After losing 3 straight to open the 2nd half of the baseball season, the Reds looked like a completely different team last night, starting their series against the Braves with a 4-1 win in Atlanta. All-Star pitcher Hunter Greene led the way on the mound, throwing 7 innings of shutout ball for his 7th victory of the season. In July, his ERA’s a microscopic .45, he’s allowed only 7 hits, and he’s struck out 24 batters. The Reds’ Will Benson, a native of Atlanta, had a big night on offense and defense. He caught a fly ball for an out the Braves thought was a sure score, ending a threat in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Moments later, Will showed the home folks more of what he’s about as he batted 9th, belting his 11th homer of the season to make the score 2-0. Later the Reds got ahead 4-zip, and again the final score was Reds 4, Braves 1. The two teams hook up again tonight, the broadcast arriving on your radio at 6:50, on the Sports Voice, 103.9 WRBI.
Great news for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis… more than 70,000 fans showed up for NASCAR’s return Sunday. And they got a great show, Kyle Larson winning the race in double overtime. That crowd was a 15% increase from a 200-miler on Indy’s road course last year. Many NASCAR Cup series drivers said they could feel the excitement about their return to the Brickyard after 4 years, some adding they always feel the love of the Hoosier State when they come back. Speedway owner Roger Penske says the number of tickets sold just in the week before the race, showed interest in it returning to the levels of 10 to 12 years ago, a big and he believes important, difference. The Brickyard’s said to already be on the agenda for 2025.
After Colton Herta won the Indy Toronto race through the Canadian city’s streets over the weekend, the IndyCar points standings now show Alex Palou continuing to lead with 411 points, only 49 ahead of Will Power’s 362, and a logjam that includes Will. Again he’s at 362, but Scott Dixon’s now only 4 behind him at 358, and Herta is only 4 more points back in 4th place at 354. Pato O’Ward’s now dropped to 5th, at 340. IndyCar has a bit of a break in its schedule for a few weeks now, their next race set for August 17th at Madison, Illinois.
Something different was played over the weekend, the All-Stars of women’s pro basketball in the WNBA taking on their amateur counterparts, the US Olympic hoops team, in Phoenix. The WNBA’ers prevailed by a fairly close 117- 109, Caitlin Clark dishing off 10 assists and Angel Reese scoring 12 points, pulling down 11 rebounds. Clark wasn’t her usual self scoring, however, with only 4 points. Clark claims she just loves passing the ball, setting a fast pace. In Paris, Team USA seeks its 8th straight Olympic gold, opening against Japan next Monday.