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 in our Featured Matchup. That prediction went 0-1 overall, and you can see how the rest of the model performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 3-5

Over/Under Predictions: 5-3

Run Line Predictions: 3-5

Featured Matchup: 0-1

👀 Colts grant Jonathan Taylor permission to seek trade. The Indianapolis Colts have allowed star running back Jonathan Taylor to explore a trade opportunity, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. Teams are now considering making offers for Taylor, who topped the NFL rushing charts in 2021 and amassed 3,841 rushing yards during his initial NFL seasons. The Colts are seeking either a first-round draft pick or a package of draft picks of comparable value for Taylor, who is currently recovering from an ankle injury that led to surgery in January and has kept him on the physically unable to perform list.

💪 Josh Jacobs expected to make return before Week 1. Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs is anticipated to rejoin the team before their season opener against the Denver Broncos on September 10, as per a report by Vinny Bonsignore from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Jacobs, who hasn't participated due to a contract disagreement, might opt to sign the $10.1 million franchise tag or accept an adjusted one-year salary to return. Although Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels didn't provide a definite update on Jacobs' situation, he stressed the importance of practice time for Jacobs to be prepared for the game, given his substantial absence so far.

Ravens preseason win streak comes to an end. The Baltimore Ravens' remarkable 24-game preseason winning streak ended in an emotional turn of events as they lost 29-28 to the Washington Commanders. Joey Slye's last-minute 49-yard field goal secured Baltimore's first preseason loss since 2015, a game that Baltimore led for most of the first and second half. Washington covered the spread as well in the matchup, a bet that Lightning Locks predicted on Twitter before the game.

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 13 of today’s matchups.

Washington Nationals @ New York Yankees

Model Predicts- Nationals ML, OVER 8.5, Nationals +1.5

The Washington Nationals will make their way up to the Bronx to take on the New York Yankees in Game 1 of a three-game series on Tuesday.

Washington enters tonight’s matchup in the basement of the NL East, but the Nationals are finally starting to put the pieces together with just over a month to go in the regular season, winning seven of their last ten games.

Meanwhile, New York has lost eight straight games and now sits four games under the .500 mark.

Washington and New York are trending in opposite directions at the moment, and our model believes that gives the Nationals the chance to win this game outright as a road underdog. Let’s dive into why that is, and where we feel the best value in this game lies.

Washington Nationals

Washington’s 57-68 record is far from flashy, but the Nats have been one of the hottest teams in baseball over the last month.

Washington is a stellar 12-6 since August 1st, a stretch that has been highlighted with wins over Philadelphia and Boston. The Nationals have also swept the Reds and Athletics this month, further proving that this team can get hot and stay hot for a long duration.

Washington has done a majority of its damage against left-handed pitching in that time, which it will have the good fortune of facing tonight with Carlos Rodón. The Nationals own a 106 wRC+ since August 1st in those situations, and if we extend the timeline back to the All-Star break, we see that number increase to 110.

That number comes about because Washington is striking out in just 16.4% of plate appearances against southpaws in August, the fourth-best mark in the MLB. They have an excellent matchup tonight to keep these offensive trends going.

However, Washington’s starting pitcher, Josiah Gray (7-10 record, 3.96 ERA), make things interesting. Gray’s 3.96 ERA is the lowest of his career, but his 4.72 xERA shows that regression could be on its way. We’ve already seen regression happen, with Gray posting an abysmal 11.35 ERA in August.

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees have not finished below .500 since 1992, a season in which the team finished 76-86. However, the Yanks are heading in that direction at the moment, entering today’s matchup at 60-64.

The sub .500 record has suddenly come into play due to the Bronx Bombers dropping eight consecutive games, the team’s longest losing streak of the season. That stretch has been marred by a lackluster hitting attack, one that ranks 29th in wRC+ (60), 28th in BABIP (.244), and 29th in strikeout rate (28.5%).

This probably couldn’t even hit the baseball if it was sitting on a tee right now, making things rather challenging moving forward even against a struggling Josiah Gray.

To make matters worse, Carlos Rodón (1-4 record, 7.33 ERA) will make his return to the mound tonight after dealing with a hamstring injury, making New York’s chances of a win even more bleak.

Having Rodón on the mound has been a nightmare, with the lefty posting a 13.06 ERA and 2.06 WHIP in two starts this month. The biggest reason for his struggles is that both his strikeout rate and walk rate have seen tremendous regression, with his K% coming in 12.9% lower than last season and his walk rate 7.5% higher.

What’s the Play?

Neither one of these pitchers is all that enticing. However, at the very least, we agree with our model that the Nationals can keep this game close.

Rodón has shown that he can’t prevent contact or control where his pitches are going, which has led to an abundance of base runners in his shortened 2023 season. It has also led to a ton of home runs, with Rodón’s 10.3% Barrel rate allowing opposing hitters to send eight balls over the wall in just 27.2 innings.

Josiah Gray is certainly no stud, but New York’s non-existent offense will enable him to get back on track while the Nats offense piles on the runs against Rodón. We’ll take the Nationals on the run line here as our main play, and will sprinkle a small sum on their money line.

