Front Row Seat: Nightmare 9th leads to Padres loss
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John Gennaro
San Diego Padres
Nightmare ninth inning allows Angels to walk past Padres with win - San Diego Union-Tribune
“We’ve seen a lot of greatness from Robert Suarez, to the point of borderline actually being spoiled,” Shildt said. “Some days, you’ve got to prove you’re human.”
It was an an inhumane end to a night that seemed destined to be recalled for Merrill’s heroics.
Padres Daily: What happened to Suarez; what matters to Merrill - San Diego Union-Tribune
The Padres are 2-3 in the five games Merrill has played in since returning from his monthlong stay on the injured list.
He is batting .609 (14-for-23) with two doubles, a triple, a home run, seven runs scored and seven RBIs. He has three go-ahead RBIs and one game-deciding RBI, and he was in line to have another before the bullpen blew a late lead at Yankee Stadium last week.
“He’s incredible,” Michael King said. “… He’s the heart and soul of this team.”
Padres' No. 2 prospect Salas to miss 2 months with stress reaction in back - Padres.com
The organization’s No. 2 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 29 overall, Salas has been out of the lineup since mid-April. The 18-year-old catcher signed with the club as the top international prospect in the 2023 class, and he began this season at Double-A San Antonio.
“The only real [solution] is rest, so he’s going to be out probably two months or so and should be totally fine in terms of coming back,” Preller said. “It’s not anything our doctors feel is long term.”
A Time To Slug - Letters to A.J.
The Padres will be back in Colorado September 5th-7th, during a stretch of the season that rosters expand to 28 players. This raises the question of whether the Padres might purposefully skip Pivetta’s start in favor of an opener which might be a AAA callup with a groundball heavy profile. Especially if the playoff race is still close at that point.
NBA
Mavs hit NBA Draft Lottery jackpot, land No. 1 pick: ‘We get a fresh start’ - The Athletic
“He wasn’t following it in real time. He was at his kid’s track meet,” Dallas Mavericks chief executive officer Rick Welts said after his team cashed in on its 1.8 percent chance of winning the lottery, earning the chance to take Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. “(Former Mavericks owner) Mark Cuban called him to say, ‘Oh my God, we’re in the top four.’ (Later) Mark Cuban called him back and (said) … we won, but (Dumont) said Mark was screaming so loud he couldn’t tell exactly what Mark was saying.”
2025 NBA mock draft: Projecting all 59 picks post-lottery - ESPN
Flagg's spot as the consensus No. 1 pick was well-earned over the course of a stellar freshman season that ranks among the best in the one-and-done era. He compares favorably with the best college wings of this era from a statistical perspective, bolstered by his consistency and ability to lead Duke's young team.
'I’ve got no words right now:' Celtics reeling in aftermath of Jayson Tatum injury but vow to be ready for Game 5 - Yahoo Sports
Tatum — a brilliant player in the midst of a brilliant night, 42 points with eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks, a pristine two-way performance — surveyed the floor from the elbow, guarded by OG Anunoby. He passed to Brown, curling off a pindown from Boston guard Derrick White. But Brown didn’t control the pass cleanly, and it squirted free, in the direction of Tatum and Anunoby: a 50-50 ball, up for grabs, at a pivotal juncture of the game.
Tatum lunged to vie for the loose ball, planting his right foot on the ground and pushing off to try to beat Anunoby to the punch. He never got out of the starting blocks; instead, he crumpled to the ground, almost immediately reaching for the back of his right ankle.
NBA playoffs: Anthony Edwards erupts late to lift Timberwolves to a commanding Game 4 win over the Warriors - Yahoo Sports
Edwards and the Timberwolves erupted in the second half at the Chase Center to pick up a 117-110 win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinals series. That gave the Timberwolves a commanding 3-1 lead in the series, and now they are just one win away from reaching the conference finals for a second straight season. That's something that has never happened for the franchise.
Odds & Ends
Alex Morgan returns to Wave as minority investor - NBC7 San Diego
Alex Morgan entered a new chapter of life last year, which will now feature a new role with the San Diego Wave.
The club announced Tuesday morning that the U.S. Soccer icon has returned, less than a year after retiring from professional soccer, to serve as a minority investor. She said the idea of transitioning to ownership came to mind when she heard that San Diego was getting an expansion franchise in 2022.
"The mission has always been to leave the game in a better place and continue to advocate for women's sports and women's soccer, and advocate for the things that I'm also passionate about in San Diego," Morgan said in an interview conducted by the Wave. "It all just made sense to continue on with the Wave. The mission stays the same: continuing to uplift women, this team, and the NWSL."
San Diego Wave settles for controversial draw - SDNews.com
Just when it looked like the San Diego Wave was going to come out with its fourth-straight victory, a controversial penalty kick in the dying seconds was awarded in favor of the Portland Thorns, which was converted moments later by defender Jayden Perry ending the match in a 1-1 draw.
That call was not even the most questionable one in the match as Wave defender Kennedy Wesley was issued a 38th-minute red card in what replay showed was contact initiated on a breakaway by Portland midfielder Olivia Moultrie with her right shoulder and elbow.
San Diego FC prepares for first midweek match as MLS franchise - 10News
"It's nice. I like it that way. Tried it a lot earlier this season as well, in Europe with a lot of games midweek, and it's nice. I like it," Dreyer said.
Dreyer has been on the pitch for all but 32 minutes this season at a demanding position on the front line, but says he'll never turn down another chance to play.\
"You could play three games every day, if it was possible," Dreyer said.
Connecticut Sun Ownership Seeks Sale - Front Office Sports
The WNBA franchise—originally the Orlando Miracle—was purchased by the Mohegan Sun in 2003. Now, 22 years later, the franchise has hired investment bank Allen & Company to search for a buyer, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to Front Office Sports.
At this point it’s unclear if the team will pursue an outside buyer or one of the multiple interested parties who have submitted formal bids for a WNBA expansion team. Two intriguing relocation possibilities are Philadelphia and Boston.
Alright, that's going to do it for today's edition of Front Row Seat. I'll be back tomorrow, and every weekday, to try and make it easier for you to follow the news.
Feedback is welcome (in the comments below, in my inbox or on the Section 1904 Discord server) and feel free to send me any links that you think I missed and I'll try to include them tomorrow.
