Jun 6, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Brandon Marsh (16) hits a home run during the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
So, I was going to open this up with a play on the song You Gotta Have Heart, from the classic musical Damn Yankees. But I did that for an article before. And I’m fresh out of heart puns. Something about those chalky candy hearts that nobody ever eats? Something about cardiology? Maybe a bit about how Brandon Marsh is playing so thrillingly that you might need a cardiologist to handle watching him? I’m going to sleep on it, and if you’re reading this, that means I didn’t think of anything clever overnight.
Anyway, Brandon Marsh is doing something interesting with the heart region this year. All pitches thrown end up in one of four Attack Regions:
Purple is Heart, Red is Shadow, Yellow is Chase, and Grey is Waste. I was gonna do a Captain Planet bit here (by your powers combined, I’m Captain Strike Zone!), but then I remembered that was created by Ted Turner, who owned the Braves, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to write about a Braves-affiliated cartoon on a Phillies site. Anyhow, every pitch thrown ends up in one of those four regions, and a batter’s performance on every pitch he receives either adds or subtracts from his team’s run expectancy, and so we can calculate the run value he contributes or detracts by region. That’s what we see here. This isn’t some random player’s chart, by the way. It’s Brandon Marsh’s, from this season.
And this is Marsh’s from last season.
Last season, Marsh’s performance on the pitches he got in the Heart region graded out as exactly neutral. The run expectancy he added with decisions to swing were canceled out by the run expectancy he lost with decisions to take. This season, though, he’s been a decided positive on pitches in the Heart region, adding 8 runs there. Only 10 players league-wide have added more, and their number includes familiar names like Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt, Jr., and Kyle Schwarber. That’s good company.
Here’s Marsh’s performance in the Heart region since 2022. Overall performance is the sum of the runs generated by swings and the runs generated by takes.
Season
Overall Runs Value, Heart Region
Swing Runs
Take Runs
2026
8
12
-4
2025
0
9
-9
2024
4
15
-11
2023
0
13
-13
2022
-5
5
-9
Since this is a cumulative statistic, and you can lose run value with bad decisions, there’s a possibility that his number for 2026 could drop before season’s end. Still, it’s notable that his 8 runs added in the Heart region would be by far the most of his career. If it holds (or goes up), it’ll be just the second time in his career he’s posted a positive run value in the heart region. So, how’s he doing it? Well, you want to swing at pitches in the Heart region. And he’s generating more runs with his swing decisions than he did last year, and losing fewer with his take decisions than he did last year. So he’s probably swinging at more of the pitches he receives there as compared to last year, right?
Last season, Marsh swung at 72% of pitches he received in the Heart region. And this season he’s swinging at… 72% of pitches he receives in the Heart region. He hasn’t changed his swing rate there at all. (As a side note: Marsh’s swing rates in 2025 were exactly identical to the MLB average in three of the four attack regions, and just 1% off of the average in the other. That’s not really relevant to this piece, but it was odd enough that I felt I had to mention it somewhere).
So if Marsh isn’t swinging at more pitches in the heart zone, how is he generating more run value there this year?
Well, one way to do it would be to just do more damage on his swings there. A double on a pitch in the Heart region is going to add more run value than a single. And that’s the case: in 2025 he posted a wOBA of .386 on pitches in the Heart region, and in 2026 that number is .516. Marsh is just better at the plate this year, and so of course that’s going to show up on his performance on pitches in the heart of the zone. But there’s gotta be something more specific we can say. Something a little more precise than, “I dunno, Marsh hit ball good” (which is true, but not exactly the sort of analysis that you come to TGP to read).
So, what is it? Well, we know that his overall swing rate on pitches in the Heart region hasn’t changed. But that doesn’t mean that his swing decisions there haven’t changed. Let’s take a look under the hood.
Season
Fastball Swing Rate, Heart Region
Breaking Swing Rate, Heart Region
Offspeed Swing Rate, Heart Region
2026
77.2%
56.4%
84.2%
2025
70.6%
69.8%
87.5%
Marsh’s overall swing rate in the Heart region hasn’t changed one bit, but his swing decisions sure have. He’s a lot more likely to swing at fastballs there, and a lot less likely to swing at breaking balls there (as well as a little less likely to swing at offspeed pitches). The fact that his overall swing rate in the Heart region hasn’t changed is hiding the fact that he’s started to hunt fastballs. Actually, he’s swinging at fastballs more in the Shadow and Chase regions too; it’s not an approach limited to the Heart region. He’s getting fewer fastballs overall, and he’s clearly making a decision to maximize what he can do with the ones he does get. His decreased willingness to swing at breaking balls is Heart-region specific, though: he’s swinging at a greater percentage of them in all other regions. At any rate, when it comes to the Heart he’s clearly swinging at more of the pitches he can do the most damage on and at fewer of the ones he can do less damage on.
“Wait for a fastball over the meaty part of the plate” isn’t exactly an iconoclastic idea. But there’s no rule that says your strategy needs to be novel. It just needs to work. And for Brandon Marsh, it’s working quite well. He’s taken that approach, old to many, new to him, to heart.
Ho hum. This was how this stretch was supposed to go. Three days in a row, the Cubs have looked a full step above their competition. In fairness, that can be hard to do on the road, even against bad teams. But for as many times as I’ve written the words “in fairness” through the years, there have been just too many this year. I try to give a lot of benefit of the doubt. Baseball is hard. Hard for teams, hard for players. The edges aren’t massive. Even a year when a team wins or loses more than 110 games, a rare occurrence in either direction, the differences between top and bottom are ultimately not that much.
