Armadillo Sports

Trends for all 30 MLB teams…….

— Arizona is 47-47, one game out of last Wild Card slot.
Diamondbacks are 14-9 in one-run games.

— Atlanta is 9.5 games out of first in NL East; they’re #1 Wild Card night now.
Braves are 6-11 in their last 17 road games.

— Cubs are 45-49, three games out of last Wild Card spot.
Chicago won five of its last six games; they just swept Orioles in Baltimore.

— Cincinnati is also 45-49, three games out of last Wild Card spot.
Reds are 8-17 in one-run games.

— Colorado is 3-10 in its last thirteen road games.
Rockies missed playoffs last six years, finishing 17+ games out of first place.

— Dodgers are 55-39, have a 7-game lead in NL West.
Dodgers are 24-10 vs lefty starters, 31-29 vs righties.

— Marlins are 3-11 in road series openers.
Marlins are 4-27 against lefty starting pitchers, 28-34 vs righties.

— Brewers are 54-40, lead NL Central by five games.
Milwaukee is 21-12 against its NL Central rivals, 33-28 vs everyone else.

— Right now, Mets have #3 Wild Card slot in NL, by .001 over Padres.
Mets are 17-10 in one-run games; last year, they were 25-28.

— Phillies are 61-32, lead NL East by 9.5 games.
Phillies are 32-7 in their last 39 home games.

— Pittsburgh is 45-48, 2.5 games out of last playoff slot.
Rookie P Skenes was taken out of Thursday’s game after 7 IP/99 PT- he didn’t give up a hit in the seven innings.

— St Louis is 48-44; they’re holding the #2 Wild Card slot.
Cardinals are 28-21 in night games, 20-23 in day games.

— San Diego is 49-47, .001 out of the NL’s last Wild Card spot.
Padres lost their last four games, scoring a total of nine runs.

— San Francisco is 45-49, three games out of last Wild Card spot.
Giants are 34-31 vs righty pitchers, 11-18 vs lefties.

— Washington is 42-52, six games out of last Wild Card slot.
Nationals are 4-13 in their last 17 games.

— Famous birthdays, July 12th:
Cheryl Ladd, 73
Mario Soto, 68
Luke McCown, 43

Howie Kendrick, 41
Patrick Beverley, 36
LeSean McCoy, 36

Kellen Moore, 35
Bailey Ober, 29
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 26

— Orioles are 57-36, lead AL East by two games.
Baltimore got shut out last two days, hasn’t scored in 21 innings.

— Red Sox are 51-41, are holding last Wild Card slot in AL.
Boston is 39-27 vs righty starters, 12-14 vs lefties; last two years, they were 47-31 vs lefties.

— White Sox are 1-14 in road series openers.
Chicago is 6-29 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Guardians are 57-35, lead AL Central by 4.5 games.
Cleveland is 20-7 vs lefty starting pitchers; LY, they were 24-35.

— Detroit won six of its last seven games.
Tigers are 45-49, are 7 games out of last Wild Card slot.

— Houston is 49-44, two games out of first in AL West, 2.5 games out of last Wild Card slot.
Last two years, Houston was 70-33 vs lefty starters; this year, they’re 12-15.

— Royals are 51-43, one game out of last Wild Card slot.
Last year, Kansas City was 56-106; Matt Quatraro is your AL Manager of the Year.

— Angels are 30-46 vs righty pitchers, 8-9 vs lefties.
Mike Trout has been an Angel for 14 years, has played in three playoff games.

— Minnesota is 53-40, is holding the #2 playoff slot in AL.
Twins are 13-5 in their last 18 games.

— New York is 56-39, holds #1 Wild Card slot in AL.
New York is 0-7-1 in last eight series, 7-17 in last 24 games.

— A’s lost 18 of their last 21 road games.
Oakland is 26-49 vs righty starters, 9-11 vs lefties.

— Seattle is 52-43, leads AL West by two games.
Mariners are 13-2 in home series openers, 6-9 in road series openers.

— Tampa Bay is 46-47, 5.5 games out of last Wild Card slot.
Rays are 16-8 vs lefty starters, 30-39 vs righty starters.

— Texas is 44-49, 7.5 games out of last Wild Card slot.
Rangers are 1-7 in last eight road series openers.

— Toronto had winning seasons the last 4 years; they’re 42-50 this year.
Over is 14-4 in their last 18 games. 

— Team USA 86, Team Canada 72
Canada led 21-14 after the first quarter.
Americans led 41-33 at halftime.
Team USA has four more exhibition games before the Olympics.

If you care about such things, Team USA was a 15-point favorite; Canada got the backdoor cover on a hoop with 0:16 left.

— NBA has agreed to terms on its new media deals, 11-year agreements worth $76B, that Billion, with a B. Basketball is very popular, as the full house in Las Vegas for the Olympic exhibition game points out.

Only thing that remains to be seem is if TNT will keep its part of the NBA package, which they’ve had for the last 40 years.

— Purdue C Zach Edey had 14 points, 15 rebounds in his first summer league game for Memphis; it was against other rookies obviously, but it is still a promising sign.

— Bronny James scored 3 points, had 3 assists, 5 rebounds in his second summer league game; he was 2-9 from the floor in his first summer game. Lakers were +8 with Bronny on the court in Wednesday’s game.

— Detroit Pistons/Cade Cunningham agreed on a 5-year, $224M deal; Cunningham has scored 20 ppg for Detroit in his first three seasons, during which time the Pistons were 54-192.

— Dodgers put P Tyler Glasnow on the IL with lower back tightness; Glasnow is 8-5, 3.47 in his first season with the Dodgers, throwing 109 innings.

Last year’s 125 IP with Tampa Bay is the most innings Glasnow has ever thrown in a season.

— Under was 9-8 in Wednesday’s baseball games, after over was 14-5-1 in games on Monday, Tuesday.

— Famous birthdays, July 11th:
Clem Haskins, 81
Bruce McGill, 74
Sela Ward, 68

Jeff Kemp, 65
Lisa Rinna, 61
Rod Strickland, 58

Andre Johnson, 43
Joey Bosa, 29
Justin Steele, 29

— Royals 6-8, Cardinals 4-5
Salvador Perez homered in both games for Kansas City.
Royals are 51-43; they won 56 games all of last season.

— Cubs 4, Orioles 0
Shota Imanaga threw six innings, got his 8th win.
Christopher Morel homered for Chicago.

— A’s 5, Red Sox 2
Lawrence Butler had two hits, knocked in two runs on his 24th birthday.
JP Sears got 17 outs on 114 pitches, giving up only one run.

— Rockies 6, Reds 5
Sam Hilliard homered twice for Colorado.
Rockies ended an 8-game losing skid against the Reds.

— Twins 1-3, White Sox 3-2
Two games, a total of nine runs scored.
White Sox are 1-9 against Minnesota this season. 

