Armadillo Sports

September’s Too……..is a good bar
1165 Central Avenue in Colonie, just west of Osborne Road

Wednesday- 25-cent wings all day; open at noon!!!
Thursday-  Open Mike Night, 7:00
Friday- Karaoke at 8:00
Saturday- Live music at 8:00…….

You can order food from them via Door Dash
There’s a pool table, only 25 cents/game.
Check it out, it’s a fun place

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Sunday’s 6-pack
According to Sportico, the least valuable NFL franchises:
$5.5B— Bengals
$5.57B— Jaguars
$5.63B— Saints
$5.66B— Cardinals
$5.72B— Colts
$5.76B— Panthers

Quote of the Day
“I had no idea they were going to be here or present me with an honor. Very humbled. What’s very nice is that flag they were trying to desecrate still has a life.”
Dodgers’ radio announcer/former OF Rick Monday; 50 years ago, he stopped two fans from burning an American flag in the outfield during a Dodger game. He was honored for doing that on Saturday.

Sunday’s quiz
Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris also owns which NBA team?

Saturday’s quiz
Dante Bichette hit the first-ever home run in the history of the Colorado Rockies; his son plays third base for the Mets now.   

Friday’s quiz
Tom Brady was a 6th-round draft pick in 2000; QB Marc Bulger was drafted 31 picks before Brady, by the Saints. 

— Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora Saturday, after his team beat the Orioles 17-1. Red Sox are struggling at 10-17, in last place in the AL East. Boston also fired five of its coaches, so things will be chaotic around the Red Sox for a little while. 

— Week 3 of the NFL season; Cowboys-Ravens are playing a game in Brazil because apparently, teams make a boatload of money when they play games in other countries.

— Jets traded up to draft Clemson QB Cade Klubnik, the 10th QB they’ve drafted since 2010, tied with New England for the most during that time.

Jets’ QB room right now:
Geno Smith
Cade Klubnik
Bailey Zappe
Brady Cook

— New Orleans Saints scored TD’s on only 44% of their red zone drives last year, worst they’ve done since 2005, which helps explain why they drafted three WR’s and a tight end this week.

— Saints first-round pick Jordyn Tyson has a brother who plays in the NBA.

Saints fourth-round pick Bryce Lance has a brother who is the Chargers’ backup QB. 

Saints fifth-round pick Lorenzo Styles has a brother who was Washington’s first-round pick on Thursday night.

— There were 27 WR’s drafted in the first five rounds, most in any draft in the last 60 years.

— Dolphins’ second-round pick Jacob Rodriguez is married to a woman who flies Blackhawk helicopters in the Army.

— For some reason, Cleveland Browns drafted Arkansas QB Taylor Green in the 6th round, even though they drafted two quarterbacks last year. They’re the first team to draft three QB’s in a two-year span, since the Carolina Panthers in 2010-11.

— They had 320,000 people in a parking lot in Pittsburgh Thursday, for the first round the NFL Draft; just have been an excellent night for pickpockets.

— There were five guys hosting the draft Saturday on ESPN; four guys had laptops, Louis Riddick even had two laptops, but Mel Kiper Jr just had a stack of papers with his notes on it.

— Famous birthdays, April 26th
Carol Burnett, 93
Gary Cuozzo, 85
Willie Miller, 79

Phil Olsen, 78
Bill Wennington, 63
Kevin James, 61

Natrone Means, 54
Bailey Zappe, 27
Delon Wright, 24

Missed a birthday; Vince Ferragamo, first QB to lead the Rams to a Super Bowl, he turned 72 years old Friday. He was a very good quarterback. Happy belated birthday.

— Magic 113, Pistons 105
Orlando blew a 17-point lead, but rallied late to win.
Magic was +12 in the 14:00 Jamal Cain played off the bench.
This is 13th time in last 42 years (84 series) that the #8-seed has led the #1-seed 2-1 in a series. Of those previous 12, five underdogs won the series.
Orlando leads series, 2-1

— Thunder 121, Suns 109
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 42 points for OKC.
Phoenix was minus-16 in the 9:00 Jalen Green didn’t play.
Oklahoma City leads series, 3-0

— Knicks 114, Hawks 98
Karl-Anthony Towns had his first playoff triple-double.
Atlanta shot only 10-41 behind the arc.
New York led 58-44 at halftime.
Series is tied, 2-2.

— Timberwolves 112, Nuggets 96
Minnesota outscored the Nuggets 32-24 in third quarter.
Ayo Dosunmu scored 43 points; he didn’t start.
Denver shot only 6-28 behind the arc.
Timberwolves lead series, 3-1

— Five of the six teams who are currently in last place finished last season with records over .500; only Colorado was also in last place last year- they’re actually a lot better this year.

— Padres 6, Diamondbacks 4
This game was played in Mexico City, where the elevation is 50% higher than Denver’s.
Zac Gallen had a 4-0 lead in 4th inning, but got hit by a line drive, left the game.
Ty France hit two solo home runs for San Diego.

— Mariners 11, Cardinals 9
There were eight home runs hit in this game.
St Louis led 9-7 after seven innings.
Cole Young was 3-for-4, scored three runs.

— Reds 9, Tigers 2
Sal Stewart went 3-for-4, with a home run and five RBI.
Cincinnati led 6-1 after the second inning.
Jack Flaherty is 0-2, 5.33 in his first six starts.

— Phillies 8, Braves 5 (10)
Bryce Harper had four RBI, including the game-winning hit in 10th inning.
Zack Wheeler allowed two runs in 5 IP, in his first start this year.
Phillies’ win snaps their 10-game losing skid.

— New York 8, Astros 3
Game was tied 2-2 after six innings.
Austin Wells hit the go-ahead homer in the 7th inning.
Astros have lost 13 of their last 17 games.

— Nationals 6, White Sox 3 (10)
Nasim Nunez went 2-for-4, had four RBI
Jake Irvin pitched 5.2 IP, didn’t allow a run for Washington.
Crowd of 35,175 was the White Sox’ biggest home crowd for an April game that wasn’t the home opener, since 2007.

— Mets’ SS Francisco Lindor’s calf injury is worse than Juan Soto’s was; Lindor is expected to be out more than a month.

Lot of stuff going on this weekend…….

— Arizona Cardinals drafted Miami Hurricanes QB Carson Beck, Steelers took Penn State QB Drew Allar. Four QB’s were drafted in the first three rounds.

— Cleveland Browns drafted two WR’s in the top 40 picks of the draft; last year, their WR’s had a total of only 1,467 receiving yards, least in the league.

— There was one tight end drafted in the first 53 picks, and then four tight ends were taken in the next eight picks.

— Buffalo Bills traded back three times Thursday, finally falling out of the first round; they wound up taking Clemson DE TJ Parker early in the second round Friday. Buffalo will be making six draft picks on Saturday.

