See things others don’t!

I was all set to blame the latest Mets loss on Paul Blackburn. He got off to a slow start on Monday night against the Braves with three runs allowed in three innings, and it could have been a lot more. Jeff McNeil saved one run for Blackburn when he threw behind Ronald Acuna Jr. for a tag out at third base after the Atlanta superstar froze on Marcell Ozuna’s hard-hit ground ball. Acuna made up for the mistake by launching a home run to begin the third inning and celebrating all the way around the bases. That made the Braves’ lead 2-0 since the inning before Ozzie Albies was hit by a pitch, stole second base, and was driven in on a sac fly by Michael Harris II.

The real trouble for Blackburn started when he walked Ozuna and Austin Riley following the Acuna bomb. That loaded the bases with nobody out and it looked like Atlanta could put the game out of reach, but Blackburn got Albies to pop up and Sean Murphy had to settle for a sac fly when his line drive to left field was caught by Brandon Nimmo. Harris also hit the ball very hard, but his was snagged by Pete Alonso on the infield to end the threat with the Braves leading 3-0.

Good morning. Vote Ronald!@Delta | https://t.co/tF2BPq04Q9 pic.twitter.com/HrksjzSgto

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 24, 2025

Blackburn would settle down in the fourth and I thought he had a shot at the quality start, but Carlos Mendoza took him out in the fifth and let Jose Butto finish the frame before retiring the side in order in the sixth. The Braves wouldn’t score the rest of the way, which made the real villain of this game the Mets’ offense. It’s been putrid lately with the exception of that 11-run outburst on Saturday night in Philadelphia, but it appeared to be on the upswing when Juan Soto followed a walk by Nimmo in the sixth with a two-run blast to left-center field. If only Francisco Lindor hadn’t taken himself and Brett Baty out of the equation with a double-play ground out, the home run might have given the Mets an extra run or two.

It still felt like the Mets had the momentum they needed to get the comeback win, and the pitching certainly did its part. Unfortunately, the Mets’ feeble bottom of the order went down one-two-three in the seventh and recorded the first two outs of the eighth. With the lineup turned over, Lindor and Nimmo knocked base hits into right field to set the stage for Soto to drive in another clutch run, but after getting ahead in the count 3-1, he was struck out by Braves southpaw Dylan Lee. So anticlimactic. Lee dominated the Mets in the ninth to bring the game to a sad end.

.@DRLee45 appreciation post 👏👏👏#LocalFordDealer | #BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/3k1ltbiTzE

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 24, 2025

The Mets shouldn’t have to wait until the trade deadline to make improvements to the lineup. Sending down Luisangel Acuna and Francisco Alvarez was a nice start, but what about designated hitter? I’m sure there are several teams that have guys wasting away in Triple-A who can give the Mets more at that spot than they’re getting from Jared Young and Starling Marte. Maybe Mark Vientos can play DH when he comes off the injured list, but for that move to be effective, Brett Baty has to start hitting consistently at third base. Despite a surge last month that had many fans to declare that he had finally arrived as a productive big league player, Baty is hitting .216/.266/.404 for the season. That’s really bad, but it’s still better than what Tyrone Taylor and Luis Torrens are doing, and both of those guys are lineup regulars for the time being.

Catcher and center field could be targets for trade acquisitions, but it would also help the Mets if Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil hit like they’re capable of doing. McNeil has been very productive this year with his OPS rising above .900 less than two weeks ago, but he’s got one hit in his last 16 at-bats. We know how important Alonso has been to the Mets, but he went 0-for-8 with four strikeouts in the last two games while the team scored just three combined runs. With the top of the order performing consistently, the Mets’ offense can take off if they can just get down to one or two guys who have no chance to get a base hit instead of four or five.

Around the majors

In Cincinnati, the Yankees had to call up former Braves right-hander Allan Winans to make a spot start after Ryan Yarbrough landed on the injured list. He held up for the first three innings, but then Elly De La Cruz’s RBI triple sparked a three-run Reds rally and they went on to win 6-1. Nick Lodolo needed 94 pitches to get through four and a third innings against the Yankees, but the Cincinnati bullpen allowed just two hits and a walk the rest of the way.

The Orioles shut out the Rangers 6-0 thanks to a career-high eight strong inning from former Miami lefty Trevor Rogers. Jackson Holliday powered the Baltimore offense with three hits, including a home run, and four RBI.

The White Sox also scored zero runs on Monday night in an apparent effort to make the Mets feel better. Arizona blew up Shane Smith for five runs in the first two innings on its way to a 10-0 whomping. “That’s So” Pavin Smith hit a pair of bombs while driving in four runs and Eduardo Rodriguez struck out 10 Chicago batters in six innings.

The Pirates won an exciting back-and-forth affair in Milwaukee with Isiah Kiner-Falefa driving in the winning run with a triple in the top of the sixth. Pittsburgh second baseman Nick Gonzales went off for five hits in the 5-4 win. That’s a pretty big accomplishment considering the rest of his team struck out 16 times. What a BABIP game!

In other National League Central action, the Cardinals pounded Ben Brown and the Cubs 8-2 with Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson, and Nolan Gorman all going yard between the fourth and sixth innings. This is a big series for the division with St. Louis now four games behind Chicago in the loss column. It’s also big in the Wild Card hunt with the Cardinals creeping up on the Mets.

