See things others don’t!

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.

For a minute there, it looked like I might have to be a Thunder in Seven guy. The Pacers led Game 4 of the NBA Finals by 10 points late in the third quarter and it looked like we might be subject to more “ACTUALLY, Tyrese Haliburton is underrated” talk. Thankfully, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City on a 12-1 run in the final three minutes that lifted the team to a 111-104 victory despite the Thunder shooting 3-for-16 from beyond the arc. When you win with those shooting numbers, you know you played with grit, gumption, and heart. OKC only had 11 assists on 37 field goals in this game, with zero coming from SGA for the first time this season. That’s another area where the Thunder can improve in Game 5, but they’re unlikely to get more from Alex Caruso, who poured in 20 points and five steals from the bench. On Indiana’s bench, T.J. McConnell was limited to eight points and zero steals after his stronger performance in Game 3 and Bennedict Mathurin scored eight points while missing some key free throws down the stretch. Maybe these games really are decided by the role players. That would be good news for Indiana since Haliburton is not going to outplay SGA very often, but it’s good to know that OKC can get some scoring help beyond its big three playmakers.

So what else happened in the sports world on Friday and Saturday?

The Panthers are one win away from repeating as Stanley Cup champions. They tried to repeat their bold strategy of going up three goals. It didn’t work in Game 4, but it sure did in Game 5! The big difference was Florida not adding the third goal until early in the third period, when Brad Marchand scored his second of the night by going through Calvin Pickard’s legs on a breakaway that was sparked by Eetu Luostarinen. Edmonton ended up scoring twice before the game ended, but the Panthers kept adding on with a wrist shot from Sam Reinhart and an empty-netter from Luostarinen to win 5-2.

Opening games are done at the College World Series. Coastal Carolina scored three runs in the eighth inning to defeat underdog Arizona 7-4. Also on Friday, Oregon State bounced back from a 9th inning meltdown to walk off Louisville and win 4-3 on Gavin Turley’s RBI double. On Saturday, Kade Anderson pitched seven innings of one-run ball and LSU’s three-run rally in the second inning stood up as the Tigers defeated Arkansas 4-1. Super Cinderella Murray State scored four answered runs after falling behind UCLA 6-0, but the Racers were shut down by Bruins closer Easton Hawk in the 9th.

The Mets lost twice to Tampa Bay. New York was in great shape through five innings on Friday night, but then Carlos Mendoza pulled Clay Holmes from the game even though he had only thrown 79 pitches. Paul Blackburn and Max Krannick combined to allow six runs in the 6th inning and Juan Soto’s game-tying home run bid in the 8th died on the warning track, allowing Tampa Bay to hold on for a 7-5 win. The Rays exploded for another big inning on Saturday evening, this time scoring five times in the 4th off of Tylor Megill. Three of those runs came with two outs following Megill’s botched attempted to field a bunt. The Mets fell behind 6-2 in that frame and only scored two more runs in the ballgame, losing 8-4.

Two international soccer tournaments got underway. Both the FIFA Club World Cup and Concacaf Gold Cup are being played in the United States at the same time. The Club World Cup got off to a very boring start with Messi and Inter Miami playing to a scoreless draw with Egyptian side Al Ahly. There were some pretty gnarly saves in this game, but nobody likes a 0-0 result. The Gold Cup has been a bit more fun so far with Mexico holding a 3-2 edge over the Dominican Republic in the 80th minute.

Just like Thunder in Five before it, Panthers in Five went down in flames on Thursday night with Florida blowing a 3-0 lead and falling to the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 in overtime. The good news is that we are now guaranteed at least two more games in this series and just got to see one of the most thrilling games in the history of the Stanley Cup Final. It started with a dominant first period by Florida with Matthew Tkachuk scoring a pair of power play goals and Anton Lundell adding an even-strength score in the final minute when Edmonton turned over the puck behind its own net.

The second period saw three Edmonton goals with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse flipping the puck over Sergei Bobrovsky’s shoulder and Vasily Podkolzin netting the equalizer on a backhand shot that was set up by Nurse’s wraparound try. Just as important as all the scoring, though, was backup goalie Calvin Pickard stonewalling the Panthers and keeping their total at three while the Oilers caught up. Florida stayed aggressive throughout the game, with one of its best chances coming midway through the second period when Lundell intercepted a pass on the forecheck and skated into the slot with no one but Pickard in front of him. Pickard came up with a monumental stop to keep the score 3-1, and Nurse scored the Oilers’ second goal of the night a minute later.

