Baseball: ASG tomorrow. MLB Draft has begun. Astros win > Yankees in 9th. Acuna Jr torn ACL. Lopez 9 straight Ks.
Basketball-NBA: Suns lead Finals 2-1. Giannis goes 40-40 in Game 3.
Golf: Glover wins John Deere first win in 10 yrs. Open this week and lots of WDs. DeChambeau’s new caddie.
Hockey: Lightning strikes twice and they win Stanley Cup again.
Olympic Sports: Fans not allowed. Sha’Carri out of Tokyo – final. Djokovic on fence about Tokyo. Kuss wins TdF stage for USA. USA lost to NIG in bball.
Soccer: ITA wins first EURO > ENG.
Tennis: A. Barty & N. Djokovic win Wimbledon!
Baseball-MLB:
- All-Star game is Tuesday! Tune in at 6:30pm on FOX.
- The MLB draft started Sunday. Louisville C Henry Davis was the #1 draft pick for the Pirates. This was a surprise after it was believed that he would go 4th to the Red Sox. The Rangers took Vanderbilt RHP Jack Leiter. The highest drafted high school student was Heritage Hall (OK) P Jackson Jobe to the Tigers. The draft will go on for 20 rounds over 3 days.
- The Astros made a spectacle after Jose Altuve scored the walk off 3-run HR to win the game on Sunday against the Yankees in the 9th. The team scored 6 runs in the final inning to comeback to win 8-7 and avoid being swept by the NY team. The Astros even poked fun at the fact that Altuve wasn’t wearing a wire or anything that could’ve helped him score that HR by ripping off his shirt when he crossed home plate. Confused what I’m talking about?
- Braves RF Ronald Acuna Jr tore his ACL on Saturday in the 5-4 W against the Marlins. He landed oddly on the warning track after chasing a fly. Jazz Chisholm scored an inside-the-park HR due to the injury. Acuna will undergo surgery and vows to return stronger than ever.
- Marlins RHP Pablo Lopez struck out the first 9 batters on Sunday against the Braves. He is the first pitcher to do so in the modern era. The only other 9 straight strike outs was back in 1884 by Mickey Welsch. He dedicated his performance to his dad who passed away exactly 1 year prior to that game. 30 of Lopez’ first 35 pitches were strikes.
Basketball:
- The Suns are leading the NBA Finals…for now. The Bucks routed them last night 120-100 in game 3 to potentially avoid a sweep.
-
- Giannis put up 40 points in the last 2 games. The Suns still leads the series 2-1. Booker only scored 29 points during game 3 and went 1 of 7 in 3 pointers. The 2nd quarter was the difference maker however with the Bucks scoring 2xs as much as the Suns 35-17. The Suns never recovered.
- The Suns won Game 1 and 2 118-105 and 118-108 respectively. Chris Paul and Devin Booker have traded off being the leading scorer all season and these 2 games were no exception.
Golf:
- Lucas Glover ended his 10 year winless draught at the John Deere this weekend, which is 244 starts. He made 3 straight birdies and 5 total on the back nine to take a two shot victory. This is Lucas’ 4th win on the PGA Tour including a major at the 2009 US Open. After he won, he said when Tiger Woods won the Masters and got to share it with his kids, that had become a goal of his as well. Goal accomplished!
- The Open is this weekend. And let’s start with those who have WD from the Open because there have been a bunch. 2015 Open Champ Zach Johnson (positive for COVID), Louis de Jager (pos COVID), Bubba Watson (contact tracing), 2001 Open champ David Duval, Hideki Matsuyama (COVID), Matt Wolff (voluntary), Danny Lee (injury), KH Lee (birth of his child) and Kevin Na (complications with travel). And its only Monday! If you’re on the reserve list for the Open, be on call 😊
- Bryson De Chambeau has a new caddie, Ryan Ziegler, an assistance pro at Dallas National. His previous caddie, Tim Tucker quit the week of the Rocket Mortgage.
Hockey:
- Lightning does strike twice! As in the Lightning have won their 2nd Stanley Cup in the last 2 years (and in the last 9 months). The Tampa Bay (which they are now calling Champ-a Bay due to the NFL championships as well and the Rays making it far in the playoffs) team claimed their title over the Canadiens in just 5 games. The only other team to win back-to-back championships was the Penguins in 2016-2017 (since the salary cap was instated).
Olympic Sports:
- Fans will likely no longer be allowed at any of the Olympic venues after JPN has issued a state of emergency that will extend through the games.
- Sha’Carri is officially not going to Tokyo. The USA T&F team was announced and finalized on Tuesday with 130 athletes and she was not on it.
- Recently crowned Wimbledon winner, Djokovic has said he is split whether he will play in the Olympics. Nadal won the Olympic gold in 2008 and Murray has won the last 2 gold medals for Team GBR. Djokovic has a bronze from the 2008 games but that’s it.
- USA Sepp Kuss claimed a stage win in the Tour de France for the USA for the first time since 2011. He won the 15th stage while Tadej Pogacar extends his overall lead in the race. The final stage is set for the 18th in Paris.