Cal Raleigh hit his 32nd home run of the season to cap the scoring in Seattle’s 11-2 win at Minnesota. Julio Rodriguez, Luke Raley, and Dominic Canzone also went deep for the Mariners. Big Dumper now has five home runs in his last four games and with 77 games in the books, he’s on pace to challenge the single-season home run kings in September.

The Angels scored four runs in the eighth off of Boston’s Garrett Whitlock to break a 5-5 tie and win 9-5. Before the late rally, all of the Angels’ runs came in the first with Walker Buehler forcing three of them in with a pair of walks and a hit by pitch. The Red Sox would walk 11 batters as a team in the ugly defeat.

In the other west coast game, the Nationals pounded San Diego with 15 hits in a 10-6 win that featured home runs from James Wood and Josh Bell. The top six hitters in Washington’s lineup all had multiple hits in this one.

The Mets might have laid an egg on Sunday night, but there was still plenty of excitement in the sports world with the NBA and college baseball naming champions and a thrilling finish on the PGA TOUR. Let’s see what everyone is buzzing about on a hot, hot summer Monday.

Thunder bring first NBA title to Oklahoma City

What a monumental upset it would have been if the Indiana Pacers had one more surprise left in them. Unfortunately for all of you sick and twisted people who were hoping for an Indiana victory, the Oklahoma City Thunder used a strong third quarter to vanquish the Cinderella Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals and claim a championship for the first time since the franchise moved from Seattle. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points and handed out 12 assists while earning Finals MVP honors, but what most people will remember about this game is the horrible injury that Tyrese Haliburton suffered after making three three-point shots in the first quarter. Haliburton was already playing through a calf injury, but he appeared to suffer an Achilles injury when he went down while trying to dribble past SGA.

SGA SHINES IN GAME 7, LIFTING OKC TO THE TITLE 🏆

⚡️ 29 PTS
⚡️ 12 AST
⚡️ 5 REB
⚡️ 2 BLK

Shai caps a HISTORIC season as the Thunder win their first championship in the OKC era! pic.twitter.com/eSNLbZiaid

— NBA (@NBA) June 23, 2025

The score was tied 16-16 at the time of Haliburton’s injury, so we’ll never know what would have happened if he had played the full time. Indiana got 24 points and 13 rebounds from Bennedict Mathurin off the bench as well as 15 points and six assists from Andrew Nembhard, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the Thunder, who led by more than 20 in the fourth quarter. If the opinion of the Twitter doctors is confirmed by MRI and Haliburton has suffered a torn Achilles tendon, he’ll be the third player in these NBA Playoffs to go down with that injury. It already happened to Damian Lillard in the first round and Jayson Tatum in the Eastern Semifinals. As much as I rag on Haliburton, it sucks to see him get hurt so seriously when he is close to his dream. I wanted to see him stay healthy and go 0-for-10 from the field. It’s going to be tough for Indiana to return to the Finals if he’s out next season, but the East remains wide open.

For the Thunder, this could mean the start of the next NBA dynasty with how young the core of SGA, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren is. On the other hand, there is more than enough competition to keep them busy in the West with Anthony Edwards continuing to mature in Minnesota and Denver still lurking with Nikola Jokic. The most serious threat to the Thunder could be in Houston with the Rockets trading for Kevin Durant on Sunday afternoon.

Reporting for ESPN NBA Countdown on how Kevin Durant landed with the Houston Rockets: pic.twitter.com/kZo0Q8pcYr

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 22, 2025

The Phoenix Suns will get Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the 10th overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, and five second-round draft picks from Houston. Green is still a promising young scorer who led the Rockets with 21 points per game this season, but Durant’s much greater efficiency and veteran savvy make his new team a title contender. Following the acquisition of Durant, Houston’s title odds jumped from +1800 to +800 while Indiana’s fell from +1000 to +4000 after the Haliburton injury. OKC remains the favorite to repeat at +220.

LSU sweeps championship series after Coastal Carolina has two coaches ejected

The LSU Tigers have a little more experience winning championships than the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Sunday afternoon, LSU claimed its eighth College World Series title when it defeated Coastal Carolina 5-3 to polish off a two-game sweep of the championship series. With ace right-hander Jacob Morrison on the mound, the Chanticleers boosted their hopes of forcing a rubber game when Dean Mihos gave them an early lead with a solo shot in the second inning. However, the Tigers tied the game on Ethan Frey’s RBI double in the third and then rallied against Morrison for the four runs in the fourth that would end up deciding the title.

Craig Stanfield gave LSU the lead with a two-run single after his team loaded the bases on a single, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch. Morrison got two key outs and was on his way to limiting the damage, but then Derek Curiel came through with another two-run single to put the Tigers up 5-1. Wells Sykes got two back for Coastal with a home run in the seventh, but Chase Shores dominated the final two innings on the bump to clinch the championship for LSU.

THE FINAL OUT THAT SECURED LSU AS THE MCWS CHAMPION 🏆 pic.twitter.com/K7ud0CbTJC

— ESPN (@espn) June 22, 2025

Just like with the NBA Finals, though, the great victory wasn’t the only story. Way back in the first inning, Coastal had its head coach Kevin Schnall and first base coach Matt Schilling ejected from the game by NCAA umpires. There better be a good reason for tossing two coaches from a championship game in the first inning, but it seems like the umpires let a little argument over balls and strikes get out of control.

“There’s 25,000 people there, and I vaguely hear a warning issued,” Schnall said. “As the head coach — I was an assistant for 24 years. As an assistant, you’re almost treated like a second-grade — second-level citizen. And you can’t say a word.