— Eagles-Vikings made a trade:
Eagles get: Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, #244 pick
Vikings get: #98 pick, 2027 third-round pick

— Falcons drafted CB Avieon Terrell, where he’ll join his older brother AJ Terrell, also a CB for Atlanta.

— Last four rounds of the NFL Draft are Saturday. 

— Famous birthdays, April 25th
Al Pacino, 86
Talia Shire, 80
Jeffrey DeMunn, 79
Craig Minetto, 72

Randy Cross, 72
Art Schlichter, 66
Hank Azaria, 62
Gina Torres, 58

Darren Woodson, 57
Tim Duncan, 50
Sean Mannion, 34
AJ Puk, 31

— Road teams won all three NBA games Friday night.

— Celtics 108, 76ers 100
Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown both scored 25 points.
Boston shot 20-47 on the arc, 16-34 inside the arc.
Tyrese Maxey was only 12-31 from the floor.
Celtics lead series, 2-1.

— Spurs 120, Trail Blazers 108
Spurs outscored Portland 61-43 in second half.
With Wembanyama out, Stephon Castle scored 33 points.
Spurs were +25 in the 30:00 Dylan Harper played.
San Antonio leads series, 2-1.

— Lakers 112, Rockets 108 OT
Lakers led 63-52 at halftime.
Lebron James made a 3-pointer to tie game with 0:13 left in regulation.
Lakers subs were a combined +26; Houston’s were minus-44.
Lakers lead series, 3-0.

— Movie of the Day: Danny Collins (2015)- An aging rock star decides to change his life when he is given a 40-year-old letter written to him by his hero, John Lennon.

Al Pacino is the singer, Christopher Plummer is his long-time agent, Annette Bening, Jennifer Garner and Bobby Carnevale are also in the movie. Very good movie.

— Reds 9, Tigers 8
Detroit led 5-0 in the fifth inning.
Nathaniel Lowe hit a 2-run walk-off homer in 9th inning.
Matt McLain homered twice for the Reds.
In 7th inning, there was a rain delay of 1:49.

— Rockies 4, Mets 3
Michael Lorenzen threw 7 IP, allowing one run.
Mets hit into three double plays vs Lorenzen.
Mets have lost 13 of their last 15 games.
Colorado ended an 8-game losing skid against the Mets.

— Cubs 6, Dodgers 4
Dansby Swanson hit a 2-run homer in ninth inning.
Alex Bregman had tied the game with an 8th inning homer.
Dodgers led 4-0 after the sixth inning.
Cubs have now won ten games in a row.

— Braves 5, Phillies 3
Michael Harris knocked in two runs with a pinch-hit double.
Braves’ bullpen got the last nine outs, allowing three hits.
Atlanta already leads NL East by 5.5 games.
Phillies have lost ten games in a row. 

— Pirates 6, Brewers 0
Paul Skenes didn’t allow a baserunner until the 7th inning.
Konnor Griffin hit his first major league home run.
Ryan O’Hearn had two hits, scored two runs.
Jake Bauers had Milwaukee’s only hit.

— A’s 8, Rangers 1
A’s hit three home runs in the first seven pitches of the game.
Carlos Cortes hit two home runs for the first place A’s.
Luis Severino got 20 outs, allowed only six hits.
Nathan Eovaldi is 2-4, 5.79 so far this season. 

— There were 320,000 people in a parking lot in Pittsburgh Thursday night, watching the NFL Draft. League has hit the jackpot, moving the draft around the country every year.

Few years ago, I was going to go to Las Vegas and watch the draft there, but then I checked the hotel prices- they were tripled for that weekend, so I passed that up. 

Roger Goodell does an excellent job running the first round; he doesn’t wear a tie, laughs every now and then. Easy to laugh when you make $40M a year, I guess, but he seems like a good guy.

— Why wasn’t #1 pick Fernando Mendoza at the draft? He was at home in Florida; you would think he’d be at the draft or at least in Las Vegas, but he was in Florida with his family.

Last time the Raiders won a playoff game, Fernando Mendoza hadn’t been born yet.

— Draft is three days long: first round was Thursday, rounds 2-3 are Friday night, rest of the draft is Saturday afternoon.

— Chose to watch the draft on ESPN; can’t deal with NFL Network’s Rich Eisen, who I find annoying. He went to Michigan; he must’ve been thrilled when four of the first 11 players taken were from Ohio State.

— Last five years, six Ohio State wide receivers have been drafted in the first round.

— Famous birthdays, April 24th:
Shirley MacLaine, 92
Barbra Streisand, 84
Eric Bogosian, 73
Ernie Grunfeld, 71

Michael O’Keefe, 71
Bill Krueger, 68
Dino Radja, 59
Melinda Clarke, 57

Chipper Jones, 54
Carlos Beltran, 49
Welington Castillo, 39
Konnor Griffin, 20

— League picked up the pace with the draft, cutting the time between picks from 10 minutes down to 8 minutes.

— Rams picked Alabama QB Ty Simpson with the 13th pick, making him the heir apparent to future Hall of Famer Matthew Stafford, when he retires, hopefully well down the road. Simpson is the son of a college football coach; he has only started 15 college games.

— New England coach Mike Vrabel won’t be with the Patriots on Saturday for the third day of the draft, his wrist getting slapped publicly for his recent off-the-field drama.

— Chicago Bears drafted a defensive player in the first round for the first time since 2018.

— Movie of the Day: Draft Day (2014)- At the NFL Draft, General Manager Sonny Weaver has the opportunity to rebuild his team when he trades for the number one pick. Does he do what he thinks is best, or do what everyone else thinks is best?

Kevin Costner is the GM of the Browns, Denis Leary is the coach, Jennifer Garner is the team’s salary cap guru. This is the movie that started the league moving the draft around the country; they delayed the draft in 2014 to promote the movie, and Radio City Music Hall was unavailable for the later date, so they moved the draft somewhere else, hitting paydirt in the process.

There were eight trades during the draft Thursday:
— Buffalo traded back THREE TIMES, acquiring a few extra picks for the next two days. 

— 49ers traded back twice, with Miami and the Jets.

— There were two trades that involved division rivals, which is unusual; Cowboys-Eagles made a deal where Philly moved up to draft WR Makai Lemon from USC

Patriots-Bills also traded; New England drafted an offensive lineman from Utah.

— Jets used the #2 pick in the draft on a defensive lineman; they had only 26 sacks last year, the fewest they’ve had since 1999.

— Chiefs lost two defensive backs this winter, one in a trade, one as a free agent; they traded up with Buffalo, drafted a cornerback from LSU.

— Dolphins banked two 5th-round draft picks for falling back only one pick; they traded the #11 pick to Dallas, which drafted a safety from Ohio State.

— So far this season, National League teams have an 83-57 edge over the American League in interleague play. Which helps explain why Milwaukee is 13-10 and in last place in the NL Central, while the A’s are 13-12 and are in first place in the AL West.

— Mets 3, Twins 2
Mets snap their 12-game losing streak.
Mark Vientos had the game-winning hit in the 8th inning.
Juan Soto was 1-for-3 with a walk in his return from the injured list.

