Assuming you spent the last three days unplugged from the world of sports we’ve got a simple cheat sheet prepared for your safe return:
The Town will next head to The Land again with a chance to keep The Crown for the third time in four NBA seasons. The Warriors’ emphatic 122-103 emphatic Game 2 win Sunday night against the visiting Cavs, punctuated by Steph Curry shimming for an NBA Finals record nine 3-pointers, was rather stylish as it came while they wore their alternative “The Town” black jerseys, something the franchise has donned from time to time since 2017 to honor its Oakland home of 46 years. In the fall of 2019, the Warriors move from the Oracle Arena to a new $1 billion Chase Center at Third and South Streets in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco. Games 3 and 4 are Wednesday and Friday in Cleveland (6 p.m., Channel 7). In NBA Finals history, teams that have taken a 2-0 series lead have gone on to win it all 88 percent of the time. And while the Cavs came back from deficits of 0-2 and 1-3 to win the 2016 title on the Warriors’ home floor, LeBron James, having already played in more than 100 straight games this regular- and post-season, may be running out of steam, according to Cleveland Plain Dealer veteran columnist Terry Pluto.
When the Dodgers put up 33 runs in a three-game sweep at Colorado, including a come back from five runs down after two innings to pull a somewhat ridiculous 10-8 victory Sunday out of thin air again, it meant they had won 13 of their last 17. But they still haven’t reached the .500 mark, they’ve actually dropped into a tie for third in the NL West at the moment with San Francisco and they realize they’ll have to go forward without Clayton Kershaw, back on the DL because of a lower back strain that’s expected to keep him out until July. So how funky was this sweep of the Rockies? The Dodgers resorted to having reliever Scott Alexander draw the starting assignment against the Rockies on Friday – but he only got the first four outs, throwing 19 pitches. Recently recalled 22-year-old Dennis Santana then came in, gave up five runs in 3 2/3 innings, and somehow got the victory in the 11-8 game, where Santana also delivered a two-run double hitting the first pitch he’d ever seen at a major-league hitter with a borrowed bat.
Now isn’t a time to get your crabs in a bunch with a bunch of Old Bay post-seasoning. The Stanley Cup could be in possession of the Washington Capitals sooner than later if they figure out how to capitalize on their 2-1 Final series lead over Las Vegas going into Monday’s Game 4 (5 p.m., Channel 4) on their home ice again. Washington’s 3-1 win in Game 3, punctuated by the first known instance of a crab thrown on the ice for good luck, marked the first time Las Vegas has lost two in a row during its inaugural playoff run.
Mike Trout chased down a long fly ball by Texas’ Delino DeShields in the fifth inning during Sunday’s 3-1 win at Angel Stadium, smacking into the left-center field wall and banging his right knee. He hobbled around at his position afterward but didn’t come out. “Yeah, it was pretty loud,” Angels left fielder Justin Upton said of the collision. “He was moving pretty fast. I tried to give him a heads-up that the wall was there, so he was able to brace himself. He’s not the most fragile person in the world, so I wasn’t too worried.” Trout says he’s “all good” as the Angels won two of three against the visiting Rangers. How good was the catch? According to this assessment, “it was the unlikeliest catch that Trout has recorded in the 2015-18 Statcast era, and the latest highlight of the multitime MVP’s consistently extraordinary season.” Read all about it.
UCLA needed just to take out Florida State just once Sunday to move onto the Women’s College World Series championship best-of-three starting Monday — and a date against conference foe Washington. But in the first try Sunday, the Bruins dropped a 3-1 decision. Later in the afternoon, FSU posted a 12-6 loss on them. What were the odds of that happening? Before that first game, UCLA had not lost a game this season when it had a lead in any part – a 58-0 run. But FSU overcame a 1-0 deficit with a three-run homer in the sixth to clinch that win. In the second game, UCLA surrendered the most runs in its post-season history going back 267 games.
And as for UCLA’s baseball team in the round of 64 for the NCAA baseball playoffs: It’s done. But Cal State Fullerton somehow advanced …
Tom Hoffarth's The Drill: More Farther Off the Wall 