Armadillo Sports

Notes for NFL teams:
NFC East
Dallas
Missed playoffs LY for first time in four years.
Since 1998, they’re 4-12 in playoff games.
17-8 ATS in last 25 games as a home favorite.

NJ Giants
Missed playoffs 11 of last 13 years.
Last two years, went 6-11/3-14.
Last seven years, they’re 9-12 ATS in NFC East home games.

Philadelphia
Since 2017, they’re 10-5 in playoff games (2 Super Bowl wins)
Since 2018, Eagles are 19-24-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Last four years, over is 21-12 in Philly’s regular season home games.

Washington
LY, Commanders made playoffs for second time in last nine years.
Before last year, Washington’s last playoff win was in 2005.
Last year, over was 12-5 in Washington’s regular season games.

NFC North
Chicago
Last four years, Chicago went 21-47, missing playoffs every year.
Since winning Super Bowl 40 years ago, Bears are 6-12 in playoff games.
Last five years, Bears are 10-20 ATS in divisional games.

Detroit
Last three years, Detroit went 36-15 in regular season, 2-2 in playoffs.
In the entire Super Bowl era, Lions are 3-14 in playoff games (0-12 on road)
Lions are 14-8 ATS in last 22 games as a home favorite.

Green Bay
Packers made the playoffs 12 of the last 15 years.
Since winning Super Bowl 15 years ago, Green Bay is 8-11 in playoff games.
Packers are 26-17-1 ATS in their last 44 games as a home favorite.

Minnesota
Vikings were 14-3 LY, but let QB Darnold walk anyway.
Since 2010, Minnesota is 2-6 in playoff games.
Vikings are 10-2-1 ATS in last 13 games as a road favorite.

NFC South
Atlanta
Falcons missed the playoffs the last seven years.
Since 2014, Atlanta is 20-40-1 ATS as a home favorite.
In their history, Falcons are 6-2 in home playoff games, 4-12 otherwise.

Carolina
Carolina missed the playoffs the last seven years.
In their history, Panthers are 9-8 in playoff games (5-2 at home)
Carolina’s last seven home games went over the total.

New Orleans
New Orleans missed the playoffs the last four years.
Since winning Super Bowl 16 years ago, Saints are 4-7 in playoff games.
Since 2014, Saints are 26-38-1 ATS as a home favorite.

Tampa Bay
Buccaneers made the playoffs the last five years (27-24 last 3 years)
Tampa Bay is 5-2-1 ATS last eight games as a home favorite.
Last three years, Buccaneers are 3-5-1 ATS in NFC South home games.

NFC West
Arizona
Cardinals missed playoffs the last three years, and eight of last nine.
Since making it to the Super Bowl 17 years ago, Arizona is 2-4 in playoff games.
Cardinals are 8-4 ATS in last 12 games as a home underdog.

LA Rams
In eight years under McVay, Rams made playoffs six times (1-1 in Super Bowl)
McVay has a 8-5 record in playoff games.
Rams are 4-8-2 ATS last 14 games as a non-divisional road underdog.

San Francisco
49ers missed playoffs LY for first time in four years.
Since 2012, 49ers made playoffs six times; they went WWL all six years.
49ers are 7-9 ATS in last sixteen games as a home favorite.

Seattle
Seattle missed playoffs 3 of last 4 years, after making it 12 of previous 16 years.
Since losing Super Bowl 11 years ago, Seahawks are 3-6 in playoff games.
Last year, Seahawks were 1-6 SU/ATS in last seven home games.

Famous birthdays, July 2nd:
Robert Ito, 94
Polly Holliday, 88
Larry David, 78
Joe Pisarcik, 73

Tony Armas, 72
Jon Sundvold, 64
Jose Canseco, 61
Steve Sparks, 61

Chad Henne, 40
Margot Robbie, 35
Derrick White, 31
Daulton Varsho, 29

AFC teams
AFC East
Buffalo
Since 2017, Bills are 86-45 SU in regular season, 7-7 in playoffs.
Buffalo is 11-5-1 ATS last 17 games as a road underdog.
Over is 10-2 in their last 12 regular season games.

Miami
Dolphins made the playoffs twice in McDaniel’s three seasons as HC.
Dolphins lost their last six playoff games (last win, 2000)
Miami’s last six home games went over the total.

New England
Patriots made the playoffs once in five years since Brady left.
Vrabel’s is New England’s third HC in three years (4-13/4-13 last 2 years)
Patriots are 7-17-1 ATS in their last 25 home games.

NJ Jets
Jets have had nine consecutive losing seasons, last made playoffs in 2010.
Jets haven’t played a home playoff game since 2002.
Since 2018, Jets are 7-14 ATS in AFC East home games.

AFC North
Baltimore
Lamar Jackson is 70-24 in regular season games, 3-5 in playoff games.
Ravens are 2-3 SU in last five home playoff games.
Last two years, Baltimore is 19-12 ATS as a favorite.

Cincinnati
Bengals went 9-8/9-8 last two years, but missed playoffs both years.
2021-22, Bengals went 22-11 in regular season, 5-2 in playoffs.
From 1991-2020, Cincinnati was 0-7 in playoff games.
Over is 6-1 in their last seven home games. 

Cleveland
Since returning to NFL, Browns are 1-3 in playoff games.
Cleveland made playoffs twice in last five years, were 3-14 LY.
Last year, Browns were 3-12 ATS in their last fifteen games.

Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh made the playoffs eight of the last 11 years.
Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016.
Steelers are 25-14 ATS in last 39 games as a road underdog.

AFC South
Houston
Texans won AFC South last two years, six of last 10 seasons.
Texans are 6-1 in home playoff games, 0-6 in road playoff games.
Since 2019, Houston is 6-15 ATS as a home favorite.

Indianapolis
Colts missed playoffs last four years, and eight of last 10 seasons.
Last year, over was 7-1 in their last eight games.
Over is 11-5 in their last sixteen home games.

Jacksonville
Jaguars made the playoffs once in last seven seasons.
In their history, Jacksonville is 8-8 SU in playoff games.
Since 2016, Jaguars are 10-3 ATS as a home dog vs AFC South rivals.

Tennessee
Last three years, Titans missed playoffs, going 16-35 SU
Tennessee is 5-4 SU in its last nine road playoff games.
Last year, Titans were 1-7 SU/0-8 ATS at home. 

AFC West
Denver
Broncos made playoffs last year for first time in nine years.
LY’s playoff loss in Buffalo was their first road playoff game since 2011.
Denver won/covered six of its last seven home games.

Kansas City
Last six years, Chiefs went 3-2 SU in Super Bowls.
Since 2019, Chiefs are 16-3 SU in playoff games.
Since 2020, Chiefs are 17-22 ATS as a home favorite.

Las Vegas
Raiders made the playoffs twice in the last 22 years.
Raiders haven’t won a playoff game since 2002.
Pete Carroll made playoffs in four of his last six years in Seattle.

LA Chargers
Chargers made playoffs two of last three years.
Jim Harbaugh is 55-25-1 SU as an NFL coach, 5-4 in playoff games.
Chargers’ last six regular season road games went over the total. 

— Utah Jazz were 17-65 last year, worst record in the NBA, but they lottery screwed them; they wound up with the 5th pick in the draft, instead of the first pick.

Utah drafted G Ace Bailey from Rutgers, who didn’t work out for any teams, the only American player who didn’t. Word was he wanted the Washington Wizards to draft him, but now he goes to Utah, which also acquired Walter Clayton, who won a national title at Florida last year.

— Rutgers had Bailey and Dylan Harper last year; Harper was the 2nd player taken in this draft. If those two guys are so great, how come the Scarlet Knights were 15-17 last year, 8-12 in their conference games?

— Dallas Mavericks had only a 1.5% chance of getting the first pick in the draft, so they’re landing Cooper Flagg was quite a bonanza.

— This was first NBA Draft since 2007 that John Calipari didn’t have a player drafted in the first round; it was the first time since 2009 that Kentucky didn’t have a player drafted.

— 76ers drafted Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe with the #3 pick; if Philly can keep their nucleus of Emiid, George and Maxey together (they played together in only 15 games last year), they could make a jump back into the playoffs next year.

— Oklahoma City drafted Thomas Sorber from Georgetown, the Hoyas’ first player taken in the 1st round since Otto Porter Jr in 2013.

— Khaman Maluach is a 7-1 big man who played at Duke last year; he didn’t play basketball until he was 14, so he had ton of potential to become way better on offense.

— They said on ESPN that Tre Johnson was the best shooter in the draft; Wizards took him with the 6th pick, right after Harper went to Utah.

— As for ESPN’s coverage of the draft, I’m not a fan; we need more people on air who played or coached in the league. Kendrick Perkins is good, Jay Bilas was the NBA version of Mel Kiper Jr; we learned stuff from them. 

Former Warriors’ GM Bob Myers was on the ABC version of the draft; he is probably very good, but  I didn’t see it because I’m not spending 3.5 hours of my life listening to Stephen A Smith. 

