallas destroyed Boston from the start! The Celtics only scored 14 in the 2^nd and the Mavs were up by 26 at half. It only compounded from there and Mavs survive another game 122-84. Now we head back to Boston.

• Earlier in the week, Jerry West, long time Laker and NBA great passed away at the age of 86. West played his entire 14 year NBA career with the LA team and then was a coach for them for 3 years. He won an NBA championship in 1972 and was finals MVP 1969, 14x NBA All-Star and his #44 is retired by the Lakers. Fun fact, he is also the inspiration behind the NBA logo.

• Also on Monday last week, UConn HC Dan Hurley let Storrs, CT residents breath a sigh of relief when he turned down the Lakers’ HC job. He is staying at UConn.

Golf:

• Well as always there was drama in the US Open. Pinehurst, which has been restored to look like the course back in the good ole days, was playing hard with only 8 golfers under par for the tournament. World #1 Scottie Scheffler was nowhere near the top of the leaderboard with all 4 of his rounds being over par for the first time in his career. Rory McIlroy stormed out of the gate with a 65 first round and took the lead with Patrick Cantlay. Both men shot in the 70s the next day. LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau had a 3 shot lead going into the final round after his first 3 rounds being under 70. The final round looked a little different the last time Bryson won which was back in 2020 during covid so there were no fans. This time, fans were chanting USA as it came down to Rory and Bryson at the end. They were tied when Bryson (the final pair) came to the 18^th. Rory hadn’t won a major in a decade and well I think that pressure showed. He buckled when he came down the stretch bogeying the par-3 in the back 9 (15 and 17) and missed 2 putts inside 5 feet in the final 3 holes. He hadn’t done that in the last 69 attempts prior. Bryson hit his 18^th drive into a precarious spot (in the nature is what they called it). He had to punch it out and then hit ‘the best golf shot of his life’ to get his ball within 5 feet for a par which was all he needed to put the tournament away. And he does it, getting the first up and down on 18 at this course since his idol Peyton Stewart did it 25 years before. Bryson gets his 2^nd US Open and major title.
  • • Rory has finished 2^nd the last two years, 6 consecutive top 10s and 3 top5-s in the US Open. He walked away and didn’t speak to the media after the loss which has caused its own hub-bub.

Hockey:

• The Stanley Cup Finals are kinda going the same way as the NBA.
  • Game 2 was Monday night. The game was tied 1-1 going into the final period. But then it was all Panthers with the Florida team putting up 3, their 4^th straight goal to win and go up 2-0 in the series.

• • Game 3 was closer but that’s not a high bar. The Panthers put up 4 in the 1P and 2P. The Oilers tried to mount a comeback and scored 2 in the 3^rd but it wasn’t enough as they fell a goal short. Now they are in a 0-3 hole in the series – sound familiar?

• • Yall think I was kidding with following the same pattern as the NBA? The Oilers were on the verge of being swept but they came to play! They put up 3 in the 1^st and 2 each! The Edmonton team skilled the Panthers 8-1. Oilers Captain Connor McDavid broke Wayne Gretzy’s post season assist record with 32.

Olympic Sports:

• US Olympic Swimming Trials is in Indianapolis in Lucas Oil Stadium. Yep you heard me right, the same one that the Colts play in on Sundays. If you’re like how? 1.8MM gallons of water from the White River was pumped into a rubber lined pool to create the event. Absolutely amazing! And to match that energy, the first event on main stream TV was a new WR in the W 100m Fly by Gretchen Walsh in a semifinal! That is the first WR set at US Trails since 2008. Talk about a crazy start!
  • 52 men and women will be named to go to Paris. For the swimmers, you need to be #1 and #2 AND hit the Olympic A standard. But also Team USA has to stay under 52 athletes so there is a priority list. 400m Free men only had 3 competitors hit the standard prior to the Final.
  • Aaron Shackle joins his dad as an Olympian (although his dad was team GBR) with a win in the M400 free at the age of 19. Oh and his mom was also an All-American swimmer for Auburn. Those genes just aren’t fair.

• • Katie Ledecky won the 400m Free with ease (4 seconds) but she will have her work cut out for her with other nation’s top swimmers (AUS and GBR).
  • 10 men swam under 1 minute in the 100m Breast so for the first time ever, all 8 men in the final had to swim sub-60 to get to the final! The final was tight with Nic Fink claiming the top spot by only .08 seconds.

