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 2-0 overall, and you can see how each of the models performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 1-0

Over/Under Predictions: 0-1

Spread Predictions: 1-0

3-star Predictions: 1-0

Money Line Predictions: 1-0

Over/Under Predictions: 1-0

Puck Line Predictions: 0-1

3-star Predictions: 0-0

Money Line Predictions: 5-3

Over/Under Predictions: 3-5

Run Line Predictions: 4-4

3-star Predictions: 1-0

7️⃣ Derrick White gets late tip-in, forces Game 7. The Boston Celtics’ season looked dead in the water after going down 3-0 to Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals, but all of a sudden we have a Game 7 on our hands. Boston won Game 6 last night by a score of 104-103 thanks to a buzzer-beating tip-in by Derrick White, giving the Celtics their third consecutive win and a shot at making history. No team in NBA history has ever won a series after being down 3-0, but the Celtics will now return to TD Garden on Monday for a chance to be the first.

🦌 Bucks set to hire Adrian Griffin. After firing Mike Budenholzer just a few weeks ago, the Milwaukee Bucks appear to have found his replacement in Toronto Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin, per Adrian Wojnarowski. Former Raptors head coach, Nick Nurse, was also in the running, but pulled his name out of the race a short time ago. Griffin, who was an assistant for Milwaukee for two seasons in the early 2000’s, will return to the place where his coaching career began. He was also a player in the NBA for nine seasons, suiting up for the Celtics, Mavericks, Rockets, Bulls, and SuperSonics.

⭐️ Stars extend their season, win Game 5 in Vegas. Similar to the Boston Celtics, the Dallas Stars found themselves down 3-0 in the Conference Finals. However, after a 4-2 victory last night against the Golden Knights, the Stars are now down 3-2 in the series and are heading back home for Game 6 on Monday. Dallas ended the heated battle with three unanswered goals, two of which came from Ty Dellandrea in the third period. Jake Oettinger was also terrific in net, saving 27 of 29 shots to come his way.

🥇 Germany beats United States in overtime at World Championships. Although it is being overshadowed by the NHL Playoffs, the IIHF World Championship has had plenty of action, and yesterday we saw the United States fall in the semifinals to Germany. The U.S. led 3-2 with just over a minute left in regulation, but Germany’s Marcel Noebels tied the game after Germany pulled its goalie, snapping the United State’s eight-game win streak in the tournament. The Germans will now square off against Canada in the gold medal game, looking to win the country’s first medal since 1953.

There is plenty of baseball for us on this fine Sunday, with 15 games set to take place. However, due to some gaps in the early season data, our model has predictions for ten of today’s matchups.

Chicago White Sox @ Detroit Tigers

Model Predicts- Tigers ML, OVER 7.5, Tigers +1.5

The Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers will close out a four-game series on Sunday afternoon in what is set to be a great AL Central battle.

Chicago enters today’s matchup with a 22-32 record, good enough for 4th in the AL Central. All around not that impressive, but Chicago has gone 14-11 in the month of May after going 7-20 in April.

Detroit is in a mildly better position than Chicago, sitting in second in the AL Central at 24-26 and just two games back of Minnesota in first.

The AL Central might be the most boring division in baseball this season with only one team above .500, but our model is showing value on the Tigers. Will we see Detroit capitalize on the weaker matchup like our model thinks it will, or will the White Sox continue their strong month of play?

Chicago White Sox

As previously mentioned the White Sox went just 7-20 in the April. Injuries certainly played a role in that abysmal stretch, with key players like Tim Anderson and Yoán Moncada riding pine for extended periods of time.

However, even with a recent surge in May, Chicago’s biggest problem is its instability on the mound. That often puts the White Sox in tough spot, making winning a challenge.

According to TeamRankings, Chicago enters today’s matchup with a 4.83 Team ERA, the fifth highest in the majors this season. That ERA is also a dramatic increase from the team’s 3.92 ERA in 2022, showing that the pitching staff is not nearly as strong as it was as season ago.

The bullpen is where most of the blame should be placed, posting the second worst ERA at 5.28, per FanGraphs. In the last three games alone that ERA has risen to 7.06, with White Sox relievers allowing eight earned runs in 10.2 innings of work.