— Cubs 7, Phillies 2
Seiya Suzuki homered, scored two runs.
Cubs have won their last eight games.
Phillies have lost eight in a row, outscored 56-16.

— Braves 8, Nationals 6
Michael Harris homered twice, had three RBI
Game was 4-4 in the second inning.
Atlanta has won seven of its last eight games.
Nationals have scored 29 runs in the first inning, most of any team. 

— New York 4, Boston 1
Red Sox scored one run in first two games of this series.
Max Fried threw eight shutout IP in this game.
New York has won five games in a row.

— Famous birthdays, April 23rd:
Lee Majors, 87
Gail Goodrich, 83
Joyce DeWitt, 77
Joe Ferguson, 76 (Bills’ QB)
Uwe xon Schamann, 70

Greg Meisner, 67
Valerie Bertinelli, 66
Andruw Jones, 49
John Cena, 49
Gavin Sheets, 30

— Word of the Day: Serendipity- Fortunate discoveries made by chance.

— Thunder 120, Suns 107
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 37 points, nine assists.
Thunder outscored Phoenix 35-20 in third quarter.
OKC was +11 in turnovers (21-10).
Thunder leads series, 2-0

— Pistons 98, Magic 83
Cade Cunningham had 27 points, 11 assists.
Pistons outscored Orlando 38-16 in third quarter.
Magic shot only 33% from the floor.
Series is tied, 1-1

— P Lucas Giolito signed with the San Diego Padres for the rest of this year; player/team have a mutual option for next season. Giolito was 10-4, 3.41 in 26 starts for Boston last year.

— Padres-Diamondbacks are playing two games in Mexico City Friday-Saturday; the altitude there is 7,350 feet, 2,070 feet higher than Denver’s altitude. Figure to be high scoring games.

— NFL Draft starts Thursday night, runs for three days; tomorrow’s den figures to be mostly about that. Draft is in Pittsburgh this year.

— Toronto Blue Jays played in Arizona Sunday; their plane to Anaheim had mechanical issues. Players voted to take a bus from Phoenix to Arizona, instead of waiting for another plane.

— UConn guard Solo Ball is having wrist surgery, will sit out next season with a medical redshirt.

— Pirates 8, Rangers 4
Pittsburgh scored four runs in 9th inning, improved to 14-10.
Oneil Cruz hit a three-run homer off the top of the foul pole.
Braxton Ashcraft gave up four hits in 7 IP for the Pirates.

— Rockies 8, Padres 3
Hunter Goodman was 3-for-4, with a home run.
Tomoyuki Sugano got 17 outs, allowed only one run.
Colorado is 7-5 at home, 3-10 on the road.

— Giants 3, Dodgers 0
Patrick Bailey hit a three-run homer in the 7th inning.
Shohei Ohtani’s threw six shutout IP; his on-base streak ended at 53 games.
Dodgers lost four of their last five games. 

— Twins 5, Mets 3
Minnesota didn’t have a hit, trailed 3-0 after five innings.
Devin Williams faced five hitters in the 9th, didn’t get any of them out.
Mets lost their last twelve games, outscored 67-22.

Mets’ payroll this year is $369,560,162, second only to the Dodgers.

— Cubs 7, Phillies 4
Shota Imanaga allowed three hits in 7 IP.
Cubs have won their last seven games.
Phillies have lost seven in a row, outscored 49-14.

— Guardians 8, Astros 5
Cleveland scored six runs in the bottom of the 8th inning.
Chase DeLauter hit a bases loaded triple.
Astros are 9-16, in last place in AL West.

— White Sox 10, Diamondbacks 2
Rookie Sam Antonacci had a triple and an inside-the-park HR, his first MLB homer.
White Sox led 7-0 in the second inning.
Munetaka Murakami homered for the fourth game in a row.

— Royals 6, Orioles 5
Maikel Garcia scored the winning run on a wild pitch.
Michael Massey tied the game with an 8th inning homer.
Kansas City snaps an 8-game losing streak.

— Blue Jays 4, Angels 2
Toronto scored three runs in the top of the 8th inning.
Blue Jays used five relievers to get the last 12 outs.
Angels are 4-7 at hone, 7-7 on the road.

— Padres 1, Rockies 0
Manny Machado drew a bases loaded walk for the game’s only run.
San Diego has won 14 of its last 16 games.
Colorado’s last 18 batters all made outs.

— A’s 5, Mariners 2
Jeff McNeil hit his first home run in the green-and-gold.
A’s have won their last seven road games.
Sacramento is 13-11; they lead the AL West by a half-game. 

— Famous birthdays, April 22nd:
Jack Nicholson, 89
Spencer Haywood, 77
Moose Haas, 70
Terry Francona, 67

Freeman McNeil, 67
Jeff Hostetler, 65
Jimmy Key, 65
Mickey Morandini, 60

Marshawn Lynch, 40
Amber Heard, 40
Kevin Kiermaier, 36
Duncan Robinson, 32

— Billy Donovan resigned after coaching the Chicago Bulls for six years; he was 226-256 with the Bulls, 1-4 in playoff games, after he had gone 18-23 in playoff games coaching Oklahoma City from 2015-20. 

Donovan, of course, was 502-206 as a college coach, winning consecutive national titles with the Florida Gators.

— Former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is joining NBC’s Sunday night NFL pregame show. 

NBA playoff games:
Tuesday’s games:
— 76ers 111, Celtics 97
VJ Edgecombe had 30 points, 10 rebounds.
Tyrese Maxey scored 29 points, had nine assists.
76ers outscored Boston 37-26 in second quarter.
Series is tied, 1-1

— Trail Blazers 106, Spurs 103
Scoot Henderson scored 31 points in the upset win.
Spurs led by 14 points early in the fourth quarter.
Victor Wembanyama left with a concussion after a hard fall.
Series is tied, 1-1

— Lakers 101, Rockets 94
Lebron James had 28 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists.
Lakers were +12 in 21:00 that Jaxson Hayes played.
Houston shot only 7-29 on the arc.
Lakers lead series, 2-0

Monday’s games
— Cavaliers 115, Raptors 105
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, James Harden 28.
Cavaliers never trailed in this game.
Cleveland leads series, 2-0; they’ve won their last 12 playoff games vs Toronto.

