Armadillo Sports

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

Wednesday- Live music during lunch……..
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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Friday’s 6-pack
Week 1 NFL spreads:
— Bears (-2.5) @ Carolina
— Jets @ Tennessee (-3)
— Saints @ Detroit (-7)
— Cardinals @ LA Chargers (-10.5)
— Dolphins @ Las Vegas (-3.5)
— Commanders @ Philadelphia (-4.5)

Quote of the Day
“Up until probably two, three years ago, that was like a pipe-dream question or even a thought, but that’s part of the allure. Him going into his 24th season, me going into my 18th, the battles we’ve had, that would be such a unique story in NBA history.”
Steph Curry, talking about potentially teaming up with Lebron James

Friday’s quiz
In his career, how many games has Shohei Ohtani played in the outfield?

Thursday’s quiz
Rex Ryan was coach of the Buffalo Bills, before Sean McDermott.

Wednesday’s quiz
Blake Snell threw the last complete game no-hitter in the major leagues, in 2024; it was his 11th start that year, his first win. He pitched the no-hitter against Cincinnati

— I tell this story every year; NBA Summer League started Thursday in Las Vegas. You can bet on these games; my advice— DO NOT bet a lot of money on these games.

Few years ago, maybe 8-10 years ago, I’m sitting at the summer league with a buddy and two guys sit in front of us, just before a game is tipping off. One looked like a bodybuilder; very big guy, he was sipping on a mixed drink.

“I’ve got a sure thing in this game; they posted a bad line!!! Team A won by 20 yesterday, Team B lost, but this game is a pick ‘em.”

Oy.

1) they don’t post bad lines on games in Las Vegas
2) if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. 

3) Teams don’t always go all out to win summer league games; they have to see their prospects play, all of them.

Game starts, and Team B gets off to a good start, then they start to pull away. Guy in front of is getting restless, cursing under his breath. 

I came close to tapping him on the shoulder and explaining the thing about seeing prospects, but then I remembered the saying “they kill the messenger” so my buddy and I moved over to the section to our left. As Team B pummeled Team A, we could still hear the big guy cursing. 

There is a reason those bright lights on the Strip stay lit 24 hours a day.

— Red Sox 2, White Sox 1
Caleb Durbin hit a two-run homer in the 4th inning.
Boston has won six games in a row, and 11 of 13.
White Sox have lost six of their last eight games.

— Mets 7, Royals 3
Tyrone Taylor homered during a five-run fifth inning.
Mark Vientos was hit by a pitch, broke his hand, is on the IL
This season, five different Mets have led off the first inning with a HR.

— Guardians 5, Twins 2
Gavin Williams allowed 3 hits, struck out 11 in 7 IP.
Cade Smith earned his 27th save for the Guardians.
Cleveland/White Sox are tied for first in AL Central.

— Braves 10, Pirates 5
Mike Yastrzemski hit a grand slam in 9th inning.
Matt Olson homered, playing in his 740th consecutive game.
Rookie SS Jim Jarvis had three hits, including his first MLB homer.

— Orioles 3, Cubs 2
Jeremiah Jackson hit a 2-run double in the bottom of the 8th.
Orioles didn’t have a hit in innings 3-7.
Seiya Suzuki knocked in both of Chicago’s runs.

— Famous birthdays, July 10th:
Hal McRae, 81
Andre Dawson, 72
Darryl Talley, 66

Sofia Vergara, 54
Cam Jordan, 37
Lawrence Butler, 26

Fred Gwynne, who played Herman Munster on TV, was born on this day in 1926. 

Notes for Big X football teams:
Iowa State
New coach Rogers was 6-6 in his one year at Washington State.
Rogers won a national title at the I-AA level.
ISU has only 2 starters back on offense, 2 on defense.
Cyclones have 15 returning I-A starts on OL (have 5 I-AA transfers).
Senior QB Raynor started for three years at Arkansas State.

Last nine years, ISU had eight winning seasons.
Cyclones are 13-7-1 ATS last 21 games as a road underdog.
ISU is 6-12 ATS last 18 games as a road favorite.
Last 10 years, Cyclones are 30-18-1 ATS in games coming off a loss.
Last three years, Iowa State was +21 in turnovers.

Kansas
Coach Leopold is 27-35 SU in five years at Kansas.
Last 10 years, Jayhawks have had one winning season.
Kansas has 6 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Jayhawks have 65 returning starts on the offensive line.
Junior QB Bellard threw 22 passes last year.

Under Leopold, Kansas is 9-4-1 ATS as a home underdog.
Under Leopold, Kansas is 8-14 ATS as a road underdog.
In his career, Leopold is 22-15-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Jayhawks won four of their last five bowl games (5-0 ATS)
Problem is, they’ve been in only two bowl games since 2008.

Kansas State
Klein is a first-year HC who played QB at K-State.
Wildcats haven’t had a losing season since 2020.
K-State has 7 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Wildcats have 50 returning starts on OL, from various places.
Senior QB Johnson has 25 career starts.

K-State is 15-8 ATS in last 23 games as a home favorite.
Wildcats are 1-9 ATS in last 10 games as a road favorite.
K-State is 29-17 ATS in last 46 games coming off a loss.
Last four years, Wildcats were +33 in turnovers.
K-State won three of its last four bowl games.

Oklahoma State
New coach Morris was 22-16 in three years at North Texas. 
Cowboys were 3-9/1-11 the last two years.
Cowboys have 7 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
OSU has 117 returning starts on OL (lot of transfers).
Soph QB Mestemaker started 14 games at North Texas LY.

Last four years, OSU is 6-10 ATS as a road underdog.
Morris was 10-4 ATS as a home favorite at North Texas.
Last nine years, Cowboys are 15-10 ATS as a road favorite.
Cougars are 28-17-1 ATS in last 43 games coming off a win.
OSU won three of last four bowl games (last one in 2023).

TCU
In four years, coach Dykes is 36-17 SU at TCU.
Last two years, Horned Frogs went 9-4/9-4 SU.
TCU has 7 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Horned Frogs have 95 returning starts back on offensive line.
Senior QB Craig is a transfer from Harvard (6,074 PY, 52 TD’s).

In his career, coach Dykes is 35-27 ATS as a home favorite.
In his career, coach Dykes is 14-21-2 ATS as a road favorite.
Under Dykes, TCU is 16-10 ATS in home games.
Horned Frogs are 10-5 ATS in last 15 games coming off a loss.
TCU won three of its last four bowl games. 

Texas Tech
Coach McGuire is 35-18 SU in four years at Tech.
Tech lost its last two bowl games, 39-26/23-0
Red Raiders have 8 starters back on offense, 8 on defense.
Tech has 108 career returning starters on OL, from various places.
Junior QB Francis started 12 games at Tulsa.

McGuire is 15-7 ATS as a home favorite.
McGuire is 24-12 ATS in conference games.
Tech is 5-2 ATS in last seven games as a road underdog.
Red Raiders were +14 in turnovers LY, when they were 12-2.
Tech is 17-5 ATS in last 22 games coming off a loss. 

Utah
New HC Scalley was defensive coordinator here the last 10 years.
Last ten years, Utah has had nine winning seasons.
Utah has 8 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Utes have only 31 returning starts on offensive line.
Senior QB Dampier threw 24 TD’s last year, only five INT’s.

Utah is 14-8 ATS in last 22 games as a home favorite.
Last 10 years, Utes are 10-4 ATS as a road underdog
Last 10 years, Utes are 55-35 ATS in conference games.
Utah is 10-12 ATS in last 22 games coming off a win.
Utes lost four of their last five bowl games. 

West Virginia
Last five years, West Virginia had four losing seasons.
Coach Rodriguez is in 2nd year of his 2nd stint in Morgantown.
WVU has 7 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
WVU has 120 returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Hawkins started five games at Oklahoma.

WVU is 15-4 ATS in its last 19 games as a home favorite.
In his career, Rodriguez is 23-19-1 ATS as a road favorite.
In his career, Rodriguez is 23-33 ATS as a road underdog
WVU is 10-4 ATS in last 14 non-conference games.
WVU is 2-3 SU/1-4 ATS in last five bowl games.

Trends for AFC teams:
AFC East:
Bills
Last seven years, Buffalo is 5-1-1 ATS in its road opener.
Bills’ last three playoff losses were all by three points.

Dolphins
Miami covered four of last five visits to Buffalo. 
Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since 2000.

Patriots
New England covered five of last six games vs Buffalo. 
Patriots are 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games vs Miami.

Jets
Last four years, Jets are 8-16 ATS in divisional games. 
Last four years, Jets are 4-8 ATS as a home favorite.