Teams’ records by starting pitcher:
(thru Wednesday’s games)

Diamondbacks (41-39)
Gallen 7-10 (over 5-1 last six)
Kelly 9-7 (over 4-2 last six)
Burnes 6-5 (under 5-1 last six)
Pfaadt 9-7 (over 6-2 last eight)
Rodriguez 6-7 (over 8-2 last ten)
Nelson 4-3 (under 5-2)

— Braves (37-42)
Sale 8-7 (under 8-3 last eleven)
Schwellenbach 11-5 (over 9-3 last 12)
Smith-Shawver 5-4 (under 7-2)
Holmes 6-9 (3-7 last ten)
Elder 5-7 (under 9-2 last eleven)
Lopez 0-1
Strider 3-5 (under 6-2)
Fuentes 0-2
Blewett 0-1

— Cubs (47-33)
Imanaga 5-3 (under 6-2)
Steele 3-1 (over 4-0)
Taillon 8-8
Boyd 8-8 (under 5-1 last six)
Brown 7-7 (over 11-3)
Rea 9-4
Horton 6-2 (under 4-2 last six)
Pomeranz 2-0 (opener)
Keller 1-0 (opener)

— Reds (42-39)
Greene 6-5 (under 8-2 last ten)
Lodolo 7-8 (over 7-4 last 11)
Martinez 4-11 (over 5-0 last five)
Singer 9-7 (under 9-3 last 12)
Burns 1-0
Miley 2-0 (over 2-0)
Abbott 10-3
Petty 0-2
Suter 2-1 (opener)
Spiers 0-2

— Rockies (18-62)
Freeland 2-12 (under 9-5)
Senzatela 5-10 (over 3-1 last four)
Feltner 1-5 (under 4-0 last four)
Marquez 4-12 (over 10-5 last 15)
Dollander 3-10 
Palmquist 1-6 (under 5-2)
Gomber 1-1
Blalock 0-3
Gordon 1-2
Rolison 0-1 (opener)

— Dodgers (50-31)
Yamamoto 9-7
Kershaw 5-2 (over 7-0)
May 7-7 (over 4-1 last five)
Ohtani 2-0 (opener)
Snell 2-0 (over 2-0)
Glasnow 3-2
Sheehan 1-0
Sasaki 6-2 (over 6-2)
Knack 5-2 (over 5-2)
Gonsolin 3-4
Wrobleski 0-2
Miller 1-0
Casparius 1-1 (opener)
Dreyer 4-1 (opener)
Sauer 1-0 (opener)
Trivino 0-1 (opener)

— Marlins (33-45)
Alcantara 6-9 (under 6-2 last eight)
Quantrill 8-7 (under 8-1 last nine)
Bellozo 1-4
Meyer 5-7 (over 7-1 last eight)
EPerez 1-2
Cabrera 7-6
Junk 1-0
Weathers 2-3
Mazur 0-1
Gillispie 1-5 (over 5-1)
Gibson 1-0 (opener)
Veneziano 0-1 (opener)

— Famous birthdays, June 26th:

Edd Hargett, 78
Shannon Sharpe, 57
Chris O’Donnell, 55
Jason Kendall, 51
Chad Pennington, 49

Michael Vick, 45
Deron Williams, 41
Iman Shumpert, 35
Rudy Gobert, 33
Riley Adams, 29

— Brewers (45-36)
Peralta 10-7
Cortes 1-1
Patrick 5-11 (under 11-5)
Priester 4-6 (under 7-3)
Misioroski 3-0
Myers 2-3
Rodriguez 0-2 (over 2-0)
Alexander 2-2 (over 3-1)
Quintana 7-3 (under 8-2)
Henderson 3-1 (over 3-1)
Hall 2-0
Zastryzny 1-0 (opener)
Civale 3-2

— Mets (47-34)
Holmes 11-5 (under 6-2 last eight)
Megill 6-8 (over 9-2 last 11)
Senga 9-4 (under 12-1)
Canning 11-4 (over 5-1 last six)
Peterson 9-6 (home team 14-1)
Montas 0-1
Blackburn 1-2
Tidwell 0-2
Brazoban 0-2 (opener)

— Phillies (47-33)
Wheeler 11-5
Luzardo 10-6 (over 4-1 last five)
Nola 3-6 (under 6-3)
Sanchez 12-3
Walker 4-4 (under 3-1 last four)
Suarez 6-4 (under 6-1 last seven)
Abel 3-2 
Ross 0-1 (opener)

— Pirates (32-50)
Skenes 8-9 (under 9-4 last 13)
Keller 3-13 (under 7-2 last nine)
Falter 9-7
Heaney 5-11 
Burrows 2-3
Mlodzinski 3-6 (under 4-1 last five)
Harrington 0-1
Ashcraft 1-0

— Cardinals (44-37)
Gray 12-3 (under 4-1 last five)
Fedde 5-11 (under 5-1 last six)
Mikolas 7-8
Liberatore 7-8 (over 5-1 last six)
Pallante 9-6 (over 4-1 last five)
Matz 2-0
McGreevy 2-1 (over 3-0)

— Padres (44-36)
King 5-5 (1-5 last six) (over 3-0-1 last four)
Cease 9-7
Vasquez 9-7 (under 11-5)
Pivetta 10-6 (over 4-1 last five)
Bergert 4-1
Hart 3-3 (over 4-2)
Kolek 4-6 (under 4-1 last five)
Reynolds 0-1

— Giants (44-36)
Ray 13-3 (under 9-3 last 12)
Webb 9-8 (under 4-1 last five)
Verlander 4-8 (under 6-1 last seven)
Roupp 8-7 (under 6-1 last seven)
Birdsong 3-3 (over 3-0 last three)
Harrison 3-1 (under 3-1)
Hjelle 0-1 (opener)
Hicks 4-5 (over 7-2)

— Nationals (33-48)
Gore 6-11 (under 8-4 last 12)
Irvin 8-8
Parker 8-8 (under 9-5)
Williams 6-10 (under 4-0 last four)
Soroka 4-6
Lord 2-4

Notes on football teams in the SEC:
— Alabama
Last five years, Alabama is 37-26 (58.7%) against spread.
New QB Simpson threw only 25 passes as the backup LY.
Had only 25 sacks last year, their fewest since 2013.

— Arkansas
Arkansas has only 3 starters back on offense, 3 more on defense.
Hogs gained 459.5 yards/game last year, #10 in country.
Arkansas allowed 246.9 passing yards/game (#110)

— Auburn
Auburn scored only 19.1 ppg in its SEC games (2-6) last year
Tigers had a minus-9 turnover ratio (#119)
Auburn was 1-3 LY in games decided by 7 or fewer points.

— Florida
Six starters back on offense, seven on defense, a lot for an SEC team.
Gators have four starters back on the offensive line.
Florida was helped last year by its +6 turnover ratio (#35)

— Georgia
Last two years, Dawgs are only 9-17 ATS
Georgia has only seven of 22 starters back from LY.
Dawgs ran ball for only 124.4 yards/game LY, #102 in country.

— Kentucky
Wildcats have only 3 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Kentucky missed a bowl LY for first time in nine years.
Wildcats threw ball for only 184.8 yards/game LY (#112)

— LSU
Only six of 22 starters are back, only one on offensive line.
Gave up 364.4 yards/game LY, #61 in country. Mediocre.
QB Nussmeier is in his 5th year; his dad is the Saints’ offensive coordinator. .
— Ole Miss
Lane Kiffin has a 44-18 record in five years with the Rebels.
Ole Miss has only five of 22 starters back this year.
Rebels scored 38.6 ppg LY, #3 in country.

— Famous birthdays, June 25th:
June Lockhart, 100
Ricky Gervais, 64
Dell Curry, 61
Carlos Delgado, 53
Linda Cardellini, 50

Aramis Ramírez, 47
Matt Schaub, 44
Paul Maholm, 43
Gerald Everett, 31
Desmond Bane, 27

— Mississippi State
Bulldogs were 2-10 LY, including a 41-17 home loss to Toledo.
Miss State allowed 216.9 rushing yards/game (#129)
Bulldogs have only three starters back on defense.

— Missouri
Tigers have 7 starters back on defense, only 4 on offense.
Mizzou allowed only 317.5 yards/game LY, #17 in country.
Tigers don’t play a road game until October 18, at Auburn. 

— Oklahoma
Sooners have a new OC, who is 29; he brought the QB from Wazzu with him.
Oklahoma gained only 331 yards/game LY, #113 in country.
Oklahoma has only three starters back on offense.

— South Carolina
Gamecocks allowed only 18.1 ppg LY, #12 in country.
South Carolina has a new punter, kicker, long snapper, holder for kicks.
Gamecocks haven’t won a league title since they won the ACC in 1969.

— Tennessee
New QB Aguilar is a transfer from Appalachian State, via UCLA.
Aguilar threw for 6,700+ yards, 56 TD’s in two years at App State.
Vols have 7 starters back from a defense that allowed 16.1 ppg LY (#7 in country)

— Texas
Only 3 starters back on offense; Arch Manning is the new QB.
Texas ranked 71st in country in rushing yards LY; they’ve got 4 new starters on OL
First 4 weeks in October; three road games, and the Oklahoma game in Dallas.

— Texas A&M
Have six starters back on offense, seven on defense.
Aggies ran ball for 195.5 yards/game LY (#26); they’ve got 4 starters back on OL
A&M lost four of last four games LY, after a 7-1 start.

— Vanderbilt
Last year’s 7-6 season was their best since 2013.
Vandy brought in six transfers who play on OL, to protect QB Pavia.
Someone offered Pavia $4M to bolt to their school; he declined the offer.  

Teams’ records by starting pitcher:
(thru Tuesday’s games)
Diamondbacks (36-36)
Gallen 6-9 (over 3-1 last four)
Kelly 8-7 (over 4-1 last five)
Burnes 6-5 (under 5-1 last six)
Pfaadt 9-6 (over 6-1 last seven)
Rodriguez 5-6 (over 6-2 last eight)
Nelson 2-3 (under 4-1)

— Braves (32-39)
Sale 7-7 (under 7-3 last ten)
Schwellenbach 10-5 (over 9-2 last 11)
Smith-Shawver 5-4 (under 7-2)
Holmes 5-9 (2-7 last nine)
Elder 5-6 (under 8-2 last ten)
Lopez 0-1
Strider 1-5 (under 5-1)
Blewett 0-1

— Cubs (45-28)
Imanaga 5-3 (under 6-2)
Steele 3-1 (over 4-0)
Taillon 8-6 (won last five; under 7-3 last ten)
Boyd 7-7 (home team 12-2; under 4-0 last four)
Brown -5 (over 10-2)
Rea 9-3 (under last 3-1 last four)
Horton 5-2 (under 4-1 last five)
Pomeranz 2-0 (opener)
Keller 1-0 (opener)

— Reds (38-35)
Greene 6-5 (under 8-2 last ten)
Lodolo 6-8 (over 7-4 last 11)
Martinez 4-10 (over 4-0 last four)
Singer 9-5 (under 7-3 last 10)
Miley 2-0 (over 2-0)
Abbott 9-3
Petty 0-2
Suter 2-0 (opener)
Spiers 0-2

— Rockies (16-57)
Freeland 2-12 (under 9-5)
Senzatela 4-10 (over 5-2 last seven)
Feltner 1-5 (under 4-0 last four)
Marquez 3-11 (over 9-4 last 13)
Dollander 3-8 (under 6-2 last eight)
Palmquist 1-5 (under 4-2)
Gomber 1-0
Blalock 0-3
Gordon 1-2
Rolison 0-1 (opener)

— Dodgers (45-29)
Yamamoto 8-6 (over 3-1 last four)
Kershaw 4-2 (over 6-0)
May 7-6 (over 3-1 last four)
Ohtani 1-0
Snell 2-0 (over 2-0)
Glasnow 3-2
Sasaki 6-2 (over 6-2)
Knack 5-2 (over 5-2)
Gonsolin 3-4
Wrobleski 0-2
Miller 1-0
Casparius 1-1 (opener)
Dreyer 3-1 (opener)
Sauer 1-0 (opener)
Trivino 0-1 (opener)

— Marlins (29-42)
Alcantara 5-8 (under 5-2 last seven)
Quantrill 7-7 (under 7-1 last eight)
Bellozo 1-4
Meyer 5-7 (over 7-1 last eight)
EPerez 1-1
Cabrera 6-5 (under 5-2 last seven)
Weathers 2-3
Gillispie 1-5 (over 5-1)
Gibson 1-0 (opener)
Veneziano 0-1 (opener)

— Famous birthdays, June 18th:

Paul McCartney, 83
Isabella Rosselini, 73
Neil O’Donoghue, 72
Eric Truvillion, 66

Andrés Galarraga, 64
Jeff Saturday, 50
Alana De La Garza, 49
Jake Meyers, 29

— Brewers (39-35)
Peralta 8-7 (under 6-2 last eight)
Cortes 1-1
Patrick 5-10 (under 11-4)
Priester 3-6 (under 7-2)
Misioroski 1-0
Myers 2-3
Rodriguez 0-2 (over 2-0)
Alexander 2-2 (over 3-1)
Quintana 6-3 (under 7-2)
Henderson 3-1 (over 3-1)
Hall 2-0
Zastryzny 1-0 (opener)
Civale 3-2

— Mets (45-28)
Holmes 10-4 (under 5-1 last six)
Megill 6-8 (over 9-2 last 11)
Senga 9-4 (under 12-1)
Canning 10-4 (over 4-1 last five)
Peterson 9-5
Blackburn 1-0
Tidwell 0-1
Brazoban 0-2 (opener)

— Phillies (43-30)
Wheeler 10-4
Luzardo 9-6
Nola 3-6 (under 6-3)
Sanchez 10-4
Walker 4-4 (under 3-1 last four)
Suarez 5-3 (under 4-1 last five)
Abel 2-2 (under 3-1)
Ross 0-1 (opener)

— Pirates (29-45)
Skenes 7-8 (under 8-3 last 11)
Keller 3-12 (under 6-2 last eight)
Falter 8-7 (under 6-3 last nine)
Heaney 5-9 (under 10-4)
Burrows 2-2
Mlodzinski 3-6 (under 4-1 last five)
Harrington 0-1

— Cardinals (38-35)
Gray 11-3 (under 4-0 last four)
Fedde 4-10 (under 3-1 last four)
Mikolas 7-7 (over 3-1 last four)
Liberatore 6-8 (over 4-1 last five)
Pallante 8-6 (over 4-0 last four)
Matz 2-0
McGreevy 0-1

— Padres (39-33)
King 5-5 (1-5 last six) (over 3-0-1 last four)
Cease 8-7
Vasquez 8-7 (under 10-5)
Pivetta 9-5 (over 3-0 last three)
Bergert 2-1
Hart 3-3 (over 4-2)
Kolek 4-4 (under 3-0 last three)
Reynolds 0-1

— Giants (41-32)
Ray 12-3 (under 9-2 last 11)
Hicks 4-5 (over 7-2)
Webb 8-7 (under 3-1 last four)
Verlander 4-6 (under 4-1 last five)
Roupp 7-7 (under 5-1 last six)
Birdsong 3-2 (under 2-0)
Harrison 3-1 (under 3-1)
Hjelle 0-1 (opener)

— Nationals (30-43)
Gore 6-9 (under 7-3 last ten)
Irvin 7-8
Parker 7-8 (under 9-5)
Williams 5-9
Soroka 3-6
Lord 2-4

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Cubs, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies, Giants, Padres
AL: Bronx, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Rays, Blue Jays, Mariners

 

— Happy Armadillo Day; started this blog 24 years ago this week. Hope you enjoy reading it every day- you DO read it every day, right? 🙂 

The world has changed a lot since 2001; some for the better, some not so much, but hopefully things will get better again soon.

I try to focus on the positive here, but mostly aim for being realistic.

Thanks for reading, even if you read it only because it helps you sleep better 🙂

— Panthers 4, Oilers 2
Panthers led 2-0 after the first period.
Florida scored their five goals on only 19 shots.
Brad Marchand scored twice for Florida.
Game 6 is in Florida Tuesday night.

Panthers’ star Marchand has scored six goals for Florida in this year’s Final.

He scored five goals for the Bruins in the 2011 Finals. 

He is the first player in NHL history to score 5+ goals in a Stanley Cup Final with two different teams.

— Was watching Tigers-Orioles game the other night, and the great actor JK Simmons showed up in the Orioles’ TV booth, unannounced. Simmons is a big-time Tigers’ fan; he was also the manager of the Tigers in the excellent Kevin Costner movie For Love of the Game.

He has 245 acting credits on IMDB; he was Dr Skoda in 45 episodes of Law and Order, just a tremendous career.

— Atlanta Braves were minus-350 favorites over Colorado Saturday, huge favorites. Remember reading something a long time ago advising you to never lay more than -150 on baseball.

My cousin KL Wheat, who is smart with his bets, never lays more than -120.

— Pirates P Paul Skenes has a 1.78 ERA in 15 starts this year, but he is 4-6 in those start; Pirates have scored 3 or fewer runs in 10 of his 15 starts. Under is 8-3 in his last 11 starts.

— Cardinals 8, Brewers 5
Willson/William Contreras became the first brothers since 1933 to homer in the same inning in the same game, when they were on opposing sides in that game. 

Last year, Cleveland’s Josh/Bo Naylor did it as teammates.

— Heading into this weekend, the average OPS in the major leagues was .712; in 2019 it was .758, in 2020 it was .740. Getting harder and harder to hit.

— Famous birthdays, June 15th:
Dusty Baker, 76
Jim Belushi, 71
Wade Boggs, 67
Helen Hunt, 62
Courteney Cox, 61

Kerwin Bell, 60
O’Shea Jackson Sr., 56 (Ice Cube)
Andy Pettitte, 53
Michael Doleac, 48
Derek Anderson, 42

Tim Lincecum, 41
Trevor Plouffe, 39
Jake Locker, 37
Cooper Kupp, 32
Dom Smith, 30

Happy birthday to the Big Dawg, whose birthday is this weekend. He’s been a good friend for many years, he’s a good NFL handicapper.

— When Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points off the bench the other night, it was the most points a sub scored in an NBA Finals game since Jason Terry scored 27 in 2011.

Both players were coached in those games by Rick Carlisle.

Pacers’ star Tyrese Halliburton has scored 71 points in the first four games of the series vs Oklahoma City; he’s taken a total of only three foul shots in the four games, all of them in the Game 4 loss.

— Diamondbacks 8, Padres 7
Arizona led 3-1 after the sixth inning.
San Diego led 7-3 in the middle of the ninth. 

Diamondbacks scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth; Geraldo Perdomo’s bases loaded triple was the big blow in the inning.

— It was a good week for a couple of NFL punters:

Monday, Jaguars gave P Logan Cooke a 4-year, $16M contract, making him the highest-paid punter in the NFL. 

Tuesday, Seahawks gave P Michael Dickson a 4-year, $16.2M contract, making him the highest-paid punter in the NFL.

— Houston Texans WR Nico Collins had 142 receiving yards negated by Houston penalties last year, more than any other player.

— White Sox traded 1B/OF Andrew Vaughn to Milwaukee for P Aaron Civale, who the Brewers had demoted to the bullpen. White Sox had demoted Vaughn to AAA.

— I’m curious if baseball executives who were really good ballplayers look down their noses at the nerdy, non-athletic guys who are often in front offices these days?

I’m guessing they do; John Smoltz was on TV Saturday night, saying how official scorers should consult with former players when they make scoring decisions, to find “how difficult a play that really was”

— Baseball seriously needs to promote itself better; a good reality show would include current players watching fantasy baseball podcasts on YouTube, where nerdy types criticize players, as they add/drop or trade these players. 

A quick trend for all of Saturday’s starting pitchers:
NL games
Marlins @ Nationals
Miami is undecided on their starter; they’re 1-4 in second game of a series, if they won the opener.

Nationals are 4-7 in Williams’ last 11 starts.

Pirates @ Cubs
Burrows is 2-1, 3.77 in his first three starts.

Cubs are 5-0 in Boyd’s home starts.

Rockies @ Braves
Under is 5-2 in last seven Dollander starts.

Strider is 0-5, 5.76 in his first five starts.

Cardinals @ Brewers
Pallante is 0-1, 6.64 in his last four starts (over 3-1)

Bewers are 6-2 in Quintana starts (under 7-1)

Padres @ Diamondbacks
San Diego won Bergert’s first two starts (0-0, 1.74, under 2-0)

Gallen is 1-4, 6.94 in his last six starts.

Giants @ Dodgers
Under is 4-1 in Roupp’s last five starts.

Over is 5-0 in Kershaw’s starts.

AL games
Angels @ Orioles
Anderson is 0-3, 5.63 in his last nine starts.

Under is 9-1 in Sugano’s last ten starts.

White Sox @ Rangers
Chicago is undecided on their starter; they’re 7-29 on the road. 

deGrom is 6-1, 1.46 in his last eight starts.

Twins @ Astros
Ryan is 5-0, 2.89 in his last five starts.

Brown is 7-2, 1.82 in his last ten starts.

A’s @ Royals
Lopez is 0-3, 6.61 in four starts.

Lorenzen is 1-1, 9.88 in his last three starts.

Bronx @ Red Sox
Under is 11-4 in Rodon’s starts.

Dobbins is 3-1, 4.74 in five home starts.

Guardians @ Mariners
Under is 8-2 in Bibee’s last ten starts.

Kirby is 1-1, 3.00 in his last two starts.

Famous birthdays, June 14th:
Vince Evans, 70
Sam Perkins, 64
Eric Murdock, 57

Bruce Bowen, 54
Sammy Watkins, 32
Bobby Witt Jr, 25

Interleague games
Reds @ Tigers
Under is 7-2 in Singer’s last nine starts.

Flaherty is 3-0, 0.50 in his last three starts.

Blue Jays @ Phillies
Francis is 0-6, 6.29 in his last nine starts.

Sanchez is 1-1, 2.41 in his last three starts.

Rays @ Mets
Rasmussen is 4-0, 0.62 in his last five starts.

Over is 8-2 in Megill’s last ten starts. 

Trends for major league teams (thru Thursday’s games)

— Arizona (34-34)
Arizona won seven of its last ten games.
Diamondbacks scored in first inning in 6 of  their last 11 home games.
Arizona is 4-12 in last 16 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Braves (29-38)
Atlanta lost 15 of its last 20 games.
Braves are 17-14 at home, 12-24 on the road.
Under is 16-5 in their last 21 home games.

— Cubs (42-27)
Chicago is 11-2 of its last 13 home games.
Under is 13-4 in their last seventeen games.
Cubs are 9-3 vs American League teams.

— Reds (35-34)
Cincinnati is 10-7 in its last seventeen games.
Reds are 7-1 in last eight series openers.
Reds are 27-21 vs righty starters, 8-13 vs lefties.

— Rockies (13-55)
Colorado is 6-22 since they changed managers.
Under is 16-4 in Rockies’ last 20 road games.
Rockies are 1-19 vs lefty starters, 12-36 vs righties. 

— Dodgers (41-28)
Dodgers are 18-18 in their last 36 games,
Dodgers are 23-11 at home, 18-17 on the road.
Dodgers are 32-17 vs righty starters, 9-11 vs lefties.
Over is 16-5 in their last 21 home games.

— Marlins (25-41)                                                                       )
Marlins are 4-11 in their last fifteen games.
Miami is 14-20 at home, 11-21 on the road.
Marlins are 1-10 in road series openers.

— Brewers (37-33)
Brewers are 9-5 in their last 14 home games.
Brewers are 21-14 at home, 16-19 on the road.
Under is 15-6 in their last 21 home games.

— Mets (45-24)
Mets won 11 of their last 13 games.
Mets are 27-7 at home, 18-17  on the road.
Under is 11-5 in their last 16 home games.

— Phillies (39-29)
Phillies lost ten of their last thirteen games.
Phillies are 30-17 vs righty starters, 9-12 vs lefties.
Phillies are 8-3 in home series openers.

— Pirates (28-42)
Pirates are 6-3 in their last nine games.
Pittsburgh is 19-19 at home, 9-23 on the road.
Under is 11-4 in their last 15 road games.

— St Louis (36-33)
St Louis lost its last five games.
Cardinals are 11-3 when Sonny Gray starts.
Over is 7-4 in their last eleven games.
St Louis is 22-14 at home, 14-19 on the road.

— Padres (38-29)
Padres won 11 of their last 17 games.
Under is 8-2 in their last ten road games.
San Diego is 8-4 in its last 12 series openers.
Padres are 10-5 against their NL West rivals.

— Giants (40-29)
Giants won seven of their last eight games.
Giants are 32-17 vs rightly pitchers, 8-12 vs lefties.
SF is 16-6 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Under is 19-5 in Giants’ last 24 games.

— Washington (30-38)
Nationals lost eight of their last ten games.
Under is 11-2 in their last 13 home games.
Washington is 13-4 last 17 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Famous birthdays, June 13th:
Marcel Lachemann, 84
Happy Feller, 76
Richard Thomas, 74
Ernie Whitt, 73
Tim Allen, 72

Ally Sheedy, 63
Šarūnas Marčiulionis, 61
Jonathan Lucroy, 39
Hassan Whiteside, 36
James McCann, 35

— Orioles (27-40)
Baltimore is 2-4 in its last six games.
Orioles are 8-8 vs AL East foes, 19-32 vs everyone else.
Under is 9-1 in their last ten games.

— Red Sox (34-36)
Red Sox are 4-1 in their last five games.
Boston is 7-17 in one-run games.
Over is 5-2 in their last seven games.
Red Sox are 19-17 at home, 15-19 on the road.

— White Sox (23-46)
Chicago is 12-8 in its last 20 home games.
White Sox are 7-28 on the road.
White Sox are 17-36 vs righty starters, 6-10 vs lefties.

— Cleveland (35-32)
Guardians lost six of their last nine games.
Cleveland is 14-5 against its AL Central rivals.
Guardians are 30-19 vs righty starters, 5-13 vs lefties.
Under is 10-2 in their last 12 road games.

— Detroit (45-25)
Detroit is 13-8 vs its AL Central rivals.
Tigers won four of their last six games.
Under is 9-1 in their last ten home games.

— Houston (38-30)
Astros are 24-13 at home, 14-17 on the road.
Houston is 5-2 in its last seven series openers.
Under is 19-9 in their last 28 games.
Astros are 12-6 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Royals (34-35)
Royals are 6-12 in their last eighteen games.
Kansas City is 19-16 at home, 15-19 on the road.
Over is 7-2 in Royals’ last nine games.
Kansas City is 12-10 in one-run games.

— Angels (33-34)
Angels won seven of their last nine games.
Over is 8-4 in their last 12 road games.
Halos are 14-7 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Twins (36-32)
Twins are 2-5 in their last seven games.
Minnesota is 20-12 at home, 16-20 on the road.
Over is 10-3 in their last 13 games.

— New York (42-25)
New York won 23 of its last 32 games.
Over is 5-2 in their last seven games.
New York is 32-19 vs righty starters, 10-6 vs lefties.

— A’s (26-44)
A’s lost 24 of their last 28 games.
A’s have lost 14 straight road games.
Over is 10-4 in their last 14 games.

— Seattle (33-34)
Mariners lost eight of their last nine games.
Seattle is 4-11 in its last 15 home games.
Under is 4-0 in Mariners’ last four home games.

— Tampa Bay (36-32)
Tampa Bay won 14 of its last 20 games.
Under is 20-9 in their last 29 home games.
Rays are 12-4 in last 16 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Texas (33-36)
Rangers won four of their last five games.
Texas is 5-13 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Rangers are 20-13 at home, 13-23 on road.
Under is 19-7 in their last 26 road games.

— Toronto (38-30)
Blue Jays won 12 of their last 14 games.
Over is 11-2 in their last 13 games.
Toronto is 8-2 in last nten games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

AL teams’ records, by starting pitcher:

— Orioles (26-39)
Eflin 5-3
Morton 3-7 (under 4-1 last five)
Kremer 5-8 (under 7-2 last nine)
Sugano 7-6 (under 9-1 last ten)
Povich 4-8
Young 1-1
Gibson 0-4 (over 3-1)
Rogers 1-0
McDermott 0-1
Akin 0-2 (opener)

— Red Sox (33-36)
Crochet 8-6 (under 10-4)
Houck 2-7 (over 5-1 last six)
Buehler 6-4 (under 3-1 last four)
Pitts 0-5 (under 4-1)
Newcomb 2-3 (over 4-1)
Dobbins 5-3 (over 3-1 last four)
Bello 5-5 (over 7-3)
Giolito 5-3

— White Sox (23-44)
Burke 6-5 (under 5-1 last six)
Cannon 1-9 (over 5-1 last six)
Perez 2-2
Smith 4-9 (over 4-1 last five)
Martin 3-9
Wilson 3-2 (over 4-1)
Houser 2-2 (under 4-0)
Gilbert 1-2 (opener)
Eisert 0-2 (opener)
Shuster 0-2 (opener)
Vasil 0-1 (opener)

— Guardians (34-32)
Lively 7-2 (under 6-2 last eight)
Williams 8-5 (over 7-3 last ten)
Bibee 7-6 (under 8-2 last ten)
Ortiz 5-8 (under 6-3 last nine)
Allen 5-6 (under 3-1 last four)
Cecconi 2-3 (under 4-1)
Nikhazy 0-1
Allard 1-0

— Tigers (44-24)
Skubal 9-4 (under 3-0 last three)
Flaherty 5-8 (under 3-1 last four)
Olson 5-4
Jobe 9-1
Mize 7-3 (over 4-1 last five)
Montero 5-1 (under 5-1)
Gipson-Long 1-0
Holton 1-1 (opener)
Hurter 2-0 (opener)
Guenther 0-1 (opener)
Brieske 0-1 (opener)

— Astros (36-30)
Valdez 8-5 (under 4-1 last five)
Brown 9-4 (over 3-1 last four)
Arrighetti 1-1
Blanco 5-4 (under 5-1 last six)
Wesneski 2-4 (under 5-1)
Gusto 3-5
McCullers 4-3 (under 3-0 last three)
Gordon 4-1 (under 4-1)
Walter 0-2
Blubaugh 0-1

— Royals (34-33)
Ragans 5-5 (over 5-1 last six)
Lugo 5-6
Bubic 7-5 (under 7-2 last nine)
Lorenzen 7-6 (over 3-0 last three)
Wacha 7-6 (under 8-3 last 11)
Cameron 2-4 (under 4-2)
Lynch 1-1 (opener)

— Famous birthdays, June 11th:
Adrienne Barbeau, 80
Dave Cash, 77
Gary Fencik, 71

Joe Montana, 69
Hugh Laurie, 66
Odalis Pérez, 47

Jose Reyes, 42
Jorge Alfaro, 32
Max Schuemann, 28

— Angels (32-34)
Kikuchi 6-7 (over 9-4)
Soriano 5-9 (under 4-1 last five)
TAnderson 9-4 (over 6-2 last eight)
Hendricks 5-7 (over 3-1 last four)
Kochanowicz 6-7 (under 4-2 last sox)

— Twins (35-31)
Lopez 7-4 
Ryan 7-5 (under 9-3)
Ober 8-5 (over 4-1 last five)
Paddack 3-10 
Woods-Richardson 5-3 
Matthews 3-1
Festa 2-2 (over 3-1)
Topa 0-1 (opener)

— New York (40-25)
Rodon 8-6 (under 10-4)
Fried 12-2 (over 4-1 last five)
Warren 7-6 
Carrasco 2-4 (under 4-2)
Schmidt 5-4 (under 4-0 last four) 
Stroman 2-1 (over 3-0)
Yarbrough 4-2

— A’s (26-43)
Severino 4-10 (over 5-2 last seven)
Springs 5-7 (over 3-1 last four)
Bido 4-5 (over 4-1 last five)
Sears 7-6 (over 5-1 last six)
Lopez 1-3
Spence 1-1
Hoglund 2-4 
Ginn 2-2 (under 3-1)
Estes 0-2
Sterner 0-1 (opener)
Holman 0-2 (opener)

— Mariners (33-33)
Gilbert 5-1
Castillo 6-7 (under 4-1 last five)
Miller 4-6 (over 6-0 last six)
Woo 7-5 (under 4-1 last five)
Kirby 1-3
Hancock 6-5 
Evans 4-3 (over 5-2)
JFCastillo 1-1 (opener)
Legumina 0-1 (opener)

— Rays (36-31)
Pepiot 5-9 (under 8-2 last ten)
Littell 8-5 (won last eight; under 9-4)
Bradley 6-7 
Rasmussen 7-6 (under 11-2)
Baz 9-4 (over 3-0 last three)
Boyle 1-0

— Rangers (32-35)
Eovaldi 6-6 (under 10-2)
Leiter 4-6 (under 7-3)
Mahle 6-5 (under 10-1)
deGrom 6-4 
Rocker 3-3 
Corbin 4-7 (under 6-2 last eight)
Latz 1-0

— Blue Jays (37-30)
Berrios 7-6 (under 3-1 last four)
Gausman 8-5 (over 7-1 last eight)
Bassitt 8-5 (over 3-0 last three)
Francis 4-9 (over 7-1 last eight)
Lucas 2-2
Scherzer 0-1
Lauer 1-1
Urena 1-1
Schultz 2-0 (opener)
Rodriguez 1-0 (opener)
Fisher 1-0 (opener)

Teams’ records in first game of series:
(away/home….total)
(thru Sunday’s games)

NL East
Braves 4-7/6-4…..10-11
Marlins 1-9/4-7…..5-16
Mets 7-4/9-1…..16-5
Phillies 5-6/7-3…..12-9
Nationals 5-5/6-5…..11-10

NL Central
Cubs 6-6/9-1…..15-7
Reds 6-4/8-3…..14-7
Brewers 6-5/5-5…..11-10
Pirates 2-8/4-7…..6-15
Cardinals 4-6/8-3…..12-9

NL West
Arizona 6-5/4-6…..10-11
Rockies 2-9/1-9…..3-18
Dodgers 7-4/6-5…..13-9
Padres 7-4/7-3…..14-7
Giants 6-5/5-5…..11-10

AL East
Orioles 4-7/6-4…..10-11
Red Sox 3-8/6-4…..9-12
New York 5-5/7-4…..12-9
Rays 3-4/9-5…….12-9
Blue Jays 5-5/5-6…..10-11

AL Central
White Sox 1-9/7-4…..8-13
Guardians 5-6/6-4…..11-10
Tigers 8-3/9-1…..17-4                                                     
Royals 5-6/6-4…..11-10
Twins 5-6/6-4…..11-10

AL West
Astros 4-6/8-3…..12-9
Angels 7-5/4-5…..11-10
A’s 5-5/3-8…….8-13
Mariners 3-7/5-6…..8-13
Rangers 3-8/5-5…..8-13

Teams’ records in series:
(away/home….total)

NL East
Braves 3-8/5-4-1…..8-12-1
Marlins 1-8-1/5-6…..6-14-1
Mets 4-5-1/9-1…..13-6-1
Phillies 5-6/7-2-1…..12-8-1
Nationals 5-5/4-6-1…..9-11-1

NL Central
Cubs 7-4-1/8-2…..15-6-1
Reds 4-6/3-7-1…..7-13-1
Brewers 4-6-1/7-3…..11-9-1
Pirates 2-8/5-5-1…..7-13-1
Cardinals 4-5-1/8-3…..12-8-1

NL West
Arizona 5-6/3-5-2…..8-11-2
Rockies 1-10/0-10…..1-20
Dodgers 5-4-2/8-2-1…..13-6-3
Padres 5-5-1/8-2…..13-7-1
Giants 6-4-1/6-3-1…..12-7-2

AL East
Orioles 2-7-2/3-6-1…..5-13-3
Red Sox 6-5/4-5-1…..10-10-1
New York 6-4/7-4…..13-8
Rays 4-2-1/9-5…….13-7-1
Blue Jays 5-4-1/6-4-1…..11-8-2

AL Central
White Sox 1-9/5-5-1…..6-14-1
Guardians 5-5-1/6-4…..11-9-1
Tigers 7-3-1/8-2…..15-5-1
Royals 4-7/5-5…..9-12
Twins 5-6/6-3-1…..11-9-1

AL West
Astros 3-6-1/9-1-1…..12-7-2
Angels 6-6/4-5…….10-11
A’s 4-5-1/3-8…….7-13-1
Mariners 7-3/5-5-1…..12-8-1
Rangers 4-7/5-3-2…..9-10-2

Famous birthdays, June 10th:
Jon McGlocklin, 82
Ken Singleton, 78
Larry Brooks, 75
John Gianelli, 75
Dan Fouts, 74

Floyd Bannister, 70
Jay Vincent, 66
Gina Gershon, 63
Jeff Teague, 37
Kate Upton, 33

— Monday was the 52nd anniversary of Secretariat winning the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown of norse racing, which means it was also the 52nd anniversary of the only time I’ve ever ridden a horse.

My 8th grade field trip was to some resort place near Lake George; we were playing tennis, which was fun, but then we had to go ride horses. I had been to a racetrack with my dad, but betting on horses is way more fun than riding one was.

When I got on the horse, asked the guy in charge what the horse’s name was; he smiled and said “Jumper” which didn’t help things. The horse was pretty cool; he liked eating leaves off the trees, until we got to any open area and he took off in a full sprint, with me hanging on for dear life. Somehow I stayed on the horse and vowed never to do that again. Ever.

— Florida 6, Edmonton 1
Florida scored four times on their first 14 shots on goal.
Brad Marchand has scored in all three series games.
Panthers lead Stanley Cup finals, 2-1. Game 4 is Thursday.

— Last week we mentioned how Indiana/Oklahoma City are the NBA finalists that are the closest together in any year since 1971.

This year NHL’s finalists are 3,003 miles apart.

— Saturday in Tampa, Marlins’ P Ryan Weathers was warming up to pitch the bottom of the first inning; when the catcher threw the ball down to second to end warmups, he drilled Weathers in the head, but for some reason, they let him pitch anyway. 

Weathers pitched three innings, threw 57 pitches, and apparently hurt his back so badly that he is now on the 60-day disabled list. Oy.

— Washington Nationals have scored a total of 11 runs in their last seven games.

— Texas SS Corey Seager is 2-for-34 since coming off the injured list. He is 0-22 in June.

— Cubs’ 2B Nico Hoerner got thrown out of a game in Detroit over the weekend; TV mikes heard him tell the umpire “you’re having a really bad day” with no cursing included.

That gets you thrown out? 

— Prop bets for the US Open golf tournament this week:

72-hole winning score: 278.5

Lowest completed round: 65.5 (under -175)

— First-ever major league amateur draft was 60 years ago this week:
1) A’s- Rick Monday, OF. Played 19 years in majors, had an .804 OPS.
2) Mets- Les Rohr, P. Pitched in six games (24.1 IP) for the Mets
3) Senators- Joe Coleman, P. Pitched 15 years in majors, started 340 games.
4) Astros- Alex Barrett, SS. Played 125 games in AAA, never made the majors.
5) Red Sox- Billy Conigliaro, OF. Hit .256 in five years, never played after age 25.
6) Cubs- Rick James, P. Pitched in three games (4.2 IP) for the Cubs.
7) Indians- Ray Fosse, C. Played 12 years in majors, made two All-Star Games, helped the A’s win two World Series titles.

Monday/Fosse both became long-time announcers after their playing days. 

— Arizona (31-33)
Arizona won four of its last six games.
Diamondbacks are 2-5 in extra inning games.
Arizona is 3-11 in last 14 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Braves (27-36)
Atlanta lost 13 of its last 16 games.
Braves are 17-14 at home, 10-22 on the road.
Under is 16-5 in their last 21 home games.

— Cubs (40-24)
Chicago won 12 of its last 16 games.
Under is 9-2 in their last eleven games.
Cubs are 9-2 vs American League teams.

— Reds (32-33)
Cincinnati is 7-6 in its last thirteen games.
Under is 6-3 in their last nine games.
Reds are 24-21 vs righty starters, 8-12 vs lefties.

— Rockies (12-52)
Colorado is 5-17 since they changed managers.
Under is 16-4 in Rockies’ last 20 road games.
Rockies are 1-17 vs lefty starters, 11-35 vs righties. 

— Dodgers (38-27)
Dodgers lost five of their last seven games,
Dodgers are 23-11 at home, 15-16 on the road.
Dodgers are 29-16 vs righty starters, 9-11 vs lefties.
Over is 16-5 in their last 21 home games.

— Marlins (24-38)                                                                       )
Marlins are 3-8 in their last eleven games.
Miami is 14-20 at home, 10-18 on the road.
Marlins are 1-9 in road series openers.

— Brewers (35-30)
Brewers won 10 of their last 12 games.
Brewers are 19-11 at home, 16-19 on the road.
Under is 12-4 in their last 16 home games.

— Mets (41-24)
Mets won 11 of their last 14 games.
Mets are 24-7 at home, 17-17  on the road.
Under is 18-7 in their last 25 games.

— Phillies (37-27)
Phillies lost eight of their last nine games.
Phillies are 29-15 vs righty starters, 8-12 vs lefties.
Phillies are 7-3 in home series openers.

— Pirates (25-40)
Pirates are 10-7 in their last 17 games.
Pittsburgh is 16-18  at home, 9-22 on the road.
Under is 10-4 in their last 14 road games.

— St Louis (36-28)
St Louis won 22 of its last 31 games.
Cardinals are 11-2 when Sonny Gray starts.
Over is 7-3 in their last ten games.
St Louis is 22-10 at home, 14-18 on the road.

— Padres (36-27)
Padres won nine of their last 13 games.
Under is 7-2 in their last nine games.
San Diego is 8-3 in its last 11 series openers.
Padres are 9-3 against their NL West rivals.

— Giants (37-28)
Giants won their last four games.
Giants are 31-16 vs rightly pitchers, 6-12 vs lefties.
SF is 14-6 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Under is 17-3 in Giants’ last 20 games.

— Washington (30-34)
Nationals lost four of their last six games.
Under is 10-2 in their last 12 home games.
Washington is 13-3 last 16 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Famous birthdays, June 8th:
Kathy Baker, 75
Don Robinson, 68
Kevin Gross, 64
John Gibbons, 63

Julianna Margulies, 59
Anthony Bonner, 57
Troy Vincent, 55
Tom Nutten, 54

Mark Feuerstein, 54
Bryant Reeves, 52
TJ McFarland, 36
Tyson Bagent, 25

— Orioles (26-37)
Baltimore is 7-1 in its last eight games.
Orioles are 8-8 vs AL East foes, 18-29 vs everyone else.
Under is 7-1 in their last eight games.

— Red Sox (31-35)
Red Sox are 4-9 in their last 13 games.
Boston is 6-17 in one-run games.
Over is 4-1 in their last five games.
Red Sox are 17-16 at home, 14-19 on the road.

— White Sox (22-43)
Chicago is 12-7 in its last 19 home games.
White Sox are 6-26 on the road.
White Sox are 16-34 vs righty starters, 6-9 vs lefties.

— Cleveland (33-30)
Guardians lost four of their last five games.
Cleveland is 14-5 against its AL Central rivals.
Guardians are 30-19 vs righty starters, 3-11 vs lefties.
Under is 10-2 in their last 12 road games.

— Detroit (42-24)
Detroit is 13-8 vs its AL Central rivals.
Tigers won nine of their last 13 games.
Under is 8-1 in their last nine home games.

— Houston (36-28)
Astros are 22-12 at home, 14-16 on the road.
Houston is 5-1 in its last six series openers.
Under is 16-8 in their last 24 games.
Astros are 12-6 Zzin games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Royals (33-32)
Royals are 5-9 in their last fourteen games.
Kansas City is 19-13 at home, 14-19 on the road.
Over is 4-1 in Royals’ last five games.
Kansas City is 12-9 in one-run games.

— Angels (30-33)
Angels won four of their last five games.
Over is 8-4 in their last 12 road games.
Under is 5-2 in their last seven home games.
Halos are 13-7 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Twins (34-30)
Twins are 5-8 in their last 13 games.
Minnesota is 18-10 at home, 16-20 on the road.
Over is 7-2 in their last nine games.

— New York (39-24)
New York won 20 of its last 28 games.
Under is 9-3 in their last 12 home games.
New York is 31-18 vs righty starters, 8-6 vs lefties.

— A’s (25-41)
A’s lost 21 of their last 24 games.
A’s are 11-23  in Sacramento, 14-18 on the road.
Over is 13-5 in their last 18 games.

— Seattle (32-31)
Mariners lost five in row, 11 of their last 15 games.
Seattle is 4-11 in its last 15 home games.
Under is 8-4 in Seattle’s last 12 road games.
Under is 4-0 in Mariners’ last four home games.

— Tampa Bay (34-30)
Tampa Bay won 13 of its last 17 games.
Under is 19-9 in their last 28 home games.
Rays are 10-4 in last 14 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Texas (30-35)
Rangers lost 13 of their last 18 games.
Texas is 5-13 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Rangers are 20-13 at home, 10-22 on road.
Under is 17-5 in their last 22 road games.

— Toronto (35-29)
Blue Jays won nine of their last ten games.
Over is 8-1 in their last nine games.
Toronto is 7-2 in last nine games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— If the baseball playoffs started today: (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Cubs, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies, Padres, Giants
AL: New York, Tigers, Mariners. Wild Cards: Rays, Blue Jays, Twins

— Arizona (28-31)
Arizona lost 10 of its last 12 games.
Diamondbacks are 8-11 in one-run games.
Arizona is 2-10 in last 12 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Braves (27-31)
Atlanta lost eight of its last 11 games.
Braves are 17-11 at home, 10-20 on the road.
Under is 15-3 in their last 18 home games.

— Cubs (37-22)
Chicago won nine of its last eleven games.
Under is 5-1 in their last six games.
Cubs are 8-1 vs American League teams.

— Reds (29-32)
Cincinnati lost four of its last five games.
Under is 4-1 in their last five games.
Last 9 series, Reds are 0-6 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Rockies (10-50)
Colorado is 3-15 since they changed managers.
Under is 14-4 in Rockies’ last 18 road games.
Rockies are 1-17 vs lefty starters, 9-33 vs righties.  

— Dodgers (36-24)
Dodgers won eight of their last 12 games,
Dodgers are 21-10 at home, 15-14 on the road.
Dodgers are 28-13 vs righty starters, 8-11 vs lefties.
Over is 14-4 in their last 18 home games.

— Marlins (23-35)                                                                       )
Marlins are 8-9 in their last seventeen games.
Miami is 14-18 at home, 9-17 on the road.
Marlins are 1-8 in road series openers.

— Brewers (33-28)
Brewers have won eight games in a row.
Brewers are 18-10 at home, 15-18 on the road.
Under is 10-4 in their last 14 home games.

— Mets (38-22)
Mets won nine of their last eleven games.
Mets are 24-7 at home, 14-15  on the road.
Under is 15-5 in their last 20 games.

— Phillies (36-23)
Phillies lost their last four games.
Phillies are 28-13 vs righty starters, 8-10 vs lefties.
Under is 9-6 in their last fifteen games.

— Pirates (22-38)
Pirates are 5-3 in their last eight games.
Pittsburgh is 13-16 at home, 9-22 on the road.
Under is 10-4 in their last 14 road games.

— St Louis (33-26)
St Louis won 19 of its last 26 games.
Cardinals are 10-2 when Sonny Gray starts.
St Louis is 19-8 at home, 14-18 on the road.

— Padres (34-24)
Padres won six of their last eight games.
Under is 7-3 in their last ten home games.
Padres are 8-1 against their NL West rivals.

— Giants (33-27)
Giants are 4-7 in their last eleven games.
Giants are 27-15 vs rightly pitchers, 6-12 vs lefties.
SF scored total of 14 runs in their last nine games.
Under is 14-1 in Giants’ last fifteen games.

— Washington (28-31)
Nationals won ten of their last 14 games.
Over is 5-1 in their last six games.
Washington is 10-3 last 13 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Famous birthdays, June 3rd:
Billy Cunningham, 82
Emmitt Thomas, 81
Az-Zahir Hakim, 48
Travis Hafner, 48
Al Horford, 39

Imogen Poots, 36
Harrison Bader, 31
Eric Lauer, 30
Luis Urias, 28
Ryan Jeffers, 28

Tuesday would’ve been the 100th birthday for Tony Curtis, the 88th birthday for Edward Winter (Colonel Flagg on M*A*S*H)

— Orioles (22-36)
Baltimore is 6-2 in its last eight games.
Orioles are 8-8 vs AL East foes, 14-28 vs everyone else.
Under is 6-2 in their last eight games.

— Red Sox (29-33)
Boston is 6-16 in one-run games.
Under is 10-4 in their last fourteen games.
Red Sox are 16-15 at home, 13-18 on the road.

— White Sox (18-42)
Chicago lost seven of its last eight games.
White Sox are 6-26 on the road.
White Sox are 12-33 vs righty starters, 6-9 vs lefties.

— Cleveland (32-26)
Cleveland is 14-5 against its AL Central rivals.
Guardians are 29-18 vs righty starters, 3-8 vs lefties.
Over is 4-2 in their last six games.

— Detroit (40-21)
Detroit is 12-6 vs its AL Central rivals.
Tigers won seven of their last eight games.
Under is 9-3 in their last 12 games.

— Houston (32-27)
Astros are 22-12 at home, 10-15  on the road.
Houston is 2-6 in road series openers.
Under is 13-6 in their last nineteen games.
Astros scored total of nine runs in their last four games.

— Royals (31-29)
Royals are 6-11 in their last seventeen games.
Kansas City is 19-13 at home, 12-16 on the road.
Under is 18-10 in Royals’ last 28 games.
Kansas City is 12-8 in one-run games.

— Angels (27-32)
Angels lost seven of their last nine games.
Over is 11-5 in their last 16 road games.
Under is 5-0 in their last five home games.
Halos are 13-6 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Twins (32-27)
Twins lost five of their last eight games.
Minnesota is 18-8 at home, 14-19 on the road.
Over is 4-1 in their last five  games.