Fans tend to be unfair. The see a lousy team on the schedule or a pitcher with a high ERA and they just assume victory by a lopsided score is more or less automatic. There are 162 games. Even those rare super dominant (or super awful) teams occur, they still win 50-60 games. Most of the bad teams still win 70 games. That’s a whole lot of David beating Goliath. That’s because in the MLB, it isn’t really David beating Goliath. We tell those stories because so many people love a good underdog success story. But the reason so many games are won by bad teams or lost by good teams, is because the margins just aren’t that big.
Trust me, if you elevated a Triple-A team to the big leagues, they wouldn’t be winning 70 games. Unless it’s a well stocked system, they probably wouldn’t win 60 either. Elevate a Double-A team, and they’d win even less. You keep going down and have a low minor league team playing against major league teams, you’d see the big league teams, even the bad ones, winning over 90 percent of the time. It isn’t the nature of baseball that just any two teams of any skill level will play to close to even. It is the nature of major league baseball that just about any two teams would play to near even.
All of that is fine. But this Cub team is built to win 90 plus games. This team should be able to grind out wins over time. And they should be able to look a cut above for three straight games. But they also should have been able to do a good bit more than that over the seven games prior to that. And they should have been able to go toe to toe and play near even for the three weeks before that. The best Cub team of any of our lifetime went through an extended lull. It happens. I get it. But more than a month is crazy stuff.
I just don’t know what to do or what to think with this team anymore. They had one of the best stretches of baseball I’ve ever seen and one of the teams they beat up on in that stretch is looking like a bonafide contender in the National League. That stretch largely wasn’t against the worst teams in the league. But then this recent bad stretch did include some of the worst teams. We saw some of that last year too. Surging even against strong competition and fading even against lesser competition.
Yesterday, one commenter wondered if the elimination of most of the big league scouting has a part in all of that. I’m not savvy enough to know that. The Cubs certainly aren’t going to tell us that. Even their beat writers rely too much on access to the team and its players to spill any secrets they might hear around the team. I don’t know what the deal is, but this has been a frustrating team to follow.
It’s going to take more than three wins to lure me back onto the bandwagon. But that doesn’t preclude me hat tipping the team for taking care of business now for three straight games and making it look fairly easy doing so. More of that please. Let’s go 10 straight again. Or something like 15 of 20. Let’s make this team even more confusing to understand.
Or let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Yet. Let’s enjoy this win and move on to Sunday. This team has done an exceptional amount of sweeping this season. Let’s get greedy again and pick up another sweep on Sunday. Wouldn’t that be fun?
Positives:
Pete Crow-Armstrong stayed blisteringly hot, picking up three more hits. Included were a homer on the first pitch of the game and a double. Have I mentioned that he’s going to pick up a cycle one of these days?
Pedro Ramirez had a pair of hits including his first career homer. That led to me expanding my positives past three, because this game deserves a hat tip.
Ben Brown was less dominant than he’s been as a starter. And still, he allows one run over five. He allowed seven hits, due to an unsightly .412 BABIP. That’s an unusually rough occurrence with a defense as good as the Cubs have.
Caleb Thielbar retired all five batters he faced. He’s had some recent struggles and so this was nice to see. Hat tip to Phil Maton, another guy working through a rough year, retiring four of the five batters he faced.
Matt Shaw got his most significant playing time since returning from the IL (let’s hope Seiya Suzuki is okay) and had a single and a walk. His bat helps balance the left/right splits on this team and his versatility is a plus.
Game 71, June 13: Cubs 6, Giants 1 (37-34)
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
Hero: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.176). 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI, 2 R
Sidekick: Ben Brown (.139). 5 IP, 23 BF, 7 H, 3 BB, 1 ER, 3 K (3-2)
THREE GOATS:
Billy Goat: Ian Happ (-.079). 1-5, HR, RBI, R, SB, DP
Goat: Nico Hoerner (.053). 0-5
Kid: Miguel Amaya (.045). 1-4, 2B, HBP
WPA Play of the Game: Luis Arraez had an RBI triple with one out in the third to cut the Cub lead to two. (.140)
Cubs Play of the Game: Pete Crow-Armstrong’s leadoff homer on the first pitch of the game. (.101)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Game 70 Winner: Javier Assad received 170 of 189 votes.
Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)
The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.
Michael Busch +26
Ben Brown +12.5
Pete Crow-Armstrong +12
Michael Conforto +10
Trent Thornton/Carson Kelly +7.5
Caleb Thielbar/Phil Maton/Jameson Taillon -8
Matt Shaw -10
Dansby Swanson -12
Seiya Suzuki -23.5
Win Pace: 84.4
Up Next: The final game of the series in San Francisco and the last game of the year between the two teams. The Cubs have won three of five. Ryan Rolison (5-1, 2.25) will work as the opener ahead of Colin Rea (5-4, 5.19). Rolison worked as an opener just over a year ago against the Mets as a member of the Rockies. He allowed one hit in an inning of work. Rea threw six innings of three run ball in a follower role earlier this year against the Phillies. Rea is just 1-3 with a 5.89 ERA over his last seven, so this is worth a shot to shake things up a little.
