Good Morning! Today is Monday, June 2nd. Here’s what happened over the weekend in the world of sports.

NBA

If somehow you haven’t yet heard about the game on Saturday, well, Indiana beat New York 125-108, eliminating the Knicks and earning the Pacers their first NBA Finals appearance since 2000. After scoring 31 points and leading his team to the clinching victory, Pascal Siakam was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP.

Indiana will once again be the underdog against their next opponent. If you’re wondering why, I invite you to read this article, titled ”The startling similarities between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the NBA's last dynasty”. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could be the first MVP to to end his season with a championship since Steph Curry. The Pacers will be determined to stop him. I will be tuned in for the opening tip on Thursday night.

MLB

This was a pretty hectic weekend of baseball… it’s almost as if baseball can sense the end of the other sports leagues, that summer is around the corner and the moment is now to pounce on our yearning for exciting sports entertainment. Anyway, here’s what stood out the most from the last few days of action:

• We have to start with the World Series rematch. New York visited LA for a three-game set and the meeting did not disappoint. Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani traded solo homers in the very fist inning of game one! After a brief Yankee lead, however, the Dodgers took control. LA outscored New York 26-7 and won the first two games. When the calendar turned to June, however, the Yankees are undefeated– they took game three 7-3. All in all, a pretty exciting sequel to last October.

• We had not one, but TWO complete games in one series over the weekend. Tampa Bay’s Zach Littell gave up three runs and struck out six over nine innings as the Rays beat the Astros 16-3 on Saturday. Friday night, however, Houston’s Framber Valdez threw one of the most efficient complete games in recent memory. He gave up just one run on 83 total pitches and Astros catcher Yainer Diaz hit a walk-off homer to beat Tampa 2-1.

• The new league leader in home runs is Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh! Big Dumper hit his 23rd dinger of the year yesterday in a 2-1 Seattle win over the Twins. We’ve got a lot of season ahead of us, but I think it’s worth noting the last catcher to win MVP was Buster Posey in 2012, and only two other catchers have won the award in the last 45 years.

• Let’s end today’s baseball recap with a vote! Which one of these incredible catches was your play of the weekend? Click to watch, then come back here and take the poll:

SOCCER

With a 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan in the final, Paris Saint-Germain won their first-ever Champions League trophy. It’s the largest margin of victory in the final dating back to 1956! 19-year-old Désiré Doué was the star with two goals as the French team dominated their opponents on the biggest stage. The historic victory means PSG became just the ninth European club to win the European competition, their domestic league, and their most important domestic cup in the same season. What an incredible season! And to think this team lost Kylian Mbappe right before the year started…

FRENCH OPEN

Sacré bleu! What a time to be a sports fan in the French capital, right? Before the quarterfinals begin tomorrow, let’s catch up on the action from Roland Garros:

• The women’s draw has been mostly chalk– for the first time at a Grand Slam since 2005, each of the top eight seeds reached round four. Last year’s runner-up (4) Jasmine Paolini was upset yesterday by (13) Elina Svitolina, but each of the other top contenders– Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, and Mirra Andreeva– remain in play.

• Just two unseeded ladies remain: American Hailey Baptiste has displayed some impressive versatility and earned a matchup this morning against fellow American (7) Madison Keys. And the feel-good story of the tournament is hometown favorite Lois Boisson. The only French player remaining, Boisson is into the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.

• Over on the men’s side, we’ve had all sorts of upsets. Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev, Fransisco Cerundolo, and Taylor Fritz were each seeded high and expected to make deep runs– they’ve been out of the draw since the beginning. That’s opened things up for rising stars Jack Draper and Lorenzo Musetti, as well as Americans Francis Tiafoe and Tommy Paul. Tiafoe is actually the first American man to make the quarters of the French without dropping a set since Andre Agassi in 1995.

• But the big four pre-tournament favorites remain– Jannik Sinner looks like the number one player in the world. Novak Djokovic has cruised through an easier draw and will be well rested for the business end of the draw. Alexander Zverev has recovered the form that took him to the finals of this tournament a year ago. And the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz just dispatched Ben Shelton in four sets, despite the big-serving Shelton’s best performances in recent memory.

It’s all lining up for a pretty dramatic finish in the French capital.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Not a great weekend to be a seeded in the College World Series! Vanderbilt became the first top overall seed in the CWS not to make the regional finals– they didn’t just lose before super regionals, they didn’t make the finals! Vandy was upset by Wright State, who were then eliminated by Louisville. A pretty rough weekend for the Commodores, but they weren’t the only team who were upset early. (2) Texas, (7) Georgia, (11) Clemson, and (12) Oregon were also knocked out earlier than expected, while four more of the 16 seeds are scheduled for a sudden-death game later today.

The Kansas City Royals are calling up top prospect Jac Caglianone, the number six overall pick from 2024. Caglianone has shredded minor league pitching this season– in just 12 games at AAA after a promotion last month, he’s batting .319 with six home runs. Even Patrick Mahomes knows this slugger is the real deal.

Congratulations to Scottie Scheffler, who won yet another golf tournament this weekend. Scheffler won the Memorial by four strokes, and provided us this wonderful stat:

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

FRENCH OPEN:

• (7) Madison Keys vs Hailey Baptiste, 8 AM on Max

• Alexander Bublik vs (5) Jack Draper, 9 AM on Max

• (1) Jannik Sinner vs (17) Andrey Rublev, 2 PM on Max

MLB:

• Brewers @ Reds, 7:10 PM on FS1

• Mets @ Dodgers, 10:10 PM on MLB Network

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES REGIONALS: Welcome to Elimination Monday- it’s win or go home…

• North Carolina @ (5) Oklahoma, 3 PM on ESPNU

• Wake Forest @ (14) Tennessee, 3 PM on ESPN2

• Little Rock @ (6) LSU, 6 PM

• USC @ (8) Oregon State, 6 PM

“In 49 states it’s just basketball… but this is Indiana,” –Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle