Baseball: This week in the MLB. Skenes historical debut. Tucker now leads MLB in HR.
Basketball – NBA: 2nd round of playoffs. No clean sweeps. Hawks get first pick in draft. NIL tournament is on!
Golf: McIlroy wins for the 4th at Quail Hollow.
Hockey: NHL playoffs 2nd round. No one advanced yet.
Olympic Sports: T&F SEC Conference Championship. Flavor Flav to the rescue.
Quick Updates: Missouri St moving to the FBS! New soccer league in town. WBNA new team.
Baseball – MLB:
- This week in the MLB:
- Phillies P Wheeler got 11 Ks during their Monday game against the Giants. Phillies win 6-1 and complete the sweep.
- Tuesday was a high scoring day. The Yankees annihilated the Astros 10-3 and that was with Verlander pitching. The Rangers scored 10 runs in the 2nd inning and held on to win 15-8 over the A’s. The Tigers scored 11 in their win over the Guardians. The Mariners hit and scored 10 to beat the Twins by 4. The Phillies destroyed the Blue Jays 10-1. That is their 7th win in a row for the Phili team.
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- Wednesday that streak would come to an end. The Blue Jays won 5-3 and break their home win streak at 11 as well. The Rangers/A’s game was crazy with runs being scored everywhere. The Rangers took an early lead 7-6 going into the 8th when they piled on 3 more but the A’s mounted a comeback in the 9th scoring 4 but falling 1 run short. Rangers win 12-11. The longest game of the week went into 12 innings between the Orioles and Nationals. The Nationals scored 2 in the 9th to go into extra innings and then both teams scored 2 apiece in the 11th. The Orioles repeated it in the 12th and the Nationals only managed to put up 1.
- We had some streaks break. The Rockies lost 4 games in a row before finally beating the Giants 9-1 on Thursday. The Dodgers have won 7 games in a row, 3 against the Braves and 3 against the Marlins. But the Padres broke that streak on Friday by scoring the go-ahead run in the 9th!
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- Pirates P Paul Skenes made his debut for the Pittsburgh team on Saturday and got 7 Ks. He is just the 3rd player since 2008 to average 100 mph over 80 pitches. They won a close one though 10-9 over the Cubs. The DBacks/Orioles went into 11 innings despite the Baltimore team having 13 hits to Arizona’s 7. But they did get the last laugh with a walkoff single.
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- Astros RF Kyle Tucker took the league lead for HRs this season with his 13th on Sunday. That HR was one of the 9 runs scored in Houston’s win over the Tigers (after being beaten badly on Saturday). Yankees Judge hit his 10th of the season that same day so he is not too far behind. Yanks beat the Rays 10-6. The Pirates/Cubs game on Sunday was also a close one, going into extra innings. Cubs Wisdom hit a final HR in the 10th inning to put the game away 5-4. The Marlins also put away the Phillies in the 10th inning winning 7-6.
Baseball/Softball – NCAA:
- Its Conference Championship week for Softball:
- ACC: #5 Duke beat #16 Florida State in a big comeback game 6-3.
- Big Ten: Michigan beat Indiana 3-1. The only ranked team in the Top 25, #23 Northwestern lost in their first game of the tournament.
- Big 12: #4 Oklahoma beat #1 Texas 5-1 with the only run scored by the top team was in the 2nd inning. That ends the Longhorn 18 game win streak as well.
- Pac 12: #6 UCLA edged out Utah 2-1 in a pitching battle. Utah was a huge surprise to make it that far with 4 other ranked top 25 teams in the mix.
- SEC: #7 Florida killed #12 Mizzou 6-1 in the final game to win their championship. Mizzou might’ve been tired as their semifinal game went into extra innings.
- UGA’s 3B Charlie Condon set the single-season NCAA HR record with his 34th He got his 34th in their game Thursday night against South Carolina to break the tie with Florida’s Jac Caglianone. This is in the BBCOR era (bat ball coefficient restitution era). Condon is also going for the NCAA record (with Jac again) of consecutive games with a HR. He needed 9 to tie the record but only managed to get 8. Friday’s game against SC he did not get a HR. Ultimately the overall HR record is with OSU’s Pete Incaviglia with 48 in 1985.
