The St. Louis Cardinals (31-33) host the PIttsburgh Pirates (31-34) tonight at Busch Stadium with rookie sensation Paul Skenes on the mound for the Pirates.
Here are two player props to target in plus-money tonight.
If you are an MLB fan, you are obligated to always take the over on Paul Skenes K props.
I kid. Sort of.
No pitcher’s debut season has been this hyped since Stephen Strasburg in 2010, and so far Skenes has (mostly) lived up to the hype.
Skenes struck out eight Dodgers in his most recent outing, also securing the win for the Bucs. If Skenes can K eight Dodgers, I am happy to grab plus-money for him to tally eight punch-outs vs. the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Cardinals have a 23.7% K-rate vs. righties this season -- the 10th highest rate in MLB.
Skenes has exceeded this prop in three of five games started this year and he’s striking batters out at a rate of 12.67 per nine innings. If he makes it through six innings, he easily exceeds this mark.
Rowdy Tellez over 1.5 Hits +Runs + RBI (+105) at DraftKings
I know, I know. Tellez has been awful this year, but hear me out.
Not only does Tellez tear the cover off the ball (his max exit velocity in the top 2% of MLB), he’s been heating up lately.
In June, Tellez is hitting .529 with seven RBI and a 1.461 OPS. He has hits in six of his last seven games, and he has exceeded this prop in five of those seven.
Not only that, but Tellez has good career stats vs. Miles Mikolas.
In 18 career at-bats vs. Mikolas, Tellez is batting .333 and has a 1.091 OPS. Take advantage of the value for Tellez tonight.
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Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever suffered an ugly 89-72 loss to the Connecticut Sun on Monday night to fall to 3-10 on the season. Clark finished with only 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting in what was one of her worst games of her young WNBA career.
Clark got into some foul trouble and sat for a long time in the second half, which led to something you're not used to hearing in the arena of an opposing team—fans started chanting "We want Caitlin!" with hopes that the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft could get back out on the court.
Here are those scenes:
Chants of “We want Caitlin” are starting to ring out here at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Clark hasn’t played since the middle of the third, when she picked up her fourth foul. pic.twitter.com/yU0HQDkh4H
“We want Caitlin” chant has broken out at Mohegan Sun Arena. Clark was taken out at the 5-min mark in the third quarter. It is now 3 minutes in the 4th.
Welcome to the NFL offseason, where receivers get paid lots of money (just ask Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jaylen Waddle and Nico Collins), the NFL continues to push for an 18-game season, the league and NFLPA discuss ways to ruin the offseason calendar and teams continue to go through their OTAs and mandatory minicamps.
So we asked our MMQB staff of NFL experts to answer a series of eight questions. Today, they’re going to weigh in on the offseason’s best coaching move.
Let’s get to their answers as we get closer to the NFL taking a break before July training camps.
Matt Verderame: Los Angeles Chargers hiring Jim Harbaugh
Harbaugh isn’t the type to come into a situation, sit back and assess. Instead, he’s going to quickly turn the culture around, something desperately needed in Los Angeles after the Brandon Staley era.
While the Chargers are somewhat low on talent after moving several veteran players including receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, Harbaugh’s influence will be obvious. Los Angeles might not be a contender in 2024, but it won’t give away games as it has in the past, instead forcing opponents to win the game and not simply avoid losing it.
The big question for the Chargers is how long it will take to get a quality roster around Harbaugh and quarterback Justin Herbert. Once that happens, they should compete in the AFC West with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Gilberto Manzano: CarolinaPanthers hiring Dave Canales, retaining Ejiro Evero
Canales stays in the NFC South as coach of the Panthers after having the offensive coordinator job with the Buccaneers. / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Harbaugh is probably the right answer, but I can make a compelling case for the two-for-one coaching special the Carolina Panthers pulled off in the offseason.
Panthers owner David Tepper finally got something right after he hired Dave Canales as head coach and retained Ejiro Evero as defensive coordinator. Evero could have easily left after the dysfunctional season in Carolina, but Canales and Tepper convinced him to stay after the defensive guru didn’t land a head-coaching opportunity. (He probably will in the near future.) Continuity should help a Panthers’ defense needing plenty of help outside of stud defensive tackle Derrick Brown.
The arrival of Canales should put Bryce Young on the right track after a rocky rookie season, too. He helped Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield reignite their careers during coaching stops with the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
If the Panthers’ offensive line holds up, Young and new weapons Xavier Legette and Diontae Johnson could do wonders in Canales’s offensive scheme.