The Play: Nationals +1.5 (-135), Nationals ML (+155)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Chicago Cubs- 65-59 overall this season, 3-0 in last three games

• Washington Nationals- 57-68 overall this season, 12-6 in August and 7-3 in last ten games

• Seattle Mariners- 70-55 overall this season, 36-27 as the away team, 7-0 in last seven games

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Pittsburgh Pirates- Over is 67-54-4 this season, 38-22-2 as the home team

• Cleveland Guardians- Under is 73-49-3 this season, 43-19-1 as the home team

• Houston Astros- Over is 63-60-3 this season, 34-28-1 as the home team

Run Line Trends ➕➖

• Los Angeles Dodgers- Run line is 69-54 overall this season, 52-49 as a favorite

• Cincinnati Reds- Run line is 78-47 overall this season, 36-16 as a road underdog

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

💪 Mariners grab seventh straight win, make massive playoff push. The Mariners are increasingly positioned to contend not only for an American League Wild Card spot but potentially even the division title. Their winning streak now stands at seven games after a decisive 14-2 victory against the White Sox, showcasing their momentum. With a powerful offensive display and standout pitching, including Luis Castillo's dominance, the Mariners have reached 70-55 in the season, the highest they've been above .500 at this point since 2016. The AL West race is wide open, and their postseason odds have surged, making this a pivotal period for their late-season playoff push.

💰 Nationals extend Davey Martinez. The Washington Nationals are on the verge of extending contracts for both general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez, according to The Athletic. Martinez has agreed to a two-year extension with a potential third-year option, while Rizzo is anticipated to sign a similar-length deal. Despite a rollercoaster performance, including a World Series win in 2019, the Nationals have faced challenges, having a losing record last season but recently showing improvement with a 21-14 post-All-Star break record and a 12-6 record in August.

⬆️ Padres promote 17-year-old to Double-A. Ethan Salas, who won't reach 18 years old until June 2024, is making a swift ascent through the Minor League tiers, with reports indicating his promotion to Double-A San Antonio as the Padres' top prospect and MLB Pipeline's No. 5 prospect. Although unconfirmed by the club, Salas' advancement comes after a short stint in High-A Fort Wayne where he played nine games, hitting .200 with a double and no home runs. Despite his age, Salas could become the youngest player in Double-A, potentially altering the projection of reaching the Major Leagues by 2026 as indicated by MLB Pipeline.

👨‍⚖️ New York Knicks sue former employee and Toronto Raptors. The New York Knicks have filed a lawsuit against the Toronto Raptors, their personnel, and a former Knicks employee, alleging that confidential information was unlawfully obtained and disclosed to the Raptors. The Knicks claim that Ikechukwu Azotam, who worked for them from 2020 to 2023, shared thousands of confidential files with the Raptors, including play reports, season prep materials, video scouting data, and opposition research, after being recruited by the Raptors in 2023. The Knicks accuse Azotam of violating a confidentiality clause in his employment agreement and assert that the Raptors conspired to benefit from his actions.

😬 Michigan hands down suspension to Jim Harbaugh. The University of Michigan has self-imposed a three-game suspension on football coach Jim Harbaugh at the start of the 2023 season due to alleged COVID-19 dead period violations, according to a statement released by the university. The suspension comes as part of an effort to address the situation and potentially lessen the impact of an impending NCAA ruling, which may not be finalized until 2024. Harbaugh's suspension will keep him from coaching home games against East Carolina, UNLV, and Bowling Green, after which he can resume coaching for the Big Ten opener against Rutgers on September 23rd.

⛸ Jonathan Bernier hangs up the skates after 14 seasons. After over a decade-long career in the NHL, goaltender Jonathan Bernier has chosen to retire, as announced in a social media post. The 35-year-old expressed gratitude to the teams and individuals who supported him during his hockey journey, including winning a Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012. Bernier, who played more than 400 regular-season and playoff games since his 2007 debut, experienced a career setback due to a hip injury requiring surgery, leading to his retirement after his last stint with the New Jersey Devils in December 2021.

Today’s trivia requires you to dig into multiple pockets of your brain, testing your knowledge of recent events as well as those that happened decades ago.

See how many of the below questions you can get correct. Answers are provided at the end of the newsletter.

Question #1- Three quarterbacks were drafted in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft: Blake Bortles, Johnny Manziel, and what other QB?

Question #2- Kyle Lowry has played for four different teams in his 17-year NBA career. What team did Lowry begin his career on?

Question #3- Wayne Gretzky sits 936 points above second place on the NHL’s all-time points list. Can you name the player that sits in second?

Anyone know what has happened on August 22nd throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On August 22nd…

1934- Boston Red Sox pitcher Wes Ferrell hits two home runs in a 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Ferrell would record a single in addition to the two homers, while also striking out five batters across 10.0 innings in what was his 12th win of the season. To this day Ferrell is regarded as the best hitting pitcher the MLB has ever seen, minus Shohei Ohtani, recording 38 home runs in his career.

1989- Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan becomes the first pitcher in MLB history to strikeout 5,000 batters. Ryan’s 5,000th punch out came against another MLB legend, Rickey Henderson, and was just one of the 13 strikeouts the then 42-year-old would record in the game. Ryan would record 714 additional strikeouts after reaching the milestone to give him 5,714 for his career, 839 more than the next closest pitcher.

2004- American sprinter Justin Gatlin wins the 100 meter dash at the Athens Olympics. Gatlin completed the event in 9.85 seconds, narrowly beating Francis Obikwelu of Portugal and fellow American Maurice Greene. It would be the first and only Olympic gold medal Gatlin would collect in his career, but he would collect two silver and bronze medals before retiring.

1. Teddy Bridgewater

2. Memphis Grizzlies

3. Jaromír Jágr