The Giants start their ace, 29-year-old Logan Webb (3-4, 3.88). Webb has struggled at home this year (0-3, 4.94). But he’s still very good. This is going to be a tough one. I’d think Michael Conforto would get a start in right field to give Seiya Suzuki a day off after leaving early last night. Webb is a little more susceptible to left handed hitters, so it would make sense anyway to load up that way.
This team has found so many ways to surprise us. Maybe they surprise us in this one and ride their recent momentum to a win?
The Los Angeles Dodgers put an end to the Chicago White Sox’s eight-game home win streak yesterday and will look for a series win as they chase down the league's best record.
My Dodgers vs. White Sox predictions and free MLB picks have L.A.’s top-ranked offense eventually cracking Chicago’s bullpen to pull away for the victory.
Who will win Dodgers vs White Sox today: Dodgers -1.5 (-125)
Bryan Hudson's 0.00 ERA is misleading because he's worked just 3 1/3 innings in three starts and is unlikely to face this Los Angeles Dodgers order more than once.
That leaves the Chicago White Sox's vulnerable middle relief exposed for 7-8 innings against baseball's best road offense, averaging 6.03 runs per game and leading MLB in average, OBP, slugging, and OPS.
The White Sox bullpen has struggled to suppress power, allowing the seventh-most homers, which is a dangerous profile against L.A.'s lineup depth.
The Dodgers have won 13 of their last 15 road games as favorites by multiple runs, and I'd play the spread to -2.5 if interested.
Dodgers vs White Sox Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (+101)
We’ve already discussed L.A.’s offensive prowess, and they’ll be starting righty Emmett Sheehan, who might be a help in pushing this score Over the total.
He was pulled after just 1 1/3 innings in his last start against the Angels after allowing three hits, two earned runs, and two walks in a 13-5 drubbing.
That’s the third time in the last seven Sheehan starts that’s ended with more than nine runs scored between opponents, and the sixth time overall. That should help a White Sox offense that already scores the eighth-most runs in the league at 4.83 per game.
Tally that up with the Dodgers cashing the Over in six of the last seven, and you’ve got another Over hitting Sunday.
Eric Rosales' 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 10-9, +1.40 units
Over/Under bets: 13-54, +7.96units
Dodgers vs White Sox odds
Moneyline: Dodgers -186 | White Sox +178
Run line: Dodgers -1.5 (-117) | White Sox +1.5 (+113)
Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+108) | Under 8.5 (-113)
Dodgers vs White Sox trend
The White Sox have lost by multiple runs in 12 of their last 13 losses, including eight straight. Find more MLB betting trends for Dodgers vs. White Sox.
How to watch Dodgers vs White Sox and game info
Location
Rate Field, Chicago, IL
Date
Sunday, June 14, 2026
First pitch
2:10 p.m. ET
TV
SNLA, CHSN
Dodgers starting pitcher
Emmet Sheehan (3-3, 4.70 ERA)
White Sox starting pitcher
Erick Fedde (1-5, 4.69 ERA)
Dodgers vs White Sox latest injuries
Dodgers vs White Sox weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
A Knicks fan holds a giant cutout of star guard Jalen Brunson in midtown Manhattan after their first championship since 1973.Photograph: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images
The New York Knicks had been here before. As Jalen Brunson and his band of not-so-merry men stood at the top of this year’s NBA finals, they confronted not just the San Antonio Spurs, their foe on the court, but the very idea of what the Knicks themselves – as a team, as a franchise, as a symbol of New York City – could be. The team’s run to last year’s Eastern Conference finals was thrilling but had the aspect of an underdog romp, and ultimately ended in defeat. Was this the limit of what New York’s fans, Rabelaisian in their rages and saintly in their endless capacity for patience, could expect from their team? Brunson was dogged and clever but perhaps not quite elite, a Stakhanovite toiler in a league built for transcendent talents. Karl-Anthony Towns was elite but perhaps too soft, too sensitive, too “zesty” to carry a team to the NBA’s pinnacle. The questions hanging over the leading pair extended to a team forged in their image. The lineup was good; was it great?
Coach Mike Brown, in his first year with the franchise, had promise but no small amount of baggage, having landed at the Knicks after being dismissed by the Sacramento Kings following a horror start to the 2024/25 season. And then, of course, there was the weight of history: no title since 1973 and a litany of near-misses and false dawns in the intervening decades. New York had watched through the 1980s and 1990s as first Los Angeles, then Chicago (under the guidance of its own son, Phil Jackson, who won the 1973 championship as a Knick) propelled the NBA to global prominence, a narrative in which the Knicks filled the role of a dutiful punching bag. Hakeem Olajuwon’s block on John Starks to kill their hopes in 1994, the tragic heroism of Patrick Ewing, death by Tim Duncan in ’99, and all the fizzled promise of Carmelo and Stoudemire and Linsanity: the memories had faded but the scars lingered. The franchise was destined, it seemed, to remain forever on the fringes, a mournful witness to others’ joy. Could they do it? Surely they couldn’t: the curse of the Knicks had driven the fans, the team, the city itself to despair. Neurosis, not success, was hardwired into New York’s psychology. The center of the universe and the joke of the NBA: the city was Larry Fink off the court, and Larry David on it.