Conor Orr: Harbaugh
I agree with Matt. I think Harbaugh was the move of the offseason because it offers the highest degree of potential success with the largest sample size of prior success and it also signified that the Spanos family was finally willing to spend additional funding on the kind of moves that could separate the Chargers from the rest of the pack.
We can also like different hires for different reasons, right? I think the Dan Quinn hire was smart because the Washington Commanders needed a calming presence after finally fumigating the building of all things Dan Snyder. I thought the organization’s anonymous bashing of Ben Johnson when Johnson decided he did not want to pursue the opportunity was reprehensible.
I thought the Mike Macdonald hire was smart, too, because he gives Seattle the best chance out of any of the available coaches to match wits with Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. Does that mean he will? No. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth a shot.
I thought the Canales hire was also good because it was the best option at the moment for Bryce Young.
Albert Breer: Harbaugh
Morris is getting a second chance at being an NFL head coach. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
I’m with Matt and Conor, too. This can’t not be Harbaugh. And my reasoning goes beyond the wins and losses, though the fact that he’s got the fifth-best winning percentage of all-time (behind Guy Chamberlin, John Madden, George Allen and Vince Lombardi) doesn’t hurt.
To me, it’s that he’s got this rare thing where his brand of football, the identity of his teams, has traveled everywhere with him. From Stanford to San Francisco to Michigan, his teams featured powerful offensive lines, dominant run games, efficient quarterbacks, tough skill guys, and smart, versatile defenses that are, similar to the offenses, particularly great up front. I’m betting on it happening again, and all of it has a chance to supercharge Justin Herbert as a quarterback.
But, twist my arm, and make me go somewhere else with this one, and I’d take Raheem Morris with the Atlanta Falcons or Brian Callahan with the Tennessee Titans—Morris because coaches I respect most believe his second shot (after 12 seasons to learn from his mistakes) will be spectacular, and Callahan because he’s so perfectly suited for today’s NFL. Also, those two happen to be among the smartest coaches I’ve dealt with over 19 seasons covering the league.
Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final is one of the most exhilarating scenes in sports, and NHL fans will certainly be hoping to see the championship clash between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers go the distance this year.
Throughout Stanley Cup Playoff history, seven-game series have been a fairly regular occurrence. Since 1939, when the NHL adopted the best-of-seven format, there have been 196 game sevens. Included in that tally is 17 in the Stanley Cup Final, and seven since the turn of the century.
We'll take a look at each of the 17 seven-game series in Stanley Cup Final history:
YEAR
MATCHUP
1942
Toronto Maple Leafs def. Detroit Red Wings, 3–1
1945
Toronto Maple Leafs def. Detroit Red Wings, 2–1
1950
Detroit Red Wings def. New York Rangers, 4–3 (2OT)
1954
Detroit Red Wings def. Montreal Canadiens, 2–1 (OT)
1955
Detroit Red Wings def. Montreal Canadiens, 3–1
1964
Toronto Maple Leafs def. Detroit Red Wings, 4–0
1965
Montreal Canadiens def. Chicago Black Hawks, 4–0
1971
Montreal Canadiens def. Chicago Black Hawks, 3–2
1987
Edmonton Oilers def. Philadelphia Flyers, 3–1
1994
New York Rangers def. Vancouver Canucks, 3–2
2001
Colorado Avalanche def. New Jersey Devils, 3–1
2003
New Jersey Devils def. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3–0
2004
Tampa Bay Lightning def. Calgary Flames, 2–1
2006
Carolina Hurricanes def. Edmonton Oilers, 3–1
2009
Pittsburgh Penguins def. Detroit Red Wings, 2–1
2011
Boston Bruins def. Vancouver Canucks, 4–0
2019
St. Louis Blues def. Boston Bruins, 4–1
The last time the Stanley Cup Final went the distance was in 2019, when the St. Louis Blues defeated the Boston Bruins in Game 7, 4–1, courtesy of goals from Alex Pietrangelo, Ryan O'Reilly, Brayden Schenn and Zach Sanford.
Of the 17 winner-take-all games since 1939 in the Stanley Cup Final, only twice has the game-winning goal occurred in overtime. Both of the two overtime goals were scored by the Detroit Red Wings, in 1950 and '54, respectively. The Red Wings were involved in each of the first six Game 7s under the current format of the Stanley Cup Final, winning three of them.
Getting to the foul line is a key part of Caitlin Clark's offensive bag, which sometimes leads to the rookie superstar embellishing contact from defenders in order to secure a foul call from officials.