— Hawks 107, Knicks 106
Hawks outscored New York 28-15 in fourth quarter.
CJ McCollum scored 32, Jonathan Kuminga 19.
Josh Hart had 15 points, 13 rebounds, six assists.
Series is tied, 1-1

— Timberwolves 119, Nuggets 114
Denver led 39-25 after the first quarter.
Minnesota was +20 in the 31:00 Donte DiVincenzo played.
Loss ends the Nuggets’ 13-game winning streak.
Series is tied, 1-1

Major League teams are playing their eighth series of the season this week; here is how they all did in their first seven series:

6-0-1 Braves
5-1-1 Dodgers
Diamondbacks
5-2 Cardinals
Padres

4-2-1 Reds
Pirates
Guardians
Tigers
Bronx

4-3 Cubs
Brewers
Twins

3-3-1 Marlins
A’s
Mariners
Rangers

3-4 Giants
Orioles
Rays
2-3-2 Angels

2-4-1 Rockies
Nationals
Red Sox
White Sox
Astros

2-5 Mets
Phillies

1-5-1 Royals

1-6 Blue Jays

— Famous birthdays, April 21st:
Dick Green, 85
Tony Danza, 75
Mark Olberding, 70
Jesse Orosco, 69
Andie McDowell, 68

Spencer Tillman, 62
Gary Grant, 61
Tony Romo, 46
Joc Pederson, 34
Jack Leiter, 26

— Ravens/Dolphins will be the only NFL coaching staffs this fall with no one on their staff who has ever been an NFL head coach. New Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley was the head coach for four years at Boston College, before going to Green Bay as defensive coordinator.

— Before last week, the last time Shohei Ohtani pitched in a major league game, but didn’t bat in that game, was 2021, when he was playing for the Angels.

— There will be another round of conference re-alignment this fall, with the Pac-12 coming back to life as a glorified version of the Mountain West, after UCLA/USC, Oregon/Washington bolted to the Big 18 and the Arizona schools skipped off to the Big X.

Hell, Cal/Stanford are in the ACC now; if I was a kid these days, I’d for sure fail Geography.

— UConn poached a basketball player from Duke; Nikolas Khamenia, a 6-8 sophomore who scored around five points a game last year. I’m wondering how much it was about adding a bench player, as opposed to busting Duke’s balls and poaching one of their guys.

— This past weekend, umpire Austin Jones was working the Mets-Cubs series, while Tyler Jones was working the Royals’ series in the Bronx.

They are the first-ever twin brothers who both became major league umpires; overall, they’re the fourth set of brothers who became big league umps. First twins, though. 

— Cubs 2, Mets 1 (10)
Mets led 1-0 in the ninth inning.
Michael Conforto tied game with pinch-hit double in 9th inning.
Mets lost their last eleven games, outscored 62-19.

Mets’ payroll this year is $369,560,162, second only to the Dodgers.

— Cardinals 7, Astros 5 (10)
Mason Winn was 3-for-5, with three RBI
St Louis has won five games in a row.
Astros have lost 12 of their last 14 games.

— Reds 7, Twins 4 (10)
Minnesota led 3-1 after eight innings.
TJ Friedl hit a three-run double in ninth inning.
Cincinnati is 11-0 in games decided by 3 or fewer runs.

— Marlins 5, Brewers 3
Eury Perez allowed three hits in his six IP.
Just second win for the Marlins in their last nine games.
Four of last five Milwaukee games stayed under the total.

— Rockies 9, Dodgers 6
Mickey Moniak homered, had three RBI.
Edouard Julien was 3-for-5, with three RBI
Colorado is 6-3 at home, 3-10 on the road.

— Famous birthdays, April 20th:
George Takei, 89
Steve Spurrier, 81
Tom Hutton, 80
Jessica Lange, 77
Clint Howard, 67

Don Mattingly, 65
John Carney, 62
Allan Houston, 55
Brandon Belt, 38
Luke Kuechly, 35

All the NBA games were Game 1’s in their series
— Celtics 123, 76ers 91
Jayson Tatum had 25 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists.
This was only the 17th game Tatum played this season.
76ers shot 4-23 on the arc; Joel Embiid (appendicitis) didn’t play.

— Thunder 119, Suns 84
Oklahoma City led 65-44 at halftime.
Thunder was +11 (17-6) in turnovers.
Phoenix shot 34.9% from the floor.

— Magic 112, Pistons 101
Paolo Banchero had 23 points, nine rebounds.
Cade Cunningham scored 39 points; rest of the Pistons shot 36%.
Detroit has lost its last 11 home playoff games.

— Spurs 111, Trail Blazers 98
San Antonio led 59-49 at halftime.
Victor Wembanyama scored 35 points in his first playoff game.
Spurs were +18 in the 23:00 Dylan Harper played off the bench.  

— Movie of the Day: Molly’s Game (2017)— Young woman runs high stakes poker games for celebrities/rich guys, but when members of the Russian mob enter the game, things get complicated. This is a true story, and real life is often stranger than fiction.

Jessica Chastain plays Molly, Idris Elba is great as her lawyer, Kevin Costner has a small-ish role as her father. The book she wrote about this came before the movie.

— Padres 2, Angels 1
Mason Miller got a save; he has 27 strikeouts in 11.1 IP this year.
San Diego has won 10 of its last 11 games.
Padres are 7-1 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on

— Blue Jays 10, Diamondbacks 4
Toronto scored 8 runs in top of the first inning.
Ryne Nelson’s ERA went up from 3.54 to 6.97; he recorded one out.
Ildemaro Vargas has an 18-game hitting streak, longest active streak in MLB.

— Tigers 6, Red Sox 2
Dillon Dingler hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning.
Detroit has won eight of its last nine games.
Despite the win, Tigers are 4-9 on the road, 8-1 at home.

— Nationals 3, Giants 0
Washington scored all three of its runs in 5th inning.
Curtis Mead hit a two-run homer.
Nationals are now 2-7 at home, 8-5 on the road.

— Braves 4, Phillies 2
Michael Harris had three hits, homered out of #9 spot in order.
Atlanta has won five in a row, 9 of last 11 games.
Phillies went 2-7 on this homestand. 

— New Jersey Giants traded Pro Bowl DT Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the 10th pick in next week’s draft. Giants now have the 5th and 10th picks in the draft.

Lawrence will be 29 in November; he was a Pro Bowl pick from 2022 to 2024 and was an All-Pro finalist in 2022/2023 seasons. In his career, he has 30.5 sacks and 40 tackles for loss in 109 career games. He also got double-teamed a lot.

— Cubs 4, Mets 2
Pinch-hitter Carson Kelly hit a three-run homer in the 6th inning.
Mets have lost ten games in a row, outscored 60-18.
This is the Mets’ longest losing streak since 2004.

— Giants 7, Nationals 6 (11)
Heliot Ramos was 3-for-5, homered for second day in a row.
Washington had bases loaded, no one out in 10th inning, but didn’t score.
Nationals are 1-7 at home, 8-5 on the road.

— Rays 8, Pirates 7 (13)
Last few innings of this game were played in a rainy quagmire.
Tampa Bay won seven of its last eight games.
Paul Skenes left after four scoreless IP (64 pitches).

— A’s 7, White Sox 6 (11)
Max Muncy hit a walk-off sac fly in the 11th inning.
White Sox led 5-0 in the second inning.
Nick Kurtz homered, had two RBI, walked three times.

