Trout to undergo surgery for torn meniscus
The Denver Nuggets eliminated the Lakers in the playoffs for the second straight season, this time in the first round in five games.
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1. Trout to undergo surgery for torn meniscus
Mike Trout suffered a torn meniscus during the Angels 6-5 victory over the Phillies and there is currently no timetable for his return, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Anthony Bautista.
Angels franchise player Mike Trout will undergo surgery for a torn meniscus, Angels general manager Perry Minasian confirmed Tuesday, ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez and Jeff Passan broke the news.
Trout tore his left miniscus during the Angels 6-5 victory over the Phillies, a game where Trout finished with a stolen base and a run scored.
”There wasn’t one time or one specific moment where it was hurting to bat,” an emotional Trout said of his injury.
Trout, holding back tears, said a felt “a little bit of an ache” in his knee when running into the dugout following the third inning against Philadelphia but he didn’t think it was anything serious until his pain carried through the night.
”When I woke up this morning, it was tough to get out of bed,” Trout added.
2. Olympic fame put Suni Lee in minefield of business, bullying
Suni Lee has one of the most valuable social media presences of any female athlete in the country, but she has to keep a distance from her social media accounts, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Jackson Thompson.
Suni Lee had to make a business decision.
After winning gold for the U.S. at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics at 18 years old, the gymnast’s life and reputation were bound to change forever. She became the next gymnastics celebrity and built an Instagram following of over 1.6 million.
Oh, and she earned the second-largest NIL valuation of any women’s college athlete at $1.3 million when she competed at Auburn University, per On3, second only to LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne in 2023.
Her meteoric rise to fame earned her an appearance on Dancing With the Stars three years ago and endorsement deals with household brands like Playstation, Gatorade, Target and Amazon, which have been primarily channeled on her Instagram page.
But through all the deals, she stays off of her social media, choosing to monetize her brand from a distance.
“I try to stay off of social media as much as possible,” Lee said last week at the U.S. Olympics Media Summit. “A lot of my posts, I’ll send to my manager and they’ll post it for me.”
3. Mistake-prone Knights allow Stars back into series
Jake Oettinger played his best game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to help Dallas even the series with Vegas at 2-2 with a 4-2 road win in Game 4, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Steve Carp.
Saturday, it was Logan Thompson who was the star. Monday, it was Jake Oettinger’s turn.
The Dallas Stars’ goaltender was rock-solid and borderline sensational in helping his team win Game 4, 4-2, in front of 18,333 at T-Mobile Arena and even the first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series with the Vegas Golden Knights at 2-2.
Game 5 is Wednesday at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Game 6 will be Friday in Las Vegas.
“I think he had his best night,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said of Oettinger, who turned aside 33 of the 35 shots he faced and shut down the Knights in the third period while Dallas was nursing a 3-2 lead. “He locked it down in the third period. He made some key stops.”
The trend of the visiting team emerging triumphant in this series continued and home-ice advantage has not proved to be a key to date. Maybe that changes come Wednesday. But the Knights know they can win on the road and provided they clean up their act in their own end and put better pressure on Oettinger, perhaps they can regain control of a series in which they had led 2-0.
4. UFC 301 Preview: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Steve Erceg
Alexandre Pantoja and Steve Erceg will headline UFC 301 in a fight for the flyweight world championship, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Max Nichol.
This Saturday the UFC will return to Rio de Janeiro for UFC 301.
Headlining the card will be Brazilian UFC Flyweight Champion, Alexandre Pantoja, who makes his second title defense on home turf against Australian newcomer, Steve Erceg. Pantoja currently sits as the -192 betting favorite, with Erceg as a +160 underdog.
Pantoja faces a surprising opponent in Erceg, who after securing an electrifying left-hook knockout against Matt Schnell in March will be challenging for the flyweight title in just his fourth UFC bout. Currently ranked #10 in the flyweight division, Erceg has the opportunity to make history as the lowest-ranked fighter to win gold since the UFC first introduced division rankings in 2013. However, this opportunity comes as no small task, with champion Alexandre Pantoja having lapped some of the top contenders of the division multiple times throughout his seven-year UFC career.
Over the past year, the UFC has seen several underdog challengers get their hand raised in championship fights, including former Middleweight Champion, Sean Strickland, and current BMF Champion, Max Holloway. So although not the betting favorite, Steve Erceg should by no means be counted out in his first championship bout. If he can overcome the well-rounded ability of Pantoja, as well as the mental challenge of stepping into enemy territory, many MMA fans feel this matchup has the potential for “upset” to be written all over it.
5. Kentucky Derby jockeys work shift at Raising Cane’s
Kentucky Derby jockeys Tyler Gaffalione, Joel Rosario and Brian Hernandez Jr. served Raising Cane’s to race fans in Louisville, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Arash Markazi.
Tyler Gaffalione was the first one to arrive at the Raising Cane’s about 20 minutes southeast of Churchill Downs. He was soon followed by fellow jockeys Brian Hernandez Jr. and Joel Rosario.
The only thing that was on Gaffalione’s mind, however, was finishing ahead of Hernandez, Rosario and the rest of the field on Saturday during the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby.
This is Gaffalione’s seventh time riding in the Kentucky Derby but it is easily his best chance to win it all. His previous six rides were longshots of at least 14-1 or greater and none finished better than seventh.
He enters Saturday’s Kentucky Derby with Sierra Leones, who sits just behind Fierceness as the current morning line favorite. Sunny Leone is also at the top of the points list and coming off an impressive Blue Grass Stakes victory.
“I love my horse, Sierra Leone, going into the Kentucky Derby,” Gaffalione said. “He’s done nothing wrong this year. He seems to be improving each race so it’s all system go right now.”
6. Derby Week Notes from Churchill Downs
It's Derby Wednesday, the calm before the storm as we head towards the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Louis Rabaut.
We’ve hit midweek of Derby Week – and if you’re outside the walls of Churchill Downs, you’d think nothing of it.
The major works – and we’re hoping – major scratches are over. The biggest news thus far this week was that 9 Encino is medically unable to run in the Derby, and will be scratched. Because of this, 21 Epic Ride, trained by the easy-to-root-for John Ennis, enters the starting gate.
For those of you unfamiliar with horse racing, the “saddle cloth” is the piece of fabric on which the horse’s assigned program number rests; the post position is a different story. A legitimately interesting part of this: every horse 10-21 slides from a more outside post to a more inside one. This affects one of the most intriguing horses in the race – the Japanese-trained 11 Forever Young, who moved from being loaded into the gate first to being loaded last. This means he’ll spend significantly less time waiting for the race to start than previous to the scratch.
7. Video of the Day
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8. Ticket Time
Here are the “get in” prices for tickets if you’re thinking about going to a game today:
1:07 p.m. – Phillies at Angels – $2
7:00 p.m. – Mavericks at Clippers (Game 5) – $95
9. On the Air
Here are the game times and television channels for professional teams in the region today:
1:07 p.m. – Phillies at Angels – Bally Sports West
6:30 p.m. – Golden Knights at Stars (Game 5) – ESPN
6:40 p.m. – Dodgers at Diamondbacks – SportsNet LA
7:00 p.m. – Mavericks at Clippers (Game 5) – TNT
7:00 p.m. – Kings at Oilers (Game 5) – TBS
10. The Arash Markazi Show presented by The Sporting Tribune
Listen to The Arash Markazi Show presented by The Sporting Tribune on The Mightier 1090 ESPN Radio in Southern California, 98.5 The Bet in Las Vegas and the Hawaii Sports Radio Network 95.1 FM and 760 AM in Hawaii. You can also listen to the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Stitcher. You can also watch every Friday on BLEAV on FuboTV.
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