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Good morning to everyone but especially to...
THE FLORIDA GATORS AND THE LSU TIGERS
It's the best two words in the College World Series: Game 3.
After a thrilling Game 1 win by LSU on Saturday, Florida responded with a historic beatdown Sunday to force a winner-take-all Game 3 tonight.
- In Game 1, LSU slugger Tommy White helped force extra innings with a game-tying eighth-inning blast, once again living up to his "Tanks" nickname. White also hit a walk-off home run against Wake Forest last week to put LSU in the World Series Finals.
- Then in the 11th inning, Cade Beloso hit a go-ahead home run, and lefty Riley Cooper finished the deal, pitching a scoreless bottom of the inning.
- There were no late-game dramatics in Game 2. After LSU led 3-1 through two innings, Florida scored six runs in the third and never looked back, eventually finishing with a College World Series Finals-record 24 runs in a 24-4 romp. The Gators also set finals records for winning margin (20), hits (23) and home runs (six).
Now comes what should be a terrific final game: LSU's star headliners Dylan Crews and potentially Paul Skenes (who go 1-2 in Mike Axisa's MLB mock draft) against Wyatt Langford (the No. 3 pick in Mike's mock) and a loaded Gators lineup.
With the dog days of summer upcoming and the MLB in its mid-season grind, this is an awesome change of pace: a win-or-go-home baseball game, which we won't get again for many months. Enjoy it.
Honorable mentions
- Naz Reid got a three-year, $42-million extension from the Timberwolves.
- Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane both got extensions through 2027 from the Bills.
- Josh Eilert is West Virginia men's basketball's interim head coach.
- Alyssa Thomas is the WNBA's all-time leader in triple-doubles.
- Ross Chastain won the Ally 400, snapping a 42-race winless streak.
- Shout out to Jolien Boumkwo, a Belgian shot putter, for saving her team from disqualification by running the 100-meter hurdles.
Not so honorable mentions
- Antonio Brown sounded off on the Buccaneers... again.
- The Mercury fired head coach Vanessa Nygaard.
- The USMNT escaped with a 1-1 draw against Jamaica in the Gold Cup.
Keegan Bradley returns to northeast, wins Travelers Championship 🏌
Keegan Bradley nearly set a record. He'll certainly settle for a comfortable victory and his sixth career PGA Tour title, though. Bradley, a Vermont native, felt right at home in Connecticut, finishing 23-under to claim the Travelers Championship.
- Bradley shot 62-63-64-68 to total 257 strokes. He looked poised to threaten Justin Thomas' PGA Tour record of 253 at the 2017 Sony Open before bogeying 13, 14 and 16. Still, Bradley cruised to a three-stroke triumph over Brian Harman and Zac Blair.
- It's the first time Bradley has converted a 54-hole lead. He came into Sunday 0 for 4 when entering the final round atop the leaderboard.
- Bradley joins Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Max Homa and Wyndham Clark with multiple PGA Tour wins this season.
- Following the final round, Bradley told the broadcast the win was, "for all the kids that grew up in New England and have to sit through the winters and watch other people play golf."
Bradley's win is a perfect example of the fine margins of golf. One week after missing the cut at the U.S. Open, he dominated a loaded field that included eight of the world's top 10 players. He also once again showed us his greatest strength as a player, writes our Patrick McDonald.
- McDonald: "Bradley's career – like Sunday's back nine – has been an up-and-down battle. ... Despite his old tap-dance routine, his stutter steps when utilizing AimPoint on the greens and his sometimes hairy closing abilities, Bradley is a player who genuinely loves being in the arena. No matter the stakes, no matter the prize, he will always get up for it. It's why he has been able to climb out from the depths of his career, and it's why he can say he has won not once but twice during a season dominated by some of the greats in the game. Grade: A+"
MLB Power Rankings: We have a new No. 1 ⚾
They may still have the best record in MLB, but for the first time since the season was one week old, the Rays don't have the coveted No. 1 spot in Matt Snyder's MLB Power Rankings. Instead, everyone is now looking up at...
- Snyder: "1. Braves -- The Braves are tied with the Rays in the loss column, have a triple-digit run differential (plus-107) and have won 17 of their last 20 games. I'd absolutely pick the Braves over the Rays if they squared off in a seven-game series right now..."
Here's the full top five:
Elsewhere around MLB...
- Freddie Freeman became the sixth active player with 2,000 career hits.
- George Springer hit his 55th career leadoff home run and now trails only Rickey Henderson on the all-time leaderboard.
- The Angels hung a franchise-record 25 runs on the Rockies, who then traded Mike Moustakas to the Halos.
- If you need a good Monday morning cry, this heartwarming moment between Julio Rodriguez and a young fan should do the trick.
- The Cardinals and Cubs split their two-game series in London.
- The Orioles are calling up yet another impressive prospect. This time it's infielder Jordan Westburg.
WNBA All-Star Game: A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart named captains 🏀
The WNBA All-Star Game starters were revealed Sunday, with Aces reigning MVP A'ja Wilson and Liberty star Breanna Stewart being named captains.
Wilson is averaging over 19 points per game for the league's best team. Stewart, meanwhile, is one of two players averaging a double-double this season. The other one, though, wasn't named a starter and is the biggest snub, according to our Jack Maloney.
- Maloney: "The most notable absentee from the starters is Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas, who is putting up 14.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game, and is third and second in the league, respectively, in the latter two categories. Her stellar play has the Sun in second place at 11-3. But while she is deserving of a starter nod and finished fourth in the media voting and seventh in the player voting, she was just 10th in fan voting, which has a 50% weight."
As for who is a starter, here are the eight joining Wilson and Stewart.
- Chelsea Gray
- Jewell Loyd
- Arike Ogunbowale
- Jackie Young
- Aliyah Boston
- Brittney Griner
- Nneka Ogwumike
- Satou Sabally
Boston is the first rookie to be named an All-Star starter since Shoni Schimmel in 2014. For fellow frontcourt starter Griner, meanwhile, this punctuates an incredible return after spending roughly 10 months in detainment in Russia. It's Griner's ninth All-Star selection overall.
Reserves will be announced this coming weekend. Wilson and Stewart will select their teams on July 8 and the All-Star Game is July 15.
What we're watching Monday 📺
⚾ Florida vs. LSU, 7 p.m. on ESPN