— New York (36-22)
New York won 17 of its last 23 games.
Under is 6-1 in their last seven home games.
New York is 28-17 vs righty starters, 8-5 vs lefties.

— A’s (23-38)
A’s lost 18 of their last 19 games.
A’s are 9-20 in Sacramento, 14-18 on the road.
Over is 9-3 in their last 12 home games.

— Seattle (32-26)
Mariners are 9-12 in their last 21 games.
Seattle is 4-8 in its last 12 home games.
Under is 7-2 in Seattle’s last nine road games.
Over is 5-1 in Mariners’ last six home games.

— Tampa Bay (30-29)
Tampa Bay won nine of its last 12 games.
Under is 16-7 in their last 23 home games.
Rays are 9-3 in last 12 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Texas (29-31)
Rangers lost nine of their last 13 games.
Texas is 5-13 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Rangers are 20-13 at home, 9-18 on road.
Under is 13-4 in their last 17 road games.

— Toronto (31-28)
Blue Jays won their last five games, scoring 41 runs.
Under is 5-1 in their last six road games.
Toronto is  9-10 in series openers.

— If the baseball playoffs started today: (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Cubs, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies, Padres, Cardinals
AL: New York, Tigers, Mariners. Wild Cards: Guardians, Astros, Twins

Teams’ records by starting pitcher:
(thru Saturday’s games)

Diamondbacks (27-31)
Gallen 4-8 (under 4-2 last six)
Kelly 6-6
Burnes 5-5 (under 4-1 last five)
Pfaadt 7-5 (over 3-1 last four)
Rodriguez 4-5 (over 6-0 last six)
Nelson 1-2 (under 3-0)

— Braves (27-30)
Sale 6-6 (under 6-2 last eight)
Schwellenbach 7-5 (over 6-2 last eight)
Smith-Shawver 5-4 (under 7-2)
Holmes 5-6 (under 5-1 last six)
Elder 4-4 (under 6-1 last seven)
Lopez 0-1
Strider 0-3 (under 3-0)
Blewett 0-1

— Cubs (36-22)
Imanaga 5-3 (under 6-2)
Steele 3-1 (over 4-0)
Taillon 5-6 (under last seven)
Boyd 6-5 (home team 10-1)
Brown 6-4 (over 9-1)
Rea 6-3 (over 4-2 last six)
Horton 4-0
Pomeranz 1-0 (opener)
Keller 1-0 (opener)

— Reds (29-30)
Greene 5-5 (under 7-2 last nine)
Lodolo 5-7 (over 6-3 last nine)
Martinez 3-8 (under 7-1 last eight)
Singer 7-4
Spiers 0-2
Abbott 7-2 (under 4-1 last five)
Petty 0-2
Suter 2-0 (opener)

— Rockies (9-49)
Freeland 1-11 (under 8-4)
Senzatela 2-10
Feltner 1-5 (under 4-0 last four)
Marquez 2-9 (over 7-3 last ten)
Dollander 2-6 (under 4-1 last five)
Blalock 0-3
Gordon 1-2
Palmquist 0-3

— Dodgers (36-22)
Yamamoto 8-3 (under 8-3)
Snell 2-0 (over 2-0)
Glasnow 3-2
Sasaki 6-2 (over 6-2)
May 5-5 (under 4-1 last five)
Knack 4-2 (over 4-2)
Gonsolin 3-3
Wrobleski 0-1
Miller 1-0
Kershaw 1-2 (over 3-0)
Casparius 0-1 (opener)
Dreyer 2-1 (opener)
Sauer 1-0 (opener)

— Marlins (23-33)
Alcantara 4-7 (over 7-4)
Gillispie 1-5 (over 5-1)
Bellozo 1-4
Meyer 5-6 (over 6-1 last seven)
Quantrill 6-5 (under 5-0 last five)
Cabrera 5-4 (under 4-1 last five)
Weathers 1-2

— Famous birthdays, June 1st:
Brian Cox, 79
Tim Daly, 69
Teri Polo, 56

Shane Matthews, 55
Paula Malcomson, 55
Alanis Morissette, 51

Santana Moss, 46
Nick Young, 40
Andrew Abbott, 26

— Brewers (31-28)
Peralta 6-5 (under 8-3)
Cortes 1-1
Civale 2-1
Patrick 5-7 (under 9-3)
Priester 1-6 (under 5-2)
Myers 2-3
Rodriguez 0-2 (over 2-0)
Alexander 2-2 (over 3-1)
Quintana 4-2 (under 5-1)
Henderson 3-1 (over 3-1)
Hall 1-0
Zastryzny 1-0 (opener)

— Mets (36-22)
Holmes 8-3 (under 3-0 last three)
Megill 5-6 (over 6-2 last eight)
Senga 7-4 (under 10-1)
Canning 8-3 (under 7-4)
Peterson 8-4
Tidwell 0-1
Brazoban 0-2 (opener)

— Phillies (36-22)
Wheeler 8-4 (under 3-1 last four)
Luzardo 8-4
Nola 3-6 (under 6-3)
Sanchez 9-2 (over 3-0 last three)
Walker 4-4 (under 3-1 last four)
Suarez 4-1 (under 3-1 last four)
Abel 1-0

— Pirates (21-37)
Skenes 4-7 (under 5-2 last seven)
Keller 3-9 (under 4-1 last five)
Falter 6-6 (under 7-2 last nine)
Heaney 4-7 (under 8-3)
Mlodzinski 3-6 (under 4-1 last five)
Harrington 0-1
Burrows 0-1

— Cardinals (33-25)
Gray 10-2 (over 9-3)
Fedde 3-8
Mikolas 6-5 (won last six) (under 5-2 last seven)
Liberatore 5-6
Pallante 7-4
Matz 2-0

— Padres (32-24)
King 5-5 (1-5 last six) (over 3-0-1 last four)
Cease 7-5
Vasquez 6-5 (under 8-3)
Pivetta 8-3 (under 6-2 last eight)
Hart 3-3 (over 4-2)
Kolek 3-2 (over 3-1 last four)

— Giants (32-26)
Ray 10-2 (under 7-1 last eight)
Hicks 4-5 (over 7-2)
Webb 6-6 (over 4-2 last six)
Verlander 4-6 (under 4-1 last five)
Roupp 6-5 (under 3-0 last three)
Birdsong 1-1 (under 2-0)
Harrison 1-1 (under 2-0)

— Nationals (28-30)
Gore 4-7 (under 5-1 last six)
Irvin 7-5  (over 4-2 last six)
Parker 7-4 (under 7-4)
Williams 5-6 (over 4-2 last six)
Lord 2-4
Soroka 2-4

13 of my favorite TV shows (in alphabetical order):
— Batman— When you’re six years old, and in the opening credits every week, they show “WHAP!!! POW!!! BIFF!!!” and your name is Biff, this quickly becomes a favorite show. 

The villains were some pretty big stars back then (Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romero, Milton Berle, Vincent Price, Liberace, Ethel Merman)

I haven’t seen much of the Batman movies that have been made over the years, but the TV show had some humor; one week there was a 3-foot Martian on the loose in Gotham City, and Robin blurts out “Holy interplanetary yardstick, Batman!!!” Good stuff. 

— Billions— Showtime series about a hedge fund manager who pushes the boundaries of the law while his marriage falls apart. His arch-enemy is a prosecutor in NYC who is into S&M and his wife is his dominatrix— the wife is also the psychiatrist for the hedge fund manager’s company. 

Trivia: Paul Giamatti plays the prosecutor; he is the son of former baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti. I suggested a cameo role for Pete Rose, but that never happened.

— CSI— I spent a good chunk of my work career searching fingerprints and working for the NY State Division of Criminal Justice, so I enjoyed all the CSI shows, but especially the one set in Las Vegas— the actors seemed to have a chemistry working together. 

One of my weirder ideas (a teacher friend of mine scoffed at this) is that CSI should be taught to all high school kids, so they realize how difficult it is to get away with crimes, so maybe there would be fewer crimes. What could it hurt?

— Green Acres— As a kid, I spent lot of hours watching Green Acres re-runs; my dad would walk into the room, say “Why the hell are you watching that?”, but within five minutes, he’d be sitting there laughing harder than me and would leave the room before my mother came in and saw the both of us laughing. She wasn’t a big fan of Hank Kimball or Arnold Ziffel. 

— Law and Order— 20 years, 456 episodes, a great launching point for lot of acting careers, not to mention the spinoff shows that branched off this original show. 

Take Billions; there are 32 actors who have appeared in 12+ episodes of Billons; 14 of those 32 actors appeared in at least one episode of Law and Order, and two others were in Law and Order SVU, and that doesn’t count Eric Bogosian, who was in Law and Order: Criminal Intent for 61 episodes, but was only in 11 episodes of Billions. 

— Magnum PI— I’ve never been to Hawai’i, but if I ever went, would like to visit Robin Masters’ estate; I’m told you can visit there, it is kind of a museum or something. 

One of the best episodes was when Frank Sinatra played a retired New York City cop whose granddaughter was murdered— this was near the end of both the series and Sinatra’s career. 

The overriding themes of the show were that great friends will do all kinds of stuff for each other, and if you’re really good looking and drive a Ferrari, women will like you 🙂

Famous birthdays, May 30th:
Mike LaCoss, 69
Billy Donovan, 60
Manny Ramirez, 53
Jordan Palmer, 41

Zack Wheeler, 35
Harrison Barnes, 33
Jeremy Lamb, 33
Shaedon Sharpe, 22

— M*A*S*H— Years later, after watching re-runs of this show on our local channel 10 and the Boston channel for hours at a time, it dawned on me that this was actually a very sad show, with humor/jokes masking the grotesque sadness of wartime Korea. 

The McLean Stevenson episodes were the best; he was Colonel Henry Blake for the first 75 episodes, and a lot of them were classics, just funny as hell. 

