Author: Armadillo Sports

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

— 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

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

— Phillies 10, Nationals 5
Washington led 5-0 after five innings.
Bryce Harper hit the game-winning home run in the 9th inning.
Last three games, Phillies scored 15 runs in the 9th inning. 

— A’s 9, Giants 6
A’s trailed 6-2 after the sixth inning.
Lawrence Butler had the game-winning hit in ninth inning.
Giants have lost Landen Roupp’s last 10 starts.

— Shohei Ohtani breakdown, by catcher:
Will Smith as catcher: 10 games, 0.74 ERA

Dalton Rushing as catcher: 3 games, 4.34 ERA

— Miami Marlins are 16-5 in June, the best record in the majors this month.

— Atlanta Braves have lost their last nine games in San Diego.

— Cubs 4, Mets 3 (10)
Pete Crow-Armstrong had the game-winning hit in 10th inning.
Cubs went 7-0 against the Mets this season, outscoring them 51-24.
Mets have lost six games in a row, are 34-47, 9.5 games out of a playoff spot.

— Mets traded lefty starter David Peterson to the Cubs, for 1B/DH prospect Cole Mathis. Cubs put two starters (Brown/Cabrera) on the injured list this week. 

— They were talking on TV the other night how restricting base coaches to the coaching boxes at 1B/3B has hurt offenses; coaches used to slide down towards the outfield- they could see how the pitcher was gripping the ball, and that tipped pitches, which helped the hitters.

Now they can’t do that, and offense is down this year.

— Famous birthdays, June 26th
Edd Hargett, 79
Shannon Sharpe, 58
Chris O’Donnell, 56
Jason Kendall, 52
Chad Pennington, 50

Michael Vick, 46
Deron Williams, 42
Raymond Felton, 42
Ariana Grande, 33
Eli White, 32

— NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves acquired G LaMelo Ball from Charlotte, for Naz Reid and four draft picks (one 1st round, three 2nd round), plus three first round pick swaps.

— Detroit Pistons traded C Isaiah Stewart to Memphis, for three 2nd round picks.

— Lakers signed G Austin Reaves to a four-year deal worth $185M, which is $46.25M/year. Reaves scored 23.3 ppg ;last year; he is a career 36.8% shooter behind the arc.

— Iowa State G Sam Hoiberg, who played for his dad with the Cyclones, signed a free agent deal with the Phoenix Suns; his future is probably more as a coach/broadcaster.

— Astros 2, Tigers 1
Tatsuya Imai struck out 10 in six scoreless IP.
Troy Melton allowed two hits in 6 IP; one of the hits was a HR.
Houston has won seven of its last nine games.

— Rangers 6, Blue Jays 5
Wyatt Langford hit a three-run homer for Texas.
In his last two starts, Kevin Gausman gave up 13 runs in 8 IP.
Toronto is 10-17 in series openers.

— Red Sox 6, New York 3
Caleb Durbin put Boston ahead with a 5th inning home run.
Red Sox flight home Wednesday night didn’t land in Boston until 6am.
Cam Schlittler lowered his ERA to 1.62.

— 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

— Cubs 10-10, Mets 5-3
Dansby Swanson bats 9th; he has 15 RBI in the Cubs’ last three games.
Mets made six errors in the nightcap; they’re 34-46. Not good.
Mets have lost the last 16 games Juan Soto didn’t play in.
Soto/Francisco Lindor have only played in the same game 9 times this year. 

— It would be surprising if head(s) didn’t roll after this debacle for the Mets; they have the second highest payroll in the majors, but they’re awful.

— Tuesday night, of the nine guys in the Cubs’ lineup, seven of them were first round draft picks.

— Guardians 4, White Sox 3
Game was scoreless after five innings.
White Sox were 0-9 with runners in scoring position.
These teams are tied for first place atop the AL Central.

— Angels 7, Orioles 6 (10)
Angels tied the game with three runs in the 8th inning.
Logan O’Hoppe had the winning hit in the Angels’ 6th walk-off win this year.
Samuel Basallo homered twice, had four RBI for the Orioles.

— Phillies 5, Nationals 4
Derek Hill hit a two-out, two-run pinch-hit HR in the ninth inning.
Brandon Marsh was 7-for-13 in this series, scored four runs.
Luis Garcia homered for the third game in a row for Washington.

— Dodgers 4, Twins 3
Mookie Betts hit his 300th career home run.
Game was 4-3 in the third inning, and stayed that way.
With Ohtani pitching, Twins had their first sellout (39,853) this year.

— Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy is going to have hip replacement surgery during the All-Star break; he doesn’t think he’ll miss any games.

— Famous birthdays, June 25th:
Dell Curry, 62
Aaron Sele, 56
Carlos Delgado, 54
Linda Cardellini, 51

Aramis Ramirez, 48
Matt Schaub, 45
Paul Maholm, 44
Gerald Everett, 32

— In 1981, there was a minor league baseball game that lasted 33 innings; Cal Ripken Jr, Wade Boggs both played in that game, which was eventually suspended, then finished couple of months later.

— QB Brendan Sorsby, who has admitted to having a gambling problem, won’t be eligible for either college football or the NFL this fall. He’ll be eligible for the 2027 NFL Draft. 

— Last 20 years, only 4 of 20 players taken first overall in the draft has wound up winning a championship ring with the team that drafted him.

— Henri Veesaaw would’ve made $5M or so in NIL money had he gone back to North Carolina and played basketball this fall; instead, he applied for the NBA Draft, then den’t get picked in the first draft, which makes his decision a very expensive one.

Veesaaw wound up with the Atlanta Hawks, the 52nd pick in the draft.

— If you like the NBA, their summer league is at UNLV from July 9-19; it is a lot of fun to go to, and not very expensive. I’ve been there a few times; it is worth the trip.

— Saint Mary’s basketball team is taking a trip to Australia August 9-21, giving them a head start on preseason practice. Gaels have long gotten a lot of recruits from Australia, this will give new coach Mickey McConnell a good chance to make/strengthen recruiting contacts. 

— Dallas Mavericks hired former Michigan coach Dusty May this week; they drafted Michigan alum More Johnson with the 9th pick Tuesday night.

— Michigan players were taken with the 9th, 10th, 12th picks in the draft, the first time since Villanova in 2018 that the college national champs had three players drafted In the first round.

— Memphis Grizzlies had the 16th pick in the draft; they traded back twice, winding up with the 21st pick. For trading back twice, Memphis acquired five second round picks.

— Knicks had the 25th pick, but they made a couple deals, moved out of the first round, adding five second round picks. Knicks/Memphis are hoarding second round picks.

— When you think about Milwaukee acquiring a 2033 second round pick in the big trade with Miami, there’s a pretty good chance the player they will draft in 2033 is in 6th grade right now.

— Portland Trail Blazers filled the last head coach opening in the league, signing Micha Nori, but they only gave him a one-year contract, which is unusual. Nori had been as assistant coach with Minnesota the last five years.

— The last time the #1 overall pick in an NBA Draft won a championship with the team that took him: Kyrie Irving, Cleveland’s first pick in 2011.

— Famous birthdays, June 24th:
Michele Lee, 84
Cleon Jones, 84
Peter Weller, 79

Duval Love, 63
Sherry Stringfield, 59
Antoine Winfield, 49

JJ Redick, 42
Wilyer Abreu, 27
Slade Cecconi, 27

— Astros 9, Blue Jays 7 (11)
Joey Loperfido’s game-winning HR was his first homer this year.
Houston tied the game with two runs in the 9th inning.
Diaz-Smith-Trammell hit back-back-back HR’s in the 4th inning.

— Phillies 14, Nationals 9
Washington led 7-6 after eight innings.
Phillies scored eleven runs in the last three innings.
Bryson Stott was 3-for-4, scored 4 runs, had 3 RBI

— Cubs 9, Mets 6
Pete Crow-Armstrong has six homers in his last eight games.
Mets drafted Crow-Armstrong in 2020, then traded him away. 

Mets are 34-44, with the #2 payroll in baseball; the guy that put this roster together makes $10M a year. He went to an Ivy League school, so he must be smarter than everyone else, but hard to tell that by watching them play.

— Diamondbacks 4, Cardinals 3
Game was scoreless after eight innings.
Eduardo Rodriguez pitched 6.2 innings, allowed three hits.
Arizona is 40-39, 1.5 games out of the last Wild Card slot.

— Brewers 2, Reds 0
Second day in row, Brewers-Reds were 0-0 after five innings.
Brandon Sproat allowed one hit in six IP, struck out 10.
Last two games, Cincinnati had a total of four hits.

— Angels 5, Orioles 1
Rookie P Johnson allowed one hit in 8 IP.
Before this game, he had given up 19 runs in 13.1 IP.
Nolan Schanuel was 2-4, with a home run.