— Famous birthdays, April 19th:
Keith Erickson, 82
Frank Viola, 66
Keith Jackson, 61 (Eagles’ TE)
Ashley Judd, 58
Jeff Wilkins, 54

Kate Hudson, 47
Troy Polamalu, 45
Joe Mauer, 43
Sal Frelick, 26
Jackson Merrill, 23

All the NBA games were Game 1’s in their series
— Cavaliers 126, Raptors 113
Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points.
Cleveland outscored Raptors 36-22 in third quarter.
Cavaliers shot 16-32 on the arc, Toronto 13-27.

— Nuggets 116, Timberwolves 105
Nikola Jokic scored 25 points, had 13 rebounds, 11 assists.
Jamal Murray scored 30 points, going 16-16 on foul line.
Nuggets outscored Minnesota 29-17 in third quarter.

— Knicks 113, Hawks 102
Jalen Brunson scored 28 points, had seven assists.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 19 of his 25 points in the 2nd half.
Cj McCollum scored 26 for Atlanta, who were 20-6 in last 26 regular season tilts.

— Lakers 107, Rockets 98
Lakers shot 60.6% from the field.
Luka Doncic/Austin Reaves didn’t play for the Lakers.
Kevin Durant didn’t play for Houston.

— Movie of the Day: Tequila Sunrise (1988)- A retired drug dealer tries to go straight but his past and his underworld connections bring him into the focus of the DEA, the Mexican feds and the Mexican drug cartels in Los Angeles.

Mel Gibson is the drug dealer, Michelle Pfeiffer owns the restaurant where he hangs out, Kurt Russell plays a cop pursuing drug dealers, Raul Julia plays a Mexican drug lord.

Excellent cast, very good movie.

— Cardinals 7, Astros 5
Cardinals have won four in a row, are now 12-8.
Yordan Alvarez hit his 9th home run for Houston.
Astros have lost 11 of their last 13 games.

— Rockies 4, Dodgers 3
Rockies’ bullpen got the last 10 outs; Vodnik got his third save.
Under is 6-1 in Colorado’s last seven home games.
Just third loss in last 14 games for the Dodgers.

— Tigers 4, Red Sox 1
Tarik Skubal struck out 10 guys in six IP.
Win snaps Detroit’s nine-game road losing streak.
Red Sox are 0-12 TY when their starting pitcher lasts less than 6 IP.

— Mariners 7, Rangers 3
George Kirby got 17 outs, allowed only one run.
Luke Raley homered, scored three runs.
Brandon Nimmo got his 1,000th career hit.

— Diamondbacks 6, Blue Jays 2
Corbin Carroll hit a grand slam in the 8th inning.
Arizona bullpen got the last 10 outs, didn’t allow a run.
Defending AL champ Blue Jays are off to a 7-13 start. 

— Red Sox 1, Tigers 0 (10)
Casey Mize/Ranger Suarez had quite a pitchers’ duel.
Both teams had four hits.
Loss snaps Detroit’s six-game winning streak.

— Cubs 12, Mets 4
Hoerner, Happ, Ballesteros homered for the Cubs.
Mets have now lost nine games in a row.
Carson Benge and his .151 batting average hit leadoff in this game.

Since 1969, only one team (2000 Braves) had a losing streak of 8+ games in April and wound up making the playoffs that season.

Cubs’ alternate light blue jerseys look a lot like the Montreal Expos’ jerseys from the 70’s.

— Brewers 7, Marlins 5 (10)
Jake Bauers was 3-for-4, scored three runs.
Garrett Mitchell was 2-for-4, had three RBI
Marlins lost six of their last seven games.

— Angels 8, Padres 0
Adam Frazier was 2-for-4, with two runs scored.
Jose Soriano is 5-0, 0.28 in his first five starts.
Loss snaps San Diego’s eight-game winning streak.

— Cardinals 9, Astros 4
Herrera/Gorman both homered, had three RBI each.
Yordan Alvarez hit his 8th home run for Houston.
Astros have lost 10 of their last 12 games.

— Famous birthdays, April 18th:
Richie Pettibon, 88
Pete Gogolak, 84
Cindy Pickett, 79
Rick Moranis, 73
Eric Roberts, 70

Conan O’Brien, 63
Frederick Weller, 60
Maria Bello, 59
Derrick Brooks, 53
Miguel Cabrera, 43

— Magic 121, Hornets 90
Orlando led 68-37 at halftime.
Paolo Banchero scored 25 points, had six assists.
Magic advance to play Detroit in the playoffs starting Sunday

— Suns 111, Warriors 96
Phoenix led 33-15 after the first quarter.
Jalen Green scored 36 points for the Suns.
Phoenix advances to play Oklahoma City in the playoffs starting Sunday

— San Diego Padres are going to be sold to Jose E. Feliciano, co-owner of the Chelsea soccer team, and his wife Kwanza Jones. Selling price is said to be a record $3.9B.

Feliciano, 53, is co-founder and managing partner of Clearlake Capital, a private-equity firm based in Santa Monica. He is a native of Puerto Rico who began his career in investment banking in the mergers/acquisitions and corporate finance groups at Goldman Sachs.

— Chicago Cubs currently have 10 pitchers on the injured list. Oy. 

— ESPN doesn’t seem to care much about baseball these days, but they had Mets-Dodgers on Wednesday with a very good three-man booth: Joe Buck, Ron Darling, Orel Hershiser. ESPN seems to care more about pro wrestling than baseball now, which is disappointing..

— Movie of the Day: The Gambler (2014)- A college Literature professor is a compulsive  gambler whose debt causes him to borrow money from his mother and a loan shark. He’s also messing around with one of his students. Awkward.

Mark Wahlberg is the professor, Jessica Lange is his mother, Brie Larson is the student, John Goodman is the loan shark. 

This is a remake of a movie James Caan/Paul Sorvino did in the 70’s; it is a good movie, but a little bit disturbing.

— Rangers 5, Mariners 0
Seattle lost its last seven games that weren’t against the Astros.
Jacob deGrom left after tossing four scoreless innings.
Langord/Burger/Jung all had three hits for Texas.

— Giants 10, Nationals 5
San Francisco scored six runs in top of the 2nd inning.
Matt Chapman was 3-for-5, with three RBI
Washington is 1-6 at home, 8-5 on the road.

— Pirates 5, Rays 1
Game was tied 1-1 in the sixth inning.
Brandon Lowe went 3-for-5, with two doubles, two RBI.
Loss snaps Tampa Bay’s six-game winning streak. 

Graphic on TV said that coming into this game, Spencer Horwitz was 7-for-7 in his career against Nick Martinez, but he still batted 7th. What happened to analytics?
(Horwitz was 3-for-3 in this game)

Weird stat: Pirates have outscored opponents 23-1 in the second inning this year.

— Orioles 6, Guardians 4
Game was scoreless after six innings; Cleveland scored four runs in 7th.
Daniel Schneemann hit a grand slam for the Guardians.
Jeremiah Jackson hit a three-run homer in the Orioles’ six-run 8th inning.