Clark was awarded a foul during Monday's tilt between the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun after officials deemed that DiJonai Carrington reached in while trying to steal the ball.
Carrington clearly did not agree with the assessment from the referees, and she made clear that she felt Clark had flopped on the play. After hearing the whistle sound and the official call her number for a foul, Carrington comically mimed Clark's flopping antics.
Carrington appeared to bump Clark while she tried to drive to the basket, which is what prompted the whistle from the referee. That didn't sit well with Carrington, who indicated to the official that Clark had sold the contact with a flop.
Ultimately, it was Carrington and the Sun who got the last laugh. They picked up an 89–72 victory on their home court, marking the third time this season they've beaten Indiana. Clark was a game-worst -30 and had just 10 points on the night while Carrington led all scorers with 22 points.
Charles Barkley made a guest appearance on ESPN's NHL analyst desk during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, joining the likes of Mark Messier, P.K. Subban and Steve Levy in between the first and second periods of Monday night's game.
Levy hinted at the potential for Barkley to make the leap over to ESPN, jokingly referring to him as the "newest member of ESPN's NBA coverage" while introducing the 61-year-old.
Steve Levy wasted no time trying to convince Charles Barkley to join ESPN's NBA coverage during his guest appearance on ABC's coverage of the Stanley Cup.
"Steve Levy, Mark Messier, P.K. Subban, and the newest member of ESPN's NBA coverage?"👀pic.twitter.com/WhLPgNFReT
"Welcome Mark Messier, P.K. Subban and the newest member of ESPN's NBA coverage? Maybe?" said Levy at the start of the segment.
Rather than immediately address his job, Barkley comically changed the topic and mentioned that Messier owes him $5,000 stemming from a delay of game penalty he took during his playing days.
After discussing Barkley's hockey fandom and his relationship with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, the crew circled back to the topic of Barkley's employment. The NBA Hall of Famer joked that he wished he had a job lined up and that he was back on LinkedIn.
With the NBA on TNT crew facing an uncertain future, the prospect of Barkley joining ESPN's NBA coverage isn't all too far fetched, and Levy wasted no time stirring the pot in that regard.
Business is booming in the WNBA, largely thanks to the highly coveted rookie class headlined by the likes of Caitlin Clark, Cameron Brink and Angel Reese, among others.
With the first month of the 2024 season officially past, the league announced its TV ratings and attendance details for the month of May. It comes as no surprise that both are up massively compared to last year, with TV ratings reaching all-time highs and attendance at its highest mark in 26 years.
The league reported that approximately 400,000 fans attended WNBA games in May, the most the league has recorded since 1998. More than half of the league's games have resulted in sellouts, an increase of 156% over last season.
In terms of television viewership, the league noted that WNBA games have logged an average viewership of 1.32 million viewers per game across ESPN, ESPN 2, ABC and CBS. That figure is almost three times more than last season.
The season-opening matchup between Clark's Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun recorded an average of 2.12 million viewers on ESPN 2, ESPN+ and Disney+, making it the most-watched WNBA game on any Disney platform in history.
Six days later, the Fever's rematch against the Sun on ESPN drew the largest TV audience for any WNBA game on the network with an average of 1.56 millions viewers.
Furthermore, merchandise sales have skyrocketed. The WNBA reports that the WNBAstore website has received a staggering increase in transactions of more than 756% compared to this time last year.
The Edmonton Oilers will be without one of their key forwards for the remainder of Monday's Game 2 against the Florida Panthers after a bad attempt at a hit from Warren Foegele resulted in a worrisome injury to Eetu Luostarinen.
Foegele attempted to land a hit onto Luostarinen in the open ice, but misfired and ended up sticking his leg out in a desparate attempt to clip the Panthers' forward. In doing so, their legs made direct contact, and Luostarinen remained on the ground in pain after the collision before being helped off the ice. He was unable to put any weight on his leg as he was skated to the locker room.
Warren Foegele received a major penalty and a game misconduct for kneeing Luostarinen pic.twitter.com/if2eB5gSvv
Officials gathered and reviewed the play before determining that Foegele would be hit with a five-minute major penalty for kneeing, as well as a game misconduct which put an early end to his evening.
With Foegele ejected, Dylan Holloway served the five-minute penalty in his stead.
The absence of Foegele will be a significant loss for Edmonton as they look to even up the series in Game 2. The left winger provided 41 points across 82 games this season, scoring a career-high 20 goals. He has three points including one goal during the postseason.