AFC North
Ravens
Ravens are 7-2 ATS in their last nine games as road underdogs.
Four of their last five road openers went over the total.

Bengals
Last four years, Bengals are 13-6 ATS as a road favorite.
With Burrow at QB, Cincy is 1-6 ATS as a favorite in Weeks 1-2.

Browns
Last four years, Cleveland is 9-18 ATS as a road underdog.
Browns are 0-5 ATS in their last five visits to Pittsburgh.

Steelers
Last nine years, Pittsburgh is 0-5 SU in playoff games.
Steelers are 12-7 ATS in their last 19 divisional games. 

AFC South
Texans
Houston is 5-2 ATS in last seven games vs Tennessee.
Last four times they made playoffs, Texans went W-L

Colts
Since 2008, Colts are 3-15 ATS in Week 1 games.
Colts covered nine of last 13 games as a home favorite.

Jaguars
Last three years, Jaguars are 8-4 ATS as a road favorite.
Jacksonville covered five of its last six games against the Colts.

Titans
Last three years, Tennessee is 1-9 ATS as a home favorite.
Last four years, Titans are 7-17 ATS in divisional games.

AFC West
Broncos
Broncos covered their last four Monday night games.
Denver is 1-6 ATS in last seven Thursday games.

Chiefs
Last four years, Chiefs are 7-16-1 ATS in divisional games.
Kansas City is 0-5 ATS in their last five visits to Denver.

Raiders
Last four years, Raiders are 1-5 ATS as a road favorite.
Raiders covered eight of their last 10 games vs Denver.

Chargers
Last three years, Bolts are 10-1-1 ATS in divisional games.
Chargers covered five of last six visits to Kansas City.

— Famous birthdays, July 9th:
George Stone, 80
Jimmy Smits, 71
Willie Wilson, 71
Tom Hanks, 70

Jim Paxson, 69
Kelly McGillis, 69
Trent Green, 56
Damon Huard, 53

Kelly Holcomb, 53
Enrique Murciano, 53
Jared Young, 31
Brett Rypien, 30

— Blue Jays 10, Giants 0
Dylan Cease had a no-hitter until the 9th inning.
Toronto scored five runs in the top of the first.
Kazuma Okamoto homered, had four RBI

— Braves 3, Pirates 0
Game was scoreless after seven innings.
Joey Bart hit a two-run HR in the 8th inning.
Jared Jones pitched six perfect innings (77 PT) for the Pirates.

— Marlins 2, Mariners 0
Otto Lopez had his 40th multi-hit game of the year.
Kyle Stowers hit a second inning home run.
Seattle is 47-46, but they lead AL West by half a game.

— Mets 6, Royals 2
Mets scored five runs in the bottom of 8th inning.
Key play: Jared Young got hit by a pitch with bases loaded.
Christian Scott allowed three hits in five scoreless IP.

— Twins 6, Guardians 5
Cleveland led 5-3 in the 7th inning.
Alan Roden had the walk-off hit for Minnesota.
Cleveland is 47-46, game out of first place in AL Central.

— So far this season, National League teams are 232-185 (.556) vs AL teams.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies-Cubs-Marlins
AL: Rays, Whits Sox, Mariners. Wild Cards: Bronx-Guardians-Rangers

Trends for NFC teams:
NFC East:
Cowboys
Last seven years, Dallas is 5-2 ATS in Week 1
Last year, Cowboys were 2-8 ATS as a favorite.

Giants
Last nine years, Giants are 1-8 ATS in Week 1
Last four years, Giants are 3-8-1 ATS in divisional games.

Eagles
This year, Eagles have their 6th offensive coordinator in six years.
Eagles are 1-5 ATS in their last six visits to Dallas.

Commanders
Washington is 8-2 ATS in last 10 games, as a favorite of less than 7 points.
Commanders are 0-5 ATS in their last five visits to Dallas.

NFC North
Bears
Chicago is 13-5-1 ATS in its last 19 home games.
Bears are 1-6 ATS in their last seven visits to Green Bay.

Lions
Last four years, Detroit is 13-3 ATS as a road favorite.
Lions are 9-2 ATS in their last eleven games vs Minnesota.

Packers
Last four years, Green Bay is 5-14 ATS as a road favorite.
Packers covered five of their last six games vs Dallas.

Vikings
Under O’Connell, Minnesota is 11-5-4 ATS as a road favorite.
Vikings are 5-0-1 ATS in their last six visits to Chicago. 

NFC South
Falcons
Last 10 years, Atlanta is 2-8 ATS in Week 1.
Falcons covered their last four games at Tampa Bay.

Panthers
Last two years, Carolina was 11-5 ATS as a home underdog.
Last three years, Carolina was 8-15-1 ATS as a home underdog.

Saints
Last three years, New Orleans is 11-6-1 ATS in divisional games.
Saints are 1-4 ATS in their last five visits to Carolina.

Buccaneers
Last four years, Tampa Bay is 7-17-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Last four years, Buccaneers are 9-15 ATS in divisional games.

NFC West
Cardinals
Last four years, Cardinals are 7-17 ATS in divisional games.
Last seven years, Arizona is 6-1 ATS in Week 1

Rams
Under McVay, Rams are 7-2 ATS in Week 1
Rams are 12-5 ATS in their last 17 games as a road favorite.

49ers
San Francisco is 3-9 ATS in its 12 games as an underdog.
49ers covered four of their last five visits to Seattle.

Seahawks
Seattle is 2-7 ATS in its last nine home openers.
Seahawks are 12-4-1 ATS in their last 17 road games.

— Famous birthdays, July 8th:
Alan Ashby, 75
Jack Lambert, 74
Terry Puhl, 70
Kevin Bacon, 68

Sebastian Maniscalco, 53
Hakim Warrick, 44
Reid Detmers, 27
Michael McGreevy, 26

— If Tuesday was your 49th birthday, you were born on July 7, 1977 (7-7-77)

— Pirates 12, Braves 4
Ryan O’Hearn hit three home runs, had 10 RBI.
He is the first Pirate EVER with 10 RBI in a game.
Pirates 47-45, three games out of the last playoff slot.

— Royals 16, Mets 12
Kansas City scored 31 runs in their last two games.
Tyler Tolbert, batting 9th, had a streak of 12 hits in 12 plate appearances.
Mets led this game 9-4 after the fourth inning.

— Brewers 4-10, Cardinals 3-2
Milwaukee sweeps twinbill, now leads NL Central by seven games.
Jacob Misiorowski struck out 11 guys in the opener.
Robert Gasser allowed four hits in 7.2 IP, in the nightcap.

— Red Sox 8, White Sox 1
Peyton Tolle allowed two hits in six shutout IP.
Red Sox have won nine of their last eleven games.
White Sox lead the AL Central by a game over Cleveland.

— Rays 6, Bronx 4
Ian Seymour allowed five hits, got 12 of his 16 outs via the strikeout.
Hunter Fedducia/Yandy Diaz hit back/back homers in 4th inning.
Rays increased their AL East lead to four games.

— Marlins 6, Mariners 5 (10)
Jakob Marsee had a walk-off single, off the right field fence.
Marlins led 4-0 after the fourth inning.
Marlins have a two-game lead for the last Wild Card slot.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies-Cubs-Marlins
AL: Rays, Whits Sox, Mariners. Wild Cards: Bronx-Guardians-Rangers

— Mets 7, Braves 6 (10)
Mets scored three runs in 9th inning, two more in 10th.
Matt Olson hit two homers, including a game-tying HR in the 9th.
Mets are 38-53, 11 games out of the last playoff spot.

Freddy Peralta threw 103 pitches, only got 14 outs; the Mets’ infield defense sucks, especially at 1B. Peralta hasn’t gotten an out after the 6th inning in his last eight starts.

— Royals 15, Phillies 1
Royals had 22 hits, scored in every inning.
Cristopher Sanchez at home: 7-1, 0.86 in 11 starts.
Cristopher Sanchez’ last three road starts: 0-2, 10.93.

— Nationals 12, Astros 11
James Wood hit a grand slam, walked three times.
Curtis Mead/CJ Abrams were both 3-for-5, with 3 RBI
Nasim Nunez stole his 33rd base, most in the big leagues.

— Giants 10, Blue Jays 1
Heliot Ramos homered twice, had five RBI
Giants won for the first time in Landen Roupp’s hast 12 starts.
Toronto is 42-49, 3.5 games out of the last playoff spot.