— Diamondbacks 6, Blue Jays 3
Nolan Arenado homered, had two RBI.
Mike Soroka is 4-0, 2.78 for Arizona.
Blue Jays lost 11 of their last 14 games. 

NL East
Trends are thru April 16th
— Braves (12-7)
Braves won six of their last eight games
Over is 8-1-1 in their last ten games.
Atlanta is 10-2 when they score more than two runs.

— Marlins (9-10)
Marlins are 7-3 at home, 2-7 on road.
Over is 6-2-1 in their last nine games.
Marlins are 3-9 when they score less than six runs.

— Mets (7-12)
Mets have lost eight games in a row.
New York is 0-5 vs lefty starting pitchers.
Mets are 7-1 when they score 4+ runs.

— Phillies (8-10)
Phillies lost six of their last eight games.
Over is 8-3-1 in their home games.
Phiilies are 6-4 vs righty starters, 2-6 vs lefties.

— Nationals (9-10)
Nationals are 1-5 at home, 8-5 on the road.
Over is 10-3-1 in their last 14 games.
Nationals are 3-10 if they score less than seven runs.

NL Central
— Cubs (9-9)
Cubs are 2-6 in the game following a win.
Cubs are 7-2 in the game following a loss.
Cubs are 7-5 vs righty starters, 2-4 vs lefties.
Over is 6-1-1 in their last eight road games.

— Reds (11-8)
Cincinnati is 5-2 on the road.
Over is 7-2 in their last nine games.
Reds are 4-2 in games when winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Reds already have 4 wins in games when they scored two runs.

— Brewers (10-8)
Milwaukee is 8-2 when they score 3+ runs.
Milwaukee is 10-5 vs AL teams, 0-3 vs NL teams.
Brewers are 4-2 vs lefty starters. 

— Pirates (11-8)
Pirates are 10-5 of their last 15 games.
Over is 4-1-1 in their last six games.
Pittsburgh is 9-4 when they score 3+ runs.

— Cardinals (10-8)
St Louis is 2-4 in series openers.
Cardinals are 8-5 vs righty starters, 2-3 vs lefties.
Cardinals are 4-1 in games when winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Over is 6-3-2 in their last eleven games.

NL West
— Diamondbacks (11-8)
Arizona is 8-3 in its last 11 games.
Diamondbacks are 6-8 vs righty starters, 5-0 vs lefties.
Over is 6-3-1 in their last ten games.
Arizona is 8-2 when they score 4+ runs.

— Rockies (7-12)
Rockies lost five of their last six games.
Colorado is 4-2 at home, 3-10 on the road.
Four of their last five home games stayed under the total.

— Dodgers (14-4)
Dodgers won 10 of their last 12 games.
Dodgers are 5-1 in series openers.
LA is 5-4 vs AL teams, 9-0 vs NL teams.
Dodgers are 12-0 when they score 4+ runs.

— Padres (13-6)
Padres won 11 of their last 12 games.
San Diego is 6-1 in games when winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Over is 6-3 in their last nine games.
Padres are 11-0 when they score more than three runs.

— Giants (7-12)
Giants lost four of their last five games.
Last five games, SF scored total of 12 runs.
Giants are 5-0 when they score 5+ runs.

AL East
— Orioles (9-10)
Baltimore lost its last three games, scoring 10 runs.
Orioles have scored in first inning in only two of 19 games.
Six of their last eight home games went over.
Orioles are 4-10 when they score less than 6 runs.

— Red Sox (7-11)
Boston is 3-3 at home, 4-8 on the road.
Over is 6-3 in their last nine road games.
Red Sox are 5-11 vs righty starters, 2-0 vs lefties.
Boston already has four losses when they scored 5+ runs.

— New York (10-9)
New York lost seven of its last nine games.
New York is 8-5 vs righty starters, 2-4 vs lefties.
Under is 5-2 in their last seven home games.
New York scored in first inning in 10 of its last 15 games.

— Rays (11-7)
Tampa Bay won its last six games, scoring 36 runs.
Over is 13-2-3 in their games.
Tampa Bay is 11-3 when they score 3+ runs.

— Blue Jays (7-11)
Toronto lost 10 of its last 13 games.
Blue Jays are 6-6 at home, 1-5 on the road.
Toronto is 2-10 if they score less than five runs.

AL Central
— White Sox (6-13)
Chicago lost eight of its ten games.
Over is 3-0-1 in their last four games.
Chicago is 2-11 when they score less than five runs.

— Guardians (11-9)
Guardians are 8-1 in the game following a loss.
Cleveland is 6-8 vs righty starters, 5-1 vs lefties.
Under is 5-2 in their road games.
Cleveland is 9-2 when they score more 4+ runs.

— Tigers (10-9)
Tigers are 8-1 at home, 2-8 on the road.
Detroit is 4-1 in games when winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Under is 5-2 in their last seven games.

— Royals (7-12)
Royals are 5-5 at home, 2-7 on the road.
Under is 7-3 in their last ten games.
Kansas City has scored in first inning in one of its 19 games.
Royals are 0-6 in games when winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Twins (11-8)
Minnesota has won nine of its last 11 games.
Twins are 7-3 at home, 4-5 on the road.
Over is 5-1 in their last six games.
Twins are 11-4 if they score 3+ runs.

AL West
— Astros (8-12)
Houston is 7-2\3 at home, 1-9 on road.
Over is 6-2 in their last eight home games.
Astros are 1-8 if they score less than six runs.
Houston is 3-8 vs AL West opponents.

— Angels (10-10)
Halos are 6-8 vs righty starters, 4-2 vs lefties.
Nine of Angels’ last 11 games went over the total.
Angels are 7-2 if they score 6+ runs.

— A’s (10-9)
A’s won seven of their last nine games.
Over is 5-1-1 in their last seven home games.
A’s scored in first inning in one of their 19 games.

— Mariners (8-12)
Mariners lost their last four games.
Seattle is 7-4 at home, 1-8 on the road.
Under is 7-2 in their road games.
Over is 8-3 in their home games.

— Rangers (10-9)
Texas is 3-3 at home, 7-6 on the road.
Under is 5-0-1 in their home games.
Over is 7-3-3 in their road games.
Texas is 7-2 when they score more than three runs. 

— As I’m typing this, there is a thunderstorm going on outside, it is almost 1 am and the A’s are in first place in the American League West. Not your normal Wednesday night. 

A’s 6, Rangers 5
Shea Langeliers hit a 467-foot home run to put the A’s up 4-2 in 6th inning.
Joel Kuhnel got four outs for his third save.
Jack Wilson also homered for the A’s.

— Padres 7, Mariners 6
Seattle led this game 6-0 in the sixth inning.
Padres scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Jackson Merrill had the game winning hit for San Diego.

— Dodgers 8, Mets 2
Shohei Ohtani struck out 10 guys in six IP; he didn’t hit.
Dalton Rushing homered, had four RBI.
Mets have now lost eight in a row, are 7-12.