— Tigers 5, Guardians 4
Detroit P Reese Olson is 3-0, 2.40 in his last five starts.
Tanner Bibee is 0-3, 6.98 in four starts against the Tigers.

— Mariners 2, Padres 0
Bryce Miller tossed six shutout IP, giving up 5 hits.
San Diego has lost four games in a row.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cardinals, Padres
AL: Orioles, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: New York, Twins, Red Sox

Mid-American Conference football preview:

— Akron
Akron hasn’t had a winning season since 2015.
Zips have 3 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Zips have 68 returning starts on the offensive line;
Junior QB Finley started 4 games, at NC State/Cal.

Last ten years, Akron is 16-35-2 ATS at home.
Under Moorhead, Zips are 12-8 ATS as an underdog.
Last two years, Zips are 4-20 SU, minus-23 in turnovers.
All-time, Akron is 1-2 SU/ATS in bowl games (last one in 2017).

— Ball State
Last three years, Ball State went 6-7/5-7/4-8.
Cardinals have 8 starters back on offense, only 1 on defense.
Cardinals have 81 returning starts on the offensive line.
Redshirt freshman QB Semonza started three games LY.

Last 10 years, Ball State is 11-20 ATS as a home favorite.
Last 10 years, Ball State is 9-15 ATS as a home underdog.
Last two years, Cardinals are 11-5 ATS in MAC games.
Cardinals are 1-4 SU/ATS in last five bowl games.

— Bowling Green
Falcons were 7-6 LY, their first winning season since 2015.
Bowling Green has 8 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Falcons have 90 returning starts on the offensive line;
Senior QB Bazelak has 29 career starts, at BG/Missouri.

Falcons were +9 in turnovers LY (minus-24 previous six years)
Since 2016, Bowling Green is 4-11 ATS as a home favorite.
Last three years, Bowling Green is 12-7 ATS coming off a loss.
Falcons are 1-4 SU/ATS in last five bowl games.

— Buffalo
Buffalo was 14-23 last 3 years; they’ve got a new coach now.
Bulls have 3 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Bulls have 69 returning starts on the offensive line.
Junior QB started two games at Old Dominion. 

Last three years, Buffalo was 2-8 ATS as a home favorite.
Last three years, Buffalo was 6-15 ATS going off a loss.
In his time at Ball State, new coach Lembo was 19-12 ATS in road tilts.
Buffalo won/covered its last three bowl games.

— Central Michigan
Last two years, Chippewas went 4-8/5-7 SU.
CMU has 7 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Chippewas have no returning starts on the offensive line;\.
New QB is junior who started one game at Iowa.

Last two years, CMU is 2-7 ATS as a home favorite.
In his career, McElwain is 25-18-1 ATS as an underdog.
Last 10 years, Chippewas are 25-12 ATS as a road dog.
Chippewas are 1-4 SU/ATS in their last five bowls.

— Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan has gone to six bowls the last eight years.
EMU has 5 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Eagles have 47 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Snyder has started 25 games, at Rutgers/Buffalo.

Last three years, Eagles are 3-9 ATS as a home favorite.
EMU is 28-9-1 ATS in its last 38 games as a road underdog.
Eagles are 1-4 SU/3-2 ATS in last five bowl games.
Average total in EMU’s last four bowls: 64.3.

— Famous birthdays, July 10:
Lawrence Pressman, 85
Hal McRae, 79
Allie McGuire, 73

Andre Dawson, 70
Bob Thornton, 62
Sofia Vergara, 52

Jared Dudley, 39
Antonio Brown, 36
Lawrence Butler, 24

— Kent State
Kent was 1-11 LY, first year since Sean Lewis bolted.
Kent has 9 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Flashes have 87 returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Ulatowski started 3 games LY, before he got hurt.

Last 10 years, Flashes are 20-31-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Last two years, Kent is 3-12-1 ATS in MAC games.
Last 10 years, Flashes are 4-8 ATS coming off a win.
Kent State is 1-3 all-time in bowls (last one in 2021).

— Miami, OH
Miami was 11-3 LY, winning MAC title, after going 40-40 from 2016-22.
RedHawks have 6 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Miami has 100 returning starts (4 starters back) on offensive line.
Senior QB Gabbert has 29 career starts.

Since 2018, Miami is 5-2 ATS as a home underdog.
Over last decade, RedHawks are 47-29-1 ATS in MAC games.
Miami is 7-3 ATS in last ten non-conference games.
RedHawks are 1-4 SU/5-0 ATS in last five bowl games.

— Northern Illinois
In five years under coach Hammock, NIU is 24-33 SU.
Huskies have 8 starters back on offense, 8 on defense.
Huskies have 113 returning starts on the offensive line.
NIU has new starting QB this year; LY’s backup was 0-4 as starter.

Under Hammock, NIU is 6-18 ATS as a favorite.
Under Hammock, NIU is 14-5 ATS as a road underdog.
Huskies are 4-16 ATS in their last 20 home games.
Huskies are 1-4 SU/2-3 ATS in last five bowl games.

— Ohio U
Ohio U went 20-7 last two years, winning both bowl games.
Bobcats have 2 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Bobcats have 57 returning starts on the offensive line.
Both of LY’s QB’s bolted to big $$ teams; junior QB Navarro has one start.

Since 2015, Bobcats are 8-3 ATS as a home underdog.
Since 2017, Ohio U is 31-21-1 ATS vs MAC opponents.
Since 2019, Bobcats are 7-12 ATS in non-conference games.
Ohio U is 5-0 SU/ATS in its last five bowl games.

— Toledo
Last 2 years, Toledo is 20-8, splitting pair of MAC title games.
Rockets have 4 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Rockets have no returning starts on the offensive line.
Junior QB Gleason has 2 career starts under center.

Since 2019, Toledo is 10-15 ATS as a home favorite.
Last two years, Rockets are 9-13 ATS as a favorite.
Last four years, Rockets are 9-5 ATS coming off a loss.
Toledo lost 4 of last 5 bowl games (underdogs 5-0 ATS)

— Western Michigan
WMU was 4-8 LY, 0-8 when they scored less than 35 points.
Broncos have 9 starters back on offense, 8 on defense.
Broncos have 92 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Wolff has 34 career starts, at WMU/Old Dominion.

In 87 years of NFL Draft, no WMU quarterback has been drafted.
Last two years, Broncos are 6-1 ATS as a favorite.
Last 10 years, WMU is 24-18 ATS in non-league games.
Favorites are 4-1 ATS in Broncos’ last five bowls. 

— One of the interesting things about pro sports is how people come from all over to make the big leagues, in every sport.

Cleveland Guardians recently brought up utility guy Angel Martinez, who is 22 years old; in his first seven games, Martinez is hitting 8-20 with eight walks, so a promising start. 

