In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

There were plenty of predictions to go around yesterday across the NBA, NHL, and MLB, with our model focusing in on two of those predictions and making them 3-star Plays. Those predictions went 1-0-1 overall, and you can see how each of the models performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 2-0

Over/Under Predictions: 1-1

Spread Predictions: 2-0

3-star Predictions: 1-0

Money Line Predictions: 1-1

Over/Under Predictions: 1-0-1

Puck Line Predictions: 2-0

3-star Predictions: 0-0

Money Line Predictions: 6-5

Over/Under Predictions: 6-5

Run Line Predictions: 5-6

3-star Predictions: 0-0-1

👏 LeBron James, Lakers advance to Western Conference Finals. The King is one step closer to making it back to the NBA Finals following a 122-101 win over the Warriors last night, giving Los Angeles its second series win of the postseason. It has been an up and down season for the Lakers, who were under .500 for most of the year, but it appears that this squad has the talent and depth and continue its stellar playoff run. LeBron James led the way with 30 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists and has now made the conference finals 12 times in his Hall of Fame Career. Game 1 against the Nuggets will take place on Tuesday in the Mile High City.

🔥 The Miami Heat advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat are back in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row, defeating the New York Knicks in six games after a 96-92 win last night. Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson did everything he could to extend the series, scoring 41 points, but Miami’s depth and defense proved to be too much in the end. The Heat are now the first No.8 seed to make the Eastern Conference Finals since 1999 and have reached the ECF three times in the last four seasons.

🤔 Deandre Ayton, Chris Paul on their way out of Phoenix? After a second round loss to the Nuggets earlier the week, the Phoenix Suns are already looking to shake up the roster. It was announced that the Suns intend on shopping Deandre Ayton this offseason, who did not play in Phoenix’s Game 6 loss to Denver due to a rib injury. Ayton signed a 4-year, $133 million contract with the Indiana Pacers last season, but Phoenix matched the offer to keep him a member of the team. Chris Paul is another name that has showed up in trade talks, likely putting the 38-year-old on the move.

There is only one NHL game scheduled to take place today. The Dallas Stars will head back to Seattle to take on the Kraken, looking to end the series in Game 6.

There are no 3-star plays in the NHL today.

Money Line Trends

• Dallas Stars- 7-4 overall in postseason, 3-2 as the away team

• Seattle Kraken- 6-6 overall in postseason, 2-3 as the home team

Over/Under Trends

• Dallas Stars- Over is 7-4 in postseason, 2-3 as the away team with average total of 6.80

• Seattle Kraken- Over is 6-6 in postseason, 5-0 in series with average total of 8.00

Puck Line Trends

• Dallas Stars- Puck lis is 6-5 overall in postseason, 2-3 as the away team

• Seattle Kraken- Puck line is 7-5 in postseason, 2-3 as the home team

Dallas Stars @ Seattle Kraken

• Dallas Stars

  • Mason Marchment (Day-to-Day)

• Seattle Kraken

  • Andre Burakovsky (OUT), Daniel Sprong (Day-to-Day)

🐆 Florida’s cinderella story continues. The state of Florida is now the state of the underdog. Just like the Miami Heat, the Florida Panthers entered the postseason as the last seed in the Eastern Conference, but after a 3-2 overtime victory last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs the Panthers punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals. Sergei Bobrovsky was the star of the night, saving 50 of the 52 shots that came his way. Arron Ekblad, Carter Verhaeghe, and Nicks Cousins scored the three goals for Florida, who will now play the Carolina Hurricanes for a chance to reach the Stanley Cup Final.

🙌 Golden Knights one game close to another series win. The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 last night, giving the Knights a commanding 3-1 series lead. Vegas was down 2-1 in the first ten minutes of the first period, but a three-goal avalanche in the span of one minute and 29 second gave the Knights a 4-2 lead after the second period. Connor McDavid scored a goal for Edmonton in the third, but it was not enough and now the Oilers face elimination for the first time this postseason.

🏆 Hart Trophy Finalists have been announced. The NHL has been releasing the finalists for several awards over the last few days, and the finalists for the most exciting award were announced yesterday. Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk, and Boston’s David Pastrnak were announced as the three finalists for the Hart Trophy, the award given to who the Professional Hockey Writers Association deems to be the “most valuable player”. McDavid has won the award two times while Tkachuk and Pastrnak are first-time nominees.

There are 15 MLB games scheduled to take place today, with the first beginning at 1:05 PM Eastern Time. However, due to some gaps in the early season data, our model has predictions for ten of today’s matchups.