— Diamondbacks 8, Orioles 5 (10)
Adrian Del Castillo homered in 10th inning, had five RBI.
Arizona went 6-3 on their road trip.
Over is 6-2 in Baltimore’s last eight home games.

— New York 5, Angels 4
Jose Caballero had a walk-off double for New York.
Left side of Angels’ IF botched an easy pop-up earlier in the inning.
Trout/Judge both homered in this game.

— Famous birthdays, April 16th
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 79
Ellen Barkin, 72
Bruce Bochy, 71

Curt Young, 66
Jon Cryer, 61
Walt Williams, 56

Keon Clark, 51
Jonathan Vilma, 44
Nolan Arenado, 35

— 76ers 109, Magic 97
Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points for Philly.
Magic hosts Charlotte Friday for the #8-seed in the East.
76ers play Boston in the first round of the playoffs.

— Warriors 126, Clippers 121
Stephen Curry scored 27 of his 35 points in the second half.
Warriors outscored the Clippers 43-32 in the 4th quarter.
Golden State visits Phoenix Friday; winner gets the #8-seed.

— Angels’ Of Jorge Soler had his 7-game suspension reduced to four games, after his scuffle with Reynaldo Lopez a while back. Lopez has already served his suspension. 

— Detroit Tigers signed rookie SS Kevin McGonigle to an 8-year, $150M contract that will start next season. McGonigle is 21 years old; now he’s really, really rich.

— Movie of the Day: Up in the Air (2009)- A guy whose job is to go around the country firing people is told that his company is going to start firing people via video conferences.
 
George Clooney is the guy who fires people, Jason Bateman is his boss, Vera Farmiga is a woman he messes around with on his road trips and Anna Kendrick is the person who is hired to introduce the new way of firing people.

Good movie, with couple of surprising twists/turns.

— Tigers 2, Royals 1
Wenceel Perez hit the game-winning homer in the 8th inning.
This was Detroit’s third win this year when they scored two runs.
Royals have scored 2 or fewer runs in 11 of their 18 games.

— Brewers 2, Blue Jays 1
Milwaukee scored twice in 8th inning, snapped six-game losing skid.
Dylan Cease allowed two hits in six shutout IP.
Toronto is 6-6 at home, 1-4 on the road.

— Astros 3, Rockies 1
Spencer Arrighetti struck out 10 guys in six IP.
Colorado has lost six games in a row.
Houston is 7-2 at home, 1-9 on the road.

— Cardinals 5, Guardians 3
Dustin May got the win, giving up a run in six IP.
Riley O’Brien got his fifth save of the season.
St Louis is 7-3 when they score 5+ runs.

— Reds 8, Giants 3
Rookie 1B Sal Stewart hit two 3-run homers.
Tyler Mahle is 0-3, 7.23 so far this season.
Giants are 6-12, tied with Colorado for worst record in the NL. 

— Monday night in Baltimore, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz got drilled in the face by a foul ball during the game; he broke his jaw, and had at least seven fractures in his cheekbones, but he was back in the dugout for Tuesday night’s game.

Orioles 2B Jeremiah Jackson hit the ball that broke his jaw; the next two times Jackson came to the plate, he hit home runs.

Albernaz won’t need surgery, and his jaw didn’t need to be wired shut, but he’s on a strict baby-food diet. He also can’t blow his nose, which is probably too much information.

— Dodgers 2, Mets 1
Francisco Lindor led game off with a HR, Mets’ first run in three days.
Mets’ next baserunner was when Bo Bichette doubled in the 7th inning.
Mets are 7-11, and have now lost seven games in a row.

— Braves 6, Marlins 5
Dominic Smith had 4 RBI; he had 3-run double in 8th inning.
Drake Baldwin was 2-for-4, scored two runs.
Marlins are 2-6 on the road, 7-3 at home.

— A’s 2, Rangers 1
Jacob Wilson’s 2-run single in 3rd inning was the game-winning hit.
Jeffrey Springs is 3-0, 1.46 to start the season.
A’s/Rangers are both 9-8, tied for first in AL West.

— Twins 6, Red Sox 0
Byron Buxton homered twice for Minnesota.
Mick Abel allowed four hits, struck out 10 in 7 IP.
Twins are 11-7, which right now is the best record in the AL.

— Famous birthdays, April 15th:
Ted Sizemore, 81
Michael Cooper, 70
Emma Thompson, 67

Jason Sehorn, 55
Brock Huard, 50
Seth Rogan, 44

Antonio Cromartie, 42
Danny Jansen, 31
Eury Perez, 23

— Hornets 127, Heat 126 OT
LaMelo Ball scored 30 points, had 10 assists.
Hornets play the loser of the Orlando-Philly game Friday for the #8-seed. 

Hornets won 44 regular season games this year; those wins were by an average of 18.2 points, the biggest average margin of victory by an NBA team ever, in one season. 

This game was the first time all season that Charlotte won a game by one point.

— Trail Blazers 114, Suns 110
Portland pulls an upset, makes playoffs for first time since 2021
Phoenix led by 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Deni Avdija scored 41 points, had seven rebounds, 12 assists.
Suns play host the winner of the Clippers-Warriors game on Friday.

— Milwaukee Bucks/coach Doc Rivers parted ways; Bucks were 100-111 in three years with the Bucks, 3-8 in playoffs. Rivers has coached five teams in his 27 years as a head coach; hr won an NBA title with the Celtics 2008.

— Mets brought up 38-year old OF Tommy Pham, who has played for 10 different teams in his 13-year career. He has a .766 career OPS.

— Word of the Day: Flummoxed- Confused, bewildered, confounded.

— Rockies 7, Astros 6
Christian Walker had three hits, including a home run.
Astros snapped their eight-game losing streak.
Houston is 6-2 at home, 1-9 on the road.

— Padres 4, Mariners 1
Xander Bogaerts had three hits, three RBI.
Mason Miller got the save; he has a scoreless streak of 29.2 IP
San Diego has won six in a row, nine of last ten games.

— Blue Jays 9, Brewers 7 (10)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr had game-winning hit in the 10th inning
Both teams blew 9th inning leads in this game.
Milwaukee has now lost six games in a row.

— Cardinals 6, Guardians 5 (10)
Rookie 2B JJ Wetherholt homered twice for St Louis.
Cleveland led this game 5-2 in 8th inning.
Cardinals are already 4-0 in extra inning games.

— Rays 8, White Sox 5
Ben Williamson doubled twice, drove in three runs.
Shane McClanahan got his first win since 2023, before his elbow surgery.
White Sox lost six of their last eight games. 

— Orioles 9, Diamondbacks 7
Arizona led 7-1 in the sixth inning.
Jeremiah Jackson hit two homers, including a grand slam.
Ketel Marte/Nolan Arenado both homered twice for Arizona.