VASILY PODKOLZIN! TIE GAME! 😱 #StanleyCup

THIS. IS. WILD.

🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/2uqU8kA6gX

— NHL (@NHL) June 13, 2025

After Edmonton had tied the game, the Panthers controlled the action and looked to be on the way to scoring the game’s seventh goal, but they were denied over and over. Even with Pickard leaving the net wide open thanks to a brilliant pass from Carter Verhaeghe to Tkachuk, defenseman Mattias Ekholm stepped up and acted as a second goalie to keep the go-ahead goal off the board. Instead, it was the Oilers who broke the tie with Jake Walman slamming home a massive slap shot from the right circle after a Florida own-zone turnover caused by Edmonton’s Mattias Janmark.

It was setting up to be a supremely frustrating night for Florida, but after 40 scoreless minutes, it finally broke through when Sam Reinhart scored with just 20 seconds remaining in regulation. Reinhart tried to feed Tkachuk in the slot, but the puck trickled back to him on the left side of the net, where he slid the puck past Pickard’s pad for the cathartic equalizer. Reinhart’s score was the second latest game-tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history with the latest coming just days ago when Corey Perry tied Game 2 with just 18 seconds on the clock. This series is going down in the books one or way or the other.

LEON DOES IT AGAIN!!!! 🤩

HIS @ENERGIZER OVERTIME WINNER EVENS THE SERIES AT 2-2! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/ZtXXQzYge3

— NHL (@NHL) June 13, 2025

Just like how Edmonton lost after Perry’s dramatic goal in Game 2, Florida would fall in this one when Leon Draisaitl attempted a one-handed backhand pass to Corey Perry on the edge of the crease. Instead of finding Perry, though, the puck deflected off of Florida’s sliding Niko Mikkola and got by Bobrovksy, who could not close the five hole in time. It was Draisaitl’s fourth overtime winner of these Playoffs and his second of the series. He is mega clutch, but so was Pickard, who made another incredible save minutes earlier when Mikkola fed Sam Bennett for a one-timer from the right circle. Pickard got just enough of the puck with his glove to deflect it off of the crossbar and keep Edmonton alive. That is just torture for Florida fans.

THIS! GAME! 😱🔥 pic.twitter.com/Xc19vXLPHh

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 13, 2025

Just like that, we are set up for an incredible weekend of sports with Oklahoma City trying to even the NBA Finals against Indiana on Friday night before the Stanley Cup Final shifts to Edmonton for Game 5 on Saturday night. Plus, we’ve got the U.S. Open during the day, and Oakmont is already making fools of all of the players out there.

Rough start for Rory on Friday.

It's an opening double bogey. He's now +6 for the championship. pic.twitter.com/WJWKSrr7Nm

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 13, 2025

As a New York Rangers fan, I’m often left feeling like a fool, but on Thursday the franchise did the responsible thing and traded Chris Kreider to Anaheim in order to create some cap space for a veteran squad that missed the Playoffs this season. Kreider has been an amazing player for the Rangers during his 13-year career and he is the team’s all-time leader in postseason goals with 48, but he is also 34 years old and carries a cap hit of $6.5 million for each of the next two seasons. New York didn’t get back much in mediocre prospect Carey Terrance and a pick swap that exchanges the Ducks’ third-rounder for the Rangers’ fourth-rounder this year. This is all about dumping salary and getting younger to speed up the rebuild process. Soooooo exciting.

I may have lost with Florida and lost a franchise player with Kreider, but at least the Mets won. They beat Washington 4-3 to complete a second straight series sweep, but Kodai Senga injured his hamstring and Ryne Stanek and Edwin Diaz nearly blew a four-run lead in the ninth, so it was pretty maddening as far as wins go. This is why the phrase “I’ll take it” was invented. My day could have been a lot worse had Diaz not recovered in time to get a pair of ground outs after the Nationals put the go-ahead run in scoring position.

I just knew the Pacers were going to make the NBA Finals as painful as possible. I just knew it and I couldn’t bring myself to accept it. Everyone basketball mind I talked to said that the Pacers would not be dominated by Oklahoma City like the sportsbooks expected. Indiana was going to continue to defy the odds, and that is what has happened. I thought this series would be different because of how well the Thunder bounced back from their Game 1 loss, but Indiana took back control in Game 3 with a 116-107 victory despite trailing by four early in the fourth quarter.

