The morning line

MLB Tonight's game to watch is the New York Mets making the trip to Citizens Bank Park to face the Philadelphia Phillies in a divisional matchup airing on ESPN — the Phillies are sitting comfortably at 54-43 while the Mets are trying to avoid getting buried at 40-57 in the NL East. Philadelphia comes in as a solid minus-136 favorite, and with the over/under parked at 9.5, the books are expecting both bullpens to see some real action before the final out. The Mets will need their starter to eat innings and keep the heart of the Phillies order in check, otherwise this one could get away from them early and leave the manager scrambling to go to the pen before anyone wanted him to.

MLS Tonight's marquee is the Cascadia derby at Lumen Field, where the Portland Timbers head up the road to take on the Seattle Sounders FC — Seattle has been solid all year at 7-3-3 and is a heavy favorite, but Cascadia derbies have a way of staying close until the final whistle. The can't-miss matchup for the neutral is the Vancouver Whitecaps visiting Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field: Vancouver is running a blistering 10-2-2 on the year and has been finding the net at will, and Chicago at 8-2-4 is good enough to push them for ninety minutes. There's also a Canadian rivalry game worth keeping an eye on as Toronto FC makes the trip to Stade Saputo to face CF Montréal, where both clubs are desperate for points and a draw would feel like a loss for the home side.

WNBA Tonight's marquee matchup is the Golden State Valkyries rolling into Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 17-7 — one of the hotter teams in the league right now — taking on an Indiana Fever squad that's no slouch at 14-9 and getting 2.5 at home, so expect that one to be tight wire-to-wire. The late Prime Video game is the one to watch for pure buckets: the Dallas Wings (16-8) host the New York Liberty (13-11) with an over/under sitting at 175.5, which tells you both offenses are expected to eat, and at only 1.5 points separating the lines it's basically a coin flip. Washington Mystics are heavy 5.5-point favorites over a struggling Portland Fire squad in the middle game, but if you've only got time for one, dial up that Wings-Liberty showdown — that's where the dagger moments will be.

World Cup The marquee fixture today is Argentina against England at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, a World Cup knockout match that needs no extra billing given the two sides' storied, sometimes shambolic history together. England come in as underdogs at +175, and with the over-under sitting at just 2.5 goals, expect both defenses to be disciplined early — a nil-nil draw forcing extra time would surprise absolutely no one. If Argentina can weather England's pressing and hit them with a clinical through ball in behind, this one could be done in 90 minutes; if England find the net first and sit on it, it has all the hallmarks of a nervy, grinding classic.