Texas Rangers @ Oakland Athletics

Model Predicts- Rangers ML, Over 9, Rangers -1.5

The Texas Rangers will play their ninth road game in a row this afternoon, the third of four games in a series with the Oakland Athletics.

Texas has performed rather well during this road trip, going 5-3 across the last eight games. That stretch is a reflection of how well this team has played this season, resulting in the best record in the AL West at 23-15.

The opposite has been true for Oakland, winners of just nine games this season and 15.0 games back of the Rangers in the division.

The gap in talent is rather large in today’s matchup, but even with that being the case we saw Oakland beat Texas last night. Can the worst team in the MLB build on that momentum with another win today, or will the Rangers get back in the win column?

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers have been one of the bigger surprises of the 2023 season. Texas ended last season 68-94 overall, 38.0 games back of Houston in the AL West, but is now on pace to shatter that win total.

The fast start can be accredited to a few things, but the largest shifts have come at the plate. Per TeamRankings Texas scored just 4.36 runs per game last season, but in 2023 that average has risen to 6.26, the most in the MLB.

Texas has simply overwhelmed many teams with its hitting, scoring 10 or more runs in 24% of its games. That has resulted in a +84 run differential, the second best in the MLB behind Tampa Bay.

Texas also reworked its pitching rotation. Jacob deGrom came over from the Mets, and Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney were also signed in free agency. That has made a big difference for Texas this season, seeing its Team ERA drop from 4.21 in 2022 to 3.72 in 2023.

Jon Gray (2-1 record, 3.82 ERA) will get the start on the mound today for the Rangers. Per Baseball Savant Gray owns a 5.43 xERA, well above his actual ERA of 3.82. He only surrendered one earned run in his most recent start, but against Oakland earlier this season he allowed six hits and three earned runs in 5.1 innings.

Oakland Athletics

There isn’t much to like about this Athletics team, and much of issues start on the mound.

Oakland by far has the worst starting rotation in the MLB. TeamRankings has the Athletics with a 7.26 Team ERA in 2023, 1.60 runs higher than the next closest team. Unsurprisingly, Oakland has the worst bullpen in the MLB too, entering today with a league-worst 6.69 ERA.

This team can’t find any consistency on the mound, and today’s starting pitcher, JP Sears (0-3 record, 5.55 ERA), is a perfect example of that.

Sears has given up 11 earned runs across his last three appearances. He surrendered zero earned runs against Seattle on May 3rd in his best performance of the young season, but prior to that allowed six earned runs to the Angels in 4.1 innings. In his last start he gave up six hits and five earned runs to the Yankees.

The 27-year-old has surprisingly done a good job of keeping runners off the base paths though. Sears owns a 1.18 WHIP, largely due to his 5.2% walk rate and 20.1% strikeout rate. He has been one of Oakland’s better pitchers this season, but that isn’t saying much.

What’s the Play?

As mentioned earlier we have two teams that are on opposite ends of the spectrum in talent. However, both teams appear to be in a position to score runs today.

Our first 3-star play is Rangers over 4.5 runs, which you can get on FanDuel for -120 odds. Sears does have some good stuff on the mound, but his 13.3% Barrel rate ranks in the bottom 8% of the MLB this season and is well above the MLB average of 6.8%. Texas has also crushed left handed pitchers this season, which Sears is, ranking fourth in OPS against lefties (.806), per StatMuse. Texas should have no problems scoring today.

However, we also think Oakland can get some runs as well. The Athletics scored nine runs yesterday against Texas, and Jon Gray’s 5.43 xERA shows he has clearly been getting lucky on the mound. His low strikeout rate (17.3%) and high Barrel rate (8.9%) make him vulnerable to allowing runs.

One matchup. Two 3-star plays. Expect a high-scoring game.

3-star plays: Rangers over 4.5 Runs (-120), Total Runs Over 9 (+100)

Money Line Trends

• Tampa Bay Rays- 30-10 overall this season, 11-7 as the away team, 9-6 overall against AL East opponents (Play AL East rival New York Yankees today)

• Boston Red Sox- 22-17 overall, 13-8 as the home team

• Atlanta Braves- 25-13 overall, 4-1 as an underdog

Over/Under Trends

• Oakland Athletics- Over is 25-13-2 this season, second highest win percentage in MLB

• Texas Rangers- Over is 22-14-2 this season, third highest win percentage in MLB

• Cleveland Guardians- Under is 24-12-2 this season, best win percentage in MLB

Run Line Trends

• Texas Rangers- Run line is 23-15 this season, 11-10 as the favorite

• Atlanta Braves- Run line is 4-1 as an underdog

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

🤕 Another pitcher hits the IL with an arm injury. Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen was placed on the 6-day IL with a flexor strain. The announcement comes after Rasmussen had a solid day on the mound against the Yankees on Thursday, allowing zero earned runs and only two hits in 7.0 innings. Rasmussen has undergone Tommy John surgery twice in his career, and the new injury has sparked some fear that it may be needed again. Rasmussen posted a 2.62 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in eight starts this season.