Tyrese Haliburton came one rebound short of a triple-double with 22 points and 11 assists, but the real heroes for Indiana were Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell. While Oklahoma City only got 18 points from its entire bench, Mathurin scored 27 himself on 9-for-12 shooting while McConnell was a pest who looked like he wanted this game more than anyone else in the arena. He scored 10 points in just 15 minutes with five assists and five steals. Three times McConnell caught the Thunder napping and turned a typical inbounds play after an Indiana bucket into additional points for the Pacers. Those types of steals should not happen once in a game that means everything, let alone three times.

"It's hard not to root for a guy like that."

Tyrese Haliburton on T.J. McConnell 👏 https://t.co/NO7ZbuZuIG pic.twitter.com/UNcz2d3DNH

— NBA (@NBA) June 12, 2025

Listen to Haliburton talk about how scrappy and gritty McConnell is. This is a guy who should be happy to have a couple of minutes in garbage time, and yet he is having a major impact off the bench.

It’s frustrating enough to watch Indiana continuing to have success after the Knicks came so close to beating them, but what’s also frustrating is how this team is winning. The Pacers didn’t make a big move in the offseason to try and move up in the Eastern Conference pecking order. For the most part, they stuck with their guys from last year’s run to the Conference Finals and hung out in the middle of the standings all season. The front office didn’t panic after a slow start and when the Playoffs rolled around, the Pacers were a cohesive unit on which everyone knew their roles and was willing to sacrifice for the team. That makes me think that the Knicks would have been better off sticking with Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo instead of trading them for the flashy Karl-Anthony Towns. There are not many things more frustrating than thinking you were better off just doing nothing.

Then, after the season the Knicks doubled down on change and fired Tom Thibodeau without having a plan for a new head coach. While the Pacers embraced continuity and toughness following their win over the Knicks in the 2024 Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Knicks have twice swung for the fences with big moves. The first one just resulted in another heartbreaking loss to Indiana, and it’s hard to imagine the second one landing the Knicks a coach who was better suited to the franchise than Thibodeau.

The only thing to do now if hope that the Knicks come to their senses and hire Mike Malone while rooting for the Thunder to win the Finals in six games. Neither of those things will get the Knicks closer to a championship, but it’s what we have. We also have a Stanley Cup Final game tonight with the Panthers trying to take a 3-1 lead over Edmonton. I have been going pretty hard for Florida in this series, so hopefully it works out better than the basketball has so far.

In other good news, the College World Series starts on Friday and that means one thing: Jell-O Shots!

Not every school can say they made the CWS on their fourth postseason appearance but @RacersBaseball is coming to Omaha! Fun fact: Omaha's CBA team mascot was the Racers so some old heads probably already have gear! #roadtoroccos #cws2025 pic.twitter.com/R83QP4VxhM

— CWS Jello Shot Challenge (@CWSShotBoard) June 10, 2025

Imagine Penn State getting its name written on this board one day? If Murray State can do it, anyone can!

I really thought that the Knicks had a plan when they fired Tom Thibodeau after their loss to Indiana in the Eastern Conference Finals. Mike Malone had been let go by the Nuggets in April, and he was someone who knew how to win a championship with a versatile big man. However, in the past few days, it has become apparent that the Knicks have no idea who their next head coach will be. They’ve reportedly been shut down from interviewing a bunch of guys who already hold NBA jobs.

On Wednesday morning, the Mavs firmly rejected the Knicks’ request to speak with Jason Kidd, sources told ESPN.

Kidd joins Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka and Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch as those whose teams have denied permission to interview with New York, sources confirmed.

Since the Knicks brought Thibodeau aboard in 2020, they’ve made the Playoffs in four out of five seasons and won 50 games in each of the last two seasons. This year, the Knicks defeated the defending champion Celtics to reach their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2000. But Thibodeau wasn’t good enough because of the Knicks’ collapse in Game 1 against the Pacers that featured Aaron Nesmith becoming automatic from three-point range and OG Anunoby fumbling away an open layup that could have put the game away.

