⚾️ MLB Fights + Playoff Pushes, US Soccer, and more!

Blitzers,

Happy hump day! We have a shmorgishborg of stories today, touching on MLB, US Soccer, NBA, and more. Let’s get right into it!

WTF Stat: In 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers and Chicago Cubs traded their entire minor-league teams! As the Dodgers were preparing to move West and the Cubs were wanting a change, both teams decided to spice things up and traded their entire 25-man minor league roster. Brooklyn gave up its Ft. Worth club (Texas League) in return for the Los Angeles Angels (Pacific Coast League).

⚾️ During the Phillies' 9-4 victory over the Rays on Tuesday night, a heated exchange occurred in the eighth inning after Tampa Bay pitcher Edwin Uceta hit Nick Castellanos with a pitch. The incident followed Uceta giving up a home run to Trea Turner and a double to Bryce Harper. "You're frustrated and you're going to throw at somebody," Castellanos said. "That's like my 2-year-old throwing a fit because I took away his dessert before he was finished."

• 🔥 Take: I would never hit Castellanos. Anyone that vehemently defends Scooby Doo being a super hero (he made some good points), or considered murdering a reporter for asking a stupid question (agreed with him again on this one), may have a few screws loose. That’s the type of crazy you want on your ball club, but not the guy you want to hit.

⚾️ Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer are set to rejoin the Texas Rangers' pitching rotation later this week after recovering from injuries. Manager Bruce Bochy announced that deGrom will pitch on Friday and Scherzer on Saturday. Both pitchers will have limited innings, around five and 60 pitches, with the possibility of going further if their outings are smooth.

• 🔥Take: A little too late for the Rangers, too bad they aren’t closer in the wildcard race where this would give a huge boost. Also, do they really want deGrom to pitch in meaningless games? He still has 3 years and $115 million on his contract, maybe save Mr. Glass for next season.

⚽️ In a friendly match on Tuesday night, the United States and New Zealand finished in a 1-1 draw due to a late defensive error from the US. Christian Pulisic had given the U.S. a 1-0 lead in the 69th minute with a well-executed shot. The match ended in frustration for the Americans, who are now on a four-game winless streak and preparing for Mauricio Pochettino’s coaching debut next month.

• 🔥Take: New Zealand has the same population as South Carolina, our 23rd largest state. What are we doing? I hope Pochettino comes in like Coach Boone, this team needs some inspiration.

🏀 NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the topic of league expansion in a recent news conference, stating that while expansion was not a primary focus of the recent board of governors meeting, it will be discussed later this season. Interest in expansion has centered on potential new teams in Seattle and Las Vegas.

• 🔥Take: Seattle definitely deserves a team but how about we get a little bit creative? How about expanding to Paris, Berlin, New Zealand (so we can beat them in soccer), Barcelona (said with a strong “TH” sound) or even Serbia?

MLB Playoff Picture

With around 17 games left in the season (depending on the team), here is a look at where things stand:

AL

Coming on Late: Detroit Tigers - Keider Montero threw a complete game shutout for them last night. They have the 3rd easiest schedule remaining… Would be a pretty epic comeback (Vegas has them at +800 to make the playoffs).

Sputtering to the Finish Line: Minnesota Twins - With a hit-or-miss pitching staff and a super streaky hitting team, the Twins could either catch fire and be a dangerous squad in the playoffs or have an epic collapse (Vegas has them at -800 to make the playoffs).

If I Were a Betting Man: I’m sticking with my initial bet… The Baltimore Orioles to win it all at +850. They’re only a +140 to win the AL East and potential #1 seed. Some tough games ahead, but they control their destiny.

NL

Coming on Late: New York Mets - the good news is the Mets are 9-2 over their last 11 games and are playing the struggling Blue Jays. The bad news is they have the hardest schedule in baseball remaining including 7 games with the Phillies. Their odds have moved up to -105.

Sputtering to the Finish Line: Atlanta Braves - a couple of weeks ago they were pretty much a sure thing, but now they’re on the cusp of losing their spot to the Mets or even the surging Cubs. Vegas still likes their odds (-220).

If I Were a Betting Man: Brewers at +1400 to win it all. The Brew-crew leads baseball in run differential (+135), and are 45-35 against winning teams. I know they aren’t a sexy pick, but seems like good value for a team that has found ways to win all year.

• Padres 7, Mariners 3: Yu Darvish bounces back after a rough first start back from injury, and Manny Machado makes Padre history.

• Orioles 5, Red Sox 3: Cedric Mullins stays hot hitting 2 HRs; he also was made this insane catch in Monday’s game.

• Cubs 6, Dodgers 3: Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a strong showing in his first outing back from injury, he only pitched 4 innings but racked up 8 Ks. 4 unearned runs led to the Dodgers demise.

See the full MLB scoreboard here and the current standings here.

On this day in 1985, Pete Rose got his 4,192nd hit, passing Ty Cobb’s record (note Cobb’s hit total was reduced to 4,189 after the fact, so he actually surpassed it a couple days earlier). Rose would finish his career with 4,256 hits. Cobb and Rose are the only two players with over 4,000 hits recorded.

Yesterday’s Trivia Time Answer

The record for highest completion % in a season is held by Drew Brees (he holds 6 of the top 10 spots), who is the next quarterback to appear on this list?

B. Sam Bradford - Brees owns the top spot with a 74.4% completion percentage in 2018. He also happens to hold the 2nd-3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th spots as well. Bradford comes in 4th with a 71.6% in 2016 when he played for the Vikings. Despite being deadly accurate, Minnesota would go 8-8 and miss the playoffs.

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's trivia question and more info!