His father is former major league catcher Sandy Martinez, who played for six different teams in his 8-year career.

Sandy Martinez hit only six big league home runs, but the first one was against Roger Clemens, the last one against Curt Schilling. He was also the catcher for the Cubs on May 6, 1998, when Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters in a game against Houston.

So good bloodlines for Angel Martinez as he begins his journey thru the major leagues.

— Pet peeve about baseball stats:

WHIP is Walks + Hits divided by innings pitched, which measures how many guys a pitcher puts on base. Why don’t hit batters count in this stat? They definitely should. It doesn’t make a huge difference, but it isn’t totally accurate, either.

— There is a rule saying that every team must have a player in the All-Star Game. 64 guys got picked for the All-Star Game, 32 first timers; 15 teams have only one of their guys in the game.

— UConn signed basketball coach Danny Hurley to a 6-year, $50M deal; he recently turned down a 6-year, $70M deal from the NBA’s Lakers.

— Lot of stuff going on this month;

NBA Summer Leagues are starting up, with the biggest summer league in Las Vegas starting Friday. I’ll repeat myself; if you like the NBA, going to the NBA Summer League should be on your bucket list. It is affordable and fun.

Next week is All-Star week in baseball, so Home Run Derby will also happen, then once the games start again, the trade deadline will pop up and trades will be made.

NFL training camps are a couple weeks away; hard to imagine guys playing football in this heat, but they do.

In this part of the world, upstate New York, it will be horse racing season at Saratoga starting later this week; if you want to pay $6.50 for a 20-ounce Coke, Saratoga is your place.

— I had lunch at an IHOP near my house Monday; place has been there forever, but I hadn’t been in there in a long time. Good food, decent prices, but they didn’t have silverware; I was eating with a plastic fork and knife. Not a huge deal, but it just seemed weird.

— Famous birthdays, July 9th:
Mike Andrews, 81
Mike Riordan, 79
Jimmy Smits, 69

Willie Wilson, 69
Tom Hanks, 68
Jim Paxson, 67

Trent Green, 54
Enrique Murciano, 51
Brett Rypien, 28

— Tigers 1, Guardians 0
Game’s only run scored on an 8th inning error by the Cleveland shortstop.
Detroit has won four games in a row

— Pirates 8, Mets 2
Mitch Keller tossed 8 innings, got his 10th win of the year.
Mets took P Christian Scott out after only 77 pitches; the bullpen imploded.

— Cardinals 6, Nationals 0
Miles Mikolas threw 6.1 scoreless innings, giving up six hits.
Alec Burleson homered, drove in three runs.

— Reds 6, Rockies 0
Andrew Abbott allowed three hits in seven scoreless IP.
OF Rece Hinds homered, doubled in his major league debut.

— Twins 8, White Sox 6 (11)
White Sox led 5-2 after six innings.
Minnesota is 8-0 this season against the Pale Hose.

— Rangers 9, Angels 4
Top four hitters in Texas lineup were 7-19 with 5 runs scored, 6 RBI
Angels are 1-6 so far this month.

— Braves 5, Diamondbacks 4 (11)
Sean Murphy tied game with a 2-run homer in 9th inning.
Marcell Ozuina’s sac fly knocked in winning run in the 11th. 

— Baseball All-Star rosters were announced Sunday; 32 guys will be in the All-Star Game for the first time, including Pirates rookie Paul Skenes, who at this time last year hadn’t even been drafted yet. 17 of the 32 newcomers are pitchers.

— Jose Altuve, Salvador Perez will each be playing in their 9th All-Star Game.

— Phillies are sending an MLB-high seven players to Texas, including Bryce Harper, Ranger Suárez and Alec Bohm.

— American League leads the NL 47-44 in All-Star Games; National League snapped a 9-game losing skid in the Midsummer Classic last year.
 
— Sacramento Kings traded for DeMar DeRozan, locked him up with a 3-year, $74M deal; he is a 6-time All-Star who turns 35 next month. DeRozan scored 24 ppg for Chicago this past season.

— If I owned an NBA team and was paying one of my star players $40 or $50M a year, it wouldn’t amuse me to see him playing in the freakin’ Olympics during the summer, where they’re not getting paid a penny, except in their endorsement deals, while they risk injury.

— Grocery stores in Alabama, Oklahoma have vending machines that allow users to buy ammunition for guns. What could possibly go wrong there?

WTF?!?!? Keep those freakin’ machines out of New York. 

— I missed a birthday over the weekend; Burt Ward turned 79 this weekend- he played Robin on the classic TV show Batman, opposite Adam West. Happy birthday, sir.

— Famous birthdays, July 8th:
Jeffrey Tambor, 80
Alan Ashby, 73
Jack Lambert, 72

Terry Puhl, 68
Kevin Bacon, 66
Sebastian Maniscalco, 51

Hakim Warrick, 42
Ty Jerome, 27
Reid Detmers, 25

— Cincinnati Reds acquired OF Austin Slater from the Giants Sunday, in exchange for lefty P Alex Young.

— Braves 6, Phillies 0
Reynaldo Lopez threw six shutout innings, allowing two hits.
Atlanta hit four home runs, three in the second inning.

— Cardinals 8, Nationals 3
Willson Contreras hit his third home run in the last five days,
Nolan Gorman was 7 for his last 11 this weekend.

— Marlins 7, White Sox 4
Jake Burger hit a 3-run, walk-off homer against his old team.
Chicago is now 5-27 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Twins 3, Astros 2
Christian Vazquez hit a walk-off homer for Minnesota.
P Simeon Woods-Richardson retired the last 13 batters he faced.

— Cubs 5, Angels 0
Hayden Wesneski threw 6.1 innings, allowed only one hit.
Angels were shut out for third time in their last five games.

— Random observation- Baseball season started March 28, earlier than in the old days; the All-Star break is a week later than normal this year. Players look tired; baseball is a daily grind, I’m guessing the four days off next week will be welcomed by a lot of people. 

— Twins 9, Astros 3
Jose Miranda had hits in 12 consecutive at-bats, longest streak since 1952.
Minnesota led 7-1 after three innings.

— Rangers 4, Rays 3
Marcus Semien hit game-winning homer in 7th inning.
Last three games, Tampa Bay has left 30 men on base.

— New York 14, Red Sox 4
Rookie 1B Ben Rice hit three homers, knocked in seven runs.
UConn basketball coach Danny Hurley threw out the first pitch.

— Blue Jays 5, Mariners 4
Yariel Rodriguez tossed 6 shutout IP, got his first MLB win.
Seattle has struck out 10+ times in each of their last 11 games.

— A’s 19, Orioles 8
Oakland led 10-0 after two innings.
A’s hit five home runs; they’re 4-1 this week.