I wasn’t totally shocked when the Knicks dismissed Thibodeau because I’ve become desensitized to bizarre NBA firings. It would be nice if the Knicks were different, though. Now instead of just having to tweak a roster that was a couple of games away from a Finals berth, the Knicks must replace a head coach who was a perfect fit for New York with his defense-first mindset and his experience as an assistant coach under Jeff Van Gundy.

It’s easy to see the Knicks spiraling from here if they don’t hire the right coach, don’t improve their defense, and see themselves passed by Indiana and Detroit in the Eastern Conference pecking order. Maybe the front office will settle on Malone after Jay Wright and Dan Hurley say no.

The good news is that my baseball team is thriving. The Mets just won their fifth straight game and got a complete game shutout from David Peterson. I think that’s just as impressive as a no-hitter these days considering that most of those feature multiple pitchers without one guy having to go the distance. I love to criticize Carlos Mendoza for treating his pitchers with kid gloves, but he did a great job letting Peterson pitch through some trouble in the seventh and eighth innings before having him finish the job in the ninth.

First career complete game shutout for @_David_Peterson! 👏 #LGM pic.twitter.com/Km3ZN3Slid

— New York Mets (@Mets) June 12, 2025

Peterson and the leap he’s taken this year have been very important to the Mets’ surprisingly effective starting rotation. It doesn’t feel so much like a fluke when guys like Kodai Senga and Peterson are delivering strong outings every fifth or sixth day.

I really thought tonight would be the night where the Mets fell back to the pack a little bit and stopped being unbeatable at home. That night might come, but it is not this night! On this night the Mets overcame a 4-2 deficit in the eighth inning and came back to defeat the Washington Nationals in the bottom of the 10th on Jeff McNeil’s RBI single!

.@JeffMcNeil805 FTW!!! pic.twitter.com/W4Bl4HATpf

— New York Mets (@Mets) June 11, 2025

The Mets looked pretty dead in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and nobody on base, but Starling Marte sparked them with a walk and Washington’s no-doubles defense (that never works) allowed Juan Soto’s line drive to right field to land in for an RBI double. Pete Alonso followed up with a clutch double of his own to tie the game. Then all it took was Edwin Diaz and “Great News” Reed Garrett shutting down Washington in the ninth and 10th innings, respectively, to set up McNeil’s game-winner.

What really impressed me about the Mets’ rally was how it came out of nowhere. New York had just one hit following Juan Soto’s solo shot in the third that cut Washington’s lead to 3-2. The offense had gone to sleep before being woken up by Marte’s walk and Soto’s big hit. Just as important as the hit, though, was Soto hustling home on Alonso’s double. With Alonso being thrown out at second base on the play, the Mets don’t get the tying run in if Soto doesn’t reach the plate before the tag. It was a good job by Soto to show some awareness and bust his butt to the plate.

Pete comes THROUGH!

Make the Polar Bear an All-Star! 🗳️👉 https://t.co/pvcqpJro0F pic.twitter.com/Wn7V3tSptG

— New York Mets (@Mets) June 11, 2025

Griffin Canning might not have had the finest game, but Soto and McNeil following up their strong performances in Denver with two hits and two RBI each is a great sign for the Mets going forward. Plus, the newest member of the bullpen Justin Garza got a couple of huge strikeouts to keep Washington from adding on in the top of the eighth.

With no NBA Finals or Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night, the USMNT had a chance to steal the spotlight, but it got blown out by Switzerland 4-0. It would be embarrassing enough to get crushed by a legit European power, but Switzerland? That is inexcusable and there is less than zero excitement for the US with one year to go until the 2026 World Cup. Oh well, maybe the Mets will be defending a World Series championship by then… still a long way to go.

The College World Series field of eight is set, and the best story was saved for last with Murray State defeating Duke 5-4 to advance to its first ever CWS. It was miraculous enough that the Racers beat Ole Miss in two of three games to advance from the Oxford Regional, but they followed it up with wins in Game 2 and Game 3 of the Durham Super Regional to reach Omaha. The NCAA Baseball Tournament doesn’t get nearly as much attention as the basketball version, but that doesn’t make Murray State’s Cinderella run any less fun. It appeared to be over for the Racers when they lost to Duke in Game 1 on Saturday, but they bounced back with 19 runs in Sunday’s win before defeating the Blue Devils for a second straight time tonight.  Duke took a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning on a solo shot by Jake Berger, but Murray State equalized in the seventh on Jonathan Hogart’s second home run of the night before going ahead in the eighth on a Luke Mistone’s solo job.