Could they do it? They could. Swatting away a half century of hurt, building on the inevitable momentum gathered from their historic comeback in Game 4, and riding their city’s early summer wave of boisterous (though possibly astroturfed) invention, the Knicks are NBA champions for the first time in 53 years. My Christian Dior, Knicks in four? Not quite. But 4-1 supplies an exorcising symmetry, mirroring the scoreline by which the Knicks fell to the very same opponent on their last trip to the finals in 1999. And the rhyme scheme is better this way: they got there in five, and the NBA is alive.
These were the second most-watched finals in NBA history – a testament not only to the size and cultural heft of the New York media market but to the rippling character of the entertainment on the court. Saturday night’s clincher distilled the series as a whole. The Spurs stormed to an early lead (as is their wont) and failed to hold on to it (as is their wont). Dylan Harper – finally given some time to run the play in place of the maligned De’Aaron Fox, the Spurs’ Game 4 scapegoat – hit a series of silky midrangers, and Julian Champagnie got into his groove from beyond the arc. Victor Wembanyama did what Victor Wembanyama does, which is cry and cajole and be much taller than everyone else. San Antonio’s divine linguine unfurled a volley of blocks, and then came those trademark second and third and fourth tips, which give Wemby the air of a stalled windmill or an unnailed Jesus, arms held out in supplication as the ball rebounds off his outstretched hands and cannons back towards the basket. At times Saturday night, as throughout these finals, he was tipping almost totally to himself, playing a game of one in the rare air above the rim. The Spurs’ lead stretched to 15 midway through the third quarter. The French star’s bullish pre-game predictions about a title in seven (“Everybody knows we’re gonna do it”) seemed on course to come true.
And then: San Antonio met their unsmiling assassin. Brunson went the full Bunsen, embarking on a historic second-half scoring spree to comprehensively incinerate the Spurs’ hopes of extending the series to a sixth game. Brunson was unanimously named finals MVP virtually the moment the game ended, and it’s no wonder: he had the highest-scoring finals series from a point guard in NBA history, and became just the second player in 50 years to record a 45-point closeout game in the championship-deciding series. Michael Jordan did it at the age of 35 in Game 6 of the 1998 finals, his last appearance for the Bulls; Brunson has done it at 29, and only a fool would bet against him replicating Saturday night’s outrageous punctuating stomp of a performance in future finals series.
Part of what makes these Knicks so fun to watch is how steely and unemotional they are, both on and off the court. Where other teams mince and peacock, they downplay and deflect. They’re a quiet team for a loud city: while Wembanyama was busy declaring “we’re gonna do it”, Brunson remained steadfast that the Knicks’ mentality going into Game 5 would be “zero-zero”. But amid all the “application” and “grit” – the two words that are usually thrown around to describe this champion ensemble – there’s a real craftiness there too, combined with an insatiable appetite for the game. More than any other title-winning team in recent NBA history these players love being on the court, and seem quite happy to make playing basketball the focus of their ambitions. They don’t dream of horses in Serbia or their next brand partnerships as they play; they dream of basketball.
Brunson is the soul of the team’s commitment, to each other and to the game, but he’s also something singular, a ball of gristle and will who blooms into grace and artistry just as you’re convincing yourself his game is all about graft. There’s a real density to his physique, which has offered a pleasing visual contrast over the course of these finals to Wembanyama’s reedy elasticity. The right shoulder – dropped and tucked as he barrels into the paint – and the left knee – raised with the delicacy of a drinking pinkie as he steps back to shoot – are Brunson’s main physical weapons, and he deploys them to devastating effect. Time and time again these finals we saw Brunson beaver and fend and bustle into the mix then pull back, the angles aligned to his satisfaction, for one of those impossibly high and gymnastic shots, the ball easing through the net as if with a sigh. This is the Jalen Brunson Guarantee: where there is bullying, there is also beauty.
Brunson, remember, is just 6ft 2in, and on court he looks even shorter. Much of his best offensive work in the finals was performed under the pressure of a double team and facing the attention of Wembanyama, who has more than a foot on him in height. A man of Brunson’s comparatively slight stature is not supposed to excel in basketball – in an earlier era perhaps, but not in the modern NBA, where the bigs handle the ball like point guards and the direction of physical travel is up, up, up. Yet here we are. A series that began with tremors of anxiety about how to stop a 7ft 4in freak of nature – and what it would do to the sport for such an outlandish and improbable talent to dominate the league for years to come – ends with the primacy of the human, the dogged, and the squat emphatically reaffirmed. The time of the short kings is upon us.
This was not a title built on the talents of one man alone, of course, but on speed in transition, blistering ball movement and a kind of sacrificial defensive commitment in the paint that recalled, at times, the very best of the Knicks’ brutish 1990s pomp. OG Anunoby, a fortress in defense, will best be remembered in these finals for his last-second tip to win Game 4, now destined to become the defining image of the Knicks’ historic charge to the summit. Towns, the No 1 pick in the 2015 draft who came to the Knicks in 2024, finally silenced the critics (of his game, of his voice, of his personality, of his everything) and picked up the title his rich talent deserves. Josh Hart is a noted menace under the glass but his best work these playoffs came from pushes in transition. In many ways he is the most violently lateral player in the NBA, a man whose guiding ambition seems to be to traverse the court’s 94ft of hardwood parallel to the ground. Some players glide across the floor; others juggle or dance or storm. Hart torpedoes. Mitchell Robinson played an important support role, receiving Wembanyama’s (now plainly incorrect) Game 4 taunt that he was “in” Robinson’s “head” and supplying the comic relief with his delightfully awful free throws.
Like Brunson, many of these players are around 30, and many of them have taken similarly winding paths – filled with doubt and public mockery – to basketballing nirvana. Can they stick together and build a dynasty? The back office arrangements are in their favor, but the recent history of the NBA, with no repeat champion since 2018, suggests it will be tough. The Spurs, with two recent first and second picks on the roster, are bursting with talent and youth. All they need is to figure out how to protect a lead, score in the fourth quarter and not pass into each other’s backs.
After the gloom of the past few years – the negativity surrounding the league’s clammy accommodations with oil powers and private equity money; the “small town” finals featuring teams from Oklahoma City and Indiana; and the worries over tanking, the strategy by which franchises have tried to game the draft through regular-season failure – these finals brought a rinse of glamour back to the NBA. The series had the contrast of brilliant youth (San Antonio) against grizzled experience (New York); it had prodigious height (Wemby) and alien application (Brunson); it gave us TayTay, Hargitay and Chalamet in the front row, amped and activated into their LET’S GOs after every OG block and Landry Shamet three. In its hysteria, magnetism and sheer fizzing celebrity power, it reached back to the league’s halcyon days, summoning the tap and dazzle of Showtime and Jordan’s Bulls. More than just a basketball series, this felt like a cultural event – the type of thing that will define an era, or at the very least provide easy visual fodder for the documentarians in years to come. (“The 2020s: when fascism came to America, democratic socialism stormed New York, and the Knicks won their first title in half a century.”)
Most of all, this series had what the NBA has been quietly craving for five decades: a title for the biggest and baddest city in the land, a place with basketball in its blood and precious little silverware to show for it. This was a victory for holding on, for believing, for never giving up, for letting San Antonio implode. But it was also a victory for New York City – for all the fans who’ve spent decades living the particular psychodrama that is the Knicks, glued to the misery, resigned to the worst. A new sun is shining on pickup games across Elmhurst, Canarsie, Sheepshead Bay and Mott Haven. For years, the Knicks have watched as other teams and other cities write the NBA’s story. Now, New York ascends.
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Michael Soroka (34) delivers a pitch in the first inning of a MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati. | Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
D-backs squander another one of Soroka’s walk-free quality starts
“When you feel like the hitter might not know what’s coming, I feel a little bit more comfortable throwing balls completely over the plate,” Soroka said. “Last year, I think I ran into struggles, because I didn’t have those extra pitches. And second, third time around, these guys were seeing the same two [pitches], four-seam, curveball, over and over again.” https://www.mlb.com/dbacks/news/michael-soroka-quality-start-d-backs-lose-to-reds
Michael Soroka’s strong outing not enough as D-backs’ hitting woes continue in loss vs. Reds
You may have seen fact sites claiming that the Great Wall is the only man-made structure visible from space, but this is actually not the case. According to the Apollo astronauts, the Great Wall cannot be seen from space. However, city lights at night, roads, and the Pyramids of Giza are said to be visible.
The oldest piece of chewing gum is more than 9,000 years old.
The oldest chewing gum ever found was a lump of birch bark tar that dates back to the Stone Age.
Asking for salt in an Egytian household is bad.
If you are invited over for dinner at an Egyptian household, remember that it is traditionally rude to ask for salt. It’s also considered offensive for the host if you refill your own glass.
“I didn’t respond to them then, I’m damn sure not gonna respond to them now,” Brunson said.
Critics have often said Brunson isn’t a 1A player because he might not fit the typical definition. Large guards like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant, and big men like Shaquille O’Neal or Tim Duncan, are examples of what people have traditionally thought of as 1A players.
Jalen Brunson lifts the NBA Finals MVP trophy after the Knicks’ championship win on June 13, 2026. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostJUNE 13: Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks talks to the media after the game San Antonio Spurs during Game Five of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 13, 2026 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. NBAE via Getty Images
Brunson has received criticism in the past, most infamously from Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon, for being incapable of the 1A status due to his size. But Brunson has been changing the definition of a 1A player with his impact on the Knicks as a franchise.
Brunson was named Finals MVP after scoring 45 points in the championship-clinching Game 5 Saturday night.
He was the unanimous selection for the Bill Russell Trophy as Finals MVP amongst 11 voters. Only three other players have ever scored 45 or more points in a closeout Finals game.
Since being signed to a four-year, $104 million contract in free agency in 2022, Brunson has been the cornerstone of the Knicks’ turnaround. Before Brunson left Dallas for New York, the Knicks had won one playoff series in 21 seasons. In the four years since Brunson came to town, they have won at least one playoff series every season.
The immediate success Brunson has brought to the Big Apple has the signing considered one of the best in NBA history.
A man holds a poster of New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, as fans gather along 42nd Street in Times Square, on the day of Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, in New York City, U.S., June 13, 2026. REUTERS
“He understands what winning is about,” head coach Mike Brown said. “Now when you take his play into account, it’s off the charts, man. Brunson…he is him, man.
“When it comes to New York basketball, he is freaking him.”
3rd ODI: Australia, 9-277, bt Bangladesh, 5-274, by 1 wkt
Connolly (149) falls in late collapse; hosts win series 2-1
Cooper Connolly came of age with his maiden international ton as Australia squeaked out a nail-biting one-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the third and final ODI of their series.
Connolly defied cramps to play the innings of his life at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday, smashing 149 off 133 balls as Australia narrowly avoided a whitewash by edging past Bangladesh’s five for 274 with three deliveries to spare.
BOSTON, MA - JUNE 13: Jacob deGrom #48 of the Texas Rangers pitches during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Saturday, June 13, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Joe Sullivan/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Rangers will be making another roster move before today’s game due to Michael Helman suffering fractures in his right hand after being hit by a pitch.
Two clubs have emerged from the doldrums to reach the grand final in epic fashion thanks to remaining positive
It is not every day that two teams who finished second and third bottom of the Prem table only 12 months ago make it to a grand final. Regardless of this Saturday’s outcome Northampton and Exeter have shown every club in the league what is doable, with one big caveat. Squad depth and recruitment matter but not as much as the collective desire to stay positive no matter what.
Exeter needed every ounce of grit and resilience at Bath on Saturday as they held out for 41 phases to clinch a sensational 27-26 victory, having trailed 26-10 at half-time. Northampton, similarly, never lost the courage of their convictions against Leicester on Friday night, transcending the occasion to put seven tries past excellent opposition in another thrilling contest.
Jalen Brunson's run to becoming Finals MVP didn't start when he dropped 45 points in a deciding Game 5 in San Antonio on Saturday night. It didn't even start when he scored 30 in Game 1 of the Finals, leading the Knicks to a come-from-behind win that set the tone for the series.
Brunson's run to becoming a unanimous NBA Finals MVP started two summers ago, when he chose to leave $112.5 million on the table and signed a sweetheart extension to stay in New York (if he had waited one more summer, he could have asked for and gotten a five-year, $269 million max deal). Brunson's sacrifice allowed Leon Rose and the Knicks front office to build a deep, talented roster around him that ended the Knicks' 53-win title drought.
"He understands what winning is about," Knicks coach Mike Brown said. "He comes and he probably takes a pay cut that I wouldn't have taken. Every time they would've thrown that number in front of me, I would have said no, and I feel like I'm a good guy. He set the bar before he even stepped on the floor. Every time it came to renegotiate a deal with him.
"That set the standard. Now, when you take his play into account, it's off the charts, man."
Brunson's performance in the NBA Finals was off the charts, averaging 32.6 points and 4.6 assists a game. Those raw numbers don't begin to tell the story of what he did, the 6'2" Brunson (and that feels generous) outdueling the 7'5" Wembanyama, being far more clutch and the mature leader his team needed, while the young Spurs' star was trying to figure out how to be that person and the guy his team needed.
When Brunson signed that extension, did he even think this outcome was possible?
"Very possible. With a lot of hard work and effort, I knew it was achievable," Brunson said. "But that was only a small portion of it. I think everyone bonding, coming together, having the mindset of just believing in each other, never giving up, no matter what the situation was, made this all possible."
Brunson may have seen it as possible, but a lot of people — pundits, front office people around the league, some fans — did not. The conventional wisdom has been that an undersized point guard cannot lead a team to the title, that they will get exposed on the biggest stages. Did Brunson have any words for those doubters?
"I didn't respond to them then and I'm damn sure not going to respond to them now," Brunson said.
Brunson beating Wembanyama and the ultra-talented Spurs will take on a mythological status in New York — Brunson will go down as the greatest Knick ever. Sure, there is Willis Reed, but he was a 6'10" No. 10 pick from whom great things were expected. There was the legendary Patrick Ewing and, later, Carmelo Anthony, unquestionable Hall of Famers and icons, but guys who could not lift their Knicks teams to these heights.
Brunson did — and he made the sacrifices needed to get there.
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 13: Dylan Crews #3 of the Washington Nationals beats the throw to Mitch Garver #18 of the Seattle Mariners at home plate and scores during the seventh inning at Nationals Park on June 13, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images) | Getty Images
While Dylan Crews only went 1 for 4 with a single yesterday, it still felt like he was in the middle of everything for the Nats. His impact in the field and on the bases was very loud in the Nationals 8-3 win over the Mariners. Crews pretty much sealed the win with his mad dash from first to home on a single up the middle.
Seeing Crews fly around the bases like that and watching him pop up when he slid in safely was so much fun to watch. Plays like that are part of the reason fans want the Dylan Crews thing to work out so badly. He is just one of those players that is consistently making winning plays out there.
However, it is tough to be a winning player when you are hitting .192 with a .562 OPS. Crews was seen as one of the safest and most polished hitting prospects in a long time when he came out of LSU. That offensive profile has not translated to the big leagues so far, especially not the 70 grade hit tool that was talked about out of the draft.
At this point, I think we have a large enough sample size to say that a 70 hit tool is never coming. Crews has a .208 career average and .623 OPS in nearly 500 at bats now. He is never going to be the hitter he was supposed to be out of college. That does not mean he cannot improve and become a productive big leaguer.
Crews still has some intriguing offensive tools, and I think he can become an average hitter with a couple adjustments. While Crews has struggled at the plate, fans have often pointed to his underlying data to suggest improvement could be on the horizon. After a while, it gets annoying because he has underperformed his expected stats for years now.
However, when you look at the data, there is no way he should be this bad. His xwOBA is .333, which is over 80 points higher than his wOBA of .252. For his career, Crews has underperformed his xwOBA by 40 points, so there must be something in his profile some of the expected stats don’t see. Part of it is likely the fact he hits a lot of ground balls and does not pull balls in the air.
When Crews does get a hold of a ball, it can be pretty to watch. He is not some massive guy like James Wood, but he can generate a ton of force and power. Crews has always hit baseballs hard, but they are usually ground balls or low liners. The other night, he elevated and then celebrated in the dugout.
There are some encouraging signs that Crews could be lifting the ball with more regularity. His average launch angle is up from 8.5 degrees to 12.1 degrees. Crews’ ground ball rate has also gone from over 50% to 42.6%, which is a major improvement.
I think Crews is due for a hot streak at the plate, but there are still plenty of holes in his profile. He has been chasing pitches more than ever, and his 37.2% chase rate is higher than Keibert Ruiz. For Crews to have more offensive success, he needs to keep the ball in the air and find the right pitches to swing at. He also needs to find a way to get into count leverage because it feels like he gets down 0-2 in about half his at bats.
There are still a lot of big picture offensive things Crews needs to work on, but his heart and hustle will never be in doubt. I think Crews is one of the best base runners in the sport. He is not afraid to swipe bags and is always trying to take the extra base. Crews is a man possessed out on the bases and we saw that yesterday.
Say what you will about Dylan Crews at the plate but that man is an absolute lunatic on the bases
I think base running is the best part of Crews’ game right now. However, he is also a good defensive outfielder. When you look at the metrics, Crews is a good but not elite defensive outfielder. After all, there is a reason Jacob Young is the center fielder when the two are playing together. If Crews was a Young level defender, there would be less pressure on the bat.
While Crews is not elite on defense, he is very good. He showed that yesterday when he got a chance out in center field. The 24 year old made a really nice catch at the wall to rob Victor Robles of extra bases. Like when he is running the bases, Crews has a reckless abandon in the field that I love to watch.
The reason to take Dylan Crews at 2 always revolved around the fact that he could stay in CF.
At this point, we know Crews can do the little things. He is constantly looking to take the extra base or run into a wall to make a catch. The secondary tools are fantastic for the former LSU star. However, there is still one big question that looms over his future. That question is can Dylan Crews hit? So far the answer has been no, but Crews still has time to figure it out, though that time will not last forever.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - JUNE 02: Kyle Harrison #52 of the Milwaukee Brewers reacts during action against the San Francisco Giants during the fifth inning at American Family Field on June 02, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It has been an up-and-down week for the Milwaukee Brewers. It feels as though they’ve continued playing their best baseball, but it’s been a sequence of close losses. But through it all, the offense has been looking stellar, and that’s promising enough as the Crew heads into another tough slate of games ahead of them this week.
This afternoon’s rubber match is one for the ages as two of the best southpaws in baseball are handed the rock. For the Brewers, it’s Kyle Harrison who is in desperate need of a bounce-back game after last Monday. Against the Athletics, he gave up eight runs on eight hits, including three home runs. It was not only an outlier performance on the season but also his career, as eight runs were the most he had given up.
The reigning National League Pitcher of the Month, Cristopher Sánchez, will face the Brewers for the first time since 2024. In all of his outings against the Crew, he has allowed only one run, enough for him to have a 2.03 ERA through 13.1 innings. After not allowing a run throughout May, Sánchez has come back down to Earth a little, as he has allowed three runs in his first two starts in June. With that, he has pitched seven innings in both starts this month and has accumulated 18 strikeouts during that span with just two walks.
For the Brewers, this lineup has seen Sánchez a handful of times. The lone hitters that will be seeing him for the first time will be Jake Bauers, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Brice Turang, and Andrew Vaughn. Outside of our core hitters, Blake Perkins has hit the best against Sánchez, as he’s gone 4-for-4 with two RBIs. Christian Yelich has faced him seven times and is batting .286, while William Contreras has faced him six times and is batting .167.
First pitch is slated for 1:10 p.m., and you can catch the game on Brewers.TV and WTMJ 620.
Feb 24, 2025; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA; Houston Astros infielder prospect Pascanel Ferreras takes batting practice after a cancelled spring training game against the Miami Marlins at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below. Check out the previous day’s recap here.
AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (30-38) won 5-1 (BOX SCORE)
McPherson started for Sugar Land and pitched well striking out 5 over 5 innings allowing just 1 run. The offense got on the board in the 5th on a Brooks RBI double. In the 6th, the offense blew it open scoring 4 runs on a Ferreras 2 run double, Salazar sac fly and run scoring on a fielder’s choice. The bullpen was solid tossing 4 scoreless innings as they closed out the 5-1 win.
Sam Carlson, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (WIN)
J.P. France, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Tom Cosgrove, LHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Miguel Ullola, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (28-34) won 12-3 (BOX SCORE)
The Hooks got on the board in the first inning on a Brutcher RBI double. They scored 3 more runs in the 2nd inning on a Whitaker solo home run, Spence RBI triple and a run on an error. Gillis got the start and was solid allowing 2 unearned runs over 4.2 innings while striking out 5. The offense picked up 2 runs in the 6th on a Williams RBI double and Austin RBI single. The Hooks blew it open in the 7th scoring 5 runs on a Brutcher solo home run, Sullivan RBI single and Spence 3 run double. The Hooks picked up another run in the 9th on a wild pitch.
A+: Asheville Tourists (16-45) lost 6-2 (BOX SCORE)
DeVos got the start for Asheville and went 5.1 innings allowing 4 runs, with all 4 runs coming on a grand slam in the 2nd inning. Asheville got on the board in the 4th inning on a Nunez solo home run. They got another run in the 8th on a Call RBI single, but the Spartanburgers responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead. The offense was shutout in the 9th as Asheville fell 6-2.