— Famous birthdays, July 7th:
Ringo Starr, 84
Shelley Duvall, 75
Tim Teufel, 66

Matt Suhey, 66
Billy Campbell, 65
Ralph Sampson, 64

Jorja Fox, 56
Michael Westbrook, 52
Brandon McCarthy, 41

— Angels 7, Cubs 0
Tyler Anderson threw 8 shutout IP, struck out 10 Cubs.
Angels’ win ends their 5-game losing skid.

— Marlins 4, White Sox 3
Dane Myers’ 2-run homer in 7th inning was a game-winner.
White Sox ace Garrett Crochet threw 93 pitches in only 4 IP.

— Tigers 5, Reds 3
Cincinnati led 2-0 after seven innings.
Wenceel Perez hit a 2-run homer for Detroit in a 5-run 8th inning.

— Guardians 5, Giants 4
Cleveland led 4-0 in second inning, held on for dear life.
Guardians are 18-5 in their last 23 home games. 

— Rockies 3, Royals 1
Brenton Doyle homered for fourth time in five games.
Austin Gomber got his first win since May 15th, 

— Word of the Day: Respect- A feeling of admiration for someone based on their abilities and/or qualities.

— Mets 5, Pirates 2
Luis Torrens had three hits, knocked in three runs.
Edwin Diaz got the save, in his first game back after a 10-game suspension.

— Nationals 14, Cardinals 6
Washington led 9-0 after the second inning.
Rookie James Wood hit his first major league home run,

— Braves 5, Phillies 1
Rookie P Spencer Schwellenbach allowed one run in 6 IP.
Marcell Ozuna, Ozzie Albies both hit two-run homers.

— Dodgers 5, Brewers 3
Will Smith homered in 1st inning, his 4th homer in four AB’s.
Shohei Ohtani, Miguel Vargas homered in the decisive 8th inning.

— Diamondbacks 7, Padres 5 (10)
San Diego left bases loaded in bottom of 9th.
Christian Walker had the game-winning hit in 10th inning. 

Mountain West football preview

— Air Force
Air Force lost 4 of last 5 games LY, after an 8-0 start.
Falcons are 29-10 last three years, 3-0 in bowl games.
Air Force has 2 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Falcons have no returning starts on the offensive line; they had that in 2021, but led the country in rushing.

Last three years, Air Force is 8-3 ATS as a road favorite.
Last ten years, Falcons are 15-23-1 ATS coming off a loss.
Under Calhoun, Air Force is 12-8 ATS as a home underdog.
Falcons won their last five bowls, scoring 37.6 ppg.

— Boise State
Broncos fired their coach LY after a 5-5 start, won 4 of last 5 games.
Boise has 6 starters back on offense, all 11 on defense.
Broncos have 66 starts returning on the offensive line.
Soph QB Madsen (132 pass attempts LY) or USC transfer Nelson will start at QB

Last two years, Broncos are 8-4 ATS as a home favorite.
Boise is 11-2-1 ATS in last 14 games coming off a loss.
Broncos are 4-3 SU in their last seven bowls.
Boise is 2-7-1 ATS in last eight non-conference games.

— Colorado State
CSU was 4-1 LY when they scored 30+ points, 1-6 when they didn’t.
Rams have 7 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
CSU has 94 starts returning on the offensive line.
Rams’ soph QB has 11 starts; he threw 22 TD’s, 16 INT’s last year.

Rams have had six consecutive losing seasons.
Since 2017, CSU is 5-14 ATS as a home favorite.
In his career, Norvell is 26-18 ATS as an underdog.
CSU lost their last four bowls; their last bowl win was in 2013.

— Fresno State
Bulldogs lost three of last four games LY, after an 8-1 start.
Fresno has 8 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Bulldogs have 106 starts returning on OL (8 of 10 starters).
Soph QB started 11 games LY, threw 24 TD’s, 10 INTs.

Fresno is 29-11 last three years, 3-0 in bowl games, scoring 32.3 ppg.
Since 2019, Bulldogs are 9-14 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2016, Fresno is 7-0-1 ATS as a home underdog.
Bulldogs won their last five bowls, scoring 32.2 ppg.

— Hawai’i
Rainbows were 0-7 LY when they allowed 35+ points, 5-0 when they allowed less than 35.
Hawai’i has 8 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Bulldogs have 47 starts returning on offensive line.
Senior QB Schrager started 26 games the last two years.

Hawai’i has two winning seasons (2018-19) over the last decade.
Over last decade, Rainbows are 11-27-2 ATS as a favorite, 8-22-2 at home.
Over last decade, Hawai’i is 26-42-3 ATS coming off a loss.
Last three years, Rainbows are 14-9-1 ATS in Mountain West games.

— Nevada
Nevada went 2-10/2-10 last two years; the coach got fired. 
Wolf Pack has 6 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Nevada has 70 starts returning on offensive line.
New HC was a defensive assistant at Texas the last three years.

Junior QB Lewis started ten games last season.
Last two years, Wolf Pack was 1-9 ATS at home.
Last three years, Nevada is 10-4 ATS as a road underdog.
Wolf Pack is 3-2 SU/ATS in last five bowls; last bowl was 2021. 

— Famous birthdays for July 6th:
Fred Dryer, 78
Sylvester Stallone, 78
Willie Randolph, 70

Kelly Stouffer, 60
Pau Gasol, 44
Jae Crowder, 34

Manny Machado, 32
Andrew Benintendi, 30
Zion Williamson, 24

— UNLV
Rebels lost last three games LY, after a 9-2 start.
UNLV has 5 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Rebels have 79 starts returning on offensive line.
Their QB bolted to USC; they brought in two I-AA QB’s, also have Friel, who started eight games for UNLV in 2021.

Last year was UNLV’s first bowl since 2013.
In his career, Odom is 17-11 ATS as a home favorite.
Over last ten years, UNLV is 11-19 ATS as a home underdog.
Last three years, Rebels are 11-3 ATS as a road underdog. 

— New Mexico
Lobos were 19-60 last 7 years; their last winning season was 2016.
New Mexico has 3 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Lobos’ whole offensive line graduated; they brought in 8 transfers.
Soph QB started once LY; he is a pass/run threat.

Since 2015, Lobos are 5-18 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2017, Lobos are 9-15-1 ATS as a home underdog.
Since 2018, New Mexico is 17-32-1 ATS as an underdog.
New Mexico hasn’t played in a bowl game since 2016.

— San Diego State
Aztecs were 4-8 last year, their worst season since 2009.
San Diego State has 6 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Aztecs have 67 starts returning on offensive line.
Soph QB is a transfer from Florida State. 

New coach Lewis was 24-31 at Kent State (2018-22), making two bowls.
Last three years, Aztecs were 3-9 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2017, San Diego State is 11-5-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Aztecs are 2-3 SU in last five bowls (were favored in 4 of 5 games).