“As a head coach, I think it is your right to get an explanation of why we got warned. I’m 48 years old, and I shouldn’t be shooed by another grown man. When I come out to ask what the warning is, a grown man shooed me.”

Schnall went on to describe his perspective of the moment he got ejected.

“So at that point, I can now hear him say ‘it was a warning issued for arguing balls and strikes,'” Schnall continued. “At that point, I said, ‘because you missed three.’ At that point, ejected.

“If that warrants ejection, I’m the first one to stand here like a man and apologize. … But if that warranted an ejection, man there’d be a lot of ejections. As an umpire, I feel like it’s your job to manage the game — the national championship game — with some poise, some calmness and a little bit of tolerance.”

Should Schnall really be chirping the umpires about calls so early? Probably not, but it is the responsibility of the umpires to have a feel for the moment and not treat the deciding game of the College World Series like a regular season game in March. You’d like an umpire would have enough self-awareness to know that ejecting a coach in a spot like that is a bad reflections on one’s self. Maybe other umpires have that awareness, but this one did not.

Tommy Fleetwood still can’t win on the PGA TOUR

Even before Keegan Bradley came from behind to defeat Tommy Fleetwood and win the Travelers Championship on Sunday, there was a lot of talk in golf circles about Bradley pulling double duty at this September’s Ryder Cup. He had already been named a captain, but would he select himself to play in the competition if he deemed himself worthy? Bradley’s victory in Connecticut indicates that the United States could use his talents at Bethpage Black in the battle against Europe, but smart golf people scoff at the idea of someone becoming the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer led the Americans to victory in 1963.

“In my opinion there is just no way that you could be a captain nowadays of a Ryder Cup or a Presidents Cup and play,” said Trevor Immelman after commentating for CBS on Bradley’s latest victory.

“There are so many responsibilities at the feet of the captain. So many decisions that have to be made before the tournament and then during the week.

“You want your players to be single-minded, focused on themselves. To be focused on the high pressure situation they are in.

“But now you’ve got a guy in Keegan Bradley, who absolutely should be playing.”

If the US loses the Ryder Cup at home, it will either be because Bradley chose himself or didn’t choose himself. You can make sure of that. Meanwhile, this drama could have possibly been kicked down the road if not for Fleetwood making bogey on two of the last three holes to cost himself the tournament. The English golfer has won seven times on the DP World Tour and finished in the top five at every major, but still hasn’t won a PGA TOUR Event. That fact might not be as fascinating as Rory McIlroy’s chase for the career grand slam that he completed in April, but it’s still pretty wild for a player as accomplished as Fleetwood to be lacking a single win.

The Mets are back to awful

It was nice to get a break from the Mets’ losing streak when they hammered Philly with seven home runs and won 11-4 on Saturday night, but then Sunday came and the Mets returned to lifelessness with a 7-1 loss. David Peterson got off to a good start, but then he gave up a solo shot to Kyle Schwarber in the fourth inning and a three-run oppo taco by Edmundo Sosa soon followed.

430 feet‼️ pic.twitter.com/qUzONVTkvY

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 23, 2025

That was pretty much the game since New York only reached base four times in six and two thirds innings against Phillies southpaw Jesus Luzardo. It’s a good thing that Mark Vientos is on his way back from the injured list, because the Mets need something to change in the lineup. Ronnie Mauricio went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts to lower his batting average to .180, and he’s the obvious candidate for demotion. Luisangel Acuna is also not hitting and there isn’t a reason to leave Jeff McNeil out of the lineup going forward, especially considering he can play both infield and outfield.

The Mets are back home to face Atlanta tonight with Paul Blackburn on the hill against Spencer Schwellenbach. That is a pretty big pitching mismatch, so it’s time to get back to hitting dingers.

The Mets finally busted their seven-game losing streak on Saturday night with a triumphant 11-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. With President Trump announcing a military strike in the middle of the game, it reminded me of the Mets playing in Philadelphia on May 1, 2011 when Osama Bin Laden was killed. The Mets won that night as well, but they didn’t hit seven home runs like they did in the present day. Brandon Nimmo led the charge with a solo shot in the first, and he added another two innings later as part of back-to-back-to-back home runs with Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. The third-inning barrage was supplemented by Soto adding his second home run in the fifth inning, and the massive blast allowed the Mets to keep the lead for the rest of the night.

Griffin Canning got off to a slow start by allowing three hits in the first inning, including an RBI double by Nick Castellanos, that led to two runs. The Phillies added another run in the second inning when Otto Kemp doubled and came around to score on Brandon Marsh’s soft ground ball and a wild pitch that Francisco Alvarez failed to get his body in front of. That gave Philly a 3-1 lead, but the Mets answered with three straight home runs as well as Soto’s second bomb to go ahead 5-3 in the fifth. Canning failed the shutdown inning after Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo nearly collided on a fly ball hit by Trea Turner. He would score on Alec Bohm’s RBI single to bring the Phillies within one, but Lindor answered with a two-out RBI double in the sixth that Castellanos overran badly in the right field corner.

Lindor adds on!

Make him an All-Star! 🗳️👉 https://t.co/pvcqpJqQb7 pic.twitter.com/veAmQcxzCI

— New York Mets (@Mets) June 22, 2025

That sixth inning may have been more impressive than the three home runs in the third because in the sixth, the Mets got singles from both Francisco Alvarez and Ronny Mauricio to set the table. That seems like a very rare feat based on how those guys are playing. As for McNeil, it’s nice having him play center field because he gives the Mets some offense at the position, but it is asking so much for him to communicate with Nimmo properly? They’ve only played together for six years!