Basketball – NBA:
- 2nd round of playoffs:
- The Timberwolves added to their led from last week on Monday, destroying the Nuggets first half. They were winning by 26 points into the locker room and rode that out to a 2 game lead in the series. The Nuggets bounced back on Friday to win Game 3 in a blowout by 27. Anthony Edwards continues to have a great post season, scoring 44 in Game 4. They would have 6 players in double digits but despite alllll of that, the Nuggets get it done 115-107. Series tied 2-2.
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- The Knicks/Pacers game 1 was tight and back and forth until the 4Q. NY put up 39 points in the final Q to take the W 121-117. And yet again PG Brunson continues to score over 40 every game in the post season. Game 2 was also close as we were tied through 1Q at 36 a piece. Even though the leading scorer was Haliburton from the Pacers, the Knicks still won. This series have been the closest games every time even though NY leads 2-0 going into game 3. It was more close action on Friday. Both teams’ highest scorers both had 35 points apiece. But finally the Pacers managed to get it done. NY leads 2-1. Sunday was a blowout of the Knicks. Bet you didn’t think I would say that. The Knicks only scored 14 points in the entire 1Q! That was enough to be leading by 28 at half! At the end of the 3Q they would lead by 38! Indiana coasted to a win. Series is tied!
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- The Celtics continue to roll in round 2, putting away the Cavs by 25 in Game 1. But man Game 2 was a different story. The Cavs and SG Donovan Mitchell put the Celtics away in the 2H, outscoring them by 24. Suddenly we are tied! The Celtics bounced back nicely though and looked more like their normal selves on Saturday. They would win by 13 points to take the series lead 2-1.
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- The Thunder also continue to remain undefeated in the post season through Game 2 against Dallas when the Mavs finally got it done! Series was tied 1-1. Apparently once the seal was broken it was much easier to do it again. Dallas would win a close one at home beating the Thunder 105-101 to take the series lead 2-1.
- The Hawks have won the draft lottery so they will be picking first!
- It is official, the Players Era Festival is happening! That is the NIL basketball tournament in Las Vegas Thanksgiving week that will pay $1MM to the winner. There will be 8 teams in this year and 16 the year after. Teams are TBD.
Golf:
- Rory McIlroy is king of Quail Hollow. He took his record 4th Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday, coming back from 2 strokes behind Xander Schauffle. He made it look easy too with a closing round of 65 and that was with a double bogey on the final hole. He still won by 5 shots. Good sign for the Irishman as we go into PGA Championship week at Valhalla in KT.
Hockey:
- NHL Playoffs: Spoiler – no one advanced!
- The Bruins/Panthers match up is heated. Game 1 went to the Bruins easily 5-1. But Game 2 there was 139 penalty minutes given out in the 3P alone. The Panthers won that game easily though 6-1. The Panthers crushed the Bruins in Game 3, winning 6-2 but the Bruins only got 2 goals in the final P. Game 4 started out all Bruins as they scored 2 in the 1P but the Panthers came back scoring 3 unanswered goals to add to their lead in the series 3-1.
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- Both games on Tuesday went into OT! The Rangers beat the Hurricanes in 2OT. The Rangers goalie saved 57 shots. The Stars scored 3 goals in the 1P but the Avalanche came back to tie it up and then got the last laugh in OT. Not only those games but also Game 3 of the Rangers/Hurricanes series also went into OT. The Rangers came back to take Game 3 into OT and again win. So even though the games have been close, the series is NY 3-0. The Hurricanes would finally get their first game in a must have game 4. Again it was close only winning by 1 but the NC team scored 3 in the 1P and 1 in the final to take it to Game 5.
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- The Canucks won Game 1 against the Oilers scoring 2 goals in 39 seconds. But the Oilers would win Game 2 in OT scoring a goal in each P. Game 3 was close! The Canucks started hot, getting 3 to go in in the 1P and 1 in the 2nd but the Oilers would score 1 every P, falling 1 short. Vancouver leads 2-1.
- The Stars took Game 2 to even up their series scoring 3 in the 2P to win 5-3. It was all Dallas for Game 3 as well, beating CO 4-1 and taking the series lead 2-1.
Olympic Sports:
- Conference Championship week for T&F: CMW (Christopher Morales Williams) ran 44.05 in the men’s 400m, the world leading fastest time in an Olympic year. Not good news for the USA because he’s Canadian. But needless to say he won the SEC title with that time for UGA. The Arkansas women swept the W400m and secure the SEC Championship. 4 women went under 50 seconds at SECs! 8 meet records went down in the final day of competition. The Arkansas men won the team title in the final event and the LSU women won their side before the 4x400m.