🤣 Christian Walker gets ejected for clapping. MLB umpires have been placed under a microscope over the last few years for some questionable calls, but last night’s ejection of Christian Walker may top the list of the worst. Walker was clapping from the dugout after a favorable call was made for the Diamondbacks, cheering on a teammate that was up to bat and had a 3-1 count. The home plate umpire didn’t appear to like the celebration, ejecting Walker and not providing any explanation as to why. Arizona would still go on to beat the Giants 7-5.

♽ Cedric Mullins hits for the cycle. Cedric Mullins is off to a good start in 2023, and the 28-year-old center fielder went down in Orioles history last night. Mullins hit a single, double, triple, and home run in last night’s 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, becoming the seventh player in Orioles history to hit for the cycle. Mullins is batting .268 with 5 home runs and 31 RBI’s in 38 games this season, playing a key role in the Orioles’ hot start.

💰 The Washington Commanders have officially been sold. Dan Snyder has been pressured for years to sell the Washington Commanders franchise following several controversial incidents, and as of yesterday it appears that Snyder finally cracked. Josh Harris, the current owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, has led a group that includes other stars like Magic Johnson to a $6.05 billion bid for the franchise. The transaction will be the highest ever for a U.S. sports franchise, with the previous record being the $4.65 billion that was paid for the Denver Broncos in 2022.

🔄 Minnesota trades Za’Darius Smith to the Cleveland Browns. Three-time Pro Bowler Za’Darius Smith is now a member of the Cleveland Browns after being traded from the Minnesota Vikings yesterday. The Vikings received a 2024 and 2025 fifth-round pick in exchange for Smith and a sixth and seventh round pick in 2025. Smith requested a release earlier in the offseason after tallying 10 sacks in the 2022 season.

🔴 Jordan Dingle commits to St. John’s. It’s been a sad last few days for the Quakers of the University of Pennsylvania. Jordan Dingle, the NCAA’s second highest scorer last season, has announced that he will transfer and play for the St. Johns Red Storm. The move is a huge one for a program that has struggled in recent years as it now has an elite scorer to pair with new head coach Rick Pitino.

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.

1. Golfers have to use a wide variety of clubs throughout the duration of an 18-hole round, ending on the green with the putter. However, some players choose to pull the putter out before even reaching the green. What is the term for the putter when it used from off the green?

2. The Stanley Cup is one of the best, if not the best, trophies in all of sports. One coach, Scotty Bowman, is very familiar with winning the Stanley Cup, being the winning coach of nine Stanley Cup Finals. What teams did Bowman win a Stanley Cup with? (Hint- there are three teams)

3. The 1984 NBA Draft was on the best in BA history, producing players like Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. Hakeem Olajuwon was selected first overall out of Houston, and Michael Jordan wasn’t selected until the third pick. Who was the second overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft?

Anyone know what has happened on May 13th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On May 13th…

1955- Mickey Mantle has himself quite the day at the plate, hitting three consecutive home runs of at least 463 feet in a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Perhaps more impressive is how Mantle hit the home runs, hitting two left-handed and one right-handed. Mantle would retire with 536 home runs in his career, which currently sits as the 18th most in MLB history.

1976- The ninth ABA Championship took place between the New York Nets and Denver Nuggets. The Nets beat the Nuggets 4-2 in a best-of-seven series in what marked the last ABA Championship ever as the ABA and NBA merged shortly after on August 5, 1976.

1992- NFL defensive back Tyrann Mathieu is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mathieu would play college football at nearby Louisiana State University before being selected in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Mathieu has played for the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, and now his hometown New Orleans Saints in his career, earning three Pro Bowl selctions in that time.

2018- Liverpool forward Mohamad Salah scores a goal in a 4-0 victory against Brighton. The goal carried a ton of significance as it was Salah’s 32nd of the season, setting an English Premier League record for goals in a 38-game season.

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1. Texas Wedge

2. Canadiens, Penguins, Red Wings

3. Sam Bowie