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: 6-5

Over/Under Predictions: 7-3-1

Run Line Predictions: 6-5

3-star Predictions: 1-0

💰 Hawks, Dejounte Murray finalizing four-year extension. The Atlanta Hawks and Dejounte Murray are reportedly in the midst of finalizing a four-year, $120 million maximum extension that will keep Murray in Atlanta for the next several seasons, per Shams Charania. Murray, who has one year remaining on his current deal, was acquired last offseason in a trade with the San Antonio Spurs for a package that included Danilo Gallinari, three first-round picks, and a future pick swap. He made the most of his first season in a Hawks uniform, averaging 20.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.5 assists across 74 games.

👀Jeff Van Gundy exploring return to coaching. Jeff Van Gundy was just one of the many on-air talents at ESPN to be laid off in recent weeks, but it appears that his release has sparked a new desire to return to an NBA sideline as a coach. Just one day after announcing his desire to return, Van Gundy has reportedly received interest from the Washington Wizards for an assistant job next season, per Chris Mannix. Prior to his broadcasting career, Van Gundy was a head coach for 11 years for the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets, making the playoffs in nine seasons and advancing to the NBA Finals once.

🎤 Britney Spears finds herself in the middle of NBA controversy. NBA fans everywhere, including Britney Spears, have been starstruck when crossing paths with 2023 No.1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama. Oftentimes many people choose to keep their distance, but the pop-star reportedly got a little too close for comfort for the French phenom’s security, resulting in a physical altercation. Wembanyama claims he was grabbed from behind while Spears says she simply tapped him on the shoulder, but a police investigation will hopefully give us some answers in the near future.

👑 Kings sign Kopitar to two-year extension. Anze Kopitar and the Los Angeles Kings have come to terms on a two-year, $14 million extension, per the Kings’ twitter account. The deal will keep Kopitar, who recorded 28 goals and 72 points in 82 games last season, in L.A. through the 2025-26 season. The Kings’ captain has spent his entire career with the franchise, playing 1292 games and playing a key role in L.A.’s 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup victories.

❌ Red Wings and Filip Zadina agree to terminate contract. Filip Zadina has struggled to get things going in his young NHL career, and as a result Zadina and the Red Wings have agreed to place the winger on unconditional waivers. Zadina will forfeit the remaining $4.56 million left on his deal, but he is now an unrestricted free agent and is free to sign with any team of his choosing. Zadina was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2018 draft, one pick before Canucks star Quinn Hughes, but has only strung together 68 points in 190 career games.

There are 15 MLB games scheduled to take place today. However, due to some gaps in the season data, our model has predictions for 14 of today’s matchups.

Colorado Rockies @ San Francisco Giants

Model Predicts- Giants ML, OVER 8, Rockies +1.5

The Colorado Rockies will continue their five-game road trip with a stop in the Bay Area to take on the San Francisco Giants.

Nothing has gone Colorado’s way this season, entering today’s matchup with a 33-55 record. That puts the Rockies in fifth place in the NL West, 17.0 games back of Arizona in first.

Meanwhile, San Francisco has had much better luck this season, coming into today seven games above .500 despite going just 3-7 in its last ten games.

Neither one of these teams has played great baseball over the course of the last two weeks, but our model expects a high-scoring affair in this one. Let’s dive into why that is the case.

Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies don’t have much to hang their hats on as we approach the All-Star break. This team is just 9-22 since June 1st, a stretch that included a 25-1 loss to the Angels back on June 24th.

Perhaps the largest reason for the sharp decline in wins has been Colorado’s instability on the mound. Per Fangraphs, the Rockies own a 6.85 Team ERA since June 1st, the worst in the MLB by 1.18 runs. That consists of Colorado’s starting pitchers posting an abysmal 7.62 ERA compared to the bullpen’s 5.99 ERA.

No matter which way to choose to look at it, this pitching staff is in shambles, and things likely won’t get much better with Austin Gomber (6-7 record, 6.64 ERA) on the mound tonight.

