Daily sports news cheat sheets for people who want to talk sports
17 games played, by sport.
MLB The marquee matchup to watch tonight is the Atlanta Braves hosting the St. Louis Cardinals at Truist Park — the Braves are running hot at 49-34 and the Cardinals will need their bullpen to be sharp if the starter can't go deep into a game against that lineup. Over on the West Coast, the Los Angeles Dodgers (56-30, the best record in baseball) visit a scrappy Athletics club at Sutter Health Park, and the heart of the Dodgers order is the kind of thing that can make any bullpen look overmatched in a hurry. Keep an eye on Milwaukee too, where the Brewers (52-31) are heavy favorites at home against the Cincinnati Reds — at -163, the books think the Reds are walking into the wrong ballpark on a getaway day.
WNBA Tonight's marquee matchup on the WNBA slate is the Atlanta Dream rolling into Washington to take on the Mystics — Atlanta is a 7.5-point favorite and has been dropping buckets all season at 12-7, so expect them to eat the Mystics up if they come out locked in. The Dallas Wings and Connecticut Sun tip off right after on Prime Video, with Dallas favored by 8.5 against a Sun squad that's been struggling to find their game at 4-15 on the year. Late-night, keep an eye on the Seattle Storm at the Phoenix Mercury — the Mercury are home favorites despite both teams sitting underwater, so this one could go either way and the over/under at 169.5 means somebody's going to have to go get buckets in a hurry.
World Cup The marquee match today is defending champions Spain hosting Austria at SoFi Stadium, where Spain enter as heavy favorites at -300 and will be expected to keep a clean sheet against a tidy Austrian side — any slip-up would be genuinely shambolic for the reigning titleholders. The United States kick things off overnight against Bosnia-Herzegovina at Levi's Stadium in what is essentially a home game for the Americans, who are massive favorites to advance and will need to find the net early to settle the crowd. The can't-miss fixture is Croatia taking on Portugal in Toronto, the tightest matchup of the bunch on paper, where Croatia's battle-hardened midfield will look to frustrate Portugal and nick a result through a moment of individual brilliance.