That Lindor double was very important because of how shaky New York’s bullpen has been lately, but it turns out that Huascar Brazoban would pitch two scoreless innings before Ryne Stanek and Chris Devenski shut the door in the eight and the ninth, respectively. The solid relief work didn’t stop the Mets from adding on, though. Jared Young joined the home run part to make the score 8-4 and Juan Soto followed with a two-RBI single to blow the game open. Alvarez crushed a solo shot in the ninth to cap the scoring.

I have an issue with people saying that the Mets’ seven-game skid was inevitable because even good teams lose games. There are plenty of good teams that go through a season without losing seven games in a row. Instead of moping about how “you can’t win ’em all,” the Mets had to start smashing opponents’ pitching, and that finally happened on Saturday.

In college ball, LSU defeated Coastal Carolina in Game 1 of the College World Series Championship with a 1-0 score thanks to Kade Anderson’s complete game shutout. With 10 strikeouts and five walks, it took Anderson 130 pitches to finish the job. That made me think if a major league starter would ever be allowed to throw 130 pitches, even in a World Series game. I think the babying of pitchers has less to do about avoiding injuries and more to do about pro coaches and front office people not wanting to lose their jobs in case a pitcher does get injured.

We should be in for a thrilling sports Sunday with LSU trying to clinch a national title at 2:30 PM and the NBA Finals wrapping up with Game 7 at 8:00 PM. There’s also the Mets trying to regain first place and the USMNT looking to go undefeated in Gold Cup group play at 7:00 PM.

It wasn’t surprising that the Mets extending their losing streak to seven games last night with Blade Tidwell starting at pitcher against Zack Wheeler. What was so disappointing about the 10-2 defeat in Philadelphia was that the Mets got past the starting pitching portion of the game and quickly tied the score 2-2 on back-to-back home runs by Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil. They were the first two batters faced by Taijuan Walker when he relieved Wheeler in the top of the sixth. The Mets seemed to have momentum on their side with Wheeler gone and Jose Butto shutting the Phillies down the fifth and the sixth, but the game turned in the seventh because Reed Garrett could not get anyone out.

That's the two for one special pic.twitter.com/TWOhnXzaI9

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 21, 2025

Brandon Marsh, who had previously given the Phillies a 2-0 lead with an RBI single off of Jose Castillo, led off the frame with a double, and he was quickly doubled home by Trea Turner to give Philadelphia the lead. Garrett then walked Kyle Schwarber and allowed an RBI single to Alec Bohm before being replaced by Justin Garza without recording an out. Garza has been solid for the Mets so far, but he couldn’t stop Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott from blowing the game open with big RBI hits.

The Mets had a chance to get to Wheeler early after Brandon Nimmo singled in the first inning and moved to third on walks by Juan Soto and Pete Alonso. However, Wheeler got Jeff McNeil to ground into a double play to end the inning and the Mets would not get a better chance to put a dent in Wheeler’s ERA. It’s tough to say that a play or two might have swung the game when the Mets lost by eight runs, but I think the Mets lost a chance at a rally in the top  of the seventh when Brandon Nimmo hit a sharp one-hopper to Trea Turner. The throw to first was a little high and wide, forcing Otto Kemp to stretch at first base. Nimmo was called out, but the replay made it seem like Kemp was off the base by an inch when he received the throw. The Mets let the play slide without a review and Juan Soto ground out to Kemp on the next play to end the inning.

If that play was overturned, Kemp is probably holding Nimmo on first during the next play and Soto’s ball could have gotten by him to start a Mets rally. Instead, New York went down in order and the Phillies scored six runs in the bottom of the inning. These huge rallies for opponents are becoming an issue for the Mets during this losing streak as their pitching regresses.

Speaking of pitching, Blade Tidwell went three scoreless innings before allowing the bases to be loaded in the fourth on two singles and a walk. He might have gotten out of that jam if Kemp’s ground ball had been a little faster, but he busted the Mets’ double play attempt by beating the throw to first and Marsh followed with his RBI hit off of Castillo. Even if Tidwell didn’t allow a run, though, he probably still doesn’t get through Philly’s lineup a second time and that brings into question his future as a starting pitcher. He’s probably more of a reliever, especially on a Mets team that can afford to pay more proven rotation guys instead of bringing Tidwell along slowly. The Mets should have the pitching depth to avoid using Tidwell in an important game, but Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill couldn’t stay healthy with Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas already on the shelf.

The Mets should have a better shot at the Phillies with Griffin Canning on the mound tonight against rookie right-hander Mick Abel.

I really thought that the Thunder were going to take care of business in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Everything was going according to plan when Oklahoma City jumped out to a 10-2, but after those first four minutes, the Indiana Pacers dominated the game like they have not dominated before in these NBA Finals. Pascal Siakam and company led by three at the end of the first quarter and then outscored OKC by 19 in the second. At halftime I was hoping for a Thunder comeback so I could mock Tyrese Haliburton with the choke sign, but OKC never got close and Mark Daigneault pulled his starters at the start of the fourth quarter with the deficit at 30. The Pacers went on to win 108-91.

