Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Tuesday, July 2.

MLB

We’re getting to that time of year where baseball dominates the airwaves. Lucky for us, the 2024 season has a lot of interesting storylines. Here’s what stood out from last night’s action:

• In his first game at Yankee Stadium, Cincinnati Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz legged out a triple and smashed a two-run home run. The electric De La Cruz led the Reds to a 5-4 victory. Also in this game– Aaron Judge hit his league-leading 32nd home run of the season.

• It was Nathaniel Lowe bobblehead night for the Texas Rangers, and boy did Lowe celebrate the honor. The Rangers first baseman blasted two home runs, Nathan Eovaldi pitched seven scoreless innings, and Texas beat the Padres 7-0.

• Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran hit a home run in his third consecutive game, leading the Red Sox to an 8-3 win over the Miami Marlins. Duran is the only player in baseball with 10 home runs, 10 triples, and 10 doubles. Could this be a sneak peak of tomorrow’s all-star preview?

• OMG singer Candelita– also known as shortstop Jose Iglesias– started a 10th inning rally, and the New York Mets beat the Nationals 5-2. The Mets are now the fourth team in history to score five or more runs in extra innings in back-to-back games. A very specific statistic, but also a very impressive one.

• Down 5-4 with two outs in the ninth inning, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman hit back to back doubles to tie the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The next batter up was Teoscar Hernandez, who promptly hit a walk-off single. The Dodgers just keep winning, this time 6-5.

SOCCER

A fairly uneventful night in the Copa America, as Brazil and Columbia played to a 1-1 draw– although this free kick by Rapinha was super impressive. Both teams advance to the knockout rounds, which begin Thursday.

In the Euros, the Netherlands took care of business against Romania, running away to a 3-0 win. Dutch striker Cody Gakpo scored another goal and is now tied for the tournament lead at three. Gakpo has been great, but the real leading scorer in Europe this tournament is the infamous own goal, with nine.

The other Euro game gave us our play of the day today (below). But even before the POD, this game started with a bang: Turkey scored the second-fastest goal in Euros history. Despite pouring rain, this was one of the most entertaining games of the tournament. Turkey ultimately prevailed over Austria 2-1.

TENNIS

Major upsets on day two at Wimbledon! Defending champion Marketa Vondrousova lost in the first round to unseeded Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, and Francisco Comesana won his first ever ATP match against number six seed Andrey Rublev.

And in the last Wimbledon of his illustrious career, Andy Murray withdrew before his first round singles match, due to a recent back injury. One of the greatest players of his generation, the two-time Wimbledon champ remains in the doubles draw with his brother, Jamie.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Kemba Walker announced his retirement from the NBA. A four time all-star, the UConn legend played 12 seasons in the pros. Walker also had one of the greatest crossover step-backs moves that I’ve ever seen– congrats to Kemba on a fantastic 12-year career.

In other NBA news, Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Kyle “Slo-Mo” Anderson agreed to a deal with the Golden State Warriors. Not a day goes by without a few key moves in the NBA.

The WNBA all-star team was announced, revealing the 12 stars who will face-off against Team USA before the Olympics. Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will be teammates for the very first time. The big story, however, is the sheer number of fan votes. Last season, the leading vote-getter was A’ja Wilson at 95,680. This year, Clark led the way with over 700,000. Remarkable growth for the league, and definitely worth celebrating.

Rintaro Sasaki made history when he left Japan as an 18 year-old to pursue college baseball in America. Instead of entering the Nippon Baseball League draft, Japan’s all-time high school home run leader enrolled at Stanford this spring. I’m telling you all of this because Sasaki hit a huge grand slam yesterday in an MLB Developmental league. In a couple years, you’ll be happy you know this kid’s name.

Finally, I want to give a quick shout-out to one of my sportswriting idols, Jayson Stark. Stark was inducted into the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame. A well-deserved honor for one of the most enjoyable baseball writers I’ve ever had the chance to read. Check out his work if you have the chance.

PLAY OF THE DAY

Save. Of. The. Year.

This one deserves a second look–

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

TENNIS: Wimbledon, beginning 6 AM on ESPN and ESPN+

• The match of the day is world number one Jannik Sinner against his fellow Italian and former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini. Other standout matches today include three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka vs my favorite player Gael Monfils, and Naomi Osaka vs 19-seeded American Emma Navarro.

MLB: Giants @ Braves, 7:20 PM; Phillies @ Cubs, 8:05 PM

• Two National League duels with four stellar starting pitchers. Jordan Hicks takes on Chris Sale in Atlanta, while Zack Wheeler battles Shota Imanaga in Chicago. Get your popcorn ready.

Today’s title probably should have been saved for tomorrow’s holiday… oh well. Have a happy Wednesday!