— Bronx 5, Rays 1
Jose Caballero homered twice, had four RBI
Cam Schlitter tossed 8 IP; he is now 9-5, 2.01
Rays’ loss cuts their lead in AL East down to three games.

— Diamondbacks 8, Padres 0
Max Kepler homered, had four RBI.
Brandon Pfaadt allowed four hits in five scoreless IP.
San Diego has lost 9 of last 10 games; they’re 15-28 in their last 43.

— Brewers 4, Cardinals 3
Trailing 3-0, Milwaukee scored four runs in the 7th inning.
Dustin May threw 81 pitches on three days’ rest, lasted 4.2 IP.
Brewers lead the NL Central by 6.5 games.

— Famous birthdays, July 7th:
Ringo Starr, 86
Joe Spano, 80
Glenn Hoffman, 68
Ralph Sampson, 66
Billy Campbell, 66

Jorja Fox, 58
Chuck Knoblauch, 58
Stoney Case, 54
Brandon McCarthy, 43
Landon Akers, 29

— Movie of the Day: Tin Cup (1996)- A golf pro working at a driving range tries to qualify for the U.S. Open in order to win the heart of his successful rival’s girlfriend.

Kevin Costner is the star, Don Johnson is his rival, Rene Russo is the woman, Cheech Marin is Costner’s friend. Several pro golfers have cameos in the movie, as well as Jim Nantz and Ken Venturi, who were CBS’ #1 golf broadcasters back then.

I hadn’t seen this movie in a long time; it is weird, funny at times. Couple of armadillos are in the movie, walking across the west Texas highway. Armadillos are good.

— The president of Michigan State University makes $1M a year.

Tom Izzo, Michigan State’s basketball coach, makes $7.2M a year.

— NBA Summer League in Las Vegas starts Thursday, runs for 10 days, giving us stuff to watch during baseball’s All-Star break.

If you like the NBA, this is a great event to go see in person; it is reasonably priced, you can sit in an air conditioned gym and watch high quality basketball all day/night, and after all that, you’re still in Las Vegas, even if it is really, really hot there in July.

— Home Run Derby is on Netflix this coming Monday; if I was baseball commissioner, Home Run Derby would be televised where the most people can see it. MLB does a terrible job of promoting their product, and this is another example of that.

— Marlins’ P Eury Perez threw seven perfect innings in Sacramento Sunday; he threw 92 pitches but Miami took him out— it was only his third start coming off the injured list, and they want to protect one of their key pitchers, probably a smart thing to do.

— Nick Kurtz/Shea Langeliers are starters in the All-Star Game, first time since 1991 that the A’s will have two starters in an All-Star Game (Rickey Henderson/Dave Henderson).

— Baseball’s amateur draft is this Saturday; guys get to the major leagues faster these days, so we need to pay better attention to the draft.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies-Cubs-Marlins
AL: Rays, Whits Sox, Mariners. Wild Cards: Bronx-Guardians-Rangers

— Four weeks until the baseball trade deadline; this where Major League Baseball needs to have a Hard Knocks-type show, so we can peek behind the curtains and see how decisions like there are made.

When do you give up on this season?
How do you decide who to trade, if anyone?

Orioles, for instance, are 42-49, a bad record, but they’re only 3.5 games out of the AL’s last Wild Card spot. One strong homestand and they’re right in the thick of things. Don’t teams owe it to their fans to try and make the playoffs?

Anyway, baseball needs NFL Films-type stuff, to promote their great game better.

— Saw a note on Twitter this weekend about how Taylor Swift sang the national anthem before Game 3 of the 2008 World Series, then it dawned on me; I was at that game. Saw a World Series games Saturday night, Falcons-Eagles Sunday afternoon. Pretty good weekend. 

Singer Tim McGraw threw out the first pitch that night; before he threw the pitch, he spread some of his dad’s ashes on the back side of the pitchers’ mound. His father was Tug McGraw, the great relief pitcher for the Mets/Phillies.

— Earlier this week I was whining about Willson Contreras getting tossed from consecutive games, then getting suspended. He is the 1B on my fantasy team; well……..he appealed his suspension, played this weekend and had a stellar series in Anaheim.

MLB will decide on his case Monday; chances are the suspension will be shortened, but I won’t be able to use him this week, but he helped me avoid a loss last week, so kudos to him. If you’re going to be critical, then you have to give credit where credit is due.

— A big reason behind Pete Crow-Armstrong’s improvement this year; more walks. 

Last year, he walked 29 times in 647 plate appearances, had a. 287 on-base %age.
This year, he’s walked 41 times in 385 PA’s, has a .380 on-base %age.

— This year, Vladimir Guerrero Jr hasn’t hit a home run in 158 at-bats in Toronto.
Guerrero only has four home runs in 151 at-bats on the road.

He hit 23 homers last year, 30 the year before. So far this year, not so much.

— Seattle P Bryan Woo’s home/away splits;
Home: 8 starts- 6-0, 2.10, .156 opponents’ batting average
Road: 9 starts- 1-6, 6.38, .284 opponents’ batting average

Pretty freakin’ big difference there.

— Other day during lunch, some TV station replayed a baseball game from 2011, only 15 years ago. One big difference; when someone got a hit, then didn’t dance/strut every single time, they way guys do now. “Act like you’ve been there before” was the line back then.

The 2011 game involved the Cardinals; Skip Schumaker (now the Texas manager) and Matt Holliday were playing for St Louis. Holliday’s son plays for the Orioles now; time flies.

— Famous birthdays, July 6th:
Burt Ward, 81
Fred Dryer, 80
Sylvester Stallone, 80
Jason Thompson, 72

Willie Randolph, 72
Curtis Jackson, 51
Kevin Hart, 47
Pau Gasol, 46

Manny Machado, 34
Brandon Lowe, 32
Andrew Benintendi, 32
Zion Williamson, 26

— Way back on July 3, 1966, a guy named Tony Cloninger hit two grand slams in the same game for the Braves, in a 17-3 win at San Francisco. Pretty impressive for a guy that hit five homers that year, with 23 RBI. 

Here’s the thing: Tony Cloninger was a freakin’ pitcher. A pitcher hit two grand slams in the same game. Pretty amazing feat.

— Back before the National League adopted the DH in 2022, I used to have a thing in our fantasy league; I tried to only have pitchers from NL teams, because they faced other pitchers, who were mostly (Tony Cloninger-types an exception) easy outs.

AL pitchers didn’t get to face pitchers much; their jobs were tougher.

— July 1st was Bobby Bonilla Day, where the former Pirates/Mets OF/1B gets his annual deferred payment of $1.9M, because the people who used to own the Mets are morons. 

They could have paid him $5.9M one last time back in 2000, but instead decided to give him deferred payments from 2011 until 2035. 

That adds up to $29.83M. Kind of a big mistake.

— All-Star Game starters for the AL:
C- Shea Langeliers, A’s
1B- Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Tor
2B- Ernie Clement, Tor
SS- Bobby Witt Jr, KC
3B- Junior Caminero, TB
OF- Mike Trout, LAA
Byron Buston, Minn
Aaron Judge, NYY
DH- Yordan Alvarez, Hous

— All-Star Game starters for the NL:
C- Drake Baldwin, Atl
1B- Freddie Freeman, LA
2B- Ozzie Albies, Atl
SS- CJ Abrams, Wash
3B- Max Muncy, LA
OF- Juan Soto, NY
Brandon Marsh, Phil
Andy Pages, LA
DH- Shohei Ohtani, LA

— I don’t get why fireworks are so popular; I don’t dislike them or anything, but I don’t like them either. Saturday night in my neighborhood had the most fireworks I‘ve ever heard- they kept going until just before midnight. Could see them out my living room window; there is a school two streets away, think some people were shooting them off there.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies-Cubs-Cardinals
AL: Rays, Whits Sox, Mariners. Wild Cards: Bronx-Guardians-Rangers

— Astros 10, Rays 8
Yordan Alvarez homered twice, had six RBI
Alvarez hit a walk-off homer to end the game.
Tampa Bay led 7-2 in the fourth inning.

— Braves 14, Mets 3
Atlanta hit four HR’s Friday, five more in this game.
Michael Harris was 3-for-5, scored 3 runs, had 2 RBI
Mets have lost 12 of their last 14 games.

— White Sox 3, Guardians 1
Colson Montgomery hit game-winning homer in 8th inning.
Second year in a row Montgomery homered on the 4th of July.
These teams are tied for first atop the AL Central.

— Tigers 3, Rangers 0
Jack Flaherty allowed three hits in 5.2 IP.
Riley Greene hit a two-run homer in the first inning.
Rangers were shut out for the sixth time this year.