- Flavor Flav came to the US Waterpolo team captain’s rescue. Maggie Steffens put out a call for support on Insta and the rap icon answered. He is now finalizing a deal to make him an official sponsor of the US team who is going for their 4th Olympic gold this summer. He will also be in Paris in person supporting!
- Team USA had a sweep of the men’s 200m in Doha’s Diamond League sending a message to other countries ahead of Paris.
Some quick highlights:
- Missouri State is joining the D1 league of Conference USA in 2025. This is not the first time as a matter of fact they are the third school including Kennesaw State and Delaware to go from the FCS to FBS level.
- There is a new pro women’s soccer league in town. The USL Super League will debut in August and have brought some cities their first pro women’s soccer team, like Dallas. The league will include teams in Spokane, DFW, Brooklyn, DC, Lexington, Carolina, Tampa Bay and Fort Lauderdale. 8 other locals are expected to join next season.
- Speaking of new teams, the WNBA is adding a team in Toronto in 2026.
What to watch this week
Baseball – MLB:
- Tues 5/14
- Yankees at Twins @ 6:40pm on TBS
- Rodon vs Paddock
- Yankees at Twins @ 6:40pm on TBS
- Fri 5/17
- Rays at Blue Jays @ 6:07pm on Apple TV+
- Twins at Guardians @ 6:10pm on Apple TV+
- Sat 5/18
- Mariners at Orioles @ 3:05pm on FS1
- Castillo vs Kremer
- Angels at Rangers – or – Padres at Braves @ 6:15pm on FOX
- Mariners at Orioles @ 3:05pm on FS1
- Sun 5/19
- Padres at Braves @ 6pm on ESPN
- Vasquez vs Lopez
- Padres at Braves @ 6pm on ESPN
Baseball/Softball-NCAA:
- Thurs 5/16
- Baseball: Seton Hall vs Creighton @ 6pm on FS1
- Baseball: 11. UNC vs 9. Duke @ 6pm on ACC
- Baseball: 5. Arkansas vs 3. Texas A&M @ 7pm on ESPN2
- Fri 5/17
- Softball: FL CC vs 4. Florida @ 11am on SEC
- Softball: Utah vs SC @ 11am on ESPNU
- Softball: SE Louisiana vs Clemson @ 1pm on ACC
- Softball: UCF vs Auburn @ 1pm on ESPNU
- Softball: Michigan vs Kentucky @ 2pm on ESPN2
- Softball: Penn St vs Texas St @ 3pm on ESPNU
- Softball: Chattanooga vs 15. Florida St @ 3pm on ACC
- Softball: SD St vs Vtech @ 5pm on ESPNU
- Softball: Regionals @ 5pm on ESPN2
- Softball: Jackson St vs 9. LSU @ 5pm on SEC
- Baseball: 12. Wake Forest vs 23. NC St @ 6pm on ACC
- Baseball: 5. Arkansas vs 3. Texas A&M @ 7pm on SEC
- Softball: Cleveland vs 2. Oklahoma St @ 7pm on ESPNU
- Softball: Ole Miss vs Baylor @ 7pm on ESPN2
- Softball: Saint Mary’s vs 8. Stanford @ 9pm on ESPN2
- Sat 5/18
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 10am on ESPN2
- Baseball: Vanderbilt vs 4. Kentucky @ 11am on SEC
- Baseball: BC vs 2. Clemson @ 11am on ACC
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 12pm on ESPN2
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 12pm on ESPN
- Baseball: 5. Arkansas vs 3. Texas A&M @ 2pm on SEC
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 2pm on ACC
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 2pm on ESPN2
- Baseball: Vtech vs 10. UVA @ 4pm on ACC
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 4pm on ESPN2
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 4pm on ESPNU
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 6pm on ESPN2
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 7pm on ACC
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 8pm on ESPNU
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 8pm on SEC
- Sun 5/19
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 11am on ESPN2
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 12pm on ESPN
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 12pm on SEC
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 12pm on ACC