Luostarinen was able to return late into the first period.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ courtship of Dan Hurley made all the sense in the world—for the Lakers. They don’t just need a great coach; they need LeBron James to believe they have a great coach. James has already publicly lauded Hurley. And, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski thoroughly laid out, Hurley would also be an ideal coach for James’s son, Bronny, if the Lakers draft him later this month. The plan was a classic Lakers combination of sizzle, smarts and timing.
Hurley has a better chance of winning a title at UConn next season than he would with the Lakers. But this was not just a choice between staying at Connecticut and leaving for the Lakers. Hurley was also choosing between the Lakers job and whatever job offers might come his way in the next few years.
Hurley has no reason to leave UConn for another college job, but if he wants to coach in the NBA, he will have more opportunities. Billy Donovan won back-to-back NCAA championships with the Florida Gators, stayed for eight more years and then left for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Brad Stevens took the Butler Bulldogs to back-to-back national title games, stayed at Butler for two more years, and then went to the Boston Celtics.
The NBA will keep calling. The Lakers, meanwhile, offered glamour, money and a hundred ways this could end poorly. Six weeks ago, when the Denver Nuggets casually dismissed the Lakers in the first round of the NBA playoffs, who thought the Lakers were on the verge of another championship? LeBron will be 40 in December. Anthony Davis is 31 and averaged 52 games over the past four seasons. The Lakers have the 17th pick in this year’s draft, which is considered fairly weak, and their 2025 first-rounder is on its way to the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Lakers might view Hurley as a great coach for LeBron and Bronny, but how would that have worked out for Hurley? One reason LeBron is an all-time great player is that he sees and understands the game as well as elite coaches. He also has a better understanding of how to use his power than any player in NBA history. Add that up, and this is what it means if you coach him: You will win a lot of games, and you will be on notice perpetually.
Of LeBron’s last five coaches, three were fired by the end of their second year with him. A fourth, Frank Vogel, won a championship in Year 1 and still got fired after Year 3. During that same time period, NBA reality derailed the Golden State Warriors’ “two timeline” strategy: Most young players are not ready to contribute to winning, but they need playing time to develop.
How was Hurley going to satisfy LeBron’s desire for another championship and help Bronny become an NBA starter? And if he didn’t, who would pay for it?
Look, this could work out for whoever gets the Lakers job. Davis and James are still stars, and maybe the Lakers will nail a trade and create another window for a championship. But it’s unlikely, and that window would be small, anyway.
The next Lakers coach will be part of a complex and delicate power structure. James and Davis are both Klutch Sports Group clients. Lakers vice president and general manager Rob Pelinka is a veteran of NBA politics and maneuvering. Klutch CEO Rich Paul will look out for his guys, as he always does (and as he always should). Pelinka will try to balance the talents and egos of everybody in a way that produces success. They might all go into this with the best of intentions, but it is still tricky territory.
At UConn, Hurley is the singular dominant force in his program. He decides who to recruit and what plays to run. Nobody on that UConn team next season can create a weeklong story about Hurley’s job security with a single emoji, the way James did to Darvin Ham last season.
That does not make UConn a perfect situation. College sports are in a chaotic state. But Hurley has navigated the chaos as well as anybody. It is also worth noting that 16 months ago, Hurley was in his fifth season at UConn and had never led the Huskies past the round of 64. He might have harbored NBA aspirations at the time, but they were not realistic yet. This is all new to him.
Hurley just bought himself time to read the landscape and decide if he really wants to coach pros. If he does, he can figure out which jobs and circumstances would give him the best chance at success. For most coaches, an NBA job is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Dan Hurley is not most coaches.
The UConn Huskies will have coach Dan Hurley back with the program for the foreseeable future. On Monday, Hurley turned down interest from the Los Angeles Lakers, who had hoped to lure him to the NBA to replace Darvin Ham.
Hurley officially declared his intent to remain in Storrs on Monday, prompting boisterous reactions from the college basketball world, including UConn forward Alex Karaban.
Karaban, who announced in late May that he'd be returning to Connecticut for the 2024-25 season, couldn't hide his excitement over his coach's decision. He posted a GIF on X, formerly Twitter, of the pair celebrating after one of their back-to-back national championship wins.
Karaban figures to be one of the team leaders for the Huskies in 2024-25, given how many key players from last year's roster has graduated or declared for the NBA. He averaged 13.3 points and 5.1 rebounds during the 2023-24 season while starting all 39 games. He should shoulder an even larger role next season.
Entering his junior campaign, Karaban has won national titles in each of his first two collegiate seasons. On Monday, he made clear how elated he was about his coach's decision to turn down the Lakers in pursuit of the three-peat.
