MLB
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández won the Home Run Derby last night beating local star Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals 14-13 in the final round. The 31-year-old Hernández hit 49 homers over three rounds that totaled 3.98 miles. He is the first Dodgers player to win the derby. Kansas City has never had a winner. Witt, needing one to tie with one out remaining, drove a ball to one of the deepest parts of the park in left-center, where it hit halfway up the wall.
Meanwhile, Baltimore’s Corbin Burnes will start for the American League in the All-Star Game against Pittsburgh rookie Paul Skenes tonight at 8 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The Red Sox’ Tanner Houck was named to the starting rotation, with Yankees righty Clay Holmes available in relief while the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Juan Soto will start in the outfield. A.L. reserves include Boston outfielder Jarren Duran, while Boston’s Rafael Devers is unavailable.
The Phillies’ Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, and Trea Turner were named to the starting National League lineup; the Mets’ Pete Alonso is available off the bench. Philadelphia lefty Christopher Sanchez is also available to pitch, with fellow Philadelphia southpaw Matt Strahm is available in relief. Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez and Zach Wheeler are unavailable.
Baltimore’s Corbin Burnes will start for the American League in the All-Star Game against Pittsburgh rookie Paul Skenes. A 29-year-old right-hander, Burnes is 9-4 with a 2.93 ERA in his first season with the Orioles, who acquired him from Milwaukee just before spring training. Skenes, who made his major league debut on May 11, is 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA in 11 starts, striking out 89 and walking 13 in 66 1/3 innings. The 21-year-old right-hander will become the fifth rookie starter after Dave Stenhouse, Mark Fidrych, Fernando Valenzuela and Hideo Nomo.
Paul Skenes was the center of attention in a ballpark filled with six dozen All-Stars. The 22-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher with 11 major league appearances will start for the National League on Tuesday night, when Baltimore's Corbin Burnes starts for the American League. Skenes will have the fewest big-league games of any player in the showcase’s 91-year history. His splinker, a hybrid that sinks like a splitter with the velocity of a sinker, has batters muttering. He is 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA since his May 11 debut, striking out 89 and walking 13 in 66 1/3 innings.
Kansas City Royals right-hander Seth Lugo is a first-time All-Star who has proven he should have been a starter all along. Lugo holds no ill will toward the New York Mets after they stubbornly kept him in the bullpen. Bobby Witt Jr. is Lugo's teammate and another first-timer who also gets to celebrate playing the Midsummer Classic in the stadium of his hometown Texas Rangers. Right-hander Cole Ragans of the Royals and left fielder Jurickson Profar of San Diego are two more first-time All-Stars. Both made their big league debuts with the Rangers. Profar's debut was 12 years ago.
Drew Beam was a key cog of Tennessee’s pitching staff on its road to a College World Series title. Now the right-hander hopes to make an impact for the up-and-coming Kansas City Royals. Beam was one of the first selections on Day 2 of Major League Baseball’s amateur draft on Monday after being taken with the second pick of the third round at No. 76 overall by the Royals. The second day consisted of rounds three through 10. Australian second baseman Travis Bazzana was taken by the Cleveland Guardians with the No. 1 overall pick on Sunday.
Baseball can’t run away from its lack of runs. Batting averages are near half-century lows. Velocity is at an all-time high. The major league batting average was .240 through April and .239 in May, the lowest since the bottom of .237 in 1968’s Year of the Pitcher. It’s risen slightly along with the temperature as spring turned to summer: .246 in June and .250 in July, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Still, the season average of .243 heading into the All-Star break was just ahead of 2022 and 1968 as the lowest since the dead-ball era ended in 1920.