— There has only been one day in baseball history where two players hit for the cycle on the same day; in 2008, Adrian Beltre and Stephen Drew hit for the cycle on the same day. 

— April 6th, only 11 weeks ago, Michigan Wolverines won the college basketball national title. Now, 78 days later, they’re looking for a new coach.

Monday, Dusty May bolted Michigan for the Dallas Mavericks; May was a student manager in his college days at Indiana. Mark Cuban also went to Indiana; he doesn’t run the Mavericks anymore, but he is still a minority owner in Dallas.

Another blow for semi-pro/college basketball. Guys don’t enjoy winning a national title, then have to recruit a whole new roster for next year, starting the day after you win the title.

NBA coaches get some time off after the season.

— No idea where Michigan turns for their next coach; right now, it is a bad job; obviously, the expectations will be unreasonable. You don’t want to be the guy who follows the guy, and May is definitely the guy in Ann Arbor these days.

— NBA Draft is tonight (Tuesday); lot of stuff is going on……..

— Milwaukee Bucks are trading star Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to Miami; in return, Milwaukee gets four players, three first round picks, and a second round pick.

After the trade was announced, Miami’s odds to win NBA next year when from 30-1 to 18-1.

— There was a three-team trade:

Brooklyn Nets get:
F Julius Randle
Minnesota 28th pick Tuesday night

Minnesota gets:
F Mo Gueye
Nets 33rd pick Tuesday

Chicago gets:
C Nic Claxton 

Nets/Bulls are two of the teams with the most available salary cap space, which is a big part of why this trade happened.

— Guy that owns the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights starting his bid to land an NBA franchise for Las Vegas. NBA is expected to add two expansion teams fairly soon, with Las Vegas, Seattle the favorites to get those teams.

— G Trae Young is signing a four-year deal with Washington for $53M/year.

— Free agent G Ayo Dosunmu is going to sign a 5-year contract with Minnesota for $23M/year

— Oklahoma 13, North Carolina 2
Sooners win their first College World Series since 1994.
Kid who batted 9th for Oklahoma had three hits, knocked in six runs.

Since 2019, SEC teams have won all seven College World Series, with LSU the only one of those teams to win it twice.

— Famous birthdays, June 23rd:
Bryan Brown, 79
Jim Deshaies, 66
LaSalle Thompson, 65

Brandon Stokley, 50
Shaun O’Hara, 49
OJ Atogwe, 45

— Word of the Day: Muffel— It is a German word that means “grumpy person”

— Last week, the Phillies started seven lefty hitters in a game; that’s the first time they did that since 2015, only the ninth time since 1947. 

— Only one of the 11 major league games Monday night had more than eight runs scored; eight games were decided by one run.

— Rockies 3, Red Sox 2
Colorado scored three runs in the bottom of the 9th; Jake McCarthy hit a bases loaded triple to walk it off.

Weird game; Colorado’s last eight batters in this game got hits; they ran the bases like drunken teenagers in the 8th inning, when they didn’t score.

This was the first game since at least 1961 that a team got eight hits in its last eight at-bats in a game.

Red Sox rookie Jake Bennett threw six shutout IP, with nine strikeouts.

— Brewers 2, Reds 1 (10)
Not many games in Cincinnati are scoreless after nine innings.
Woodruff/Singer had quite a pitching duel.
There were a total of only five hits in this game.

— White Sox 6, Guardians 5
Sam Antonacci had a two-run, walk-off single for Chicago.
Anthony Kay threw six shutout IP, left with a 3-0 lead.
It took Chicago’s bullpen 7 batters/30 pitches to blow the 3-0 lead.

— Nationals 4, Phillies 1
Foster Griffin allowed four hits, one run in 7.1 IP.
Curtis Mead hit his 12th hone run of the season.

— Orioles 6, Angels 1
Kyle Bradish gave up six hits in 8 shutout IP.
Taylor Ward led the game off with a homer against his old team.
OF Leody Taveras played six innings at 3B, his first 3B stint since 2019.

— Cubs-Mets were rained out, will play a doubleheader Wednesday; second day in a row the Cubs got rained out, in two different cities.

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

— Home Run Derby is on Netflix this year; should be a good derby, with Philly being a good home run park. But wouldn’t you want as many people as possible to see your biggest stars in a Home Run Derby? Major League Baseball doesn’t market itself well.