Dylan Cease (3-3 record, 4.60 ERA) is charged with the task of bringing some stability to the mound, but that will not be easy even against a weaker Tigers offense. Per Baseball Savant, Cease’s ERA (4.60) and xERA (4.57) vary by just 0.03 runs, showing that the damage he has taken isn’t the result of much bad luck. That is largely because he ranks in the bottom 8% of the MLB in Hard Hit rate at 48.5%, well above the MLB average of 36.0% and his 31.2% in 2022.

Detroit Tigers

Even with 40-year-old Miguel Cabrera still on the roster, the Detroit Tigers are one of the youngest teams in the MLB this season. Age is something that many teams often overcome, but some of the inexperience on the roster is showing at the plate this season.

Through 50 games the Tigers are averaging 3.78 runs per game, the third fewest in the MLB in front of only Oakland and Cleveland. FanGraphs also has Detroit ranked 26th in weighted runs created (wRC+), further proving that the Tigers have struggled at the plate often in the early going.

However, even with some challenges on the offensive end, the Tigers remain just two games below .500 and are slowly closing the gap between them and the Twins at the top of the division.

Why? Well, the Tigers have gotten some great performances from its pitching staff on a consistent enough basis to keep them in many games, and today they will be in an excellent position with Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound.

Rodriguez (4-4 record, 2.19 ERA) has been great for Detroit this season. He has been hit around a bit in his last two starts, allowing six earned runs in 10.0 innings, but he already has four starts this season in which he has not allowed a run and has only allowed two or more earned runs in three of nine starts in 2023.

Baseball Savant has Rodriguez in the top 12% of the MLB in Average Exit Velocity Allowed (86.3 mph), leading to a top 25% ranking in Hard Hit and Barrel rate as well. He has done an excellent job at limiting hard contact, often keeping runners off the bases.

What’s the Play?

Chicago is a slightly better offense, but the margins at the plate are so slim that it likely won’t make too much of a difference this afternoon. However, the pitching advantage favors Detroit today, which is why we agree with our model that the Tigers money line is a 3-star play.

The damage that has been done against Cease this season has been self-inflicted, resulting in at least three earned runs in five of his last seven starts. Once again, Detroit isn’t a huge threat at the plate, but the Tigers have jumped on Chicago’s bullpen in this series and that will likely be the difference maker.

Detroit has a solid bullpen, ranking 13th in ERA at 3.82. Rodriguez is also known for going long stretches in games, pitching seven or more innings in four of his last seven starts. There is far more stability on the mound for Detroit.

Our model thinks the Tigers should be favored here at odds of -120, and you can get the Tigers at -110 on many sportsbooks. We like the value in that play and think Detroit is set up to win its third game of this series.

3-star play: Tigers ML (-110)

Money Line Trends💰

• Detroit Tigers- 24-26 overall, 8-4 against divisional opponents (Play AL Central rival Chicago today)

• San Francisco Giants- 27-25 overall, winners of six of last seven games

• Houston Astros- 30-21 overall, 16-10 as the away team

Over/Under Trends⬆️⬇️

• Detroit Tigers- Over is 27-22-1 overall,14-9 as the home team

• Chicago Cubs- Over is 28-22-1 overall, 14-12-1 as the home team

• Arizona Diamondbacks- Under is 13-11-2 as the home team

Run Line Trends➕➖

• Cincinnati Reds- Run line is 30-22 overall, 13-7 as a road underdog

• Houston Astros- Run line is 8-7 as a road favorite

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

❌ Errors cost the Angels a victory, spoil Ohtani’s stellar night. Shohei Ohtani pitched an absolute gem on Saturday night, going 6.0 innings and striking out 10 batters while allowing one earned run. His efforts, along with a game-tying home run from Gio Ursehla in the bottom of the eighth, put the Angels in a position to win, but errors in the top of the tenth allowed the Marlins to score four runs. Mickey Moniak bobbled a ball in the outfield, and then catcher Matt Thaiss failed to touch home plate on a force out attempt, leading to another run for Miami. LA will look for redemption this afternoon with Patrick Sandoval on the mound.