— Pirates 7, Nationals 1
Braxton Ashcroft won his fourth start in a row.
Nationals used an opener; 4 of the 8 batters he faced scored.
Washington is 2.5 games out of the playoffs, Pirates 3.5 games.

— Twins 11, Bronx 4
Josh Bell homered in consecutive at bats.
All in all, Minnesota hit six home runs.
New York has lost eight of its last nine games.

— Orioles 8, Reds 5
Samuel Basallo hit a 3-run homer in the first inning.
Hunter Greene allowed 8 runs in 3.1 IP, in his first ’26 start.
Cincinnati rookies Chase Burns/Sal Stewart were named All-Stars.

— Famous birthdays, July 5th:
Gary Matthews, 76
Rich Gossage, 75
Johnny Rodgers, 75
James Lofton, 70
Edie Falco, 63

Dave Eiland, 60
Richie Incognito, 43
Shohei Ohtani, 32
Austin Hays, 31
Junior Caminero, 23

Notes for Big X football teams:
Arizona
In two years under coach Brennan, Arizona is 13-12 SU.
Wildcats were 9-4 LY, with a +18 turnover ratio.
Arizona has 6 starters back on offense, 8 on defense.
Wildcats have 61 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Fifita started 13 games LY. .

In his career, Brennan is 40-33-1 ATS in conference games
In his career, Brennan is 14-20 ATS in non-conference games
Arizona is 8-13 ATS last 21 games as a home favorite.
Underdogs covered four of their last five bowl games.
Coach Brennan is 0-4 SU in bowl games.

Arizona State
Coach Dillingham is 22-17 SU in three years at ASU.
Sun Devils were 8-5 LY, despite a minus-6 turnover ratio.
ASU has 4 starters back on offense, 8 on defense.
Sun Devils have 29 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Keene started 34 games at Fresno State.

Under Dillingham, ASU is 9-5-1 ATS as a favorite.
Sun Devils were 8-5 SU LY, despite a minus-6 turnover ratio.
ASU is 19-9-1 ATS in last 29 games as a road underdog.
Sun Devils lost last two bowl games, 39-31 OT/42-39.
ASU’s last bowl win was in the 2019 Sun Bowl.

Baylor
Aranda is 36-37 SU in six years in Waco (12-2 in ’21).
Bears were 5-7 LY, with a minus-13 turnover ratio.
Baylor has 6 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Bears have 93 returning starts OL, doom various places.
Junior QB Lagway started 20 games at Florida.

Under Aranda, Baylor is 24-30-1 ATS in league games.
Bears will try to play a more up-tempo offense this year.
Last three years, Baylor is 5-10-1 ATS in games coming off a win.
Underdogs covered four of their last five bowl games.
Baylor lost its last two bowl games, 30-15/44-31.

BYU
BYU was 11-2/12-2 SU the last two seasons.
BYU has had a positive turnover ratio the last seven years.
Cougars has 5 starters back on offense, 8 on defense.
BYU has 66 returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Bachmeier has 14 career starts.

Last two years, BYU is 7-3 ATS as a home favorite.
Overall, coach Sitake is 34-37 ATS as a favorite.
Cougars are 14-7 ATS in last 21 games coming off a win.
Cougars are 7-3 ATS in last 10 games coming off a loss.
BYU is 4-1 SU/ATS in its last five bowl games.

Central Florida
Last three years, UCF was 6-7/4-8/5-7 SU.
Coach Frost is 40-45 SU as a HC, 24-14 at UCF
UCF has 6 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Knights have 60 returning starts back on offensive line.
Senior QB Barnett started 14 games at James Madison.

In his career, coach Frost is 20-24-2 ATS in home games.
In his career, coach Frost is 19-16 ATS in road games.
UCF lost three of its last four bowl games.
Knights are 5-13-1 ATS in last 19 games coming off a loss.
UCF lost three of its last four bowl games. 

Cincinnati
Coach Satterfield is 15-22 SU in three years here.
Cincinnati’s last winning season: 2020.
Bearcats has 4 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Cincinnati has 108 career returning starters on OL, from various places.
Senior QB French started 26 games at Georgia Southern.

In his career, Satterfield is 18-29-5 ATS as an underdog.
In his career, Satterfield is 18-9 ATS as a road favorite.
Last two years, Cincinnati ended year on five-game losing skid.
Bearcats lost last four bowl games, outscored 110-47.
In his career, Satterfield is 4-2 SU in bowl games. 

Colorado
Sanders is 16-21 SU in three years at Colorado.
Buffs have had one winning season the last nine years.
Colorado has 8 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Buffs have 100 returning starts on OL, from various places.
Soph QB Lewis started twice LY, threw 94 passes.

LY, Colorado was minus-2 in turnovers (+21 previous two years)
Sanders is 12-6-1 ATS in home games. .
Sanders is 16-12 ATS in conference games.
Colorado 11-6-1 ATS in last 18 games coming off a loss.
Buffs lost last five bowls; their last bowl win was in 2004. 

Houston
Fritz is 14-11 SU in two seasons at Houston.
Houston won its last three bowls, by 4-7-3 points.
Houston has 10 starters back on offense, 9 on defense.
Cougars have 112 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Weigman has 26 career starts.

In his career, Fritz is 49-30 ATS as a favorite.
In his career, Fritz is 44-30 ATS in home games.
Cougars had a negative turnover ratio in five of last seven years.
Houston is 7-3 ATS in last 10 non-conference games.
In his career, Fritz is 38-21 ATS in games coming off a loss.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies-Cubs-Cardinals
AL: Rays, Whits Sox, Mariners. Wild Cards: Bronx-Guardians-Rangers

— Braves 5, Mets 3
Matt Olson hit two HR’s; he hadn’t homered in his last 16 games.
Atlanta leads the NL East by three games over the Phillies.
Mets are 16 games under .500, for the first time since 2018.

— Rockies 15, Giants 3
Jake McCarthy homered twice, drove in six runs.
#8/#9 hitters for the Rockies were a combined 6-for-8, scoring five runs.
Giants are only one game ahead of Colorado at the bottom of NL West.

— Nationals 9, Pirates 5
Luis Garcia/Darren Lile both hit two home runs.
Washington scored 26 runs in its last 20 innings at the plate.
Nationals’ ace Foster Griffin is 9-2, 2.87 this season.

— Nationals’ RF James Wood has scored 76 runs; no one else has scored more than 60.

— Cardinals 17, Cubs 1
Alec Burleson/Mason Winn both had four RBI.
David Peterson gave up 10 runs in 3.2 IP, in his second start for Chicago.
If season ended today, both of these teams would make the playoffs.

— Cubs are the first team in the last 100 years, to win by 15+ runs one day, then lose by 15+ runs the next day.

— Guardians 4, White Sox 3 (10)
Kahlil Watson had a walk-off single in the 10th inning.
White Sox led 3-1 in the 7th inning.
With the win, Cleveland takes over first place in AL Central.

— Orioles 3, Reds 0
Trevor Rogers allowed 7 baserunners in 5 IP; none of them scored.
Samuel Basallo hit his 13th home run of the year.
Brady Singer has given up 20 home runs in 17 starts (82.1 IP) this year

— Famous birthdays, July 4th:
Hal Lanier, 84
Harvey Grant, 61
Horace Grant, 61

Jose Oquendo, 63
Vinny Castilla, 59
Todd Marinovich, 57

Josh McCown, 47
Brock Berlin, 45
Austin Trammell, 28

— New York Knicks signed Andre Drummond for one year, $3.9M, to be their backup center. Last two years, he played 19.2 minutes/game for the 76ers.

— Houston Rockets traded Dorian Finney-Smith and three 2nd round picks to Charlotte; they got nothing in return. Nada. Bupkis. 

The traded crated roster flexibility for Houston, and created a $13M trade exception.

Hornets won 44 games last year, after winning 19 the year before; they’ve been busy so far this off-season. 

Notes on some NFL teams……..
— Cowboys
LY, Dallas traded Micah Parsons in August, then allowed 30+ points in eight games.
Cowboys allowed a league-worst 252 passing yards/game.
Dallas was 7-10, even though they were 3-1 in games decided by 3 or fewer points.

Last two years, Cowboys were 3-10 ATS as a favorite.
Last two years, over is 24-10 in Dallas games.
Dallas hasn’t made the NFC title game since 1995.

— Lions
Detroit slipped from 15-2 in 2024 to 9-8 last year.
Losing OC Ben Johnson to the Bears hurt their offense.
Drew Petzing will be the Lions’ third OC in three years.