— San Jose State
Spartans are 26-19 last 4 years; coach bolted to Arizona
New coach Niumatalolo was 109-83 in 15 years at Navy,
San Jose has 3 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Spartans have only 20 starts returning on offensive line.

San Jose won 6 of its last 7 games LY, after a 1-5 start.
San Jose was 7-5/7-6 last two years, thanks to +11/+11 turnover ratios.
Since 2018, Spartans are 29-18 ATS in conference games.
Spartans lost last three bowls; their last bowl win was in 2015.

— Utah State
Utah State just fired their coach last week; they’ll have an interim coach.
Aggies have 8 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Aggies have 69 starts returning on offensive line.
Senior QB started 31 games at Iowa.

Aggies were 6-7 LY, 5-1 when they allowed less than 35 points.
Since 2016, Utah State is 6-13 ATS as a home underdog.
Last four years, Aggies are 7-12 ATS in games coming off a loss.
Utah State lost three of its last four bowl games.

— Wyoming
Wyoming went 9-4 last year, but their coach retired.
Cowboys have 6 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Wyoming has 68 starts returning on offensive line.
Junior QB started one game last year, was 23-38 passing for season.  

Wyoming is 14-9-2 ATS in its last 25 games as a home favorite.
Since 2016, Cowboys are 16-6 ATS as a home underdog.
Since 2016, Wyoming is 37-26 ATS in Mountain West games.
Cowboys won four of their last five bowl games. 

— What are the best/worst days to have a birthday?
Best days:
July 4th
People shoot off fireworks for you
You never have to work on your birthday.
It is summer, nice weather.

January 1st
You never have to work on your birthday.
There is football on TV all day, every year.
People have parties the night before, for your birthday.

Worst days:
February 29
You only have a birthday once every four years.

October 31
Other people come to your house and want free candy.

December 26
People are worn out from the day before, are tired of giving gifts.

January 2
You probably have to work, and have a headache from watching football all day.
It is freakin’ cold out, at least around here it is.

I probably missed one or two; let me know…….

— Max Scherzer is pitching for Texas this season, but he’s getting paid by three different teams:
Mets are paying him $30,833,334
Nationals are paying him $15,000,000
Rangers are paying him $12,500,000.

— July 1st was Bobby Bonilla Day, when the Mets send yet another check for $1.19M to the retired outfielder, who will keep getting those checks for another 11 years.

$1,193,248.20 is the exact amount; in 2000, instead of paying Bonilla $5.9M to go away, the Mets agreed to make these annual payments from 2011-35. The Wilpon family owned the Mets at the time; they were involved with noted fraudster Bernie Madoff, so somehow they thought making these payments was a good idea.

It wasn’t.

— Texas Rangers’ rookie OF Wyatt Langford is first big leaguer to hit for the cycle this seaso.

— Jayson Tatum is going to make $62.8M playing for the Celtics next season; this year, the entire payroll for the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks was $58.3M.

Ducks went 27-50-5 this season, Celtics won the NBA title, but still…….

— Best shooting backcourt of all-time:
Steph Curry/Klay Thompson combined to make 3,538 3-point shots while they were on the court together with Golden State, making 43.1% of their attempts.

Next highest total by any two teammates is 1,840, by Portland’s Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, who made 39.3% of their 3-pointers while playing together.

— Lot of Mountain West football games will be televised on TNT and HBO this fall; looks like the first one between two I-A teams will be a September 7 game with Georgia Southern going to Reno to play the Nevada Wolf Pack.

— When Aaron Civale starts for Milwaukee Friday night, he’ll be the 16h starting pitcher the Brewers have used this season, most in major leagues.

— Famous birthdays, July 5th:
Huey Lewis, 74
Rich Gossage, 73
Johnny Rodgers, 73

James Lofton, 68
Edie Falco, 61
Beno Udrih, 42

Ish Smith, 36
Austin Hays, 31
Shohei Ohtani, 30

— A’s 5, Angels 0
Oakland sweeps the Halos, shutting them out the last two days.
JP Sears needed 95 pitches to throw 5 shutout IP.

— Nationals 1, Mets 0
Jesse Winker pinch-hit a home run in 8th inning,
Jake Irvin allowed one hit in 8 IP.

— Diamondbacks 9, Dodgers 3
Christian Walker hit two home runs for second night in a row.
Walker has hit 19 home runs in 42 career games at Dodger Stadium.

— Mariners 7, Orioles 3
Game was tied 2-2 in 7th inning.
Julio Rodriguez homered for first time since June 15th,

— Cubs 10, Phillies 2
Ian Happ hit a 3-run homer in 5th inning.
Happ also hit a 3-run homer in 6th inning; one lefty, one righty.

— Padres 3, Rangers 1
Jurickson Profar is hitting .317 with 56 RBI; he’s an All-Star.
San Diego is 11-3 in its last 14 games.

— Red Sox 6, Marlins 5 (12)
Marlins didn’t get a hit until the 7th inning,
Miami’s Jake Burger was 0-5, with five strikeouts. 

— Orioles 4, Mariners 1
Ryan O’Hearn homered, knocked in three runs.
Dean Kremer came off the IL, tossed five shutout IP.

— A’s 5, Angels 0
Joey Estes threw a 92-pitch complete game shutout.
A’s are 2-13 in the game following their last fifteen wins.

— White Sox 8, Guardians 2
Martin Maldonado (hitting .096) homered, had 3 RBI.
P Erick Fedde is 6-3, pitching for the 25-63 White Sox.

— Tigers 9, Twins 2
Detroit is first team since 1951 to hit 4+ HR’s, 3 triples and a grand slam in same game.
Just the third loss in last ten games for Minnesota.

— Royals 4, Rays 2
Michael Wacha allowed only one run in 6 IP.
Tampa Bay traded P Aaron Civale to Milwaukee for a minor leaguer.

— Astros 9, Blue Jays 2
Yordan Alvarez homered for the third straight game.
Houston has won 11 of its last 13 games. 

— Famous birthdays, July 4th:
Geraldo Rivera, 81
Pam Shriver, 62
Harvey Grant, 59

Horace Grant, 59
Vinny Castilla, 57
Todd Marinovich, 55

Adrian Griffin, 50
Josh McCown, 45
Brock Berlin, 43

— Red Sox 7, Marlins 2
Boston won eight of last nine road games.
Over is 7-1 in their last eight games.

— Reds 3, New York 2
Andrew Abbott allowed one run in 6.1 IP.
New York lost 12 of its last 16 games.

— Padres 6, Rangers 4
David Peralta’s HR in 7th inning was his first this season and was a game-winner.
San Diego won 10 of its last 13 games.

— Movie of the Day: Little Big League (1994)— Owner of the Minnesota Twins dies, and leaves the team to his 12-year old grandson, who names himself manager of the team.