💪 Zack Wheeler DOMINATES the Braves. Zack Wheeler hasn’t put up the same numbers in 2023 that we are used to seeing from the Cy Young candidate, but yesterday’s performance against Atlanta may have shown that Wheeler has turned the corner. Wheeler was nearly perfect in the 8.0 innings he pitched, allowing no runs and only three hits while striking out 12 batters. Philadelphia now sits two games below .500 in a crowded NL East division, looking to win its third game against the Braves in the last four days on Sunday Night Baseball.

🔥 Freddie Freeman stays red hot, extends hitting streak to 16 games. Freddie Freeman has been one of the most reliable hitters for several years now, and the 33-year-old is still showing that he has some juice at the plate. Freeman is currently in the midst of a 16-game hitting streak, batting .444 with 18 RBIs in that 16-game span. The hitting streak is tied with Texas Rangers second baseman Marcus Semian for the longest in the MLB at the moment.

😬 Budda Baker not ready to join Cardinals just yet. Budda Baker made headlines when he requested a trade from the Arizona Cardinals, demanding the be dealt to another team or become the highest-paid safety in the NFL. As a result, Baker has yet to make an appearance at voluntary OTA’s, telling Cameron Cox that he will join the team “when it’s time to be there”. If Baker is shipped to another team, he would become the second Pro Bowl player on the Cardinals to be off the roster, joining DeAndre Hopkins.

⚽️ Luton Town promoted to the English Premier League. Luton Town FC will return to the English Premier League for the first time in 31 years after being relegated from the top division in 1992. Luton defeated Coventry City on penalties in the EFL Championship final on Saturday, which was played in Wembley stadium. The promotion to the EPL, which is the world’s most-watched soccer league, is estimated to bring in an additional $200 million over the next three years for the club.

⛳️ Harry Hall, Adam Schenk leading the charge at the Charles Schwab Challenge. The Charles Schwab Challenge has been taking place all weekend long in Fort Worth, Texas, with Harry Hall and Adam Schenk at the top of the leaderboard at -10 after three rounds. Hall, a PGA Tour rookies, shot two-over par on Saturday afternoon, while Schenk shot a terrific -3 to sneak up the leaderboard. Neither player has won a PGA Tour event in their career, making for an interesting fourth round on Sunday.

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. Plenty of Father-Son duos have come around across many sports, but one duo in the MLB finished their careers with the same amount of home runs. Name the Father and Son to accomplish this.

2. The Summer and Winter Olympics come around every few years, gathering the world’s best athletes to compete on the biggest stage in sports. One country has never won a medal in the Summer Olympics, but has won several in the Winter Olympics, all of which came in alpine skiing. What country is that?

3. Jim Thorpe was an American athlete and olympic gold medalist, becoming the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States. Thorpe also had a ton success playing football, resulting in the Jim Thorpe Award to be created in 1986 for the best player at this position in college football. What position receives the Jim Thorpe Award every year?

Anyone know what has happened on May 28th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On May 28th…

1904- New York Giants first baseman (Yes, baseball and not football) Dan McGann steals five bases in a 3-1 win over the Brooklyn Superbas in Polo Grounds. There are varying accounts of when the record was broken, but four players, Eddie Collins, Otis Nixon, Eric Young, and Carl Crawford, have since stolen six bases in a game. That remains the record to this day.

1912- American golfer and PGA legend Sam Snead is born in Ashwood, Virginia. Snead is considered by most to be one of the greatest golfers ever, winning 82 PGA Tour events in his incredible career, tied for the most all-time. Snead was also the winner of seven majors, winning the Master’s three times (1949, 1952, 1954), the PGA Championship three times (1942, 1949, 1951), and the Open Championship once (1946).

1975- The Philadelphia Flyers win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles, beating the Sabres 4-2 in a best-of-seven series. Philadelphia was known as the “Broad Street Bullies” during this time, resulting from their tendencies to get into fights and collect a record amount of penalty minutes. Regardless, the Flyers were one of the most successful teams in the NHL during that time, winning two Stanley Cups only a few years after being founded in 1967.

2006- Barry Bonds hits his 715th career home run in a 6-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Bonds sent a 90mph fastball over the center field wall, a pitch that would end up giving him the second most home runs in MLB history. Bonds would go on to hit 47 more home runs in his career after this historic day, seven more homers than any other play in MLB history.

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1. Cecil Fielder and Prince Fielder

2. Liechtenstein

3. Defensive Back