MURRAY STATE TAKES THE LEAD!! 😤#RoadToOmaha x 🎥 ESPN / @RacersBaseball pic.twitter.com/LI9TzBIHyr

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 10, 2025

With Murray State ahead 5-4 in the ninth, the umpires tried to end the game early by calling Duke for double play interference on the cleanest takeout slide I have ever seen. Fortunately the call was overturned, and the Racers were able to regroup and get the final out despite celebrating prematurely before the replay review. The College World Series will start on Friday with Coastal Carolina taking on Arizona. Murray State plays its first game on Saturday against UCLA. After last year’s CWS field was split between four SEC teams and four ACC teams, this year there is more diversity with only two SEC teams and one from the ACC. The Pac-12 would have led with three programs in Omaha if it had never broken up, but UCLA, Oregon State, and Arizona now all represent different conferences.

Down in South Florida, the Panthers took control of the Stanley Cup Final with 6-1 pounding of Edmonton. The last two times we had a repeat Stanley Cup Final, the titles were split between each team. Sydney Crosby and the Penguins lost to Detroit in 2008 before winning the Cup in 2009. Likewise, Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers fell to the Islanders in 1983 before defeating them in 1984. So history is on Edmonton’s side, but momentum is certainly not. The Oilers appeared to be setting us up for another classic game when Corey Perry slammed in a rebound on the power play to start the second period and make the score 2-1 Florida, but the Panthers struck back with a Sam Reinhart goal that took advantage of an Edmonton turnover deep in its own end. Sam Bennett followed up by undressing Stuart Skinner on a breakaway to put the Panthers up 4-1 and they ran away from there.

In baseball, we saw the best home run robbery in a long time when Denzel Clarke went way over the wall to take a big fly away from Nolan Schanuel. Poor guy only has 17 career home runs.

DENZEL CLARKE OMG! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/2QJBAkmZqN

— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2025

The Mets and USA Soccer return on Tuesday, but the NBA Finals aren’t back until Wednesday. Remember, it’s Thunder in five.

That’s more like it, Thunder! It would be nice if Oklahoma City had defeated Indiana in Game 1 so we wouldn’t have to endure three days of talk about how the Pacers just have the “it” factor and how Tyrese Haliburton is underrated and how those plucky underdog Pacers just never give up. Still, I’ll take a standard issue thrashing in which the Thunder pulled away in the second quarter, led by 18 at halftime, and never let Indiana get close in the second half. The Pacers still have home court advantage thanks to their Game 1 comeback, but it’s nice to see them not go ahead 2-0 like they did in their first three series of these NBA Playoffs.

AARON WIGGINS OVER HALIBURTON 🔥

Richard Jefferson with some poetry on the call 😂 pic.twitter.com/QDGFFvNZ9j

— ESPN (@espn) June 9, 2025

Finally, someone had a response in Game 2 of a seven-game series. The Pacers were balanced as usual with seven players scoring in double figures and five players handing out four or more assists, but they were no match for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 34 points and eight dimes. Oklahoma City also got great bench performances from Alex Caruso and Aaron Wiggins during its 123-107 win. We have to wait until Wednesday for Game 3 because Adam Silver is too busy worrying about the center court logo to deal with the NBA’s real problems, but I’m confident that the Thunder will keep rolling and wrap up the title in five games.

Elsewhere in sports, the Red Sox won their rubber game against the Yankees 11-7 with both teams combining for eight home runs. Aaron Judge got a pair of dingers, but Boston made up for those and more with Trevor Story and Kristian Campbell going deep despite both slugging under .400 this year. The Red Sox are still a disappointment this season, but it’s nice to see Tampa Bay and Toronto come alive lately to make the Yankees sweat a little.

I’m actually sweating a little less these days, and it’s not just because of the weather in New Jersey refusing to acknowledge that it is almost summer. The Mets expanded their lead over the Phillies to four games in the loss column thanks to two sweeps going in opposite directions. New York won three straight at Colorado while Philly dropped three at Pittsburgh. It was nice to see the Mets’ offense finally play like it should at Coors Field over the last two days following a pitiful display against Antonio Senzatela on Friday night. Francisco Lindor helped New York escape with a win in that one, but the next two games were way more fun thanks to Jeff McNeil showing some surprising power. He homered once in the Mets’ 8-1 Saturday win and twice more during the 13-5 Sunday victory. McNeil’s batting average still isn’t where it was during his prime, but he was quietly having a vintage season even before this weekend’s explosion of offense.