• • Gretchen Walsh would indeed win the 100m Fly after her WR the night before to secure her first trip to the Olympics over 3 other Olympians in the field to boot.
  • Carson Foster finished 3^rd at the Tokyo Trials in the M 400 IM (the decathlon of swimming) and was heartbroken to not make the team. But that all changed this time around. He went out with a vengeance and was leading by a wide margin until the breaststroke when former Olympian Chase Kalisz started chasing him down. It wasn’t enough to beat Foster though who wins by almost 2 seconds to make his first Olympic team!
  • The W 100 Breast Semis was competed last night. As to be expected Lilly King and Lydia Jacoby made the final. But the newsworthy story from that event was the 46 yer old Gabrielle Rose who was a 2x Olympian from Sydney (2000) qualified fro the Semifinals. She would finish 10^th that night so 2 spots out of the final but with a PR – quite a story!
• So far 14 athletes from RUS and 11 from BLR will compete under a neutral flag. We expect that more athletes will follow as we haven’t gone through all the sports like swimming for example.

• Shaun White will be starting a halfpipe league that will give away $1.5MM in prize money. The Snow League as it will be called is set to debut in March and run through the 2026 Olympics. There will be 5 events and will eventually add freestyle skiing as well. Chloe Kim and the head of US Ski & Snowboarding are supportive of the new league that is meant to bring a sense of consistency to the sport that it doesn’t have now. Exciting stuff!

Some quick highlights:

• Football: The Big 12 is toying with the idea of selling their conference naming rights to a sponsor. Maybe the Allstate Big 12 conference?
• Football: Birmingham Stallions shutout the San Antonio Brahmas 25-0 for their 3^rd consecutive title but their first UFL.

• Soccer: Albania scored the fastest goal in Euros history in just 23 seconds against ITA. Christian Eriksen scored his first European goal since his cardiac arrest.

• Cricket: Team USA has made it to the Super 8 for the first time in ICC T20 World Cup history.

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

• Mon 6/17
  • Reds at Pirates @ 5:40pm on FS1
    • Spiers vs Skenes
• Tues 6/18
  • Orioles at Yankees @ 6:05pm on TBS
    • Suarez vs Poteet
• Thurs 6/20
  • Giants at Cardinals @ 6:15pm on FOX
    • Winn vs Pallante
• Fri 6/21
  • Diamondbacks at Phillies @ 5:40pm on Apple TV+
  • Braves at Yankees @ 6:05pm on Apple TV+
• Sat 6/22
  • Mets at Cubs @ 1:20pm on FS1
    • Megill vs Taillon
  • Braves at Yankees – or – Brewers at Padres @ 6:15pm on FOX
• Sun 6/23
  • Mets at Cubs @ 6pm on ESPN
    • Peterson vs Assad

Baseball-NCAA:

• Mon 6/17
  • Florida vs 10. NC State @ 1pm on ESPN
  • Texas A&M vs 2. Kentucky @ 6pm on ESPN
• Tues 6/18
  • Florida State vs 4. UNC @ 1pm on ESPN
  • TBD vs Florida @ 6pm on ESPN
• Wed 6/19
  • Tennessee vs TBD @ 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
• Sun 6/23
  • CWS Final – Game 2 @ 1pm on ESPN
• Mon 6/24
  • CWS Final – Game 3 @ 6pm on ESPN
    • If necessary

Basketball – NBA:

• Mon 6/17
  • Finals Game 5: Mavericks at Celtics @ 7:30pm on ABC
• 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

Golf:

• Thurs 6/20
  • Travelers Championship – Round 1 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 6/21
  • Travelers Championship – Round 2 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 6/22
  • Travelers Championship – Round 3
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS
  • LPGA: KPMG PGA Championship – Round 3
    • @ 2pm on NBC
    • @ 5pm on Golf Channel
• Sun 6/23
  • Travelers Championship – Final Round
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS
  • LPGA: KPMG PGA Championship – Final Round @ 2pm on NBC

Hockey:

• Tues 6/18
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 5: Oilers vs Panthers @ 7pm on ABC
• Fri 6/21
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 6: Panthers vs Oilers @ 7pm on ABC
    • If necessary
• Mon 6/24
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 7: Oilers vs Panthers @ 7pm on ABC
    • If necessary

