Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 7.14.25
Slowest sports week of the year, be back Friday unless there’s breaking news. Thrilled MLB has come to its senses and players will wear their team uniforms in the All-Star Game.
Not a huge shock since they’re usually the best athletes on the team, but 10 of the top 16 picks in the MLB draft were shortstops, including Wake Forest’s Marek Houston, who went to the Twins.
American Chris Gotterup held off Rory McIlroy down the stretch of the Scottish Open to earn a spot in this week’s British Open at Royal Purtrush in Northern Ireland.
The Aurura fell to Utah in the USL W semifinals. They’ve never lost a regular season game, yet have never won a championship.
Twins Finish 6-3 Homestand Heading to All-Star Break
Three times during this nine-game homestand heading into the All-Star Break, they had a chance to sweep an opponent. Each of the three times, they failed to get it done, including yesterday’s 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh. That game tempered the enthusiasm in Twins’ land after Byron Buxton hit for the cycle on his own bobblehead day in Saturday’s win.
So the Twins wind up the homestand 6-3 - gosh it’d have been nice to get one of those sweeps for 7-2. That also would have moved them to the .500 mark; instead they’re at 47-49 as All-Star festivities begin in Atlanta tonight.
The good - Joe Ryan shook off a slow start and outdueled Paul Skenes in the series opener against the Pirates Friday. Byron Buxton looks like the Byron Buxton of five years ago.
The bad - Carlos Correa was injured when a runner slid into his leg on Friday, but he did return to the lineup yesterday. It was originally announced as a mild strain, and that’s the ankle that had two different MLB teams bail on contracts with the shortstop.
Ryan and Buxton will be in Atlanta - Buxton will compete in the home run derby tonight. The Twins return to the field Friday in Denver. I’ll be attending Saturday’s game against the woeful Rockies.
The Twins are four games out of the wild card. Seems like they are perpetually four games out of the wild card.
Lynx Flat in Loss at Chicago
A rather stunning Lynx loss on Saturday, if we’re being honest. The chink in their armor has proved to be slow starts, and that was the case as they fell behind by 13 at halftime and never recovered in an 87-81 loss at Chicago. The teams meet again tonight in Chitown.
Napheesa Collier scored 25 points but the rest of the team was not good. The starting backcourt of Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride combined to go 11-of-32 from the field.
The Lynx still leads Phoenix by three games for the top overall spot in the WNBA. The teams will meet Wednesday in the final game before the All-Star Game, with the Lynx putting a 11-0 home mark on the line in a matinee.
The Lynx waived 2024 first-round pick Alissa Pil after the game. She was never given much of a chance which annoyed fans, especially since the Lynx traded back a pick to get her, meaning they didn’t draft Angel Reese.
Loons Spank Earthquake 4-1
Don’t look now, but the Loons are in second place in the West and just two points out of first, after Saturday’s emphatic 4-1 win over San Jose at Allianz Field. No team in the Western Conference has fewer losses (four in 22 games) than Minnesota.
MNUFC didn’t even give San Jose a shot, scoring two minutes in on a goal from Tani Oluwaseyi. The Loons scored two goals in stoppage time - once in each half, and also got yet another goal from star Kelvin Yeboah.
We’ve hit the busy time of the MLS calendar, with the Loons playing their second of three games in eight days this Wednesday at home against LAFC.
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