— Mr Ed— This show ran on network TV from 1961-66, so I never saw it until the re-runs came on at 4:30 weekdays on a local channel in the early 70’s. Mr Ed was a talking horse, but he only talked to Wilbur Post, an architect who worked at home but never actually seemed to work. 

Mr Ed was a big Dodger fan; his favorite player was OF Willie Davis. In one episode, the horse takes batting practice against Sandy Koufax, and hits a ball off the wall at Dodger Stadium, with the bat held in his mouth. A fun show, not necessarily a realistic one. 

— Odd Couple— As a kid, Oscar Madison was one of my heroes; a sportswriter who always spilled food on his clothes but was a good natured guy who somehow dated a doctor or one of the Pidgeon sisters. 

To this day when I see my cousin’s husband, we recite lines from Odd Couple episodes; when they owned a greyhound racing dog , or appeared on Password (a game show), or when Oscar dated a princess from some obscure European country “You bought her a salty pretzel; oh, boy!!!” Great stuff. 

— Ray Donovan— The most violent program on this list; just about everybody on this Showtime series that isn’t related to the Donovans eventually winds up dead. 

Ray Donovan is a fixer for rich people, but he can’t fix his own family; his wife passes away from cancer, and the last time we saw him, he was still struggling with that. 

Live Schreber plays Ray, Jon Voight plays his father (a genuine creep); they’ve had guest stars like Susan Sarandon, James Woods, Wendell Pierce, Hank Azaria. Alan Alda, C Thomas Howell. 

Very good show but also very violent. 

— Suits— This show was about a law firm that hired a young guy with a photographic memory who had one small problem— he is a college dropout who never went to law school, but he gets paid to take bar exams for other people. 

The show had to change directions because one of the actresses (Meghan Markle) moved to England after she married Prince Harry in real life. Her character was married to Mike (the fraudulent lawyer) so they got written out of the last couple years of the show.

They introduced Suits LA this year, which is similar; Harvey Spector (Gabriel Macht) made a couple appearances, as did Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman). Pretty good show. 

— West Wing— Martin Sheen plays the President in this show; his cabinet included Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer— great cast.

Actor Duke Hill was in both West Wing and Suits; Mary Louise Parker was in this and is also in Billions. Alan Alda was in this, Ray Donovan and of course, M*A*S*H

Jimmy Smits, Mary MacCormack, Tim Matheson, Gary Cole, just a ton of excellent actors. 

In one episode, President Bartlet has to throw out the first pitch at an Orioles’ game, but he never played ball, so one of his aides has to teach him how to throw a baseball in a hallway in the White House, where an errant toss breaks an expensive vase. 

— White Shadow— Ken Howard plays a washed-up NBA player who becomes a high school basketball coach in Los Angeles. Show only lasted three years, because well, high school kids graduate so they would’ve had to turn most of the cast over every other year. 

The basketball scenes were really well-done; Gwyneth Paltrow’s father was the creator of the show. Lot of the issues they tackled in this show were issues that real high school in the inner city had to deal with. Ken Howard was great as Coach Reeves; he wasn’t some all-knowing guy; he had flaws but he fought for his kids and they respected him for it (most of the time). 

— Thunder 128, Timberwolves 126
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists.
Thunder held Julius Randle to 7 points, on 1-5 shooting.
Oklahoma City trailed for only 36 seconds the whole game.
Thunder leads series 3-1; Game 5 is Wednesday night in Oklahoma.

— College sports have gone off the rails; 6-3 G PJ Haggerty signed on with Kansas State, and will get paid $2.5M there next season.

This has been Haggerty’s college career:
2022-23- TCU 22-13, only played in six games
2023-24- Tulsa 16-15
2024-25- Memphis 29-6, lost in first round of NCAA’s as a #5-seed
2025-26- Kansas State

I’m waiting for him to transfer during a TV timeout from one bench to the other during the game.

— Green Bay Packers’ QB Jordan Love threw out the first pitch before the Red Sox-Brewers game in Milwaukee Monday. Love is 19-17 as an NFL starter, 1-2 in playoff games. This will be his third season as Green Bay’s starting QB.

— Former New Orleans Saints’ coach Jim Mora Sr turned 90 recently; he still lifts weights twice a week, for 85 minutes at a time. They posted videos of it; pretty impressive.

— Las Vegas Raiders signed punter AJ Cole to a 4-year, $15.8M contract, making him the highest-paid punter in the NFL. Last year, Cole averaged 50.8 yards per punt, second best in the NFL, and had 27 punts downed inside the 20-yard line.

— Tampa Bay Ray hitters have gone 73 games since last time one of them got an intentional walk; Barry Bonds was once walked intentionally 73 times in a 72-game span.

— Why only 12 major league baseball games on Memorial Day? Would think that Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day would be full schedules, since everyone has the day off.

— If you ever watched the TV show Duck Dynasty, the patriarch of the Robertson family, Phil Robertson, passed away this weekend, at age 79.

Phil Robertson played college football at Louisiana Tech, starting ahead of future Hall of Fame QB Terry Bradshaw in 1966 and 1967. He got really rich when he created/patented the Duck Commander duck call, a kazoo-like instrument used by duck hunters.

Duck Dynasty was on TV from 2012-17, made the family famous and a lot wealthier. It was a quirky and funny show.

— Famous birthdays, May 27th:
Lee Meriwether, 90
Stan Walters, 77
Jackie Slater, 71
Richard Schiff, 70
Nick Lowery, 69

David Greenwood, 68
Peri Gilpin, 64
John Jaha, 59
George McCloud, 58
Frank Thomas, 57

Jeff Bagwell, 57
Antonio Freeman, 53
Jose Berrios, 31
Yoan Moncada, 30
Daniel Jones, 28

— Best records in one-run games:
Angels 8-2
Phillies 10-4
Padres 10-5
Tigers 9-5
Guardians 8-4

Worst records in one-run games:
White Sox 3-13
Red Sox 6-14
Rockies 4-9
Braves 9-13
Bronx 8-11

— Mets 2, White Sox 1
Chicago led 1-0 after the 7th inning.
Both Mets’ runs scored on sacrifice flies.
White Sox slipped to 5-22 on the road.

— Brewers 3, Red Sox 2
Milwaukee is 16-10 at home, 11-18 on the road.
Jackson Chourio led off the first inning with a home run.
Red Sox slipped tp 11-15 on the road.

— Orioles 5, Cardinals 2
Dylan Carlson hit a 3-run homer against his old team.
Orioles have won three in a row, for first time this season.
Charlie Morton got the win, lowering his ERA from 7.68 to 7.09.

— Diamondbacks 5, Pirates 0
Ryne Nelson allowed only four hits in 6.2 IP.
Win snapped Arizona’s five-game losing skid.
Pirates are now 6-20 in road games.

— Padres 4, Marlins 3 (10)
Manny Machado tied the game with an 8th inning home run.
Ryan Weathers allowed two unearned runs in 5.2 IP for Miami.
Marlins are 13-15 at home, 8-16 on the road.

— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Mets, Padres, Giants
AL: Bronx, Tigers, Mariners. Wild Cards: Twins, Guardians, Astros

— Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101
Timberwolves led 72-41 at halftime.
Minnesota shot 57% from the floor.
Home team has won all three lopsided games in this series.

— Five highest payrolls in MLB (record):
Dodgers $336,802,442 (32-20)
Mets $323,933,710 (31-21)
Bronx $288,738,657 (31-20)
Phillies $279,297,954 (33-18)
Blue Jays $246,441,798 (25-26)

— Five lowest payrolls in MLB (record)
White Sox $67,064,334 (17-35)
Marlins $67,340,342 (20-30)
A’s $73,664,777 (22-30)
Pirates $90,351,625 (19-34)
Rays $90,482,005 (25-26)

— Bottom of first inning in Cincinnati Friday night; Reds’ leadoff hitter TJ Friedl hits a double down the right field line. Problem, is the ballboy thought it was a foul ball; he caught it and gave it to a fan. Not good. Umpires rightfully called it a double.

— Rockies, Pirates, Reds have all been shut out eight times this year, most in MLB.

— Mets’ batters have been hit by a pitch 30 times this year, more than any other team.

— White Sox’ City Connect uniforms look a lot like the Chicago Bulls’ uniforms; the same guy owns both teams. Nice big names/numbers on the back of the uniforms. Well done.

— Famous birthdays, May 25th:
Leslie Uggams, 82
Mike Myers, 62
Kendall Gill, 57

Miguel Tejada, 51
Brian Urlacher, 47
Chris Young, 46

Kevin O’Connell, 40
Michael King, 30
Malik Willis, 26

— Cardinals 6, Diamondbacks 5 (10)
St Louis scored two runs in the bottom of the 8th.
Cardinals are 15-4 in their last 19 games.
Arizona has lost four in a row.

— Guardians 7, Tigers 5 (10)
Detroit has lost three in row for first time since first week of the season.
Jose Ramirez has a 17-game hitting streak.

— Twins 5, Royals 4
Minnesota walked the Royals off for second day in a row.
Twins have won 16 of their last 18 games.
Kansas City led 4-0 in the fifth inning.

— Pirates 2, Brewers 1
Oneil Cruz knocked in the winning run with a 7th inning triple.
Milwaukee had 11 hits, only scored once.
Brewers are 15-10 at home, 10-18 on the road.

— Nationals 3, Giants 0
Jake Irvin allowed only three hits in 8 IP.
Washington has won seven of its last nine games.
James Wood has 9 runs scored, 10 RBI in his last six games.

— Braves 7, Padres 1
Ronald Acuna homered for the second straight game.
Matt Olson has five home runs in his last seven games.
San Diego has lost seven of its last eight games.

— Phillies 9, A’s 6 (11)
Tied 6-6, A’s had bases loaded, no one out in 10th inning, couldn’t score.
Phillies have won nine games in a row.
A’s have lost 11 in a row, after a 22-20 start.

— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Mets, Padres, Giants
AL: Bronx, Tigers, Mariners. Wild Cards: Twins, Guardians, Royals