The morning line

MLB The marquee game tonight is the New York Yankees visiting the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, a rivalry that never needs extra stakes but has them anyway — the Yankees are running hot at 48-34 while the Red Sox bullpen has been the kind that makes a manager reach for the phone way too early. Keep an eye on the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are wrapping up a series in San Diego right now with a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, and then head to Sacramento to face the Athletics — at 53-30, they're the class of the league and the heart of their order has been leaving the yard with alarming regularity. The Milwaukee Brewers hosting the Cincinnati Reds is a quietly interesting one too, with Milwaukee sitting pretty at 50-31 as heavy favorites, the kind of getaway day game where a struggling starter and a shaky WHIP can flip the script fast.

WNBA Tonight's marquee game is a dead-even clash as the New York Liberty roll into Chase Center to face the Golden State Valkyries, both sitting at 12-7 and jockeying for position in a tight WNBA standings race. The Valkyries get the slight edge at home — Golden State is a hair under a two-point favorite — but the Liberty have the kind of depth that can eat you up on the road. With the over/under sitting at 163.5, expect buckets in the paint and a late-game possession or two that decides who takes the L.

World Cup The headline fixture today is Japan taking on Brazil at NRG Stadium, with the Seleção favored but Japan perfectly capable of sitting deep, strangling space, and nicking one on the counter — a tense nil-nil deep into stoppage time is absolutely on the cards. Germany are massive favorites at Gillette Stadium against Paraguay and could be in for a comfortable afternoon, though Paraguay will make them earn every chance and a clean sheet is far from guaranteed. The real coin-flip of the slate is the late one: Morocco versus the Netherlands at Estadio BBVA, where Morocco's brilliant defensive shape could frustrate a Dutch side that sometimes goes to pieces when it can't find a through ball in behind.