Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Monday, June 23.

MLB

The winning team hit a home run in each of yesterday’s nine baseball games. Let’s run through ‘em, shall we? Tough day for Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Manny Machado, and a couple of others who hit dingers for the losing team…

• Jackson Holliday, three-run blast in the fifth inning; Orioles 6, Rangers 0

• Ronald Acuña Jr., solo shot in the third; Braves 3, Mets 2

• Elly De La Cruz– who ended the game just a double away from the cycle– hit one out in the 8th; Reds 6, Yankees 1

• Ketel Marte hit one and Pavin Smith knocked out two; Diamondbacks 10, White Sox 0

• Tommy Pham two-run HR in the fourth; Pirates 5, Brewers 4

• Julio Rodriguez got it started, Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone joined in, and the league-leader in homers Cal Raleigh blasted another one in the ninth! That’s six in six games for Big Dumper; Mariners 11, Twins 2

• On the very first pitch he saw, leadoff hitter Zach Neto sent one over the wall in Anaheim; Angels 9, Red Sox 5

• Josh Bell hit a solo homer but this was all about James Woods– his three-run shot was his 31st Major League home run. That ties a franchise record for most HR in the first 162 games of a career, putting Wood in the company of Bryce Harper and Juan Soto. Two pretty decent sluggers! Nationals 10, Padres, 6

• And finally, four different St. Louis Cardinal left-handed hitters hit two-run homers against the Chicago Cubs. Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson, and Nolan Gorman each went yard in the first game of the rivalry series. I thought it was pretty awesome; Cardinals 8, Cubs 2.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

We start with the first move of what will likely be a very active offseason in Boston. The Celtics have traded guard Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons and two second-round picks. While not the most positive on-court swap, the deal saves Boston money, while also maximizing a veteran’s value before age begins to have a notable impact. It was a necessary if unpleasant decision by the Celtics front office. Meanwhile, I’m not exactly sure what Portland is doing– they’re still a bit behind the other playoff teams, so the timing of trading for a defensive leader is a bit unusual. Really, I feel for Holiday. This is two teams in a row where he’s been an integral part of winning a championship, only to be dealt away two years later. Now, Holiday has been given the difficult task of teaching this young Trail Blazers team how to become winners. We’ll see how things go in Portland.

The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired mercurial forward Trevor Zegras from the Anaheim Ducks. One of the most talented young goal-scorers in the league, Zegras has some defense and consistency issues that lowered his value and ended his time in Anaheim. A good buy-low opportunity for Philly.

And just halfway through a three-year, $45 million contract, the Cincinnati Reds are releasing Jeimer Candelario. The corner infielder just hasn’t produced in Cincy, so the team decided it was time to move on. President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall called it, “a sunk cost.” Ouch…

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

MLB:

• Athletics @ Tigers (Skubal on the mound!), 6:40 PM

• Cubs @ Cardinals, 7:45 PM

“I know I’ll come out on the other side of this a better man and a better player. And honestly, right now, torn Achilles and all, I don’t regret it. I’d do it again, and again after that, to fight for this city and my brothers. For the chance to do something special,” –a section of a social media post yesterday by Tyrese Haliburton... Haliburton underwent surgery for a torn Achilles and will miss all of next season