Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Thursday, August 15.

MLB

A lot of stuff to get to on this fine Friday morning! We begin with highlights from Major League Baseball:

• The Philadelphia Phillies had quite an afternoon, smoking the Nationals 13-3. The star performer was rookie Weston Wilson, who hit for the cycle. Despite the loss, the broadcasting team from Washington had a fun night– turn your sound on for this Ted Lasso-inspired call.

• Three one-run games took place yesterday: the Athletics beat the Mets 7-6, the Tigers swept the Mariners with a 2-1 victory, and the Twins eked by the Rangers 3-2.

• Milwaukee scored three runs in the eighth inning to beat the Dodgers 6-4. Closer Devin Williams is back on the mound for the Brewers after an injury delayed the start of his season. He slammed the door on LA, striking out Shohei Ohtani to end the game.

GOLF

Chris Kirk leads the FedEx St. Jude Championship after one round. 42 of the 70 golfers are under par and within five shots of Kirk’s lead. In other words, this thing is far from over.

TENNIS

A lot of really great matches so far at the Cincinnati Open– if you haven’t tuned in yet, turn on Tennis Channel this weekend and enjoy the competition. The big news from yesterday, however, was Yulia Putintseva’s upset over number two seed and defending champion Coco Gauff. It’s been a rough summer for the young American, who has now lost five consecutive matches against players ranked in the top 50. We’ll see if she can recover her form at the US Open.

WNBA

Yesterday, The Remix ranked the New York Liberty in a category of their own atop the WNBA. Later that night, the Liberty beat the Los Angeles Sparks by 35 points, 103-68. The score was 29-10 after the first quarter! Breanna Stewart led the way for New York with 27 points.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

The US men’s soccer team has found a new coach: Mauricio Pochettino. A former player from Argentina, Pochettino was most recently the manager at Chelsea, where things didn’t go too well. However, in his coach career, Poch has a great track record of building programs and playing an entertaining style. On a personal level, he was in charge of my favorite team, Tottenham, during their best years this century. Expectations are high as the US brings in a new leader with a legitimate pedigree.

Notre Dame has suspended their entire men’s swimming program for one year, after they discovered members of the team had been wagering on their own competitions and failed to “treat one another with dignity and respect.” 

The NBA has released the schedule for the upcoming season. Television execs feel very good about the Lakers, Warriors, Celtics, and Knicks, who lead the league with 30+ games in the spotlight.

Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich is set to undergo season-ending back surgery. It’s a real shame for Yelich, as he was a key proponent of Milwaukee’s surprising 2024 offensive success.

David O. Russell will be directing a new movie about John Madden and the creation of the famous Madden video game. Playing the lead role of the legendary coach and video game namesake? Nicholas Cage. Bet you didn’t have that one on your bingo card.

POWER RANKINGS

Another day, another league back in action. This time it’s day one of a new season in the English Premier League. It’s the top football league in the world, but who’s the best of the best?

TIER FOUR: Avoiding Relegation

20. Southampton* | 19. Ipswich* | 18. Nottingham Forest | 17. Leicester* | 16. Brentford

Three teams in the Premier League get sent down (or relegated) at the end of the season. It’s a strangely compelling and thrilling race, watching to see who can do enough to survive and stay at the top. You’ll notice Leicester, the shock winners of the 2015-16 season, have fallen down the ranks. They are one of three newly promoted teams, along with Southampton and Ipswich.

TIER THREE: You’ll Forget About Them Until They Beat Your Favorite Team

15. Bournemouth | 14. Wolverhampton Wolves | 13. Everton | 12. Fulham | 11. Crystal Palace | 10. Brighton

This group is what makes the Premier League so special– it’s a deep league, where even teams outside the top half are competitive with the big dogs at the top. Fun fact: Bournemouth are nicknamed The Cherries.

TIER TWO: Trying to Finish Top Four

9. West Ham | 8. Aston Villa | 7. Manchester United | 6. Chelsea

Four extremely talented but very flawed squads. There will be weeks where they look unbeatable, and weeks where they are the most frustrating teams in the world. Finishing top four in the Premier League is a big deal, as it guarantees qualification in the Champions League– the tournament between all the best teams in Europe– for next year. A top-four finish depends on how often the frustrating versions of these squads show up.

TIER ONE: Championship Contenders

5. Newcastle | 4. Tottenham | 3. Arsenal | 2. Liverpool | 1. Manchester City

Should this category really be split, with two teams alone at the top? Yes, because Liverpool and Man City are the clear-cut title favorites. But that’s no fun– Newcastle, Tottenham, and Arsenal all have the ability to surprise us and finish top of the table, and they’re most definitely ahead of the tier two teams. For now, I’m putting them in the top group.

PLAY OF THE DAY

Once again, we’ve got two plays of the day! Both are entertaining and incredible feats of athleticism, but somehow these plays are total opposites. Here’s the first one, courtesy of Twins infielder Kyle Farmer:

And now play number two, from the current leader in Memphis Chris Kirk:

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

SOCCER: Fulham @ Manchester United, 3 PM on NBC

• Man U is favored in this one, but you never know what will happen on the first day of a new campaign. After a summer of thrilling international soccer, it’s time to kick off the club season!

THIS WEEKEND’S BIG GAMES

MLB: Guardians @ Brewers and Red Sox @ Orioles, all weekend

• Only two matchups this weekend between teams over .500. We’ve got a battle of the Central division leaders in Milwaukee and an AL East rivalry in Baltimore. It’s also MLB Player’s Weekend, so don’t be alarmed by some flashy batting gloves and personalized bats.

GOLF: FedEx St. Jude Championship, all weekend

• Rounds two, three, and four take place this weekend in Memphis. It’s already a packed leaderboard for week one of the PGA playoffs.

TENNIS: Cincinnati Open, all weekend on Tennis Channel

• The top players in the world go head-to-head this weekend in Cincinnati. Today is round three, followed by the quarterfinals tomorrow and semifinals on Sunday. My dark horse pick– fresh off an Olympic gold medal, watch out for number seven seed Qinwen Zheng to win the women’s tournament.

SOCCER: Man City @ Chelsea, 11:30 AM, Sunday on NBC

• The defending champs travel to London to take on a rebuilding but always dangerous Chelsea. There’s nothing quite like a Premier League weekend morning.

MLB: Yankees @ Tigers in Williamsport, PA, 7:10 PM, Sunday on ESPN

• Detroit and New York face off in the Little League Classic. In addition to celebrating youth baseball, Tarik Skubal is on the mound for the Tigers.

Have a great weekend! See you bright and early Monday morning.