Detroit was 2-4 in divisional games LY; that has to improve.
Last three years, Lions are 27-13 ATS as a favorite.
Over is 17-8 in their last 25 home games.

— Packers
Packers led Chicago 21-3 in the playoffs LY, but lost 31-27.
First three drives, Green Bay drove 85-87-32 yards, scored 3 TD’s.
In three games vs Chicago LY, Packers outscored them 41-6 in first half, but they lost two of the three games. 

Former Cardinals’ coach Jonathan Gannon is Green Bay’s new DC.
Last three years, Packers are 3-10 ATS as a road favorite.
Under is 15-9 in their last 24 home games.

— Vikings
Kyler Murray was 38-49-1 as Arizona’s QB
JJ McCarthy was 6-4 as Minnesota’s QB last year.
Meanwhile, Sam Darnold won the Super Bowl with Seattle.

Vikings were 9-8 last year, with a minus-9 turnover ratio.
Minnesota is 6-2 ATS in last eight games as a favorite.
Under is 16-8 in their last 24 home games. 

— RIP to former NFL defensive back LeRoy Irvin, who passed away this week at age 68.

Irvin made three Pro Bowls, scored six defensive TD’s, tied for most in Rams’ history.

RIP, sir.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies-Cubs-Cardinals
AL: Rays, Guardians, Tex/Sea. Wild Cards: Bronx-White Sox-Sea/Tex

— Has been very hot in upstate New York the last two days; didn’t leave the house Thursday, trying to escape the heat. One more hot day, then things are supposed to become more normal.

— Guardians 6, White Sox 5
Brayan Rocchio hit a two-run walk-off home run.
White Sox led this game 5-2 in the sixth inning. 
These two teams are in a virtual tie for first atop the AL Central.

— AL Central standings:
White Sox 45-41
Guardians 46-42
Twins 4 GB
Tigers 8 GB
Royals 11 GB

— Rays 5, Royals 2
Cedric Mullins hit his 10th home run of the year.
Rays lead the AL East by four games.
Kansas City has lost seven of its last eight games. 

— Rockies 14, Marlins 4
Colorado scored seven runs in bottom of the 6th.
Jake McCarthy homered, scored three runs, had four RBI
Mickey Moniak was 3-for-5, scored three runs, had two RBI

— Red Sox 1B Willson Contreras had a bad week:
Monday- ejected in 3rd inning for bitching at the umpire.
Tuesday- ejected in 4th inning for getting in a scuffle with Washington’s pitcher.
Wednesday- Actually played whole game, got 2 hits, but Boston lost 10-2.
Thursday- Suspended for seven games because of his antics Tuesday.

Contreras is on my fantasy team; not that I’m bitter, but this week’s game is close and he is done for this week, and now I can’t use him next week either. Awesome.

— Cardinals 11, Braves 5
Atlanta led 5-3 after one inning; it stayed that way until the 7th.
Cardinals scored seven runs in the top of the 7th.
Jordan Walker homered, had four RBI
Braves’ lead in NL East is 2.5 games over the Phillies.

— Famous birthdays, July 3rd
Betty Buckley, 79
Jan Smithers, 77
Frank Tanana, 73
Bruce Altman, 71
Tom Cruise, 64

Greg Vaughn, 61
Neil O’Donnell, 60
Moises Alou, 60
Grant Wistrom, 50
Carter Jensen, 23

Some notes on NFL teams:
— Cardinals
This year they have a new coach, new OC; Jacoby Brissett will start at QB, but for how long?
They were 3-14 last year, even though their turnover ratio was only minus-2.
Arizona was 2-8 in one-score games, 0-5 in games decided by 3 or fewer points.

Brissett is 20-55 as an NFL starter, for five different teams. 
Last three years, over was 18-7 in Arizona’s home games.
Last three years, under was 15-10 in their road games.

— Falcons
Kevin Stefanski was 46-58 coaching Cleveland, 1-2 in playoff games.
Falcons haven’t made the playoffs since 2017.
Last three years, Atlanta is 9-16 ATS at home.

Michael Penix/Tua Tagovailoa; they have two lefty QB’s, rare in the NFL.
Last year, Falcons were 3-6 when Penix started, 5-3 when Kirk Cousins started.
In their careers, Tagovailoa is 44-33 as an NFL starter; Penix is 4-8.

— Panthers
Third year for the head coach, the QB, both coordinators.
Carolina was 8-9 LY, even though they were 6-2 in games decided by 3 or less points.
Panthers had only one win LY by more than 8 points (Week 3 vs Falcons)

Carolina is only 10-16 ATS in its last 26 road games.
Last year, Panthers were 10-5 ATS as an underdog.
Kenny Pickett replaces Andy Dalton as the backup QB.

— Bears
Bears were 11-6 in Ben Johnson’s first year, got first playoff win since 2010.
Chicago won six games LY they trailed in last 2:00 of regulation.
Chicago is #7 in NFL in $$ spent of their offensive line, to protect QB Williams. 

LY, Bears had a ridiculously-good +22 turnover ratio; will be hard to repeat that.
Chicago is 14-8 ATS in their last 22 home games.
Bears were 7-4 last year, in games decided by 8 or fewer points.

— Movie of the Day: The Candidate (1972)- The son of a famous politician runs for a Senate seat he has very little chance of winning, so he does what politicians rarely do, he says what he really thinks.

Robert Redford is the youngish politician, Karen Carlson is his wife, Peter Boyle is his campaign manager, Alan Garfield, Melvyn Douglas are also in this movie, which holds up pretty well even though it is fairly old.

— Boston Celtics traded G Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia; in return, 76ers send to Boston:
Paul George
two first round draft picks
two second round draft picks

— Free agent G Anfernee Simons signed a two-year, $12.3M deal with the 76ers.

— Billy Donovan is going to be the new lead assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs; he replaces Sean Sweeney, who is the new head coach of the Orlando Magic. Donovan’s son used to be an assistant coach for the Spurs’ G League team.

— Houston Rockets signed Tari Eason for five years, $81.5M; he played 25 mpg last year, starting 34 times. He is a very good defender.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies-Cubs-Cardinals
AL: Rays, White Sox, Tex/Sea. Wild Cards: Bronx-Guardians-Sea/Tex

Trends are thru July 1st:

NL East
— Braves (50-34)
Braves lost 13 of their last 18 games.
Atlanta is 4-12 since Ronald Acuna went on the IL.
Braves are 15-8 against their NL East rivals.

— Marlins (46-41)
Marlins won 20 of their last 27 games.
Marlins are 28-17 at home, 18-24 on road.
Under is 8-4 in Marlins’ last dozen games.

— Mets (36-51)
Mets lost 10 of their last 12 games.
New York is 6-16 vs lefty starting pitchers.
Mets are 7-16 in one-run games.

— Phillies (49-38)
Phillies are 40-19 in their last 59 games.
Under is 19-7 in their last 26 road games.
Phiilies are 18-6 in one-run games.

— Nationals (45-43)
Nationals won four of their last five games.
Over is 17-7 in their last 24 home games.
Nationals are 27-32 vs righty starters, 18-11 vs lefties.

NL Central
— Cubs (49-38)
Streaky Cubs have won 15 of its last 19 games.
Cubs are 15-9 in one-run games.
Over is 10-3 in Cubs’ last thirteen games.

— Reds (39-46)
Reds lost seven of their last nine games.
Reds are 6-16 in last 22 games when winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Reds are 29-37 vs righty starters, 10-9 vs lefties.

— Brewers (53-31)
Milwaukee is 43-18 in its last 61 games.
Brewers lead NL Central by 5.5 games.
Brewers are 6-3 in extra-inning games.

— Pirates (43-44)
Pirates are 10-16 in their last 26 games.
Pittsburgh is 38-28 vs righty starters, 5-16 vs lefties.
Over is 14-4 in their last 18 home games.

— Cardinals (44-39)
St Louis is 4-8 in its last 12 games.
You’re reading armadillosports.com
St Louis is 31-31 vs righty starters, 13-8 vs lefties.
Cardinals are 7-2 in extra-inning games.

NL West
— Diamondbacks (43-42)
Arizona is 4-7 in its last eleven games.
Diamondbacks are 28-36 vs righty starters, 15-6 vs lefties.
Under is 7-2-1 in their last ten games.

— Rockies (34-53 )
Rockies are 5-2 in last seven home series openers.
Colorado is 19-24 at home, 15-29 on road.
Rockies are 13-11 vs AL teams.