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 1pm on ESPN2
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 2pm on ESPN
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 2pm on SEC
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 2pm on ACC
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 3pm on ESPN2
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 4pm on SEC
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 4pm on ACC
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 4pm on ESPNU
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 5pm on ESPN2
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 6pm on ESPNU
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 7pm on ESPN2
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 8pm on ESPNU
- Softball: Regionals Game TBA @ 9pm on ESPN2
Basketball – NBA:
- Mon 5/13
- East Game 4: Celtics at Cavaliers @ 6pm on TNT
- West Game 4: Thunder at Mavericks @ 8:30pm on TNT
- Tues 5/14
- East Game 5: Pacers at Knicks @ 7pm on TNT
- West Game 5: Timberwolves at Nuggets @ 9:30pm on TNT
- Wed 5/15
- East Game 5: Cavaliers at Celtics @ 6pm on TNT
- West Game 5: Mavericks at Thunder @ 8:30pm on TNT
- Thurs 5/16
- West Game 5: Nuggets at Timberwolves @ 7:30pm on ESPN
- Fri 5/17
- East Game 6: Knicks at Pacers @ TBD on ESPN
- West Game 6: Celtics at Cavaliers @ 7:30pm on ESPN
- Sat 5/18 – If necessary
- West Game 6: Thunder at Mavericks @ 7:30pm on ESPN
- Sun 5/19 – If necessary
- West game 7: Timberwolves at Nuggets @ TBD on TNT
- East Game 7: Cavaliers at Celtics @ TBD
- West Game 7: Pacers at Knicks @ 2:30pm on ABC
Football – UFL:
- Sat 5/18
- UFL: Memphis Showboats at Michigan Panthers @ 3pm on FOX
- UFL: Houston Roughnecks at Birmingham Stallions @ 7pm on ESPN2
- Sun 5/19
- UFL: DC Defenders at St. Louis Battlehawks @ 11am on ABC
- UFL: Arlington Renegades at San Antonio Brahmas @ 3pm on FOX
Golf:
- Thurs 5/16
- PGA Championship – Round 1 @ 11am on ESPN
- Fri 5/17
- PGA Championship – Round 2 @ 11am on ESPN
- Sat 5/18
- PGA Championship – Round 3
- @ 9am on ESPN
- @ 12pm on CBS
- PGA Championship – Round 3
- Sun 5/19
- PGA Championship – Final Round
- @ 9am on ESPN
- @ 12pm on CBS
- PGA Championship – Final Round
Hockey:
- Mon 5/13
- East Game 5: Hurricanes at Rangers @ 6pm on ESPN
- NY leads 3-1
- West Game 4: Stars at Avalanche @ 8:30pm on ESPN
- DAL leads 2-1
- East Game 5: Hurricanes at Rangers @ 6pm on ESPN
- Tues 5/14
- East Game 5: Bruins at Panthers @ 6pm on ESPN
- FLA leads 3-1
- West Game 4: Canucks at Oilers @ 8:30pm on ESPN
- VAN leads 2-1
- East Game 5: Bruins at Panthers @ 6pm on ESPN
- Wed 5/15
- West Game 5: Avalanche at Stars @ 7pm on ESPN
- Thurs 5/16
- East Game 6: Rangers at Hurricanes @ 6pm on TNT
- West Game 5: Oilers at Canucks @ TBD
- Fri 5/17
- East Game 6: Panthers at Bruins @ TBD
- West Game 6: Stars at Avalanche @ TBD
- Sat 5/18 – If necessary
- East Game 7: Hurricanes at Rangers @ TBD
- West Game 6: Canucks at Oilers @ TBD
- Sun 5/19 – If necessary
- East Game 7: Bruins at Panthers @ TBD
- West Game 7: Avalanche at Stars @ TBD
Horseracing:
- Sat 5/18
- Preakness @ 3:30pm on CNBC
- 5:50pm Post time
- Preakness @ 3:30pm on CNBC
Motorsports:
- Sat 5/18
- F1: Qualifying @ 8:55am on ESPN2
- Sun 5/19
- F1: MSC Cruises Romagna GP – Race @ 7:55am on ESPN2
Olympic Sports:
- Sat 5/18
- Track & Field: USATF LA GP @ 2pm on NBC
- Sun 5/19
- Gymnastics: Core Hydration Classic @ 10am on NBC
Soccer:
- Mon 5/13
- Premier League: Aston Villa vs Liverpool @ 2pm on USA
- Tues 5/14
- Premier League: Tottenham vs Manchester City @ 2pm on USA
- Wed 5/15
- Premier League: ManU vs NewcastleU @ 2pm on USA
- Sun 5/19
- Premier League: Teams TBA @ 7am on NBC
- Premier League: Teams TBA @ 10am on USA