Believe it or not, Gomber has seen some improvements over his last few starts. His ERA rose as high as 7.57 in the month of June, but has fallen back down to 6.64 after allowing just four earned runs across the last 12.0 innings.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that a 6.64 ERA is an unpleasant sight, and his 6.47 xERA shows that expectations and reality have fallen in line. Those numbers have likely resulted from Gomber’s predictability, with his 4-seam fastball being thrown 40.1% of the time while no other pitch is thrown more than 20%, per Baseball Savant. Opposing hitters know what to expect, and his 4-seamer’s relatively slow velocity (90.8 mph) has resulted in a high .375 xBA against the pitch.

San Francisco Giants

The month of June was very kind to San Francisco, a span of 26 games in which the Giants posted 18 wins and only eight losses.

However, the Giants have started to sputter ever since the calendar flipped to June, which is not a good sign for their chances in a competitive NL West division.

San Francisco’s biggest problem at the moment is its struggles at the plate. Fangraph’s has the Giants listed with a 102 wRC+ in the month of June, but that number has fallen sharply to 69 since July 1st. That coincides with a 23.9% team strikeout rate and a .206 team batting average in that time.

The pitching hasn’t done the Giants any favors either. As a team San Fran owns a 4.81 Team ERA in July, down from 3.55 in June. Luckily, the bullpen owns a 2.65 ERA this month, which is a good sign because we will likely see that group a lot tonight.

Ross Stripling (0-2 record, 6.51 ERA) is set to get the start in tonight’s game, but he has not pitched more than three innings since returning from the injured list. It’s unclear if the Giants will return him to his traditional starting role, but his 6.19 xERA and 12.2% Barrel rate suggest that the Rockies could jump on the right-hander early.

What’s the Play?

Neither one of these pitchers gives us confidence in picking the winner of tonight’s game. However, our model gives the over a 59.35% chance to hit at 8 runs, and that is a prediction we are comfortable with backing.

Both Stripling and Gomber have done well across their last two starts, surrendering a combined five earned runs across 17.0 innings. However, both pitchers own an xERA that ranks in the bottom 5% of the MLB this season, along with ranking in the bottom 6% in xBA (expected batting average).

Additionally, according to ESPN, Colorado is batting .264 with a .736 OPS against right-handers this season, which Stripling is, while San Fran is hitting .255 against lefties, which Gomber is. Even if both starters are taken out early, both teams could score runs in bunches.

We saw an average of 11 runs per game in that last three-game series between these teams, and we have a feeling we could see double digits again tonight.

3-star play: Over 8 (-120)

Money Line Trends💰

• Philadelphia Phillies- 47-39 overall this season, 12-0 in last 12 road games

• Atlanta Braves- 58-28 overall this season, 28-13 as the away team, 9-1 in last ten games

• Cincinnati Reds- 49-39 overall this season, 26-18 as the away team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Cleveland Guardians- Under is 50-34-3 this season, highest win percentage in MLB

• Los Angeles Dodgers- Over is 49-33-5 this season, 22-19-2 as the home team

• San Francisco Giants- Over is 13-9 against division opponents (Play NL West rival Colorado tonight)

Run Line Trends➕➖

• Texas Rangers- Run line is 52-36 overall this season, 11-10 as a road favorite

• Cincinnati Reds- Run line is 56-32 overall this season, 26-10 as a road underdog

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

💪 Orioles DOMINATE Yankees, win 14-1 on the road. The AL East has been the most impressive division in baseball this season, and two heavyweights in the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees went head-to-head last night in the Bronx. However, last night’s matchup was as one-sided as it gets in professional sports, with the Orioles defeating their division rival 14-1. 13 of Baltimore’s 14 runs were scored before the fourth inning was completed, with Gunnar Henderson leading the way with two home runs and 5 RBIs. Ryan O’Hearn contributed with 4 RBIs of his own, and Kyle Bradish picked up his fifth win of the year after throwing 6.0 shutout innings.

🧹 Phillies sweep Rays, earn 12th straight road victory. Last season’s World Series runner up is starting to catch fire as we approach the All-Star break, recently sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-game series. It was a pitchers duel through the first 10 innings, but Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber broke the scoring drought as both hit RBI singles in the top of the 11th inning to give Philly a 3-1 lead. The loss marked the fifth straight for Tampa Bay, who now only holds a 4.0 game lead in the AL East.