- Team USA has won the bball U19 title on the women’s side.
- The men were not as successful. The USA men’s team lost to NIG in an exhibition game before the Olympics 90-87. The last 2 times these teams have played the USA won by 83 and 43 points respectively. Maybe this is the kick in the butt Team USA needed before Tokyo. Watch out for Team NIG’s Achiuwa.
Soccer:
- ITA has won their first Euro Cup since 1968 in dramatic fashion as the final game vs ENG went to penalty kicks! It was an epic comeback too after ENG scored in the first 3 minutes of the game. And in typical 2020 fashion, racism has played a part after the 3 black players on the ENG team missed their spot kicks. ENG has obviously denounced the comments that were made online by upset fans. This is not ok.
Tennis:
- Djokovic is now tied with Federer and Nadal with 20 Grand Slam titles after he won the Wimbledon against ITA Berrettini. In a shocking upset, Federer fell to POL Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals and in straight sets. Djokovic has won 3 GS titles this year and has 1 to go! The US Open is the final GS of the year and will be played 8/30-9/12. Novak has not won the Grand Slam in one calendar year (mostly because he has only won the French Open twice).
- AUS Ashleigh Barty won her first Wimbledon against beating CZE Pliskova. This is her 2nd GS title (French Open 2019) but she had always wanted to win this tournament.
- Another piece of history was made at Wimbledon this weekend. Marija Cicak was the first female chair umpire for the men’s final ever at the tournament (in 1877).
What to watch this week
Baseball-MLB:
- Tues 7/13
- All-Star Game: American vs National League @ 6:30pm on FOX
- Thurs 7/15
- Red Sox at Yankees @ 6pm on ESPN
- Sat 7/17
- Indians at A’s @ 3:07pm on FS1
- 3 games depending on location @ 6:15pm on FOX
- Red Sox at Yankees
- Astros at White Sox
- Giants at Cardinals
- Sun 7/18
- Padres at Nationals @ 12:05pm on TBS
- Red Sox at Yankees @ 6pm on ESPN
Basketball-NBA:
- Mon 7/12
- USA vs NIG replay @ 5pm on NBCSN
- USA vs AUS @ 7pm on NBCSN
- Tues 7/13
- USA vs ARG @ 5pm on NBCSN
- Wed 7/14 – Finals Game 4
- Suns at Bucks @ 8pm on ABC
- Fri 7/16
- Women USA vs AUS @ 1:30pm on NBCSN
- USA vs AUS @ 5pm on NBCSN
- Sat 7/17 – Finals Game 5
- Bucks at Suns @ 8pm on ABC
- Sun 7/18
- USA vs ESP @ 8pm on NBCSN
Golf:
- Thurs 7/15
- Open Championship – Round 1 @ 3am on Golf Channel
- Barbasol – Round 1 @ 4pm on Golf Channel
- Fri 7/16
- Open Championship – Round 2 @ 3am on Golf Channel
- Barbasol – Round 2 @ 4pm on Golf Channel
- Sat 7/17
- Open Championship – Round 3
- @ 4am on Golf Channel
- @ 6am on NBC
- Highlights @ 3pm on NBC
- LPGA – Final Round @ 3pm on CBS
- Barbasol – Round 3 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
- Open Championship – Round 3
- Sun 7/18
- Open Championship – Round 3
- @ 3am on Golf Channel
- @ 6am on NBC
- Highlights @ 3pm on NBC
- Barbasol – Round 3 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
- Open Championship – Round 3
Motorsports:
- Sat 7/17
- Motorcycle Racing @ 2pm on NBC
- NASCAR Ambetter 200 @ 2pm on NBCSN
- Motorcycle: Lucas Oil Motocross – Spring Creek @ 7:30pm on NBCSN
- Sun 7/18
- F1: Rolex British GP @ 8:55am on ESPN
- NASCAR – Foxwoods 301 @ 2pm on NBCSN
Olympic Sports:
- Mon 7/12
- Cycling: Tour de France – Stage 15 @ 6am on NBCSN
- Tues 7/13
- Cycling: Tour de France – Stage 16 @ 6:30am on NBCSN
- Track & Field: Diamond League @ 1pm on NBCSN
- Wed 7/14
- Cycling: Tour de France – Stage 17 @ 5:30am on NBCSN
- Thurs 7/15
- Cycling: Tour de France – Stage 18 @ 6:30am on NBCSN
- Fri 7/16
- Cycling: Tour de France – Stage 19 @ 6:30am on NBCSN
- Sat 7/17
- Cycling: Tour de France – Stage 20 @ 6:30am on NBCSN
- Sun 7/18
- Cycling: Tour de France – Stage 21
- @ 9:30am on NBCSN
- @ 1pm on NBC
- Cycling: Tour de France – Stage 21
Soccer:
- Sat 7/17
- USL Championship: Colorado Springs Switchbacks vs San Antonio FC @ 1pm on ESPN2
- MLS: Atlanta United vs New England Revolution @ 4pm on ESPN
- Sun 7/18
- MLS: MN United vs Seattle Sounders @ 1pm on ESPN