— Phillies 6, Mets 2
Phillies led 5-0 after the second inning.
Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper both hit home runs.
Mets are 34-43, with the #2 payroll in baseball ($368,690,978)

— In the third inning of that game, Carson Benge hit a home run into the left field bleachers; a kid caught the ball, reached into his bag of stuff, pulled out another baseball, and threw it on the field, keeping the major league baseball for himself.

— Learned something this weekend: the home plate umpire can look at his device and see whether his called ball/strike was correct, whether the pitch was challenged or not.

— Tigers 5, White Sox 4 (10)
White Sox led 3-1 in the 8th inning.
Dillon Dingler homered, also tied the game in 9th inning.
Matt Vierling had a walk-off bloop single to end the game.

— Twins 4, Diamondbacks 2
Arizona led 2-0 after the sixth inning.
24-year old rookie Jose Cabrera tossed five shutout IP in his MLB debut.
Minnesota won five of its last six games.

— Cardinals 12, Royals 10
St Louis led 9-6 after the second inning.
JJ Wetherholt homered twice, scored three times.
DH Ivan Herrera was 3-for-5, scored three runs, had three RBI.

Managing a fantasy baseball is tough; in his last four starts, Dustin May gave up five runs in 27.2 IP, which is really good. In this game, he faced 13 hitters, and six of them scored. No bueno.

— Famous birthdays, June 22nd:
Meryl  Streep, 77
Bruce Campbell, 68
Clyde Drexler, 64

Amy Brenneman, 62
Kurt Warner, 55
Champ Bailey, 48

Tyler O’Neill, 31
Josh Naylor, 29
Cam Akers, 27

— This is the first half of our SEC football preview:

Alabama
Last ten years, Alabama is 121-19 SU.
Crimson Tide lost three of their last four bowl games.
Alabama has 3 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Crimson Tide has 30 returning starts on the offensive line.
Whoever the QB is will be a first-time starter.

Coach Deboer is 57-17 SU as a head coach, 20-8 at Alabama.
Since 2020, Bama is 26-10-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2021, Bama is 8-14-1 ATS as a road favorite.
Last three years, Crimson Tide was 17-9-1 ATS in SEC games.
Last three years, Alabama was +22 in turnovers.

Arkansas
New coach Silverfield was 50-25 in six years at Memphis.
Hogs won last three bowls, scoring 24-55-39 points.
Arkansas has 8 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Hogs have 114 returning starts on the OL, at various levels.
Soph QB Jackson started one game LY; they added two transfer QB’s.

In his career, Silverfield is 11-18-1 ATS as home favorite, 8-2 as home dogs.
In his career, Silverfield is 19-29 ATS in conference games.
Last three years, Arkansas is 3-9 ATS as a home favorite.
Last four years, Hogs are 7-10-1 ATS in games coming off a win.
Last two years, Arkansas was minus-19 in turnovers.

Auburn
New coach Golesh was 23-15 in three years at South Florida.
Auburn has had five consecutive losing seasons.
Auburn has 7 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Tigers have 56 returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Martin is a transfer from Maryland.

At USF, Golesh was 10-6-1 ATS in home games.
Last four years, Tigers are 7-13 ATS a a home favorite.
Auburn went 5-7 last year, despite a +9 turnover ratio.
Tigers are 3-13 ATS in last 16 games coming off a win.
Auburn lost its last four bowl games, giving up 28.3 ppg.

Florida
New coach Sumrall was 43-12 as HC at Troy, then Tulane.
In his career, Sumrall is 30-15-1 ATS as a favorite.
Gators has 7 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Florida has 70 returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Philo is a transfer from Georgia Tech (played for new OC there)

Last four years, Gators are 5-10 ATS as home favorites.
Since 2018, Florida is 10-5 ATS as a home underdog.
Sumrall is 25-10-1 ATS in conference games.
Since 2019, Gators are 10-18-1 ATS in non-SEC games.
Florida is 2-3 SU/1-4 ATS in last five bowl games.

Georgia
Last ten years, Georgia is 117-21 SU.
Kirby Smart is 22-36-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Georgia has 7 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Dawgs have 66 returning starts back on offensive line.
Senior QB Stockton started 14 games last year.

Last 10 years, Georgia is 4-3 ATS as an underdog.
Last three years, Dawgs are 3-8 ATS as a road favorite.
Dawgs are 4-15-1 ATS in last 20 non-SEC games.
Georgia is 11-23-1 ATS in last 35 games coming off a win.
Dawgs lost in the Sugar Bowl the last two years.