— Dodgers (56-31)
Dodgers are 29-10 in their last 39 games.
Over is 9-5-1 in their last 15 road games.
Dodgers are 8-5 in Shohei Ohtani’s pitching starts.

— Padres (43-42)
San Diego lost its last five games, outscored 54-17.
Under is 17-9-1 in their last 27 home games.
Padres are 20-8 in games when winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Giants (35-50)
Giants won five of their last seven home games.
SF is 26-36 vs righty starters, 9-14 vs lefties.
Under is 8-1 in their last nine home games.

— Famous birthdays, July 2nd
Larry David, 79
Joe Pisarcik, 74
Tony Armas, 73
Jon Sundvold, 65
Clark Kellogg, 65

Jose Canseco, 62
Mark Clayton, 44
Margot Robbie, 36
Sean Casey, 52
Daulton Varsho, 30

AL East
— Orioles (40-48)
Baltimore is 24-23 at home, 16-25 on the road.
Orioles are 30-33 vs righty starters, 10-15 vs lefties.
Orioles are 6-13 in one-run games.

— Red Sox (37-48)
Boston is 17-27 at Fenway, 20-21 on the road.
Red Sox are 27-38 vs righty starters, 10-10 vs lefties.
Red Sox are 10-17 against their AL East rivals.

— New York (48-38)
New York lost its last seven games, scoring 17 runs.
Under is 5-2 in their last seven road games.
New York is 9-13 in one-run games.

— Rays (50-33)
Tampa Bay is 31-12 at home, 19-21 on the road.
Rays lead the AL East by 3.5 games.
Tampa Bay is 17-6 against their AL East rivals.

— Blue Jays (41-46)
Toronto lost seven of its last nine games.
Blue Jays are 28-37 vs righty starters, 13-9 vs lefties.
Toronto is 11-15 in one-run games.

AL Central
— White Sox (45-40)
White Sox are 39-27 in their last 66 games.
Chicago is 28-14 at home, 17-26 on the road.
White Sox are 17-10 in one-run games.

— Guardians (45-42)
Guardians are 9-15 in their last 24 games.
Guardians are 26-32 vs righty starters, 19-10 vs lefties.
Cleveland is 12-7 against their AL Central rivals.

— Tigers (38-49)
Tigers on their last three games, scoring 22 runs.
Detroit is 23-21 at home, 15-28 on the road.
Tigers are 9-16 against their AL Central rivals.

— Royals (35-52)
Kansas City is 29-34 vs righty starters, 6-18 vs lefties.
Royals are 19-24 at home, 16-28 on the road.
Over is 8-2 in their last ten road series openers.

— Twins (42-46)
Minnesota won seven of its last nine road games.
Twins are 10-13 in one-run games.
Over is 9-4-1 in their last 14 games.

AL West
— Astros (43-46)
Astros are 10-5 in their last fifteen games.
Houston is 9-5 in one-run games.
Astros are 12-16 against their AL West rivals.

— Angels (36-51)
Halos are 11-18 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Angels lost 22 of their last 30 road games.
Angels are 14-12 against their AL West rivals.

— A’s (41-46)
A’s are 6-3 in extra-inning games.
A’s are 15-23 in Sacramento, 4-2 in Las Vegas, 22-21 on road.
A’s are 12-6 when JT Ginn is the starting pitcher.

— Mariners (44-43)
Mariners are 11-4 in their last 15 home games.
Seattle is 16-9 vs its AL West rivals.
Mariners are 12-15 in one-run games.

— Rangers (44-43)
Texas is 8-4 in its last 12  games.
Over is 12-4-1 in their last 17 home games.
Rangers are 33-34 vs righty starters, 11-9 vs lefties.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies-Cubs-Cardinals
AL: Rays, White Sox, Tex/Sea. Wild Cards: Bronx-Guardians-Sea/Tex

First of all, Happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the north.

— Nationals 8, Red Sox 1
Cade Cavalli allowed one hit, struck out 13 guys in 7 IP.
Keibert Ruiz was 2-for-3, scored twice, had three RBI.
Loss snaps Boston’s five-game winning streak.

— Red Sox 1B Willson Contreras got thrown out for the second night in a row; Cavalli yapped at him after a 4th inning strikeout, and then the benches emptied. Contreras got tossed in the third inning Monday; he’s too good a player to get thrown out- Boston needs him.

Contreras is making $18M this year; he needs to grow the bleep up.

— Mets 3, Blue Jays 0
Nolan McLean allowed five hits in his six IP.
Both Mets catchers (Torrens/Alvarez) hit home runs.
Toronto has lost seven of its last eight games.

— It was dollar hot dog night in Toronto Tuesday; they had sold over 64,000 weiners by the time the Mets were hitting in the fourth inning.
 
— Tigers 9, Bronx 3
Riley Greene hit two of Detroit’s five home runs.
Three of the Tigers’ homers came in the first inning.
New York has lost six games in a row.

— Phillies 8, Pirates 0
Cristopher Sanchez gave up three hits in 7 IP, got his 10th win.
Trea Turner hit a two-run homer on his 33rd birthday.
Justin Crawford was 3-for-3, with three RBI.

— Cubs 9, Brewers 7
Dansby Swanson hit two of Chicago’s five home runs.
Cubs led 9-3 after seven innings, held on for the win.
Streaky Cubs have won 10 of their last 12 games.

— Famous birthdays, July 1st:
Jamie Farr, 92
Freddie Lewis, 83
Diron Talbert, 82
Dan Aykroyd, 74

Alan Ruck, 70
Pamela Anderson, 59
Colin Rea, 36
Michael Wacha, 35

— LeBron James told the Lakers he’ll be playing elsewhere next year, a day after his son’s $2.3M contract with the Lakers became guaranteed. Next year will be James’ 24th NBA season.

— Lebron James’ career path:
2003-10 Cleveland
2010-14 Miami
2014-18 Cleveland
2018-26 Lakers

In the Interweb is saying that Golden State is the favorite to sign James this summer.

— Clippers are going to trade Kawhi Leonard to Toronto, for…….

Brandon Ingram
Gradey Dick
two first-round picks, two second-round picks.

Leonard led the Raptors to an NBA title in 2019.

— Philadelphia 76ers signed F Dean Wade for four years, $39M: Wade played his first seven years in the NBA with the Cavaliers.

— Rays 10, Royals 4
Junior Caminero homered for the fifth game in a row.
Bobby Witt Jr homered twice for Kansas City.
Tampa Bay is 19-7 vs lefty starting pitchers.

— Marlins 14, Rockies 3
Marlins finished June with a 20-6 record.
Miami had 21 hits; five guys had either 3 or 4 hits.
Eury Perez allowed only two hits in 5.1 IP.

— Dodgers 9, A’s 3
Dave Roberts got his 1,000th career win as a manager.
Tommy Edman was 4-for-5, with a homer, four RBI
A’s have lost eight of their last ten games.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies-Cubs-Cardinals
AL: Rays, White Sox, Rangers. Wild Cards: Bronx-Guardians-Mariners

— Cubs 3, Padres 2
Seiya Suzuki had a walk-off single for the Cubs.
Padres’ LF threw out winning run at plate when previous hitter flew out.
This was the Cubs’ 10th walk-off win, most in the major leagues this year.

— Blue Jays 2, Mets 1
Trey Yesavage gave up three hits in 6.2 IP for the Blue Jays.
Toronto’s win snaps a six-game losing streak.
Mets have lost nine of their last ten games.

— Tigers 7, Bronx 3
Detroit scored five runs off of David Weathers in the first two innings.
AJ Hinch joins Terry Francona as the only active managers with 1,000+ wins.
New York is 12-13 without Aaron Judge.

— Red Sox 6, Nationals 3
Willson Contreras hit a 3-run HR, before getting tossed for carping at the umpires.
Red Sox are on a season-best five-game winning streak.
Over their last 12 games, Boston starting P’s are 6-1, 1.75.

— White Sox 8, Orioles 2
Game was tied 2-2 after seven innings.
Colson Montgomery’s double put Chicago ahead for good.
Orioles are 39-47, a season-worst eight games under .500.

— Marlins 10, Rockies 7
Griffin Conine came off the bench, hit a three-run home run.
Hunter Goodman homered for Colorado, his 7th HR in June.
Sandy Alcantara went 6-0 in his June starts. 

— Matt Stairs was a DH/1B who played for 19 years in the major leagues; he hit 265 home runs, had an .832 OPS. Stairs played for 12 different teams, more than any other position player ever.