The Thunder ended up shooting 8-for-30 from beyond the arc, but most of the makes were from bench guys in the final period. I think OKC only made a single three-point shot while the game was competitive while Indiana got long-range accuracy from Obi Toppin (4-for-7) and Andrew Nimrod (3-for-5). Those guys combined for 37 points on the night and were Indiana top two scorers. That goes to show you how deep of a team the Pacers are and also what an overrated bum Haliburton is. He was probably the fifth-best player on his own team in Game 6. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Indiana would be better off having Haliburton back up T.J. McConnell and not the other way around. McConnell was at it again on Thursday night with 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and four steals in just 24 minutes. He is more than just a pest; he is a difference-maker.

The Thunder has to get its act together in Game 7 and win at home like it did in Game 2 and Game 5. I can’t deal with watching the Pacers win an NBA title after beating the Knicks because of the luckiest shot in league history. I’m having a hard enough time watching the Mets play worse and worse every night while blowing their five-game lead in the National League East in a week’s time.

Thursday night was another horror show in Atlanta with the Mets unable to do anything on offense after the third inning and Clay Holmes losing the strike zone in the fourth and the fifth. Holmes walked Matt Olson to begin the fourth inning and saw him score after singles by Marcell Ozuna and Ozzie Albies. In the fifth Holmes started with a walk of Ronald Acuna Jr. and later walked Olson again to load the bases before walking Drake Baldwin to force in the go-ahead run. Huascar Brazoban relieved Holmes, but he was no better. Brazoban walked Albies to give Atlanta a 3-1 lead and then allowed Olson to hit a bases-clearing double in the sixth to blow the game open. The Braves won 7-1 to sweep the Mets and hand them a sixth straight loss.

Bases clear courtesy of Matty O!

🌟 https://t.co/tF2BPq04Q9 🌟 pic.twitter.com/eQFQQDFdQW

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 20, 2025

The Mets’ offense has been putrid lately with zero or one runs scored in three of the last four games, but it’s also disturbing how their pitching has fallen off since the injuries to Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill. Holmes, Griffin Canning, and Paul Blackburn have disappointed lately, and now the Mets have called up Blade Tidwell to make a spot start in the crucial series opener at Philadelphia. In Tidwell’s lone major league appearance, he allowed six runs in three and two-thirds innings at St. Louis on May 4. Zack Wheeler is on the hill for the Phillies, so they are pretty big favorites with the division lead on the line. Wheeler has been excellent as usual lately with six innings pitched and one earned run allowed in each of his last two starts.

GOOOAAAL FOR THE @USMNT! 🇺🇸

Chris Richards scores off the set piece! 👏 pic.twitter.com/tvQbB6DBkq

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 20, 2025

The USMNT may be playing against inferior competition, but at least it has won two straight matches and punched a ticket to the Gold Cup quarterfinals. Chris Richards broke through in the 63rd minute last night against Saudi Arabia on a brilliant feed from Sebastian Berhalter and the Yanks won 1-0. Over at ESPN, Ryan O’Hanlon wrote an interesting story about why the USMNT is such a mess right now. It has a lot to do with many of the players having full-time soccer jobs overseas and playing in dozens of matches each year before even considering the national team.

There’s a vision of a unified American soccer model… The players add up to something greater than the sum of the parts, and everything makes sense every time they take the field.

This will never happen. How do I know this? Because it hasn’t happened anywhere else. You can’t achieve this when all of your players are spending 75% of their time doing the same job for someone else. Although the situation arose by accident, the current constraints on the international game force it into dysfunction.

O’Hanlon writes about how in the past the national team matches were the most important events for all of the players because they weren’t playing in the Champions League or other important club tournaments. Now that the US has a bunch of talent in Europe, many players have to balance their priorities, and there is not much continuity on the roster. The hope is that all of the best American players come together and form a somewhat cohesive unit at the World Cup next year.

The Mets face the Braves tonight in the final game of a three-game series in Atlanta. New York is looking to avoid a sweep after blowing a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning of the opener and getting completely shut down by Chris Sale last night. Even if the Mets win tonight, they will be on very little sleep for the series opener in Philadelphia on Friday night because the plane probably won’t even take off until close to midnight. Why don’t the Mets get an afternoon start on getaway day?! The June Swoon continues getting worse.

The Mets will have Clay Holmes on the bump against Spencer Strider tonight. After striking out 281 batters during his sophomore season of 2023, Strider missed almost all of 2024 to a surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. Plus, he has already spent two stint on the injured list this season. Strider hasn’t looked much like a dominant strikeout pitcher this season, but he was more like his old self during his last start against the Rockies. In that one, he pitched six shutout innings with 13 strikeouts and one walk. No doubt Braves fans will be talking themselves into the old Strider being back, in which case he could destroy the Mets like Sale did.

Holmes has been as steady as they come for the Mets. He hasn’t dominated the opposition, but he keeps the Mets in every game. During his last start, he held the Rays to one run in five innings, but then Carlos Mendoza took him out of the game with just 79 pitches thrown because he was apparently tired from pitching in the thin Denver air six days prior. That’s right, not only did Mendoza take out a guy early who had grown accustomed to throwing more than 90 pitches with regularity, but he did so while that pitcher was on FIVE DAYS OF REST. Because of one start in Denver. It’s unbelievable how soft the Mets are. Anyway, of course Paul Blackburn and Max Krannick combined to blow the Mets’ 5-1 lead as soon as Holmes was removed. That was the loss that started this five-game skid.

