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A look at what’s happening around the majors today:
BRONX TALES
Old-Timers’ Day is always a special occasion at Yankee Stadium Billy Price Jersey , and this year’s festivities are set to feature Hall of Famers Whitey Ford and Reggie Jackson, along with first-timers Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi and current Yankees manager Aaron Boone. The fun begins before New York takes on Tampa Bay. The Yankees are the only team in the majors that regularly holds these events, and this marks the 72nd annual Old-Timers’ Day in the Bronx – Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb were among those in attendance at the very first one on Sept. 28, 1947, two days before the Yankees hosted the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series opener.
ASCENDING ASTROS
Houston has won 10 in a row overall, and the World Series champions aim to finish off a 10-0 road trip when Lance McCullers Jr. starts against the Royals. Coincidentally, the Astros had an 11-game winning streak end in Kansas City last year.
OUCH!
The Indians expect to know more about Carlos Carrasco, a day after the right-hander was struck in his pitching arm by a line drive from Minnesota’s Joe Mauer. The team announced Carrasco was diagnosed with a forearm contusion; manager Terry Francona said the pitcher was struck on the elbow.
OH THOSE O’S
The Orioles try to avoid a team-record 12th straight home loss when they face Miami. Baltimore has the worst record in the majors at 19-50, including nine losses in a row overall. Dylan Bundy (4-7) starts for the O’s against rookie Trevor Richards, who earned his first big league win on Tuesday against San Francisco.
HARDLY HARPER
Bryce Harper’s batting average has dropped to .221 after he went 0 for 4 and struck out twice Saturday at Toronto. The former MVP still leads the National League with 19 home runs.
”What I think I’d like for him to do is maybe not swing so much,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. ”He’s been swinging a lot, and I really think now is the time to take less swings and just go play.”
REMEMBER ME?
Yovani Gallardo, who has pitched for three different major league teams since leaving his hometown Rangers after the 2015 season, is expected to start for Texas at home against Colorado. The 32-year-old righty has been at Triple-A since signing a minor league deal in April after being designated for assignment by Cincinnati.
LOOKING GOOD
Cardinals rookie Jack Flaherty (3-2 Cole Beasley Jersey Elite , 2.96 ERA) gets the Sunday night start at Busch Stadium. The 22-year-old righty opposes Jose Quintana (6-4, 4.10) and the Cubs.
There were still a few seconds left on the clock when the Golden State Warriors stormed off their bench to begin a celebration that wasn’t guaranteed.
They couldn’t wait any longer.
They had reached their destination: dynasty.
Stephen Curry scored 37 points, Kevin Durant added a triple-double and another NBA Finals MVP trophy and the Warriors won their second straight title and third in four years Friday night, 108-85 over the Cleveland Cavaliers to complete a sweep and perhaps drive LeBron James from his home again to chase championships.
Love `em or hate `em, there is no denying them.
”That’s how you know we’re a great team, is when everybody’s coming after us,” Durant said. ”Whether it’s opponents, whether it’s different coaches panning for us, whether it’s the fans, the media that hate us, it feels good when you’re the team that everybody’s gunning for. It makes us better.”
No team is better.
Golden State. Golden standard.
Overcoming obstacles all season long, the Warriors won their fourth straight finals matchup against James and Cleveland with ease.
”Looking at this playoff journey, we knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as last year,” Curry said. ”Then the challenges that faced us. In October we wanted to be back in this moment, and a lot went into it. It’s a great feeling to be back here.”
It was the first sweep in the NBA Finals since 2007 Minkah Fitzpatrick Youth Jersey , when James was dismissed by a powerful San Antonio team in his first one. His eighth straight appearance didn’t go well either, and now there’s uncertainty where the superstar will play next.
James, who said he ”pretty much played the last three games with a broken hand” after injuring himself in frustration following Game 1, finished with 23 points and spent the final minutes on the bench, contemplating what went wrong and maybe his next move.
Following the game, he sat quietly in his corner locker with a towel draped over his head. He arrived at his postgame news conference with a large black brace on his right hand and explained the injury was ”self-inflicted” following an overtime loss in Game 1, which included a reversed official’s call and teammate J.R. Smith dribbling out the clock to end regulation.
”I had emotions of you just don’t get an opportunity like this on the road versus Golden State to be able to get a Game 1, and I let the emotions get the best of me,” James said. ”Pretty much played the last three games with a broken hand, so that’s what it is.”
Act IV between the Warriors and Cavs featured a drama-filled Game 1. But from there on, Durant, Curry, Thompson, Draymond Green and the rest of this California crew showed why they’re the game’s gold standard.
And they may stay that way.
Not wanting to give the Cavs or their fans any hope despite the fact that no team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs, the Warriors built a nine-point halftime lead when Curry ignored a closeout by James and dropped a 3-pointer.
Then the league’s best team tightened the screws on Cleveland in the third quarter Davante Adams Jersey , outscoring the Cavs 25-13 and prompting Golden State fans to begin those drawn-out ”War-eee-orrss” chants that provide a perfect musical accompaniment to their 3-point barrages.
By the start of the fourth, the only question was whether Curry would win his first NBA Finals MVP or if it would go to Durant for the second year in a row.
And again, it was Durant, who added 12 rebounds and 10 assists – more satisfaction and validation for a player who couldn’t beat the Warriors so he joined them.
After surviving a rougher-than-usual regular season and beating top-seeded Houston in Game 7 on the road in the West finals, the Warriors pushed aside James and joined an elite group of teams to win multiple championships in a four-year span.
Only Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics, the ”Showtime” Lakers and the Los Angeles squad led by Kobe and Shaq, and Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls have been as dominant in such a short period of time.
The Dub Dynasty.
The path to this title was more precarious than the first two for coach Steve Kerr and the Warriors, who overcame injuries, expectations, a built-to-dethrone-them Rockets team and the brilliance of James, who may have played his final game in Cleveland.
The 33-year-old, who came back to the Cavs and ended the city’s 52-year championship drought in 2016, is expected to opt out of his $35.6 million contract and become a free agent.
”I have no idea at this point,” he said when asked if he played his final game for the Cavs. ”The one thing that I’ve always done is considered, obviously Tyron Smith Jersey Elite , my family. So sitting down and considering everything, my family is a huge part of whatever I’ll decide to do in my career, and it will continue to be that.”
James averaged 34 points, 8.5 rebounds and 10 assists in the series, but as has been the case in the past, he didn’t have enough help.
Another Summer of LeBron is officially underway and there are already teams stretching from Philadelphia to Los Angeles hoping to land the three-time champion, who may have to go elsewhere to put together a cast strong enough – and as James made clear this week, smart enough – to bring down the Warriors.
Right now, Golden State is on another tier and with Durant expected to re-sign with them in weeks and Curry, Thompson, Green and the rest still young and hungry, their reign could last much longer.
”We’ve got a lot o.
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