Nolan DeVos, RHP: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
Jordan Carr, LHP: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (29-32) won 4-3 (BOX SCORE)
The Woodpeckers got on the board in the 2nd inning on a Diaz steal of home. Perez got the start and tossed 4 scoreless innings with 2 strikeouts, throwing just 38 pitches. They got another run in the 5th on a Vasquez RBI double. Weber relieved Perez and went 3 innings allowing 3 runs, 2 earned. The Woodpeckers took the lead in the 8th on a Huezo solo home run and a run on a groundout.
Note: Huezo is hitting .381 with 4 home runs over his last 11 games.
Cristopher Sanchez has slid to second in the NL Cy Young race after a marvelous Jacob Misiorowski start earlier this series.
My Phillies vs. Brewers predictions and MLB picks are backing Sanchez to respond with an exceptional outing of his own, leading Philadelphia to a series win this afternoon.
Who will win Phillies vs Brewers today: Phillies moneyline (-120)
Cristopher Sanchez has given up just three runs and one homer over seven starts since the beginning of May.
The Milwaukee Brewers have hit grounders against lefties at the league’s highest rate while sitting 25th in ISO during that span. It’ll be difficult to muster up offense.
As well as Kyle Harrison has pitched, the Philadelphia Phillies will be tough to slow down. They’ve hit lefties well, slotting fourth in ISO and third in wOBA since May 1.
Harrison has allowed four homers over his last two starts, and he doesn’t have the margin for error going against Sanchez. Back the Phillies to -135.
Phillies vs Brewers Over/Under pick: Under 6.5 (+100)
Excluding Top-10 offenses in OBP vs. left-handed pitching, Sanchez has allowed three runs over seven starts while pitching an average of 7 2/3 innings. His ERA sits at 0.53 in such matchups.
The story is nearly identical for Kyle Harrison. Take out Top-10 opponents in OPS vs. lefties, and he's conceded just five runs over eight starts, sporting an ERA of 1.05.
I think it’ll be difficult for either team to score four runs, making the Under look appealing at a plus-money price. I’d play Under 6.5 down to -110.
Todd Cordell's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 28-24, -3.50 units
Over/Under bets: 26-24-2, -1.06 units
Phillies vs Brewers odds
Moneyline: Phillies -120 | Brewers +100
Run line: Phillies -1.5 (+150) | Brewers +1.5 (-175)
Over/Under: Over 6.5 (-120) | Under 6.5 (+100)
Phillies vs Brewers trend
The Phillies have stayed Under the total in 15 of their last 22 road games for +8.5 units and a 35% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Phillies vs. Brewers.
How to watch Phillies vs Brewers and game info
Location
American Family Field, Milwaukee, WI
Date
Sunday, June 14, 2026
First pitch
2:10 p.m. ET
TV
NBCS-Philadelphia, Brewers.TV
Phillies starting pitcher
Cristopher Sanchez (8-2, 1.54 ERA)
Brewers starting pitcher
Kyle Harrison (7-1, 2.72 ERA)
Phillies vs Brewers latest injuries
Phillies vs Brewers weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
Mike Brown didn’t seem to be the New York Knicks’ first choice to take over as coach last spring, when the team fired Tom Thibodeau and was linked to at least a half-dozen other candidates who held various jobs around the NBA.
In the end, he clearly was the right choice.
Brown is now a five-time NBA champion coach — four of those rings won as an assistant, the fifth coming as head coach of the Knicks. He joins only Red Holzman on the list of those who won titles as coach of the Knicks, and fittingly, he did it on June 13.
There’s a banner in Madison Square Garden that says “Holzman 613” to commemorate his win total with the franchise. Brown won this title on 6/13.
“I’m pretty good at trying to control what I can control,” Brown said. “I had zero control over who else was interviewing, who was denied permission. I had zero control over that. I just did the best I could in the interview process. I went about my business and waited until it was either going to progress or end. … I was pretty nonchalant about it as time went on. I just let it unfold the way it unfolded.”
Brown speaks fondly of his days with Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, a place his family still calls home — and the place where the Knicks captured this title after topping the Spurs in five games. He raves about his years coaching with Steve Kerr in Golden State as well.
Brown was an assistant on the 2003 Spurs title team, then was with the Warriors for three more title runs. He was the NBA’s coach of the year while with Cleveland in 2009; the Cavaliers wound up firing him. He was the NBA’s coach of the year again while with Sacramento in 2023; the Kings wound up firing him, too.
But in New York, he’s a legend for life now.
“Mike was invaluable to this run,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said. “He understands what it is to be a champion. He understands how to build a team, how to build habits that will put you in this position. We’re so grateful, so thankful to have him at the top. He kept us even so many times. He’s brought the best out of us, as people first. I’m so happy for him. He’s the reason why we’re here. He’s the reason why we’re here, and we’ve got love for him.”
Brown kept the mood light throughout the postseason push, didn’t blink when the Knicks were down 2-1 in Round 1 to Atlanta after a pair of one-point losses, and always seemed to be the calm in the eye of the storm. Social media was blowing up with how Brown wasn’t the right coach for the job when the Knicks trailed the Hawks.
New York went 15-1 from there. And a 53-year wait between titles is now over.
“I am so tired. I mean, I’m gassed,” Brown said. “You know, this stuff is harder than what you think.”
COVERS INTEL:
