The Phillies might be turning the corner

For the first time since May 14, the Phillies have an over .500 record. This weekend they play away at the Oakland Athletics for three games. The A's are one of the weakest teams in recent memory, record wise, though they have won 7 of their last 8 games, so I hope the Phillies do not take them lightly. The Phillies have to continue  playing well because they are 4 1/2 games behind the Miami Marlins for second place in the division, and already 8 games behind the Atlanta Braves. The starting pitchers have pitched well in the last two weeks, and the offense has woken up a little bit. Hopeful this will continue.

The Denver Nuggets won their first ever NBA championship on Monday night in a low scoring 1990's style game by the score of 94 to 89. I was only able to watch most of the first quarter because the game started late. Both teams had scored less than 10 points early on, which is very unusual in the NBA today. I hope the 76ers take notice that Nikola Jokic was the MVP which proves that a center can still be your best player on a championship team, even with all the emphasis on three-point baskets.

It is U.S. Open week in men’s golf. The tournament is being played at Los Angeles Country Club in California.  Up until now, this course has been very private for its nearly 100 year history so very few players in the field have played the course. The 2017 Walker Cup was played there which is an amateur tournament. There have also been some PAC 12 championships played there as well. I think the scores are going to be quite low for a U.S. Open tourney for two reasons; first most of the fairways are quite large and second the weather is going to be very nice with temperatures in the 70s all four days. The coverage is going to be on USA network and NBC over the weekend. You know I will be watching.

The favorites both won in the French Open finals. Novak Djokovic won his record breaking 23rd men’s major in three sets over Casper Ruud of Norway. The first set was very close 7-5, with Djokovic winning at the end, but after that, he dominated the last two sets. I think Novak is going to be able to win one or two more majors to increase his record before he retires. He is thirty six years old, but he’s probably going to play for another two years or so. On the women's side, Iga Swiatek won her 4th major and her 3rd French Open championship in a good three set match. Iga is only 24 years old, so she definitely has time to win a lot more if she can stay healthy.

 I hope everyone has a great Father’s Day weekend.