Series finale. #LGM pic.twitter.com/WI6wTbubBB

— New York Mets (@Mets) June 19, 2025

Francisco Alvarez is back in the lineup after Luis Torrens had a horrible game last night. Ronny Mauricio is still in there hitting below the Mendoza line at third base because of Brett Baty’s injured groin that the Mets still don’t know what to do with. The good news is that Starling Marte has been useful lately with seven hits in his last four games. This lineup goes six deep, but those last three are totally feeble.

We also have the NBA Finals possibly concluding tonight with the Thunder holding a 3-2 series lead over the Pacers. Indiana finally looks like it has met its match after suffering consecutive defeats for the first time in these Playoffs. Plus, Tyrese Haliburton made zero field goals in Game 5. It will be interesting to see how the Pacers respond at home.

Plus, the United States is taking on Saudi Arabia in Gold Cup action. The Yanks are heavily favored after they crushed Trinidad and Tobago 5-0 to end a four-game losing streak. I need the US to keep winning so that the World Cup next year isn’t totally depressing.

How about those Florida Panthers? They crushed the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to claim the Cup for the second straight year. They’re the first back-to-back champs since the Tampa Bay Lightning won in 2020 and 2021. Okay, that wasn’t so long ago, but the more important stat is that a Canadian team hasn’t held the Cup since 1993. Shoutout to my Rangers for starting the streak of American victories by defeating the Canucks in the 1994 Final. I don’t feel so bad about losing the 4 Nations Face-Off anymore.

THE MOMENT THE @FLAPANTHERS BECAME BACK-TO-BACK #STANLEYCUP CHAMPIONS! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/oYlia49VYJ

— NHL (@NHL) June 18, 2025

Sam Reinhart scored four goals in the clinching game (with the last two coming with an empty net) and Sergei Bobrovsky didn’t allow a goal until the championship was in hand with five minutes to play. Still, it was Sam Bennett who won the Conn Smythe Trophy with 15 goals and seven assists in the Playoffs.

The Panthers’ victory opens up two big story lines for next season. First, can Florida become the first NHL three-peat since the Oilers dynasty in the 1980s? And second, will Connor McDavid ever win the Stanley Cup? McDavid is the best player in the game today, but after falling short of immortality for the second year in a row, every hockey fan will be focused on his quest for glory going forward.

On the diamond, the Mets and Yankees continued to struggle. The Yankees finally broke a ridiculous 30-inning scoreless streak when Jazz Chisholm homered off of Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz in the second inning. The Bombers even took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Cody Bellinger hit a solo shot of his own. However, an inexplicable error by Anthony Volpe in the eighth turned an inning-ending double play into a game-winning RBI for Jo Adell.

ok so we have the lead 😅 pic.twitter.com/7Dg8Y5I73I

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) June 19, 2025

The Mets also played boneheaded defense in their 5-0 loss at Atlanta. One night after Francisco Alvarez cost the Mets a chance to escape the 10th inning when he threw to the wrong base with Luke Williams stuck in a pickle, New York’s other catcher Luis Torrens fielded a foul ball with his mask (that’s illegal) to score one run for Atlanta and set up another to score on Marcell Ozuna’s sac fly. The only silver lining is that the Mets didn’t cross the plate for the second time in three games, so Torrens’ error didn’t matter very much.

I don’t think anyone is cursing their defense more than Arkansas fans, though. The Hogs led 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth thanks to Justin Thomas Jr.’s two-RBI single in the top of the frame. LSU put two runners on in their half before Steven Milam hit a hard ground ball to shortstop. It looked like Wehiwa Aloy had a chance to start a game-ending double play, but he chose to get the force out at third instead even though the tying run was coming from first base. The next batter Luis Hernandez hit a line drive to left field that Charles Davalan was in position to catch before he slipped and fell, allowing both runners to score. To cap it off, the walk-off single hit by Jared Jones  bounced off the glove of Cam Kozeal, the Arkansas second baseman who grew up in Omaha dreaming of playing in the College World Series. Pour one out for the Razorbacks because that is a heartbreaking way to lose a ballgame.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! 😱#MCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @LSUbaseball pic.twitter.com/BFKdJ08FkM

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 19, 2025

LSU’s comeback win means it is headed to the CWS championship series vs. Coastal Carolina while Arkansas is eliminated. The Chanticleers punched their ticket with an 11-3 stomping of Louisville on Wednesday afternoon.

Oh boy, what a great day it is to not be a fan of the Indiana Pacers. Not only did they lose 120-109 at Oklahoma City to suffer consecutive defeats for the first time in these NBA Playoffs, but Tyrese Haliburton proved the haters right by missing all six of his field goal attempts! Is this the same guy with the chip on his shoulder who was proving everyone who said he was overrated wrong? There’s no way that guy would have more fouls plus turnovers (six) than points (four) in a pivotal NBA Finals game. What a treat this is.

Meanwhile, the real MVP of the Pacers Pascal Siakam scored 28 points with five assists and three steals to try to keep his team in the game. Indiana trailed for almost the entire game, but it got within two points of Oklahoma City when Siakam hit a three-point shot with 8:30 to go in the fourth quarter. The Thunder weren’t rattled, though. Jalen Williams hit a three of his own and then Andrew Nimrod threw the ball away to get Cason Wallace a breakaway dunk. Suddenly, Oklahoma City was back up by seven and it would not be  one-possession game again. Williams had himself a night with 40 points on 14-for-25 shooting while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had to settle for 31 points and 10 assists. Just like in Game 1, the Thunder forced over 20 turnovers, but this time they didn’t let Indiana of the hook. With one more win, Oklahoma City will claim its first NBA title since the franchise moved from Seattle.