Timothy Busfield is the Twins’ 1B, Ashley Crow is the kid’s mom, Jonathan Silverman, John Ashton, Kevin Dunn and an assortment for real major leaguers are in the movie, which is better than my quick description makes it sound.

30 years later in real life, Ashley Crow’s son is the centerfielder for the Cubs, Pete Crow-Armstrong.

— Diamondbacks 12, Dodgers 4
Christian Walker hit two more HR’s, has 17 at Dodger Stadium since 2018.
Walker went 4-5, with three runs scored, 4 RBI.

— Pirates 5, Cardinals 4 (10)
O’Neil Cruz had a walk-off single after Bryan Reynolds had tied the game.
Rowdy Tellez had three hits, including an opposite field home run.

— Nationals 7, Mets 5
Mets led this game 5-0 in fifth inning.
Luis Garcia homered twice, knocked in four runs.

— Braves 3, Giants 1
Chris Sale struck out 9 guys in 6 IP, is now 11-3 this year.
Austin Riley went 2-4, knocked in two runs.

— Phillies 5, Cubs 3
Phillies scored winning run on a 260-foot sac fly in 8th inning.
Cubs lost eight of their last 10 games.

— Brewers 3, Rockies 0
Colin Rea tossed seven shutout IP.
Rockies lost seven of their last nine games. 

— If you’ve got an extra $5B (that’s billion, with a B) hanging around the house, you could buy the NBA’s Boston Celtics, who are on the market, two weeks after they won their 18th league championship. Would make a nice birthday gift for your special someone.

Celtics just gave star Jayson Tatum a 5-year, $314M contract, which works out to $62.8M a year, or $765,853.65 per game. Big business.

Boston’s total payroll and luxury tax bill for the 2025-26 season is estimated to reach around $438M; really expensive- their window to win another title isn’t very long.

— Golden State traded Klay Thompson to Dallas; Warriors won four NBA titles while Thompson and Seth Curry were in the Bay Area. Thompson banked around $260M in his 13 years playing for Golden State, which gets a pair of 2nd round draft picks back from Dallas. 

— 34-year old Paul George signed a 4-year, $212M deal with the 76ers; he scored 22.6 ppg for the Clippers this past season.

— Cleveland Cavaliers signed G Donovan Mitchell to a 3-year, $150.3M contract extension; Mitchell scored 26.6 ppg for the Cavaliers last season, leading them to a 48-34 record.

— Chris Paul signed up with the San Antonio Spurs on a 1-year, $11M deal; he’s played 19 years in the NBA, scoring 9.2 ppg in 58 games for Golden State last year.

— Utah State is firing football coach Blake Anderson for off-field reasons; Utah State went 6-7 each of the last two years, after going 11-3 in Anderson’s first year with the Aggies. Two other administrative people have also been fired; lawyers will cash in, as the coaches try to get paid on their way out the door.

— Famous birthdays, July 3rd:
Jan Smithers, 75
Frank Tanana, 71
Bruce Altman, 69
Tom Cruise, 62

Greg Vaughn, 59
Moises Alou, 58
Neil O’Donnell, 58
Grant Wistrom, 48

— Mets 7, Nationals 1 (10)
Mets scored 16 runs the last two nights, 11 of them in the 10th inning.
Pete Alonso hit a 2-run homer in the 10th inning.

— Dodgers 6, Arizona 5
Teoscar Hernandez had the walk-off single for LA.
Christian Walker has 15 homers at Dodger Stadium since 2018.

— Brewers 4, Rockies 3
Rhys Hoskins was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 9th inning.
Rockies lost for 7th time when they led after eight innings.

— A’s 7, Angels 5
Brent Rooker/Lawrence butler hit back/back homers.
Mitch Spence allowed only one run in 5.1 IP; he is 5-4 this year.

— Orioles 2, Mariners 0
Grayson Rodriguez tossed 6.1 scoreless innings.
This was Orioles’ first win without a home run since May 31.

— Rangers 7, Padres 0
Nathan Eovaldi allowed one hit in 7 shutout IP.
Nathaniel Lowe homered twice, knocked in four runs.

— Phillies 6, Cubs 4
Trea Turner homered twice, knocked in four runs.
Cubs have lost seven of their last nine games.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cardinals, Padres
AL: Orioles, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: New York, Twins, Royals

There are 17 teams in the ACC now, including Cal/Stanford, who are very far away from the ATLANTIC Ocean. SMU is in the ACC now too; Dallas isn’t near any oceans. Go figure. 

Some quick notes on ACC football teams……..

— Boston College
Bill O’Brien is the new HC; he was 52-48 SU in six years with Texans in the NFL.
In two years at Penn State, O’Brien was 8-4 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2014, Eagles are 22-14-1 ATS as a road underdog.

— California
Under Wilcox, Golden Bears are 29-14 ATS as an underdog, 12-19-1 as a favorite.
Last three years, Cal is 15-22 SU, despite a +16 turnover ratio.
This year, four of Cal’s five road games are in the Eastern time zone.

— Clemson
Last four years, Clemson is 19-22 ATS as a favorite.
Since 2014, Tigers are 16-7 ATS on neutral fields.

— Duke
Duke went 17-9 SU last two years (9-2 ATS as a home favorite)
However, Texas A&M poached their coach; Notre Dame poached their QB.
Duke won its last five bowl games; they were underdog in 3 of the 5 games.

— Florida State
Last two years, Seminoles were 11-6 ATS in conference games.
In his career, Norvell is 16-8 as a road favorite, 5-9-2 as a road dog.
FSU lost its bowl game last year 63-3; how do they bounce back from that?

— Georgia Tech
Under coach Key, Yellow Jackets are 10-3 ATS as an underdog.
Since 2015, Tech is 2-10 ATS as a road favorite.

— Louisville
In his career, Brohm is 26-16-1 ATS as an underdog.
Since 2019, Cardinals are 16-7 ATS as a home favorite.

— Miami
Hurricanes are 0-5 SU/ATS in their last five bowl games.
In his career, Cristobal is 15-29-2 ATS as a home favorite. 

— Famous birthdays, July 2nd
Larry David, 77
Joe Pisarcik, 72
Tony Armas, 71

Purvis Short, 67
Clark Kellogg, 63
Jose Canseco, 60

Sean Casey, 50
Derrick White, 30
Daulton Varsho, 28

— North Carolina
Since 2018, Tar Heels are 4-11-1 ATS as a road favorite.
UNC lost its last four bowl games, giving up 39.3 ppg.

— NC State
Under Doeren, State is 10-15-2 ATS as a road underdog.
Wolfpack covered 7 of last 8 tries as a home underdog.
State lost its last four bowl games, scoring 13.8 ppg.

— Pittsburgh
Narduzzi is 15-23-3 ATS as a home favorite, 14-4 as a road favorite.
Since 2014, Panthers are 16-26-2 ATS in non-conference games.