Day two of the 2024 MLB draft was Monday, featuring rounds 3 through 10. The Athletics opened the action, taking Rutgers shortshop Joshua Kuroda-Grauer 75th. The Boston Red Sox took Florida righty Brandon Neely 86th, Oklahoma State outfielder Zach Ehrhard 115th, State College of Florida, Manatee–Sarasota lefty Brandon Clarke 148th, Kennesaw State righty Blake Aita 177th, University of South Alabama outfielder Will Turner 207th, Greater Atlanta Christian HS two-way righty Conrad Cason 237th, Arkansas catcher Hudson White 267th, and Vanderbilt lefty Devin Futrell 297th.
The New York Mets chose Mississippi State righty Nate Dohm 82nd, NC State outfielder Eli Serrano III 111th, Liberty North High School shortstop Trey Snyder 144th out of Missouri, Georgia first baseman Corey Collins 173rd, USC righty Will Watson 203rd, Oklahoma righties Ryan Lambert and Brendan Girton 233rd and 293rd, and Houston righty Jaxon Jelkin 263rd.
The Yankees chose Louisiana State righty Thatcher Hurd 89th and lefty Griffin Herring 181st. Elsewhere, New York chose Miami righty Gage Ziehl 119th, Vanderbilt righty Greysen Carter went 152nd to the Yankees, and so did Virginia Tech righty Wyatt Parliament 211th, Grand Canyon University outfielder Tyler Wilson 241st, Auburn lefty Tanner Bauman 271st, and William and Mary outfielder Joe Delossantos 301st.
The Philadelphia Phillies drew Oklahoma shortstop John Spikerman 100th, Virginia Tech shortstop Carson DeMartini 130th, Indiana outfielder Carter Mathison 162nd, Kansas catcher Kodey Shojinaga 192nd, Presbyterian College outfielder Joel Dragoo 222nd, Georgia Tech lefty Camron Hill 252nd, Iowa rightly Marcus Morgan 282nd, and Kansas State shortstop Brady Day 312th.
Meanwhile, Schenectady native lefty Greg Farone was picked 208th overall to the San Francisco Giants out of Alabama.
Day 3 wraps up the Draft, and is started with Oakland’s 316th overall pick kicking off the 11th round.
COPA AMERICA
Police say Colombia’s soccer federation president and his son were among 27 people arrested during the crowd control issues that broke out Sunday at the Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia. Ramón Jesurún and his son Ramon Jamil Jesurun were detained after the event at Hard Rock Stadium and charged, Miami-Dade police detective Andre Martin told The Associated Press. Martin did not disclose the charges. Arrest records showed Monday that Ramon Jamil Jesurun was booked on three counts of battery on an official. Colombia’s soccer federation didn’t immediately respond Monday to a request for comment from the AP.
OLYMPICS
Anthony Davis scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Tyrese Haliburton came up with a pair of late 3-pointers that helped stop a freefall by the Americans, and the U.S. beat Australia 98-92 on Monday to improve to 2-0 in its five-game slate of exhibitions leading into the Paris Olympics. Devin Booker scored 16 for the U.S., which saw a 24-point second-half lead cut to four in the final moments. Jock Landale scored 20 for Australia, which got 17 from Josh Giddey and 14 from Dyson Daniels.
NFL
The short summer vacation is over for NFL players. It’s time to begin the journey to Super Bowl 59. Coming off a disappointing finish in the AFC championship game, the Baltimore Ravens became the first team to open training camp when they welcomed rookies on Saturday. Nineteen more teams get underway this week and all 32 clubs will open doors by July 24. Everyone is 0-0 but expectations aren’t the same. Some teams are legitimate contenders. A few are rebuilding. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are aiming to become the first team to three-peat since the 1965-67 Green Bay Packers won three consecutive NFL championships.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey unofficially opened the league’s first football season as 16-team league in North Texas. It was a setting for SEC Media Days at a time when everything about college sports seems to be in flux. He said it was time to update expectations for what college athletics can be. The 59-year-old commissioner stressed that college sports must find solutions from within. He also said that while he is paying attention litigation in the Atlantic Coast Conference involving Florida State and Clemson, the SEC is focused on its 16 schools and he is not a recruiter.
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