All 19 Ks from Wood. Unreal. #MCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @RazorbackBSB pic.twitter.com/hOukHeayWi

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 16, 2025

There was also big news at the College World Series as Murray State’s Cinderella story came to an end. The poor Racers were no-hit by Arkansas pitcher Gage Wood, who might have had a perfect game if he didn’t hit a batter with a pitch to start the eighth inning. Wood not only threw the first no-hitter at the CWS since 1960, but he may have had one of the best games ever for a pitcher in a big spot. He struck out 19 batters with no walks while going the distance on 119 pitches. Thank goodness no-hitters still mean something to someone. If this was a big league game, Wood would have been pulled due to a high pitch count while he still had a chance at perfection. The Razorbacks’ 3-0 victory means they’ll face UCLA tonight in another elimination game. The winner of that one will have to defeat LSU twice in a row to get to the championship series.

You know who didn’t throw a no-hitter on Monday? Shohei Ohtani, who pitched in an MLB game for the first time since 2023. He allowed a run on two singles and a sac fly, but then he stepped in the batter’s box and racked up a couple of RBI hits to lead the Dodgers to a 6-3 win over San Diego.

Released today! The all-new 2025 MLB All-Star Game caps and jerseys, separate designs revealed for both the game itself and the Home Run Derby 🌟⚾🧢

Pics, details, and more in my post here: https://t.co/HKl48czClp pic.twitter.com/jzikRsYCEn

— SportsLogos.Net (@sportslogosnet) June 16, 2025

Also in baseball, MLB unveiled the All-Star uniforms and we are finally returning to the players wearing home white and road greys during the Midsummer Classic. There are still special All-Star Game jerseys, but they will be worn during the Home Run Derby instead of the main event. The bad news is that Seattle and Tampa Bay don’t have grey road uniforms, so their players are going to stand out a lot. Even when Rob Manfred gets something right, it’s not totally right.

https://t.co/au4xbTyT0u pic.twitter.com/UMFqpYl05B

— Aaron Yorke (@AaronPYorke) June 16, 2025

Finally, Joey Chestnut has decided to stop being a veggie dog wuss and return to the National’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest this year. What a win for America.

It’s not often that trades between sports teams catch us completely off guard. Usually there are weeks of rumors ahead of the deal because we know that a player is on the trade block or just know that it makes sense for a losing team to trade away its star player who has just a few months left on his contract. That trend might be reversing, though. Not only did we get blindsided by the insane Luka Doncic trade over the winter, but on Sunday the Red Sox shocked the baseball world by trading Rafael Devers to the Giants.

Full trade: The San Francisco Giants are acquiring Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox for Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs and Jose Bello, according to sources familiar with the deal.

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) June 15, 2025

It had been known that Devers and the Red Sox weren’t on great terms after the team asked him to move to designated hitter upon acquiring Alex Bregman. After the season started, Boston had to ask Devers to change positions again since its regular first baseman Triston Casas suffered a season-ending injury. Devers never ended up playing first base for Boston, but no one thought the team would go so far as to trade him away. The Red Sox might have been disappointing compared to preseason expectations, but they were still in the thick of a Postseason race and Devers was hitting .272/.401/.504 with 15 home runs and 58 RBI. The star slugger was also in the second year of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract. Surely this little argument about what position to play was just a bump in the road.

Nope. Boston sent Devers to San Francisco on Sunday night. The Giants will take care of the entire contract and send southpaw starter Kyle Harrison to Boston along with flamethrowing swingman Jordan Hicks, outfield prospect James Tibbs III and Rookie League pitcher Jose Bello. Harrison has a lot of potential, but in 24 starts last year he had a 4.56 ERA and 1.34 WHIP, so he’s far from a finished product. Hicks has been in the majors for six years now, and he’s always been intriguing because he throws harder than almost anyone, but he still doesn’t prevent runs at a high level. I like Tibbs a lot because he was just drafted last season and is already showing a promising strikeout-to-walk ratio in the minors to go with 12 home runs this season. Bello is only 20 years old, but he has 28 strikeouts and just three walks in 18 innings pitched this year.

It’s an underwhelming prospect package, but the Red Sox were clearly eager to get out of the Devers business. They did not want to be stuck with a player for nine years who they clearly saw as being selfish. This is a guy that the Red Sox were building their franchise around, so if he wasn’t going to be a good leader, it was time to get out, no matter where the team was in the standings. The Giants are a big winner if they can get along with their new star player. With Matt Chapman recently going in the injured list, San Francisco was trying to keep pace with the Dodgers while relying on Willy Adames and his .624 OPS in the middle of the lineup. Devers will provide a huge boost to the offense.

Earlier in the day, the Memphis Grizzlies agreed to send Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four first-round draft picks, and a first-round picks swap. The internet’s first reaction seemed to be, “The Magic gave up HOW many first-round picks for Desmond Bane?!” I was thinking that as well, but it’s pretty comparable to what the Knicks gave up for Mikal Bridges, and Bane was better last year than Bridges was in his final year with Brooklyn. He’s not a household name, but Bane is an efficient scorer who can do a little bit of everything. He averaged 19 points, five assists, and six rebounds per game last season while shooting 48 percent from the field, 39 percent from beyond the arc, and 89 percent from the stripe. The Magic were the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA this season, so that skill in particular is a key factor in the Bane acquisition.

