Volume 26:39

MLB Update

The MLB season rolls on. The Milwaukee Brewers are the first team to reach 80 wins. They sit at 80-49. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves are not far behind, as they fight for playoff seeding. Staying in the NL, the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies have both surpassed the 70-win mark. The San Diego Padres hold a one game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final playoff spot. The St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins remain in striking distance of the Padres. The Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals, and Cincinnati Reds are clinging to their low chances. The New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, and Colorado Rockies are at the bottom of the NL.

Over in the AL, the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees have each reached 70 wins, and are in a tight battle for the division title. The Boston Red Sox are also in the fight, as they remain close to the Rays and Yankees. The Chicago White Sox are holding on to a 4.5 game lead in the AL Central over the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians, who are one game behind the Texas Rangers for the last playoff spot. However, the Rangers are only one game behind the Houston Astros for the AL West lead. The Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and Seattle Mariners all remain in the wild card race. The Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, and the Athletics are all looking forward to next year.

Yordan Alvarez continues his triple crown push, leading the AL in average, homeruns, and RBIs. However, NL players lead all of those stats across across all of MLB. Luis Arraez is first in batting average. Kyle Schwarber leads in the home run category. NL Central division rivals Jordan Walker and Sal Stewart are tied with 96 RBIs for the MLB lead. Christopher Sanchez and Sonny Gray are tied for the MLB lead with 16 wins. Jacob Misirowski continues his Cy Young campaign with a staggering 1.68 ERA, and an MLB best 216 strikeouts.

Soccer is Back

That’s right— European soccer is back. The Premier League season started yesterday, with defending champions Arsenal winning 3-0 versus Coventry City, who were promoted from the EFL Championship for this season. Today Everton, Leeds United, and Ipswich Town started the season right by beating Crystal Palace, Sunderland, and Nottingham Forest. Newly-promoted Hull City pulled off a shocking upset with a 2-0 victory against Manchester United. Brentford crushed Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 in a somewhat surprising result. Tomorrow, Brighton versus Aston Villa, Manchester City versus AFC Bournemouth, and Newcastle United versus Liverpool will take place. On Monday, Chelsea and Fulham will round out the opening Premier League weekend. 

La Liga in Spain started a week ago, as Alaves and Sevilla beat Getafe and Rayo Vallecano on the opening day. Last Sunday, Espanyol beat Levante, and Racing Santander drew with Villarreal. Throughout the week, Deportivo drew Elche, Atletico de Madrid beat Malaga 2-0, Rayo Vallecano and Alaves drew 1-1. Real Betis took down Real Sociedad 1-0 on Friday. Sevilla beat Athletic Club Bilbao 3-1 earlier today. Valencia and Celta Vigo are active currently. Real Madrid’s season will get underway this afternoon versus Espanyol. Atletico faces Villarreal tomorrow. Barcelona also gets into action versus Elche. Racing Santander goes up against Getafe.

Ligue 1, France’s top division, started yesterday with Marseille demolishing Strasbourg 4-0. Lens’s offense got up to speed with a 5-2 win earlier today versus Auxerre. Le Mans versus Brest, Nice versus Lorient, Toulouse versus Lyon, and Troyes versus Paris FC are all today. Title contenders PSG and Lille get started tomorrow against Rennes and Angers. Le Havre AC faces AS Monaco also tomorrow.

Italy’s Serie A started earlier today. League favorites Inter Milan won 4-1 versus Monza. Udinese and Como drew earlier this afternoon. Napoli and Cagliari start their promising seasons this afternoon against Parma and Genoa. Juventus, AC Milan, Atalanta, and Venezia face Frosinone, Torino, Sassuolo, and Lecce tomorrow. Bologna versus Lazio and AS Roma versus Fiorentina are on Monday.

Bundesliga in Germany kicks off with Bayern Munchen and Stuttgart this upcoming Friday.