— SMU
Under Lashlee, Mustangs are 11-6 ATS as a favorite, 2-6 as an underdog.
SMU lost its last four bowl games; they were favored in all four games.

— Stanford
Last three years, Stanford is 9-27 SU, with a minus-24 turnover ratio.
Cardinal is 5-16 ATS in its last 21 home games.
Stanford haas’t played in a bowl game since 2018.

— Syracuse
Last three years, Syracuse was 8-3-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2018, Orange are 16-7-1 ATS in non-conference games.

— Virginia
Last three years, Virginia is 12-22 SU, with a minus-19 turnover ratio.
Despite that, Cavaliers are 21-11 ATS in their last 32 ACC games.
Virginia’s last bowl game was 2019 (’21 bowl game was cancelled)

— Virginia Tech
Since 2016, Hokies are 7-14 ATS as a home favorite.
Tech lost four of its last five bowl games, giving up 35.2 ppg.

— Wake Forest
Since 2017, Demon Deacons are 19-11 ATS as a home favorite.
Wake has a senior QB this year, who started 29 games at Boise State.  

— Happy Canada Day to our friends north of the border…….

— There is a hockey player named Corey Perry who in the last five years, has been on the losing side in the Stanley Cup final four times, with four different teams, which is unusual:

2024- Edmonton Oilers
2022- Tampa Bay Lightning
2021- Montreal Canadiens
2020- Dallas Stars.

He was on the winning side in the Cup finals once, with Anaheim in 2007.

— Before the Knicks-Nets made the Mikal Bridges trade last week, the last time those teams had traded with each other was June 22, 1983:

Knicks traded a 2nd round pick in 1984 to the Nets for Len Elmore, who played only one year for the Knicks before he retired, to become a lawyer/TV analyst.

Elmore scored 6 ppg in his NBA career, scoring 3,948 points.

— NBA salary cap this coming season will be $140.588M; the Tax Level for the 2024‑25 season is $170.814M.

Minimum team salary for next season is $126.529M.

— Kansas City Royals inducted Bo Jackson int0 their Hall of Fame this weekend: he is the only American pro athlete to be named an all-star in two major sports (football/baseball). He is one of the best athletes ever.

Best thing about Bo Jackson is that these days you never hear about him, which means his life is going well, otherwise you’d hear his name every ten minutes.

— Mets’ SS Francisco Lindor’s on-base %age leading off an inning this year is .412.

— Before Game 7 of the 1925 World Series in Pittsburgh, the home team dealt with a soggy field by pouring gasoline on it and then setting it on fire, to dry it out. Seriously, they did.

Pirates beat Walter Johnson and the Washington Nationals 9-7 in that Game 7, overcoming a 6-3 deficit against Johnson. 

— Famous birthdays, July 1st
Jamie Farr, 90
Freddie Lewis, 81
Deborah Harry, 79

Roger Carr, 72
Pamela Anderson, 57
Nelson Cruz, 44

Charlie Blackmon, 38
Michael Wacha, 33
Chris Flexen, 30

— Astros 10, Mets 5 (11)
There was a 2:47 rain delay in ninth inning.
Astros are over .500 for first time this season.

— Twins 5, Mariners 3
Seattle lost its DH in 4th inning after C Mitch Garver got hurt.
Trevor Larnach hit a 2-run homer in 8th inning.

— Phillies 7, Marlins 6
Miami led 6-2 in the fifth inning.
Trea Turner hit the game-winning single on his 31st birthday.

— Rockies 5, White Sox 4 (14)
Teams combined to go 3-35 with runners in scoring position.
Colorado snapped a 5-game losing streak.

— Rays 5, Nationals 0
Taj Bradley got 11 of his 17 outs via strikeouts.
Bradley has a 0.64 ERA in his last five home starts.

— Brewers 7, Cubs 1
Milwaukee has five grand slams in its last eight games.
Freddy Peralta tossed 7 innings, retiring last 14 hitters he faced.

— Time flies; 2024 is half over already; baseball’s All-Star Game is coming up, NBA Summer League starts next week, NFL training camps start in a few weeks. Lot of stuff going on.

— NFL teams that have started the most QB’s since 2000:
37- Cleveland
29- Chicago
27- Washington
26- LA Rams
25- Arizona, Miami
23- Dallas, Minnesota

— NFL teams that have started the fewest QB’s since 2000:
7- Green Bay
9- New England, LA Chargers
11- Seattle
12- NJ Giants
13- Atlanta, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh
14- Philadelphia

— San Jose Sharks took Macklin Celebrini with the first pick in this weekend’s NHL Draft; his dad is the VP of Player Health and Performance for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

— LA Clippers’ star Paul George has declined his $48.7M option for next year, and will enter free agency; the 34-year old George is expected to meet with three teams- 76ers, Magic and his old team, the Clippers.

George will be a free agent for first time since 2018; apparently he is looking for a 4-year, $221M contract, lot of bank for a guy who is 34. George scored 22.6 ppg this past year, grabbing 5.2 rebounds, dishing out 3.5 assists/game.

— Sounds like Klay Thompson/Golden State will be parting ways; Thompson has been a Warrior since 2011, will be weird to see him wearing another uniform.

— Phrase that popped up this week that I wish I had wrote:

“…..torrential flood of word vomit.”

Long time ago, September 1973, I was in 9th grade; it was my first day ever in a public school, and it was culture shock.

First time I rode in a school bus.
First time I didn’t wear a uniform to school.
First time I took an industrial arts (shop) class.

Anyway, the shop teacher was Mr Brunn, he was talking but so was one of the kids in the class. Mr Brunn interrupted the kid and says “Billy, you need to stop talking; you have diarrhea of the mouth!!!”

My eyes got wide; this is how teachers talk in public schools?

“…..torrential flood of word vomit.” reminded me of that day; good stuff.

— RIP to the great comedian Martin Mull, who passed away at age 80; he was very funny, he was in a lot of stuff, but I remember him best on Fernwood Tonight, a spoof of talk shows that he shared with the equally funny Fred Willard. What a team they were.

These days, I sometimes watch replays of old gameshows late at night; Martin Mull was often the center square on the 1990’s version of Hollywood Squares.

Very funny man. RIP, sir. 

— Famous birthdays, June 30th:
Mitch Richmond, 59
Mike Tyson, 58
Garret Anderson, 52
Trevor Ariza, 39

Michael Phelps, 39
Trea Turner, 31
Josh Rojas, 30
AJ Brown, 27

— Minnesota utility guy Willie Castro is only third player ever (Tony Phillips, Zach McKinstry are the others) to play 20+ games at five different positions in the same season.

— Most home runs in 1-0 games, among active players:
4- Kyle Schwarber
3- Ronald Acuna, Luis Robert

— Astros 9, Mets 6
Mets led 6-1 after three innings.
Alex Bregman had the game-winning hit in the 8th inning.