Brian Windhorst explains that getting out of KCP’s contract is another benefit for Orlando, while the Grizzlies are looking to push back their window of contention after getting swept by Oklahoma City in the first round of the Playoffs.

"The next question is: What about Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.?"@WindhorstESPN breaks down Desmond Bane being traded to the Magic ✍️ pic.twitter.com/IewXKxwjEj

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 15, 2025

Windhorst suggests that the Bane trade could be the start of a major rebuild in Memphis, but Tim Bontemps believes that the team is still interested in getting extensions done for Jaren Jackson and Ja Morant.

Sources told ESPN that the Grizzlies are not looking to deal either of their two remaining franchise cornerstones. The team has spent the past several months clearing salary cap space to complete a renegotiation and extension of Jackson’s contract this offseason, preventing him from hitting free agency in 2026. The belief is that an extension will get done, sources said. But the Bane trade gives Memphis an avenue to give Jackson even more on that deal and lock him in long term.

Bontemps also says that the Magic sees itself as a major threat to win the East with Jayson Tatum presumably out for the season. Even with Tatum on the court for most of the Eastern Semifinals this year, the conference proved to be more wide open than many people previously thought. It’s not hard to imagine Orlando being next year’s Indiana with Bane joining the young and energetic core of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs.

I hate giving up so many picks for a guy who isn’t a superstar, but it’s clear that the Magic already has some young pieces in place and thinks it can challenge for the East title right away. The move definitely makes me worry about my Knicks’ ability to return to the East Finals.

After four grueling days of golf at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh, the U.S. Open named a new champion on Sunday evening, and his name is J.J. Spaun. That’s the same guy who had his heart broken at THE PLAYERS Championship earlier this year when he lost to Rory McIlroy in a Monday playoff. It’s also the same guy who had just one PGA TOUR win to his name before Sunday and the same guy who appeared doomed when he made bogey on five of the first six holes to star the final round.

Oakmont demands grit, though, and Spaun proved that he had it after shooting 40 on the front nine. A birdie on the par-five 12th hole sparked a life-changing rally from Spaun that brought him from two strokes over par to one stroke under and made him a major champion. While Spaun rose to the occasion, Sam Burns and Adam Scott melted down on the back nine with Burns making double bogey on the 11th and 15th to go eight strokes over par for the day and four over for the tournament. Scott was a miserable six strokes over on the back nine with just one birdie on the day, tumbling from second place after three rounds to a 12th place finish.

WHAT A PUTT!!!!

J.J. SPAUN WINS THE U.S. OPEN!!!! pic.twitter.com/EWdYQeDAzF

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 16, 2025

The struggles of his peers makes Spaun’s finish all the more impressive, and he clinched the title in style with a 65-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole when he only needed par to win. That brilliant shot made him the only man in the U.S. Open field to shoot under par for the tournament. Even the great Scottie Scheffler finished the U.S. Open four strokes over par after shooting an even-par 70 on Sunday.

There weren’t any NBA Finals or Stanley Cup Final games on Sunday night because Adam Silver is incompetent, but there was still plenty of sports action during the day. Arizona was eliminated from the College World Series despite leading Louisville 3-2 after seven innings. The Cardinals blasted their way past Arizona after trailing all day by scoring six runs in the 8th inning.

Louisville LEADS 😤#MCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @LouisvilleBSB pic.twitter.com/xaLsptXaRn

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 15, 2025

Zion Rose had the critical hit with an opposite-field single with the bases loaded that gave Louisville the lead. It’s safe to say we don’t need to worry about any anti-Zionist sentiment on the Louisville campus these days. In the nightcap, Coastal Carolina jumped out to any early lead like Arizona did, but the Chanticleers held onto it and won 6-2 thanks to a dominant outing from Jacob Morrison. He set down 16 Oregon State batters in a row after he allowed a solo shot to Easton Talt in the third inning. Morrison ended up allowing just five hits and the one run in seven and two-thirds innings.

Just doing his thing#MCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @CoastalBaseball pic.twitter.com/qIHKbRQlZv

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 16, 2025

Coastal is now in the driver’s seat of one double elimination bracket with a 2-0 record. Action will heat up in the other bracket on Monday with Arkansas trying to eliminate super Cinderella Murray State in the day game before LSU clashes with UCLA at night. In the pro game, both the Mets and Yankees were shut out on Sunday. The Mets were unable to take advantage of seven walks offered by Tampa Bay pitching while the Rays pounded Griffin Canning for six runs in just four and a third frames. The Yankees’ 2-0 loss in Boston featured a great start by Brayan Bello and a third straight three-strikeout game from Aaron Judge. It’s time to start asking if Judge is happy in the Yankees organization. Just like the Mets, the Yankees were coming off a sweep before getting swept this weekend.

It was another boring day for the Club World Cup with Palmeiras and FC Porto playing to a scoreless draw at MetLife Stadium. The other three matches all appeared to be blowouts with Paris Saint-Germain beating Atletico Madrid 4-0 and Bayern Munich clobbering Auckland City 10-0. However, Seattle Sounders just got on the board against Brazilian side Botafogo to make that score 2-1.

Sounders will hope to represent American better than the USMNT, but even that sorry group couldn’t mess up a game against Trinidad and Tobago in the Gold Cup. The Yanks won their opening match 5-0 after four straight losses split between friendlies and Concacaf Nations League. Maybe the easy win will propel the USMNT to a tournament win and it can start building momentum for next year’s World Cup.