One for the history books ✨#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/vdTYmMS3CR

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 8, 2025

The most exciting event of the day was the men’s final at Roland-Garros. Jannik Sinner won the first two sets against Carlos Alcaraz, but the Spaniard stormed back to win the final three sets with the last two coming down to the tiebreaker. Alcaraz appeared to be cooked in the fourth set, but he survived three straight match points to take control of the match. In the fifth set, it was Sinner’s turn to come back, and he won a crucial game to make the score 5-5 when Alcaraz was serving for the championship. Sinner appeared to have regained momentum heading into the final tiebreak, but Alcaraz won the first seven points to put the match out of reach. The epic battle between the world’s top two players went five and a half hours and was the longest men’s final in Roland-Garros history. I’m thinking it will be a while until an American man has a chance to win a major tournament with Alcaraz and Sinner operating at a different level than everyone else.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final was pretty darn exciting with the Edmonton Oilers coming back from two goals down and winning on a Leon Draisaitl power play goal with 31 seconds left to go in overtime. However, Game 2 blew it out of the water with five first-period goals, a last-minute equalizer, and a breakaway winner in double overtime. My favorite part of the game was the Panthers and Oilers exchanging gorgeous goals midway through the first period. It started with Edmonton holding a 2-1 lead and Euto Luostarinen threading the needle to Seth Jones, who shot the puck into a net so wide open that I could have scored it.

Some pretty passing from the @FlaPanthers! 😱 #StanleyCup

🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF

Team Players presented by @Budweiser pic.twitter.com/BVqp3DnzY5

— NHL (@NHL) June 7, 2025

That was nothing compared to Edmonton’s response, though. Connor McDavid put all of his world-class moves on display in one play and found Draisaitl to put his team back on top.

MCDAVID IS NOT FROM THIS PLANET 🔥🤯 pic.twitter.com/uvYbxLJPgH

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) June 7, 2025

The greatest player in the world right now completely undressed one defender, then hit the toe drag on the next before finding Draisaitl for the easy finish. Not all assists are created equal. We need a separate category for that work of art. Maybe that goal should have been worth two, because it would be a while until Edmonton scored again. Florida lit the lamp twice in the second period to take the lead, including Brad Marchand’s first breakaway goal of the evening. The score remained 4-3 until the final minute of regulation, when Corey Perry made history by scoring the latest game-tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history.

COREY PERRY TIES IT WITH 17 SECONDS LEFT 🪱 pic.twitter.com/sKhNQORt2l

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 7, 2025

That is how you send a Canadian city into a frenzy. I don’t know how Perry pulled that off while he was wrapped about a Florida player, but it made for some spectacular drama. That excitement would continue for another period and a half until Marchand scored on a breakaway again, this time finishing with a backhand finish through Stuart Skinner’s legs.

BRAD MARCHAND WINS GAME 2 IN @ENERGIZER DOUBLE OVERTIME 🙌 #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/gJPpH215U4

— NHL (@NHL) June 7, 2025

It’s still unclear if Marchand touched the puck with the backhand, but I don’t know how it gets by Skinner without coming off of Marchand’s stick. Just like that, the Final was even at one game a piece. Since the NBA pushed its Game 2 to Sunday night, we have to wait until Monday for more puck action. Well, they could have done a matinee on Sunday, but that would be way too much fun.

While the first four periods of hockey were going on, the Mets somehow pulled out a 4-2 win in Colorado despite the Rockies loading the bases against Ryne Stanek with the scored tied in the eighth inning and no outs. Ryan McMahon hit a line drive that could have won the game for Colorado, but instead Brett Baty snagged it and fell on third base for a double play that the Mets desperately needed. Francisco Lindor followed up with his best Willis Reed impression, pinch-hitting with a broken toe and hitting a two-RBI double in the ninth to give New York the decisive runs.

Finally, we got some crazy news on Saturday with Penn State being expected to sign the top prospect in the 2026 NHL Draft. I might have to buy a B1G+ subscription package if that happens.