In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

There were plenty of predictions to go around yesterday across the MLB, with our model focusing in on one of those predictions and making it a 3-star play. That prediction went 1-0 overall, and you can see how the rest of the model performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 4-3

Over/Under Predictions: 4-3

Run Line Predictions: 6-1

3-star Predictions: 1-0

🏆 Cam Whitmore named Summer League MVP. Former Villanova Wildcat Cam Whitmore was expected to be a top-ten pick in June’s NBA Draft, but fell all the way to No.20 where he was selected by the Houston Rockets. However, it appears that Whitmore used that unexpected slide as motivation in the Las Vegas Summer League, resulting in the 19-year-old winning Summer League MVP. The star forward averaged 20.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 3.0 steals per game across his five contests, catapulting Houston to the Summer League championship game where the Rockets lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

🤨 Joel Embiid’s remarks leave 76ers fans questioning the big man’s future. Philadelphia 76ers star and last season’s NBA MVP Joel Embiid made some interesting remarks in an interview with SpringHill Entertainment CEO Maverick Carter last week. When asked about winning a championship, Embiid replied saying, “I just want to win a championship. Whatever it takes. I don’t know where that’s gonna be. Whether it’s in Philly or anywhere else, I just want to have the chance to accomplish that.” Perhaps to no one’s surprise, 76ers fans immediately started ripping the star on social media, but Embiid downplayed the situation and put out any fires rather quickly.

✍️ Colorado signs Ross Colton to four-year deal. Restricted free agent Ross Colton and the Colorado Avalanche have reportedly come to terms on a four-year contract, avoiding arbitration in the process. The financial side of the deal has yet to be disclosed, but Eliliotte Freiedman of Sportsnet claims that the contract carries a $4 million average annual value. Colton, who was selected 118th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, was acquired by the Avalanche from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a second-round pick back in June, and recorded 16 goals and 16 assists last season.

1️⃣ Chicago signs No.1 pick Connor Bedard to entry level deal. The Chicago Blackhawks and Connor Bedard, the No.1 over all pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, have come to terms on a three-year entry level deal. Bedard’s deal carries a $950,000 cap hit with an additional $3.5 million in bonuses, making the average annual value $4.45 million. At just 18 years old, Bedard is already being compared to former No.1 picks Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid, mostly because of his other-worldly numbers in CHL last season, which included leading the league in goals (71), points (143), and points per game (2.51).

There are 15 MLB games scheduled to take place today. However, due to lines being unavailable at the time the model was run, our model has predictions for 12 of today’s matchups.

Miami Marlins @ St. Louis Cardinals

Model Predicts- Cardinals ML, OVER 8, Marlins +1.5

The Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals will square off in Game 2 of a three-game series on Tuesday night in Busch Stadium.

While Miami still sits in second in the NL East and is in playoff position, the Marlins hit perhaps their roughest patch of the season, losing four straight games and going 5-8 in the month of July.

Meanwhile. St. Louis has been one of the hotter teams over the last week, entering today having won six of its last eight games.

St. Louis got the best of Miami on Monday after scoring five runs across the fifth and sixth innings, and our model likes the Cardinals to get another win this evening. Will we see that prediction come to fruition, or will the Marlins get back in the win column?

Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins are certainly not a threatening team as the plate. Miami enters today’s matchups ranked 23rd in home runs and 16th in OPS, but the Marlins’ consistency at the plate is what has them 10 games above .500.

One thing the Marlins do well is simply make contact with the baseball. Per TeamRankings, Miami owns the third-best batting average in the major leagues (.265) this season, but the lack of power in the lineup has caused the Marlins to post an 83 wRC+ thus far. That ranks 28th in the MLB.

However, we’ve started to see the Miami offense pick up the pace a bit in recent weeks, putting them in a goo position this evening.

According to FanGraphs, Miami has seen its wRC+ jump to 108 since July 1st, which coincides with the third-best BABIP (.330). The Marlins have done of a majority of that damage against left-handed pitchers this month, posting an MLB-leading 181 wRC+ and .483 BABIP against southpaws since July 1st.

The offense has done its job this month, and it will be Edward Cabrera’s job to settle thing down on the mound as today’s starter.

Cabrera has not pitched since June 13th due to a shoulder injury, allowing five earned runs in four inning in that start. The 25-year-old has some excellent numbers on the mound, most notably a 28.9% strikeout rate and .209 xBA, per Baseball Savant, but his 14.1% walk rate has oftentimes gotten him into trouble.

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have had an abysmal season up to this point, leading President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak to say that the team will be sellers at this season’s trade deadline.

However, a recent spurt of victories has allowed St. Louis to close the gap a bit in the NL Central, and the Cardinals can thank the offense for a majority of those victories.

St. Louis is 8-6 since the calendar flipped to July, posting a 136 wRC+ across those 14 games, the second-best mark in the majors in that timeframe. The Cardinals’ 19 home runs this month ranks fourth, and their .358 BABIP and .853 team OPS further display just how much firepower this offense has.

Opposite of Miami, St, Louis has done its damage at the plate against right-handed pitchers, posting an MLB-leading 141 wRC+ and .353 BABIP. This team is crushing every right-handed pitcher that has stepped on the mound, leading to an average of 5.57 runs per game since July 1st.

Jordan Montgomery (6-7 record, 3.23 ERA) will get the start for St. Louis. Has been rather solid since June 1st, posting a 1.49 ERA in his last seven starts. However, Montgomery, a left-handed pitcher, is capable of being sized up, as evidenced by his 8.5% Barrel rate and .251 xBA, per Baseball Savant.

What’s the Play?

Both of these offenses are in an excellent position to pour on the runs this evening. As a result, we are making the model’s prediction of over 8 a 3-star play.

