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Brewers officially have a legit MVP candidate
On Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Brewers extended their winning streak to 11 games, and a key part of the team's momentum is a player who is in the National League MVP race. The red-hot Brewers entered Tuesday night facing one of the biggest threats to their winning streak, Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes. Milwaukee torched Skenes for two home runs and four earned runs in 4.0 innings pitched. Brewers first baseman Andrew Vaughn added extra damage in the sixth inning with a three-run home run that increased Milwaukee's lead to 12-0. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Vaughn is in the NL MVP race after his home run on Tuesday night. "Andrew Vaughn suddenly in top 10 NL MVP discussion with another 3-run HR, giving him 32 RBI since joining the Brewers," Nightengale posted on X. "He is the gift that keeps on giving from the White Sox. They are about to go 24-4 since his arrival." Vaughn has helped the Brewers overrun and then take a commanding lead on the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. Following their 14-0 win Tuesday night, the Brewers extended their lead to 7.5 games over the Cubs for first place. Vaughn is turning out to be a steal for the Brewers, as Milwaukee only gave up veteran pitcher Aaron Civale and cash considerations for the first baseman on June 13. While Vaughn might have a case to be in the top 10, he has much work before he becomes a legitimate contender for the NL MVP. Per FanDuel, Los Angeles Dodgers star slugger Shohei Ohtani leads the race with -20000 odds. Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Kyle Schwarber is second with +1800 odds. Those two players have been more consistent this season, whereas Vaughn has come on strong since leaving Chicago.
Brewers' Quinn Priester tells the truth after escaping loss in comeback vs. Mets
The Milwaukee Brewers looked as though their hot stretch was going to end on Sunday, when the New York Mets jumped to a 5-0 lead. It was certainly not one of Quinn Priester’s best starts, as the right-handed hurler allowed six earned runs on 10 hits (including two home runs) while recording only two strikeouts and issuing a walk across 4 1/3 innings of work on the mound. It was an especially frustrating individual performance for Priester, considering how great he was in a previous start. Last Monday, Priester went seven innings long and gave up just an earned run on two hits in a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on the road. That was his 10th straight pitching win, and the streak appeared to be on the verge of getting broken in the Mets game. Fortunately for Priester, Milwaukee’s bats came alive just in time to secure another team victory — and keep Priester’s streak going. Priester speaks up on Brewers’ thrilling win against the Mets The Brewers managed to pull off a come-from-behind 7-6 victory, capped by a solo, walk-off home run by rookie sensation Isaac Collins. “It’s indescribable,” Priester said after giving up a season-high 11 hits (h/t Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). “They definitely made up for a lot of my miscues today, but it’s a team game. I love being a part of this team, because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to smile right now.” On the season, Priester is 11-2 with a 3.49 ERA and 1.24 WHIP through 22 appearances (17 starts). The Brewers have now won their last three series via sweeps, and they will look to keep it going with a three-game set coming up against the National League Central division cellar-dwelling Pittsburgh Pirates at home.
Former crew chief frustrated by the 'ridiculous' racing at Watkins Glen
It is no secret that NASCAR's current road-course package has not been very good. Aside from the mile-and-a-half tracks that were once the least competitive and exciting in the series, those races are the rare bright spot for the Next Gen Car since its inception in 2022. Shane van Gisbergen drove away to an 11.1-second win over Christopher Bell in Sunday's race at Watkins Glen and set multiple records in the process. While the racing was not particularly exciting, that was not what left former crew chief and current analyst Steve Letarte frustrated the most following the weekend. A recurring issue in each race over the weekend was drivers utilizing the runoff areas around the track and not staying on the traditional racing surface, which ultimately led to some crashes in Saturday's Xfinity race. "So, I hate track limits that have to be officiated," Letarte said on "Inside the Race." "Because I like tracks that you should just stay on the track. I didn't think it mattered. Now, I am team get-them-back-on-the-race-track-at-Watkins-Glen. I don't love the Watkins Glen that I see. ... I think Turn 1 is not as great of a corner with no exit respect or responsibility. You just blow the exit. I think the carousel is a much easier corner, being able to just go driver's left. "I also think Turn 6 is going — let me add, that I think the (Connor) Zilisch, SVG wreck between the last two corners (in the Xfinity Series race) happened because they left the track, and the Austin Hill wreck with Michael McDowell happened off the race track. Now, both could have been avoided, we can talk about who's at fault. What I'm saying is, I've never driven a lap at Watkins Glen. I can analyze what happens between the white lines." This comes one year after rumble strips were placed in Turn 1 to keep drivers from using the runoff area, and that clearly has not worked. As the field has got closer together, using up all the track has become a common way for drivers to establish momentum, especially as they prepare for the right-hander going into The Esses at Watkins Glen. The bottom line is NASCAR's road-racing product needs to get better and Letarte wants to see race cars "stay on the race track because I think it will be a better race." Van Gisbergen's historic dominance certainly does not help, but the overall road course product is not great. Whether NASCAR makes some changes to the runoff areas and enforces track limits remains to be seen, but that still may not be the biggest issue if the racing does not improve.
Mock Trade Sends Suns' Dillon Brooks to Lakers for $66 Million Duo
The Phoenix Suns are set to enter next season with an almost completely different roster than what they had last season after making major changes to it this offseason. Of course, the Suns broke apart their star trio of Devin Booker, Keivn Durant and Bradley Beal as they traded Durant to the Houston Rockets and bought out Beal’s contract, allowing him to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. Now Booker is the only remaining star from their big three and he is set to be the centerpiece of Phoenix’s future after they signed him to a massive contract extension this summer. For the Suns, they have done a solid job of building a younger roster as they landed Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams via trades and also selected Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea in the 2025 draft. While the Suns have made some major moves this offseason, more could be on the way before the start of next season as multiple players continue to be in trade rumors. Suns predicted to send Dillon Brooks to Lakers With this in mind, SB Nations’ Jacob Rude recently released a mock trade that would see the Suns send Brooks to the Los Angeles Lakers for two players. In the trade, the Suns would send Brooks to the Lakers in exchange for Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber. This would be an interesting trade for both teams involved and one that does not make a ton of sense for the Suns to make. Of course, the Suns could look to trade Brooks at some point before next season’s trade deadline as they may try to add more young talent to their roster but to swap him for two veterans who struggled last season does not make a ton of sense for Phoenix. For the Lakers, adding Brooks to their roster would be a massive upgrade after losing Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency as the veteran forward would give them a solid scorer and great defender alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James. Despite this, the Suns would likely want more in return in a potential trade for Brooks that would likely require Los Angeles to include draft capital and a young player. Because of this, it is highly unlikely that the Suns would consider this offer for Brooks, especially before he even suits up for their franchise.
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