Famous birthdays, June 30th:
Bud Black, 69
Roy Green, 69
Mitch Redmond, 61
Mike Tyson, 60
Trevor Ariza, 41

Blake Treinen, 38
Trea Turner, 33
Josh Rojas, 32
AJ Brown, 29
Carlos Cortes, 29

— Brewers 5, Reds 3
Cincinnati led 3-0 in the sixth inning.
Joey Ortiz hit the game-winning HR in the bottom of the 8th.
Reliever Andy Ashby got the win, improved to 11-1 this year.

— Kyle Schwarber is the first big leaguer to hit 30 home runs this season.

— Last week, San Jose Sharks drafted a defenseman who is 7-foot-1; he’ll be the tallest NHL player ever. Alexander Karmanov is a defenseman from Moldova; he is also the first player from Moldova to get drafted by an NHL team.

— In the NBA, Kevin Huerter is going to sign a three-year, $27M deal to stay with the Detroit Pistons; by the time that contract is over, Huerter will be over $100M in career earnings.

Shooting is marketable.

— Kristaps Porzingis agreed to a 2-year, $40M deal with Golden State; Warriors are trying to put together a roster with Lebron James on it next season.

— Memphis Grizzlies traded G Ja Morant to Portland, for Jerami Grant, Kris Murray; Morant, has played in only 79 games in three years because of off-court issues and injuries.

— G Landry Shamet is going to sign a four-year, $24M deal with the NBA champion Knicks.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies-Cubs-Cardinals
AL: Rays, White Sox, Rangers. Wild Cards: Bronx-Guardians-Mariners

— Guardians 6, Mariners 5
Cleveland scored five runs in the bottom of the 8th inning.
Rhys Hopkins’ two-run double was the Guardians’ key hit that inning. 

Seattle scored more than three runs for the first time in 14 games.

— Phillies 5, Mets 4
Kyle Schwarber hit a 2-run homer in 7th inning, his 30th home run of the year.
New York was 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position.
Mets have lost eight of their last nine games.

In their 84 games, Mets have batted 13 hitters cleanup. Soto/Bichette reached base six times Sunday; neither one of them scored a run.

— Astros 7, Tigers 5 (10)
Christian Walker hit a three-run home run in the 10th inning.
Detroit led 3-0 after six innings.
Isaac Paredes went 3-for-5, with a home run, two RBI.

— Nationals 6, Orioles 4
Luis Garcia homered twice, had five RBI.
Pete Alonso hit his 19th home run for the Orioles.
Nationals are 17-25 at home, 26-17 on the road.

— Cubs 4, Brewers 3 (10)
Milwaukee led 1-0 after the sixth inning.
Seiya Suzuki hit a two-run single in the 10th inning.
Brewers hit into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded.

— Rangers 3, Blue Jays 2
Winning run scored from 2nd base on a wild pitch that took a weird hop.
Texas is 7-3 in its last 10 games; they’ve homered in 11 straight games.
Toronto has lost six games in a row.

— AL West standings…….
Texas 42-42
Seattle 42-43
Houston 42-44
A’s 40-44
Angels 36-49

Famous birthdays, June 29th:
Gary Busey, 82
Fred Grandy, 78
Dan Dierdorf, 77
Rick Honeycutt, 72
Tom Skladany, 71

Pedro Guerrero, 70
Troy Drayton, 56
Kawhi Leonard, 35
Nick Senzel, 31
Gunnar Henderson, 25

SEC football knowledge……..
Mississippi State
Last three years, Miss State is 12-25 SU.
Coach Lebby is 7-18 SU in Starkville, 5-1 ATS when favored.
Miss State has 5 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Bulldogs have 45 returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Taylor had two career starts.

Coach Lebby is 8-7-1 ATS in SEC games, 6-3 in non-league tilts.
Last four years, Bulldogs are 10-3-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Last four years, Miss State is 12-4-1 ATS in non-SEC games.
Underdogs covered four of their last five bowl games.

Missouri
Last three years, Mizzou is 29-10 SU/23-14-2 ATS.
Tigers are 2-3 in their last five bowl games.
Mizzou has 9 starters back on offense, 3 on defense.
Tigers have 118 returning starts on the offensive line.
Junior QB Simmons started twice at Ole Miss, got hurt/was replaced.

Coach Drinkwitz is 58-30 SU in his career, 46-29 at Mizzou
In his career, Drinkwitz is 9-3 ATS as home favorite, 8-4-1 as home dogs.
In his career, Drinkwitz is 33-25-1 ATS in conference games.
Last three years, Tigers are 8-1 ATS in games coming off a loss.
Last three years, Tigers are 12-4 ATS as a favorite.

Oklahoma
Coach Venables is 32-20 SU in four years in Norman.
Sooners lost their last four bowls, giving up 32 ppg.
Oklahoma has 9 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Sooners have 97 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Mateer has 24 career starts.

Venables is 14-10-1 ATS as a home favorite, 5-7-1 as road favorite.
Venables is 5-2 ATS as an underdog.
Venables is 15-19-1 ATS in league games, 11-6 in non-league games.
Oklahoma went 10-3 last year, despite a minus-3 turnover ratio.
Sooners are 12-6 ATS in last 18 games coming off a loss.

South Carolina
Coach Beamer is 33-30 SU in five years at Carolina.
Carolina lost three of its last four bowl games.
Gamecocks has 9 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Carolina has 126 returning starts on the offensive line.
Junior QB Sellers has 24 career starts.

Beamer is 16-9 ATS as a favorite, 17-14 ATS as amdog.
Beamer is 14-9 ATS in non-conference games.
Beamer is 22-18 ATS in conference games.
Last year, Gamecocks were 1-7 SU/4-4 ATS in SEC games. 
Carolina is 18-8 ATS in last 26 games coming off a loss.

Tennessee
Last four years, Tennessee is 38-14 SU.
Vols lost last two bowl games, 42-17/30-28.
Tennessee has 7 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Vols have 94 returning starts back on offensive line.
Tennessee will have a new starting QB this year.

In his career, coach Heupel is 40-33-2 ATS as a favorite.
In his career, Heupel is 5-11 ATS as an underdog.
Last three years, Vols are 9-14-1 ATS in SEC games.
Last four years, Vols are 15-5 ATS in non-SEC games.
Last four years, Tennessee is +27 in turnovers.

Texas
Coach Sarkisian is 48-20 SU in five years with Texas.
Longhorns won three of last four bowl games.
Texas has 9 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Longhorns have 86 career starts on offensive line.
Soph QB Manning has 15 career starts.

In his career, Sarkisian is 45-28-1 ATS in home games.
In his career, Sarkisian is 22-35 ATS in road games.
Texas is 19-22-1 ATS in last 42 games coming off a win.
Last two years, Longhorns are 6-10-1 ATS in SEC games.
Last three years, Texas is +25 in turnovers.

Texas A&M
Elko is 19-7 SU in two years at Texas A&M.
Aggies lost last three bowls, by 8-4-7 points.
A&M has 9 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Aggies have 81 returning starts on OL, from various places.
Junior QB Reed has started 21 games.

In his career, Elko is 15-20 ATS as a favorite.
In his career, Elko is 8-5 ATS as an underdog.
Aggies are 7-12 ATS in last 19 non-conference games.
A&M was 11-2 last year, despite a minus-9 turnover ratio.
Aggies are 4-13 ATS in last 17 games coming off a loss.

Vanderbilt
Lea is 26-36 SU in five seasons at Vandy.
Commodores were 7-6/10-3 the last two years.
Vandy has 6 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Commodores have 58 returning starts on the offensive line.
QB Pavia finally left; Vandy will have a new QB this year.

Last five years, Vandy is 14-8-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Last five years, Vandy is 8-12 ATS as a home underdog.
Last five years, Vandy is 22-17 ATS in SEC games.
Last five years, Vandy is 9-13 ATS in non-league games.
Commodores lost three of their last four bowl games.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies-Cubs-Cardinals
AL: Rays, White Sox, Rangers. Wild Cards: Bronx-Guardians-Mariners

Trends are thru June 27th

NL East
— Braves (49-32)
Braves lost 11 of their last 15 games.
Atlanta is 12-2 in home series openers.
Braves are 15-8 against their AL East rivals.

— Marlins (44-39)
Marlins won 18 of their last 23 games.
Marlins are 28-17 at home, 16-22 on road.
Under is 8-4-1 in Marlins’ last thirteen games.

— Mets (35-48)
Mets lost seven of their last eight games.
New York is 6-15 vs lefty starting pitchers.
Mets are 7-14 in one-run games.

— Phillies (46-37)
Phillies are 37-18 in their last 55 games.
Under is 19-6 in their last 25 road games.
Phiilies are 17-6 in one-run games.