— Braves 2, Pirates 1 (10)
Adam Duvall had the walk-off single for Atlanta.
Pittsburgh rookie P Skenes has a 2.06 ERA in nine starts.

— Arizona 3, A’s 0
Zac Gallen allowed one hit in six shutout IP.
A’s used same lineup in consecutive games for first time this season.

— Dodgers 14, Giants 7 (11)
Dodgers led 6-5 after the 4th inning.
Dodgers are 6-2 vs San Francisco this season.

— Padres 11, Red Sox 1
Manny Machado homered twice for San Diego.
Padres have won nine of their last ten games. 

Trends for all 30 MLB teams…….

— Arizona is 13-7 in one-run games.
Over is 11-2 in their last 13 home games.

— Braves ware 4-8 in their last 12 road games.
Atlanta is 15-15 since Ronald Acuna went on the IL.

— Cubs are 9-18 vs NL Central rivals, 29-27 vs everyone else.
Under is 15-5 in their last 20 games.

— Cincinnati is 4-9 in its last 13 games.
Under is 13-4 in their last 17 home games.

— Rockies are 3-11 in their last 14 games.
Over is 11-5 in their last 16 home games.

— Dodgers won eight of their last 11 games.
Dodgers are 22-8 vs lefty starters, 29-24 vs righties.

— Marlins are 3-25 against lefty starting pitchers, 26-28 vs righties.
Under is 6-1 in their last seven road games.

— Brewers are 16-3 in their last 19 home games.
Milwaukee is 19-9 against its NL Central rivals.

— Mets are 16-4 in their last 20 games.
Mets are 16-9 in one-run games; last year, they were 25-28.

— Phillies are 28-6 in their last 34 home games.
Phillies are 21-5 in their last 26 series openers.

— Pittsburgh is 9-5 in its last 13 series openers.
Under is 14-5 in Pirates’ last 19 games.

— St Louis is 16-6 in its last 22 home games.
Cardinals are 25-19 in night games, 17-20 in day games.

— Padres lost nine of their last 11 road games.
Padres won 11 of their last 13 home games.

— San Francisco is 31-27 vs righty pitchers, 9-16 vs lefties.
Over is 6-1 in their last seven road games.

— Over is 5-2 in Washington’s last seven road games.
Nationals are 14-10 vs NL East rivals, 24-33 vs everyone else.

— Famous birthdays, June 29th:
John Boccabella, 83
Gary Busey, 80
Fred Grandy, 76

Dan Dierdorf, 75
Rick Honeycutt, 70
Joe Johnson, 43

Kawhi Leonard, 33
Tanner Houck, 28
Gunnar Henderson, 23

— Orioles are 5-2 in their last seven home games.
Baltimore is 19-7 vs its AL East rivals.

— Red Sox are 10-13 vs lefty starters; last two years, they were 47-31.
Boston is 2-12 in home series openers.

— White Sox are 6-13 in their last 19 games.
Chicago is 5-24 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Guardians are 18-4 in their last 22 home games.
Cleveland is 17-6 vs lefty starting pitchers; LY, they were 24-35.

— Tigers are 1-8 in their last nine road games.
Under is 10-2 in their last 12 games.

— Houston won seven of its last eight games.
Under is 13-6 in Astros’ last 19 games.
Last 2 years, Houston was 70-33 vs lefty starters; this year, they’re 10-15.

— Royals are 4-12 in their last 16 road games.
Under is 8-2 in their last ten games. 

— Over is 10-4 in Angels’ last 14 road games.
Under is 14-3 in their last 17 home games.

— Minnesota is 12-6 in its last 18 games.
Over is 12-4 in their last 16 games.

— New York lost nine of its last 12 games.
Over is 8-1 in their last nine games.

— A’s lost 11 of their last 12 road games.
Under is 10-4 in their last 14 home games.

— Mariners are 12-1 in home series openers, 5-9 in road series openers.
Seattle is 24-6 in its last 30 home games.

— Rays are 13-7 vs lefty starters, 28-34 vs righty starters.
Tampa Bay is 6-9 in home series openers.

— Texas is 3-14 in its last 17 series openers.
Under is 23-9 in Rangers’ last 32 home games.

— Toronto lost five of its last six road games.
Blue Jays are 8-14 in one-run games.

— Second day of the NBA Draft went from 4:00-6:30, an odd time to have it, but at least ESPN put former Warriors GM Bob Myers on their broadcast, so we learned some things. Also had to put up with Stephen A Smith, but that is why God invented the mute button.

Seemed like most of the 2nd round picks got traded, but the Lakers didn’t trade their 2nd round pick- to no one’s surprise, they took Bronny James.

— Before they went to SportsCenter, ESPN was already promoting a July 12 summer league game with the Lakers-Rockets, Bronny’s professional debut.

— Looked like the second day of the draft was held in the back room of a Brooklyn diner, not a big room at all.

— Since 1989, Kentucky has had 48 first round draft picks, Duke 47.

— During John Calipari’s time at Kentucky, Wildcats had 25 NBA lottery picks; no other team had more than 15 lottery picks during those years.

— Before the Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges, they had an 8.2% chance to win the NBA title next year; since the trade was announced, that number has gone up to 12.3%.

— Knicks dealt a 2031 draft pick in that trade, which means that if they keep the pick, Brooklyn will have acquired a young man who just graduated from………6th grade.

— Famous birthdays, June 28th:
Mel Brooks, 98
Raymond Chester, 76
Jim Spanarkel, 67

John Elway, 64
Jay Schroeder, 63
Mark Grace, 60

John Cusack, 58
Brandon Phillips, 43
Bradley Beal, 31

— Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice just won his first Stanley Cup title, in his 26th year as a head coach; he’s been a coach so long, his first head coaching gig was with the Hartford Whalers, who later became the Carolina Hurricanes.

— If you have HBO or whatever they call it now, Hard Knocks starts up next week, with the focus on the off-season of the New Jersey Giants. 

— Angels 5, Tigers 0
Rookie Davis Daniel allowed 4 hits in 8 shutout IP, in his first MLB start.
Last time a rookie threw 8+ shutout IP with 8+ strikeouts in his first career start was Jason Jennings of Colorado, back in 2001.

— Marlins 7, Phillies 4
Phillies led 2-0 after six innings.
Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper both got hurt in this game.

— Toronto 9, New York 2
George Springer hit a couple three-run homers.
Last three nights, New York starting pitchers gave up 19 runs in 13.1 IP.

— White Sox 1, Braves 0
Luis Robert’s first inning homer was the game’s only run.
Five Chicago pitchers combined on the shutout win.

— Cubs 5, Giants 3 (10)
Ian Happ homered in the 10th inning.
Cubs broke a 4-game losing streak.