Miami has crushed lefties all season long, batting .313 with a .814 OPS, per ESPN. Its recent spike in efficiency against southpaws is a great sign too, and we should expect the Marlins to score some runs off Montgomery today, who owns a 4.04 xERA against his 3.23 season ERA.

St. Louis’ hot streak against righties should not be ignored though, especially since Cabrera will likely have some rust and may force a Marlins bullpen that ranks 17th in ERA to do a bulk of the pitching.

Miami and St. Louis have already played four games against one another this month, resulting in a 11.6 average combined run total. Expect another high-scoring affair tonight.

3-star play: Over 8 (-105)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Philadelphia Phillies- 51-42 overall this season, 25-17 as the home team

• San Francisco Giants- 52-41 overall this season, 5-0 in last five games (pending today’s restart of Monday’s matchup against Cincinnati)

• Texas Rangers- 56-39 overall this season, 31-18 as the home team, 4-0 in last four games

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Philadelphia Phillies- Under is 46-38-9 this season, 20-17-5 as the home team

• Cleveland Guardians- Under is 58-33-3 this season, highest win percentage in MLB

• Texas Rangers- Over is 49-38-8 this season, 28-15-6 as the home team

Run Line Trends ➕➖

• Washington Nationals- Run line is 53-41 overall this season, 33-14 as a road underdog

Various injuries around the league. See full injury report at MLB.com.

🙅‍♂️ Angels say they won’t trade Ohtani to Dodgers. The Los Angeles Angels announced late last week that they would listen to trade inquiries regarding two-way star Shohei Ohtani. However, it appears that the Angels will immediately hang up the phone if their in-town rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers, makes a call regarding a trade. Jon Heyman of the MLB Network says that there is no chance the Angels trade the star across town, but does believe the Dodgers have a good chance to sign Ohtani in the offseason when he becomes a free agent. The 29-year-old from Japan is the current favorite to win the AL MVP award, posting a .301 batting average, 34 home runs, and 3.50 ERA on the mound this season.

🤕 Wade Miley returns to injured list with elbow discomfort. Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Wade Miley is set to return to the IL for the second time this season due to discomfort in his throwing elbow. The move comes as the Brewers, who currently sit in first place in the NL Central, are set to begin a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday. Miley has gone 6-2 overall this season with a 3.02 ERA, and had put together three scoreless outings in his last five starts since returning from his first stint on the IL on June 17th.

🔥 Dodgers snap Orioles’ win streak with 6-4 victory. The Baltimore Orioles entered Monday night on an eight-game win streak, the longest such streak in the majors. It appeared that the Orioles were going to extend that streak to nine games after jumping out to an early 4-1 lead over the Dodgers, but Los Angeles erupted for five runs in the top of the sixth inning to take the lead and never looked back. Chris Taylor gave L.A. the lead with a grand slam, his 12th homer of the season, with J.D. Martinez and Will Smith contributing with RBIs of their own. Despite the loss, Baltimore remains just one-game back of Tampa Bay in the AL East.

👎 Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs fail to land extension prior to Monday’s deadline. Executives throughout the NFL continue to stand firm on the concept of not paying their running backs large contracts, and two more backfield stars fell victim to the practice on Monday. New York Giants tailback Saquon Barkley and Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs, who were both given the franchise tag earlier this offseason, failed to come to an agreement with their respective franchises on a long term extension before Monday’s 4 PM deadline. However, both Barkley and Jacobs have yet to sign the tag, leaving some uncertainty about whether the two will report to training camp or play in 2023. The news quickly made its way around social media, with fellow NFL running back Derrick Henry giving his two cents about the situation.

✍️ Vanderbilt extends head coach Clark Lea. Vanderbilt head football coach Clark Lea has reportedly signed a contract extension, keeping the 41-year-old at his alma mater for the next several seasons. Lea joined the Vanderbilt staff in December of 2020 to begin a program rebuild, becoming the 29th coach in the Commodore program history. Lea has already made a ton of progress while at the helm, with the team’s five wins in 2022 being the second-most by a second-year Vanderbilt head coach since 1975. Vandy also earned its first SEC victory since 2019 and first Power 5 win since 2018 last season, further showing that Lea has started to turn the program around.

Today’s trivia requires you to go back to 2010. We’ve listed the logos of the top-five vote getters for the 2010 NBA MVP Award, and it is up to you to guess all five players.

As always, answers are at the end of the newsletter.

Anyone know what has happened on July 18th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On July 18th…

1927- Philadelphia Athletics center fielder Ty Cobb records his 4,000th career hit in a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Cobb, who played the first 22 years of his career with Detroit, hit a double off Tigers pitcher Harry Heilmann to reach the milestone. Cobb would go on to end his career with 4,189 hits, the second most in MLB history behind Pete Rose, and to this day still owns the highest batting average for a career in MLB history at .366.

1970- San Francisco Giants legend Willie Mays records his 3,000th hit in a 10-1 victory over the Montreal Expos, becoming the 10th player in MLB history to reach the milestone. Mays would also record his 3,001st hit later on in the matchup in what was a dominant day at the plate for the then 39-year-old. Mays would end his Hall of Fame career with 3,283 hits, which currently places him 12th on the all-time list.

2021- American golfer Collin Morikawa shoots 15-under par at the British Open, defeating fellow American Jordan Spieth by two strokes. Morikawa has everything working from him from day one, opening up the tournament with a round of 67 and shooting as low as 64 in Round 2. The win made Morikawa the first male golfer in PGA Tour history to win his debut at two separate major events, with the first coming at the PGA Championship in 2020.

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1. LeBron James

2. Kevin Durant

3. Kobe Bryant

4. Dwight Howard

5. Dwyane Wade