🎉 Carlos Rodon to make season debut tonight against Cubs. New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon is set to take the mound this evening for the first time in 2023 when the Yankees begin a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs. The left-hander has been on the 60-day injured list due to an elbow strain and back stiffness, but appears to be at full strength after striking out eight batters in 3.2 innings in a rehab start last Saturday. Rodon is a two-time All-Star and signed a 6-year, $162 million deal with the Yankees in December.

📺 Mark Ingram set to join Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff. Former NFL running back and Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram will reportedly join Fox Sports Big Noon Kickoff as an analyst for the upcoming college football season. Ingram, who played 12 years in the NFL after a stellar career at the University of Alabama, will join Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn, Urban Meyer, and Rob Stone on the Big Noon Kickoff desk every Saturday morning. He will replace Reggie Bush, who parted ways with Fox after failing to come to terms on a new contract.

⛳️ Jonas Blixt holds two-stroke lead after Round 1 at the John Deer Classic. Swedish golfer and former Florida State Seminole Jonas Blixt began the John Deer Classic with a stellar round of 9-under par on Thursday, two strokes better than anyone else in the field. Blixt began the round shooting 2-under par through the front nine, but sank five birdies and one eagle during the final nine holes for an impressive 7-under 29. The 39-year-old only holds conditional status on the PGA Tour, but is a three-time Tour event winner and has put himself in a good position to add another trophy to the case with three rounds to play.

🐻 Arizona lands top football recruit. The University of Arizona is most known for its performances on the basketball court, but the Wildcats are starting to make some noise on the gridiron as well. Per Hayes Fawcett, 2024 4-star edge rusher Elijah Rushing, a Tucson native, has committed to play for the Wildcats, choosing Arizona over Oregon, UCLA, and Notre Dame. Rushing is listed as the No.20 overall recruit in the class of 2024 according to ESPN, making him the highest-ranked recruit to commit to Arizona in the modern ranking era.

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- The Houston Astros pitching staff had quite the night on June 11, 2003, throwing a combined no-hitter in a 8-0 victory over the New York Yankees. How many Astros pitchers made an appearance on the mound in the no-hit effort?

Question #2- Fairleigh Dickinson University, a No.16 seed, pulled off an improbable upset in the 2023 NCAA tournament, upsetting No.1 seed Purdue to become the second 16-seed to beat a 1-seed. What school was the first 16-seed to beat a 1-seed in March Madness history?

Question #3- Nickname’s are given to some of the most prominent players across all sports league’s nowadays, with some even replacing their real names. Which NBA star is known as “Uncle Drew”?

Anyone know what has happened on July 7th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On July 7th…

1906- American Baseball Hall of Famer Satchel Paige is born in Mobile, Alabama. Paige began his professional baseball career with the Chattanooga Black Lookouts of the Negro Southern League, eventually making his MLB debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1948 at the age of 42. That made Paige the oldest player in MLB history to make his major league debut, and to this day he is still the oldest player to play in an MLB game as he made his last appearance at the age of 59. Paige was eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971.

1978- The NBA approves an extremely rare franchise swap between the Boston Celtics and Buffalo Braves. Braves owners John Brown and Harry Mangurian acquired the Celtics, while Celtics owner Irv Levin acquired the Braves. The reason for the swap was due to Celtics owner Irv Levin’s desire to move to the West Coast, but the league refused to let one of the NBA’s most historic franchises relocate. So, Levin would go on to acquire the Braves, eventually moving the team across the country to Los Angeles and renaming the franchise to the Clippers.

2006- Cleveland Indians first baseman Travis Hafner becomes the first player in MLB history to hit five grand slams before the All-Star break. He would go on to finish the season with six grand slams, tying Don Mattingly for the most by any player in a single season. Hafner would end the 2006 season with 39 home runs and 110 RBIs, both of which were franchise records at the time, and simultaneously became the second player in Cleveland’s history to record 100 walks, 100 runs, and 100 RBIs in the same season.

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1. 6

2. University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)

3. Kyrie Irving