— Pirates 16, Nationals 5
Pittsburgh scored ten tuns in the sixth inning.
Skenes has started four times; Pirates scored 38 runs in those games.
Top three hitters in Pittsburgh lineup were 8-12 with 12 RBI

— Twins 13, Red Sox 6
Garrett Crochet gave up 11 runs, only got five outs.
Ryan Jeffers scored three runs, had three RBI
Minnesota has won seven of its last eight games.

— Bronx 11, Angels 10
Mike Trout, Aaron Judge both homered twice.
New York scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Trent Grisham had two HR’s, five RBI; he didn’t start.

— Dodgers 4, Mets 0
Jason Wrobleski allowed two hits in 8 shutout IP.
Mets had only three hits; they’ve lost seven straight games.
Mets were shut out in three of their last four games.

— Famous birthdays, April 14th:
Julie Christie, 86
Chris Welsh, 71
Brad Garrett, 66
Stan Humphries, 61
David Justice, 60

Greg Maddux, 60
Craig Kupp, 59
Brad Ausmus, 57
Adrien Brody, 53
Baker Mayfield, 31

Missed a birthday yesterday; the great talk show host David Letterman turned 79.

— Arizona-San Diego are playing two games in Mexico City this weekend, where the altitude is higher than it is in Denver.

— Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic led the NBA in rebounds AND assists, the first-ever player to do that. He also finished 8th in the league in scoring.

— Stumbled across an old video of chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer making an appearance on the Tonight Show back when I was a kid; had to be 1974 or so. Johnny Carson was a great talk show host, but he was walking on eggshells around Fischer, who was temperamental on a good day. Great chess player, smart guy, but a very unusual person.

— RIP to football coach Dave McGinnis, who passed away at age 74.

McGinnis was head coach of the Cardinals for three years after he was their defensive coordinator for five years. Overall, he spent 32 years coaching in the NFL.

RIP, coach.

— Movie of the Day: Lost In Translation (2003)- A veteran movie star is in Tokyo doing commercials, where he meets a lonely young woman in a hotel bar, and the two travelers become unlikely friends.

Bill Murray is the actor, Scarlett Johanssen is the woman who is married but largely ignored by her photographer husband. This is a nice movie, not a comedy; we need more nice in the world.

— Mariners 6, Astros 2
Josh Naylor hit his first two homers of the season .
George Kirby gave up two runs in 7.2 IP.
Houston has lost eight games in a row.

— Rangers 8, A’s 1
Jake Burger hit two homers, had four RBI
Nathan Eovaldi threw seven shutout IP
With the win, Texas is in first place by themselves in AL West.

— Guardians 9, Cardinals 3
Matthew Liberatore gave up 4 runs in 5 IP, throwing 105 pitches.
Jordan Walker hit his 8th homer of the season.
Guardians/Twins are tied for first in AL Central.

— Phillies 13, Cubs 7
Kyle Schwarber homered twice, scored 4 runs, had 3 RBI
JT Realmuto was 3-5 with three RBI out of the 8th spot in order.
Cristopher Sanchez gave up two runs, had 8 strikeouts.

— Marlins 10, Braves 4
Agustin Ramirez was 3-4 with a homer, 4 RBI
Liam Hicks was 3-4 with three RBI
Atlanta’s bullpen gave up seven runs in five IP. 

— AL West standings, after five series this year:
A’s 8-7
Rangers 8-7
Angels 8-8
Mariners 7-9
Astros 6-10

A’s have only played 3 of their 15 games at home in Sacramento.

— A’s 1, Mets 0
Nick Kurtz homered for the game’s only run.
Aaron Civale got 17 outs, allowed only four hits.
A’s have won five in row, seven of last nine games.

— Cubs 7, Pirates 6
Pittsburgh led 6-3 after six innings.
Michael Busch stopped an 0-for-30 skid with a 2-run single in 8th inning.
Carson Kelly had a walk-off single for the 7-8 Cubs.

— Mariners 6, Astros 1
Logan Gilbert allowed four hits in his 7 IP.
Arozarena, Raley both had three hits for Seattle.
Houston has lost seven games in a row.

— Red Sox 9, Cardinals 3
Willson Contreras had four hits, three RBI
Trevor Story had four hits, two RBI
Jordan Walker hit his 7th home run for St Louis.

— Famous birthdays, April 13th:
Ron Perlman, 76
Mark Leiter, 63
Ricky Schroder, 56

Dan Campbell, 50
Baron Davis, 47
Quentin Richardson, 46

Hunter Pence, 43
Melvin Gordon, 33
Edward Cabrera, 28

— Giants manager Tony Vitello jumped from managing college ball at Tennessee to being a major league manager in San Francisco. I wonder if he is enjoying it, seriously. Not talking about the winning/losing (Giants are 6-10) but the other aspects of being a manager that have to be a lot different in the major leagues than they are in college.

— I’m thinking the ABS pitch challenge system is hurting scoring; just seems like hitters lose most of their pitch challenges. Catchers’ challenges are more successful.

— Playing fantasy baseball is fun for me, but platooning drives me crazy; just play your best freakin’ players. It is often a self-fulfilling prophecy to sit lefties against lefties; maybe if you play them against everyone, you’ll realize you have a great player on your hands.

— RIP Phil Garner, who passed away this week at age 76. Garner played 16 years in the majors for five teams, starting out with the A’s in 1973. He also managed in the big leagues for 15 years, for three teams. He played on the Pirates team that won the 1979 World Series. 

RIP, sir.

— Movie of the Day: Message in a Bottle (1999)- A female writer finds a tragic love letter in a bottle on the beach, and tries very hard to find out who wrote the letter.

Robin Wright is the writer, Kevin Costner is the person who wrote the latter, Paul Newman in his father. Robbie Coltrane, Ileana Douglas are also in the movie, which is very good but not a very happy movie.

— Diamondbacks 4, Phillies 3
Arizona scored two runs in the 8th inning for the win.
Diamondback bullpen didn’t allow a run in four IP.
Phillies have lost four of their last five games.

— Nationals 8, Brewers 6
Keibert Ruiz had the game-winning hit for Washington.
Milwaukee’s bullpen gave up six runs the last three innings.
Brice Turang homered twice for the Brewers.

— White Sox 6, Royals 5
White Sox OF Tanner Murray hit his first MLB home run.
Chicago had been shut out Friday/Saturday.
White Sox used nine pitchers in a nine-inning game.
Start of the game was delayed three hours by rain.

— Angels 9, Reds 6
Jose Soriano struck out 10 guys in 7 IP.
In his first four starts, Soriano is 4-0, 0.33
Mike Trout had two hits, scored three runs.

— Tigers 8, Marlins 2
Tarik Skubal didn’t give up a hit until the sixth inning.
Dillon Dingler hit a three-run homer in the first inning.
Marlins have lost seven of their last ten games. 

— NBA play-in games are this week:
Tuesday:
10E Miami @ 9E Charlotte
8W Portland @ 7W Phoenix

Wednesday:
8E Orlando @ 7E Philadelphia
10W Golden State @ 9W LA Clippers