The New York Yankees might have a fairly substantial lead in the AL East over the Boston Red Sox, but for the first two games of this four-game series at Fenway Park it sure hasn’t looked that way. On Thursday night, the Red Sox scored 19 runs in a decisive 16-run victory. On Friday night, they once again clobbered their rivals by the score of 10-5. They were propelled through 2018 MVP Mookie Betts, who is finally heating up. Betts hit three home runs in the game to help his team run out to a 7-0 lead after just four innings. In fact, what makes his feat even more impressive was that he hit three in a row. This chased starting pitcher James Paxton after that frame. The Yankees never really posed much of a threat, but they did plate a pair of runs in the ninth to make it a bit interesting. The Red Sox are still 0.5 game back of the Tampa Bay Rays and a full nine off the pace of the Yankees.
The first day of training camp took place on Friday for the Dallas Cowboys, but one of their biggest stars didn’t show up in the form of Ezekiel Elliott. The running back, widely expected to holdout, did just what everyone presumed he would do. Despite the fact he has no-showed up until now, the organization is refusing to call it a holdout, trying to stay in his good graces. They are hoping to sign him, Dak Prescott, and Amari Cooper to long-term deals this summer. According to reports, Elliott is asking for the same kind of deal that Todd Gurley got.
Defending MLS Cup champions Atlanta United traveled to face this season’s top team in LAFC on Friday night, and the result was captivating. All in all, seven goals were scored in what can only be called a thriller, as the home side used a goal scoring spurt in the first half to hang on and win. Atlanta had scored first, but it was four goals in the span of 12 minutes from LAFC- including Carlos Vela’s 22nd of the year- that gave them a commanding lead. Atlanta made it interesting before half-time when Josef Martinez scored and then grabbed a third five minutes after the break. Ultimately, though, it was too little too late and LAFC held on to win and bounce back from last week’s loss to the Galaxy. They remain unbeaten at home this season and have won nine of their ten at the stadium.
The US FIBA World Cup team might just be in a bit of trouble. JJ Redick turned down the opportunity to be a replacement player on the team on Friday, becoming the latest player to outright reject the call. This means they will now be left to scramble for yet another player, something that is certainly less than ideal. James Harden and Damian Lillard are among just a few of the big-name guards that had already pulled out, so it will be intriguing to see if they can come up with a solution that nets them the result they are expected to see come the end of the tournament.