Kentucky
New coach Stein has never been a HC; he was OC at Oregon.
Wildcats were 4-8/5-7 the last two seasons.
Kentucky has 5 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Wildcats have 102 career starts on OL, at various places.
Junior QB Minchey was a backup at Notre Dame.

Since 2019, Kentucky is 21-14 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2019, Kentucky is 10-4 ATS as a home underdog.
Kentucky has had a negative turnover ratio five years in a row.
Wildcats are 20-9 ATS in last 20 non-SEC games.
Underdogs are 4-1 ATS in Kentucky’s last five bowls. 

LSU
Lane Kiffin is new coach; he is 116-53 SU as a college coach.
LSU is 26-17 SU the last four years, 3-1 in bowls.
LSU has 9 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Tigers have 121 returning starts on offensive line.
Junior QB Leavitt started 20 games at Arizona State.

In his career, Kiffin is 61-55-4 ATS as a favorite.
Last four years, Tigers are 13-8-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Last three years, LSU is 1-5 ATS as a road underdog.
LSU is 3-1 in last four bowl games, scoring 44.3 ppg
Last two years, LSU was 1-8 ATS in games coming off a loss. 

Ole Miss
Golding was 2-1 as interim coach LY, during all the Kiffin drama.
Rebels won four of their last five bowl games.
Ole Miss has 7 starters back on offense, 9 on defense.
Rebels have 92 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Chambliss started 13 games LY; he is making $5M or so.

Last five years, Rebels are 4-0 ATS as a home underdog.
Since 2021, Ole Miss is 2-6 ATS as a road favorite.
Since 2020, Ole Miss is 19-8 ATS in non-conference games.
Ex-Kentucky coach Mike Stoops is a defensive analyst.
Last three years, Ole Miss was +22 in turnovers.

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

Semi-pro/college football has shuffled some conferences again; here is our first Pac-8 preview since 2023. 

— There are eight teams in the new “Pac-12”
— Five of the eight teams came over from the Mountain West
— Oregon State/Washington State finally have some league rivals again.
— Texas State is in the league; Texas, obviously, s nowhere near the Pacific Ocean.

Boise State
Last ten years, Boise is 94-35 SU. 
Broncos lost their last three bowls, giving up 35-31-38 points.
Boise has 7 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Broncos have 130 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Madsen has 25 career starts.

Coach Danielson is 24-8 SU as a head coach.
Last three years, Boise is 14-4-1 ATS as a favorite.
Last three years, Boise was 20-12-3 ATS in conference games.
Boise is 14-4-1 ATS in last 19 games coming off a loss.
Broncos open this season with a game at Oregon.

Colorado State
Jim Mora comes to Ft Collins, after four years at UConn
Mora is 73-53 SU as a college coach (UCLA/UConn)
Colorado State has 1 starter back on offense, 6 on defense.
Rams have only 8 returning starts on the offensive line.
QB’s have transferred in from Oklahoma State/UConn.

Colorado State has been to one bowl since 2017.
Rams lost their last five bowls (last win, 2013)
Last five years, Rams are 5-11-1 ATS as a home favorite.
In his college career, Mora is 24-19-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Last 10 years, Colorado State is 15-25 ATS in non-league games.

Fresno State
Coach Entz was 9-4 LY, in his first year at Fresno.
Last five years, Bulldogs are 44-22 SU.
Fresno has 7 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Bulldogs have 56 returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Martin is a transfer from Maryland.

Last four years, Fresno is 3-6-1 ATS as a road favorite.
Last 10 years, Bulldogs are 24-14-1 ATS as an underdog.
Fresno had a positive turnover ratio the last five years (+24 total)
Last four years, Bulldogs are 6-11-1 ATS in games coming off a loss.
Fresno won four of its last five bowl games.

Oregon State
Last two years, Beavers were 7-17 SU/5-16 ATS.
Oregon Stste lost three of its last five bowl games.
Oregon State has 5 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Beavers have 32 returning I-A starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Murphy has 20 career starts.

New coach Shepard has never been a head coach before.
Last two years, he was an assistant at Washington/Wazzu.
New DC MacIntyre has been a head coach for 12 years.
Beavers are 3-10 ATS last 13 games as a road underdog. 
Last four years, OSU was 6-16 ATS in games coming off a loss. 

San Diego State
Coach Lewis is 36-66 in 8 years as a HC, 12-13 in two years here.
Aztecs lost last two bowls, by two points each.
San Diego State has 8 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Aztecs have 91 returning starts on OL; they added 7 OL transfers.
Senior QB Denegal has 12 career starts.

As a HC, Lewis is 21-13 ATS as a favorite.
As a HC, Lewis is 21-13 ATS in home games.
As a HC, Lewis is 12-18 ATS as a road underdog.
Aztecs are 8-4 ATS in last 12 games coming off a win.
Last year, San Diego State was 8-2 ATS as a favorite. 

Texas State
Coach Kinne is 23-16 SU in three years with the Bobcats.
Texas State won bowls the last three years, scoring 45-30-41 points.
Texas State has 7 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Bobcats have 53 returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Jackson started 13 games last year.

Last three years, TSU was 10-14 ATS in the Sun Belt.
As a I-A coach, Kinne is 11-15 ATS as a favorite.
Bobcats are 23-16 SU under Kinne, despite a minus-10 turnover ratio.
Texas State is 9-11 ATS in last 20 games coming off a win.
Texas State is 7-9 ATS in last 16 games coming off a loss. 

Utah State
Utah State has had four consecutive losing years.
Aggies lost four of their last five bowl games.
Utah State has 6 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Aggies have 76 returning starts on OL, at various levels.
Junior QB Hillstead has four career starts.

In 19 years as a HC, Mendenhall is 146-95 SU, 7-8 in bowls.
LY, Aggies were 6-7 in Mendenhall’s first year in Logan.
In his career, Mendenhall is 53-37 ATS as a home favorite.
Utah State is 1-7 ATS last 8 games as a road favorite.
Utah State is 11-4 ATS last 15 games as a home favorite.

Washington State
Wazzu was 8-5/7-6 the last two seasons.
Coogs lost four of their last five bowl games.
Wazzu has 5 starters back on offense, 3 on defense.
Coogs have 40 returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Pinnick started 12 games LY at I-AA Cal-Davis.

New coach Moore is a head coach for the first time.
He comes to Wazzu after being the OC at Missouri.
Last 2 years, Wazzu was 7-3 ATS as a home favorite.
Coogs are 17-9 ATS in last 26 non-conference games.
Wazzu opens season with the Apple Cup game, at Washington. 

— Famous birthdays, June 21st:
Bernie Kopell, 93
Monte Markham, 91
Mariette Hartley, 86
Michael Gross, 79

Rick Sutcliffe, 70
Tom Chambers, 67
Derrick Coleman, 59
Maggie Siff, 52

Chris Pratt, 47
Richard Jefferson, 46
Thaddeus Young, 38
Garrett Crochet, 27

— Buffalo Bills have a new head coach (Joe Brady); they’ve hired former NFL head coach John Fox as a senior assistant coach. Fox was a head coach for 15 years with three teams, winning two conference titles. Before that, he was a long-time defensive coordinator.

— Miami Dolphins only have five starters back on offense, six on defense; they’ve got $175M in dead cap space this year, as they rebuild under new coach Jeff Hafley.

— New England has a tougher schedule this year; a Wednesday game in Seattle, Monday game in Kansas City, two Thursday games, and a game against Detroit in Germany.

— Jets haven’t made the playoffs since 2010; they added Frank Reich as their new OC, and added 35-year old Geno Smith as their new quarterback.

— Phillies 15, Mets 3
Kyle Schwarber hit three HR’s, two in the third inning.
Bryce Harper hit for the cycle, in the first five innings.
Hitters 1-3 for Philly were 10-for-15, with nine runs scored.

— Blue Jays 8, Cubs 6
Toronto trailed 5-0 after six innings.
Kazuma Okamoto hit the game-winning three-run homer.
Blue Jays have won four of their last five games. 

— Padres 6, Rangers 4 (10)
Manny Machado hit a three-run homer in 10th inning.
Texas led 3-1 after seven innings.
Mason Miller is a perfect 20-for-20 in save chances this year.

— Braves 4, Brewers 3
Ozzie Albies homered twice, including a walk-off HR in 9th inning.
Kyle Harrison allowed only four hits, two runs in 6.1 IP.
Joey Bart was the 8th catcher to play for Atlanta this year.

— Rockies 2, Pirates 1
Horwitz led the game off with a homer, Pirates’ only run.
Jake McCarthy led off the bottom of the first with an inside-park home run.
Pirates have lost Paul Skenes’ last seven starts.