Motor Sports:

• Sat 6/22
  • F1: Spanish GP Qualifying @ 8:55am on ESPN2
• Sun 6/23
  • F1: Aramco Spanish GP Race @ 7:55am on ESPN

Olympic Sports:

• Mon 6/17
  • Swimming: Olympic Trials – Day 3 @7pm on NBC
    • Finals: W400 IM, M200 Free, W100 Breast, W200 Free
    • Semi: W100 Back
  • Diving: Olympic Trials – Day 1 @ 8:30pm on NBC
    • Final: W Synchro Springboard
• Tues 6/18
  • Swimming: Olympic Trials – Day 4 @ 5pm on USA and @ 7pm on NBC
    • Finals: W100 Back, M800 Free
    • Semi: W100 Free, M100 Free, M200 Breast, M200 Fly
  • Diving: Trials Day 2
    • @ 6:15pm on USA
    • @ 8:30pm on NBC
      • W Synchro Platform and M Synchro Spring
• Wed 6/19
  • Swimming: Olympic Trials – Day 5 @ 6pm on USA and @ 7pm on NBC
    • Finals: W100 Free, W1500 Free, M100 Free, M200 Fly, M200 Breast
    • Semi: W200 Breast, W200 Fly, M200 Back,
• Thurs 6/20
  • Swimming: Olympic Trials – Day 6 @ 6pm on USA and @ 7pm on NBC
    • Finals: W200 Fly, M200 Back
    • Semi: W200 Breast, M50 Free, M200 IM
  • Diving: Olympic Trials @ 8:30pm on NBC
    • Final: W Synchro Platform
• Fri 6/21
  • Swimming: Olympic Trials – Day 7 @ 4:30pm on USA
    • Finals: W200 Back, M50 Free, M200 IM
    • Semi: W200 IM, M100 Fly
  • Track & Field: Olympic Trails – Day 1 @ 5:30pm on USA
    • Finals: M 10k
• Sat 6/22
  • Swimming: Olympic Trials – Day 8 @ 5:30pm on USA and @ 7pm on NBC
    • Finals: W200 IM, W800 Free, M100 Fly
    • Semi: W50 Free
  • Track & Field: Olympic Trials @ 8pm on NBC
    • Finals: W TJ, M Shot Put, M 1500m, W 100m
• Sun 6/23
  • Diving: Olympic Trials @ 1pm on NBC
  • Swimming: Olympic Trials @ 7pm on NBC
    • Finals: W50 Free, M1500 Free
  • Track & Field: Olympic Trials @ 7:30pm on NBC
    • Finals: W Hammer, M Pole Vault, M Jav, W400m, M 3k Steeple, M 100m

Soccer:

• Mon 6/17
  • UEFA Euro: BEL vs SLO @ 11am on FS1
  • UEFA Euro: AUT vs FRA @ 11:30pm on FS1
• Tues 6/18
  • UEFA Euro: POR vs CZE @ 7pm on FS1
• Wed 6/19
  • UEFA Euro: GER vs HUN @ 11am on FS1
  • MLS: FC Cincinnati vs Phili Union @ 6:30pm on FS1
  • UEFA Euro: SCO vs SUI @ 11pm on FS1
• Thurs 6/20
  • UEFA Euro: CRO vs ALB @ 1am on FS1
  • UEFA Euro: SLO vs SRB @ 8am on FS1
  • UEFA Euro: Den vs ENG @ 11am on FS1
  • Copa America: ARG vs CAN @ 7pm on FS1
  • UEFA Euro: ESP vs ITA @ 9pm on FS1
• Fri 6/21
  • UEFA Euro: POL vs AUT @ 11am on FS1
  • Copa America: PER vs CHI @ 7pm on FS1
  • UEFA Euro: NED vs FRA @ 9pm on FS1
• Sat 6/22
  • Copa America: ECU vs VEN @ 5pm on FS1
  • UEFA Euro: TUR vs POR @ 10pm on FS1
• Sun 6/23
  • UEFA Euro: BEL vs ROM @ 7am on FS1
  • Copa America: MEX vs JAM @ 9am on FS1
  • UEFA Euro: SCO vs HUN @ 2pm on FS1
  • Copa America: USA vs BOL @ 10pm on FS1