— Nationals (42-42)
Nationals are 17-25 at home, 25-17 on the road.
Over is 19-5 in their last 24 home games.
Nationals are 26-32 vs righty starters, 16-10 vs lefties.

NL Central
— Cubs (45-38)
Chicago won 11 of its last 15 games.
Cubs are 13-9 in one-run games.
Over is 8-1 in Cubs’ last nine games.

— Reds (39-42)
Reds won their last four road games, lost last four home games.
Over is 10-4-1 in their last 15 road games.
Reds are 29-35 vs righty starters, 10-7 vs lefties.

— Brewers (50-30)
Milwaukee is 40-17 in its last 57 games.
Brewers lead NL Central by 6.5 games.
Brewers are 6-2 in extra-inning games.

— Pirates (41-42)
Pirates are 8-14 in their last 22 games.
Pittsburgh is 36-27 vs righty starters, 5-15 vs lefties.
Over is 13-4 in their last 17 home games.

— Cardinals (42-38)
St Louis lost seven of its last nine games.
You’re reading armadillosports.com
St Louis is 30-30 vs righty starters, 12-8 vs lefties.
Cardinals are 7-2 in extra-inning games.

NL West
— Diamondbacks (39-36)
Arizona is 4-10 in its last ten road games.
Diamondbacks are 26-35 vs righty starters, 15-6 vs lefties.
Under is 11-2 in their last thirteen games.

— Rockies (33-50)
Rockies are 5-1 in last six home series openers.
Colorado is 18-22 at home, 15-28 on road.
Rockies are 13-10 vs AL teams.

— Dodgers (53-30)
Dodgers are 26-9 in their last 35 games.
Over is 7-3-1 in their last 11 road games.
Dodgers are 39-23 vs righty starters, 14-7 vs lefties.

— Padres (43-38)
San Diego won four of its last five games.
Under is 5-2 in their last seven road games.
Padres are 20-7 in games when winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Giants (33-48)
Giants won four of their last five home games.
SF is 25-35 vs righty starters, 9-13 vs lefties.
Under is 6-1 in their last seven home games.

— Famous birthdays, June 28th
Mel Brooks, 100
Raymond Chester, 78
Kathy Bates, 78
Joe Sambito, 74

Jim Spanarkel, 69
John Elway, 66
Jay Schroeder, 65
Mark Grace, 62

John Cusack, 60
Brandon Phillips, 45
Bradley Beal, 33
Jakob Marsee, 25

AL East
— Orioles (39-45)
Baltimore is 23-20 at home, 16-25 on the road.
Orioles are 30-30 vs righty starters, 9-15 vs lefties.
Orioles are 6-13 in one-run games.

— Red Sox (35-46)
Boston is 15-25 at Fenway, 20-21 on the road.
Red Sox are 26-36 vs righty starters, 9-10 vs lefties.
Red Sox are 9-17 against their AL East rivals.

— New York (48-34)
New York is 4-6 in its last ten games.
Under is 6-1 in their last seven games.
New York is 9-12 in one-run games.

— Rays (47-33)
Tampa Bay is 30-12 at home, 17-21 on the road.
Rays are 29-26 vs righty starters, 18-7 vs lefties.
Tampa Bay is 17-6 against their AL East rivals.

— Blue Jays (39-44)
Toronto lost its last five games, giving up 30 runs
Blue Jays are 27-35 vs righty starters, 12-9 vs lefties.
Over is 11-4 in their last 15 home games.

AL Central
— White Sox (43-38)
White Sox are 37-25 in their last 62 games.
Chicago is 28-13 at home, 15-25 on the road.
White Sox are 17-9 in one-run games.

— Guardians (43-40)
Guardians are 7-13 in their last 20 games.
Guardians are 25-31 vs righty starters, 18-9 vs lefties.
Cleveland is 12-7 against their AL Central rivals.

— Tigers (35-48)
Detroit is 23-20 at home, 12-28 on the road.
Tigers are 9-16 against their AL Central rivals.
11 of their last 13 games stayed under the total.

— Royals (34-50)
Kansas City is 29-33 vs righty starters, 5-17 vs lefties.
Royals are 19-22 at home, 15-28 on the road.
Over is 7-1 in their last eight road series openers.

— Twins (39-45)
Minnesota lost four of its last five games.
Twins are 8-13 in one-run games.
Over is 7-3 in their last ten games.

AL West
— Astros (41-44)
Astros won eight of their last eleven games.
Houston is 9-4 in one-run games.
Astros are 12-16 against their AL West rivals.

— Angels (35-49)
Halos are 11-18 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Angels lost 20 of their last 28 road games.
Angels are 13-10 against their AL West rivals.

— A’s (40-43)
A’s are 6-3 in extra-inning games.
A’s are 14-21 in Sacramento, 4-2 in Las Vegas, 22-20 on road.
Under is 9-4-1 in their last 14 home games.

— Mariners (42-42)
Mariners are 6-11 in their last 17 games.
Seattle is 14-9 vs its AL West rivals.
Under is 7-2 in their last nine games.

— Rangers (41-42)
Texas is 5-3 in its last eight games.
Over is 12-4-1 in their last 17 home games.
Rangers are 31-34 vs righty starters, 10-8 vs lefties.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Padres-Phillies-Cubs
AL: Rays, White Sox, Mariners. Wild Cards: Bronx-Guardians-Rangers

— Sitting at 34-47 halfway thru the season, Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza, replaced him for the rest of this year with former Padres manager Andy Green.

Last year, the Mets fired most of their coaches after a bad second half; the over-educated moron who put the roster together this year has half the players playing a new position, and Friday, when rookie Zach Thornton tossed six innings, it was only the 21st time in 82 games a starting pitcher got 18 outs for the Mets.

— By way of comparison, Dodgers have had 50 games where their starter lasted 6+ innings.

— Phillies 2, Mets 1
Derek Hill made a great catch to rob Juan Soto of a 2-run HR in first inning.
Trea Turner knocked in the game-winning run with a 7th inning single.
Mets have now lost seven games in a row.

— Mets SS Francisco Lindor has started 1,548 major league games; he has never batted lower than 4th in the order, and he’s only done that 28 times.

— NL East standings:
Braves
Phillies 4 GB
Marlins 7 GB
Nationals 9.5 GB
Mets 16 GB

— Marlins 4, Cardinals 0
Max Meyer gave up two hits in his seven IP; he is .
Marlins are an MLB-best 17-5 this month.
St Louis has lost six of its last eight games.

— Twins 9, Rockies 8 (10)
Minnesota led 7-0 after the 7th inning.
Colorado scored five runs in the 9th to go ahead, 8-7.
Royce Lewis had his first career walk-off hit.

— Famous birthdays, June 27th:
Craig Hodges, 66
Chuck Person, 62
Jeff Conine, 60
Jim Edmonds, 56

Tobey Maguire, 52
Jonah Heim, 31
Ben Skowronek, 29
Yordan Alvarez, 29

— A’s 9, Angels 3
A’s scored seven runs in the fifth inning.
Nick Kurtz was 2-for-5, scored twice, had two RBI.
A’s were 8-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

— Bad day for the Angels; they fired GM Perry Minasian Friday, as they head towards their 11th consecutive losing season. Former Cardinals’ GM John Mozeliak will replace Minasian, who was Angels’ GM the last six years.

Mozeliak will be the Angels’ fourth GM since 2012; despite having Trout/Ohtani, and playing in a big market, they haven’t been in the playoffs since 2014.

— AL West standings:
Seattle
A’s 1.5 GB
Texas 1.5 GB
Houston 2.5 GB
Angels 8 GB

— Reds 6, Pirates 4
Noelvi Marte hit a pinch-hit, 2-run HR in the 8th inning.
Pirates have lost Paul Skenes’ last eight starts.
Reds improved to 3-16 against their NL Central rivals.

— Padres 7, Dodgers 1
Walker Buehler got 16 outs, allowed 3 hits against his old team.
Ty France hit a three-run homer in the second inning.
San Diego has won six of its last eight games.

— AL Central standings:
White Sox
Cleveland 1 GB
Minnesota 4.5 GB
Detroit 8 GB
Kansas City 9.5 GB

— White Sox 22, Royals 1
Tristan Peters hit a grand slam, had six RBI
Migual Vargas was 3-for-6, with five RBI.
Most runs the White Sox scored in a game since 1970.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cardinals-Phillies-Cubs
AL: Bronx, White Sox, Mariners. Wild Cards: Rays-Guardians-Astros