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🚨 Headlines
⚽️ Venezuela advances: Venezuela clinched a berth in the Copa América quarterfinals with a 1-0 win over heavily-favored Mexico.
🏀 OG gets paid: Knicks star OG Anunoby, who declined his player option to become an unrestricted free agent, is staying in New York on a five-year, $212.5 million deal.
⚾️ Mets sweep Yankees: The Mets beat the Yankees, 12-2, to sweep the two-game Subway Series and climb back to .500 for the first time since May 7. These guys are good.
🏒 Mighty Ducks are back: The Ducks are bringing back their old Mighty Ducks logo and revamping it for the 2024-25 NHL season.
🏈 Prescott lawsuit dismissed: A Texas judge has dismissed a sexual assault lawsuit against Dak Prescott, ending a months-long legal battle over an alleged 2017 incident.
🏀 NBA Draft: French prospects go 1-2
French prospects Zaccharie Risacher (Hawks) and Alex Sarr (Wizards) went 1-2 in Wednesday’s NBA draft, marking the first time in history that international players were selected with the first two picks.
Pick-by-pick analysis: Yahoo Sports draft expert Krysten Peek graded every pick, with the Lakers earning the only A+ (Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht) and the Grizzlies earning the only D (Purdue’s Zach Edey).
What’s next: For the first time, the NBA draft will be spread over two days, with the second round set for 4pm ET today.
Behind the scenes: This new format has prompted some NBA teams to confer with NFL personnel to glean insight into how to handle an overnight and early-morning window between rounds, per Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer and Jori Epstein.
The hours where Wednesday bleeds into Thursday morning may be rife with clandestine conversations that shape which players teams select before the second round even begins.
How smoothly and effectively that process unfolds could be a key determining factor for team personnel on whether they would support the continued two-night format for the NBA draft in the future.
⚽️ Georgia advances in a stunner
Georgia stunned Portugal, 2-0, on Wednesday to earn their first-ever win at Euros and squeak into the knockout rounds.
Historic upset: Georgia (No. 74 in the world) is the lowest-ranked team in the field, while Portugal (No. 6) entered with the fourth-best odds to win it all. By ranking differential, it’s the biggest upset in tournament history.
16 teams remain: The single-elimination knockout round begins Saturday.
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Spain vs. Georgia
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Germany vs. Denmark
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Portugal vs. Slovenia
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France vs. Belgium
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Romania vs. Netherlands
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Austria vs. Turkey
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England vs. Slovakia
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Switzerland vs. Italy
It’s coming home? Tournament favorite England, placed in the far easier half of the bracket, has no excuses not to reach their second consecutive Euro final, where they’d have a chance to win their first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup.
⚾️ The NL’s crowded playoff race
The NL playoff race is so crowded — How crowded is it? — that there appears to be only one prerequisite: No 1993 expansion teams allowed.
Where it stands: Halfway through the season, the Marlins and Rockies are the only NL teams more than five games out of a wild card spot.
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The division races aren’t as close, with the Phillies (8 games up in the East), Brewers (6 games up in the Central) and Dodgers (8.5 games up in the West) holding sizable leads over second place.
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But 10 other teams are separated by just 8.5 games in a battle royale for three wild card spots.
The AL is a different story: The Orioles have a big lead for the first wild card, and just five teams (Twins, Red Sox, Royals, Astros, Rays) are within four games of the other two spots.
MLB Power Rankings: Phillies and Guardians lead the way
📆 June 27, 2006: Fed’s record run on grass
18 years ago today, Roger Federer beat Richard Gasquet in straight sets in his Wimbledon opener for his 42nd straight win on grass, breaking a tie with Björn Borg for the longest such streak ever.
What a run: Fed would ultimately push his streak to 65 straight victories on grass, winning 10 consecutive tournaments from 2003-08 before finally losing in the 2008 Wimbledon final to Rafael Nadal.
*Bad luck: This was the only time in Thomson’s 1,304-game career he was caught stealing more than once, thanks largely to slumping teammate Jeffrey Leonard, who failed to make contact on three separate hit-and-run attempts during the game.
📺 Watchlist: USA vs. Panama
The USMNT, coming off a 2-0 win over Bolivia, takes on Panama tonight in Atlanta (6pm ET, Fox) for their second Copa América group stage match.
Revenge game: The Americans hold a sizable 18-4-4 advantage in the all-time series, but Panama eliminated the U.S. from last year’s Gold Cup in their most recent meeting — a semifinal thriller that ended in a 5-4 shootout.
More to watch:
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🏀 NBA Draft: Second round (4pm, ESPN)
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⚽️ Copa América: Bolivia vs. Uruguay (9pm, FS2)
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⚾️ MLB: Guardians at Royals (8:10pm, FS1)
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🏀 WNBA: Aces at Sky (7pm, Prime); Fever at Storm (10pm, Prime)
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🇺🇸 Track & Field: U.S. Trials (7:15pm, Peacock/NBC/USA)
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🇺🇸 Gymnastics: U.S. Trials (6pm, Peacock/USA)
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⛳️ PGA: Rocket Mortgage Classic* (6:45am, ESPN+; 3pm, Golf) … At Detroit Golf Club.
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⛳️ PGA Champions: U.S. Senior Open (12pm, Golf; 3pm, Peacock) … At Newport Country Club in Rhode Island.
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🏏 T20 World Cup: India vs. England (10:30am, WillowTV) … Winner faces South Africa in Saturday’s championship.
*Teen phenom: 15-year-old Miles Russell, the world’s No. 1 ranked junior and the youngest player ever to make the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour, will make his PGA Tour debut in Detroit.
⚾️ MLB trivia
Aaron Judge smashed his 30th homer of the season on Wednesday, becoming the third player in MLB history to hit 30 before the All-Star break at least three times.
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Question: Who are the other two?
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Hint: They did it primarily in the 1990s. One from the right side, one from the left side.
Answer at the bottom.
⚽️ The end of an era
The USWNT’s Olympic roster was released on Wednesday, and for the first time in nearly two decades it was missing one of the sport’s biggest names: Alex Morgan.
Close call: It was a “tough decision,” said coach Emma Hayes, but there was ultimately no space on the 18-player roster for Morgan, who turns 35 next week and has recently struggled to score.
Trivia answer: Mark McGwire (1987, 1997, 1998, 2000) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1994, 1997, 1998)
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Source Agencies
