Editor's note: we only print a Vegas line on the marquee game. The rest of the slate runs without picks until the Uristocrat Watch model ships. Every game below links to its Watch tile.
The World Cup is off the calendar, so baseball gets the night back. Fifteen MLB games, four WNBA games, and the one that matters most is a National League heavyweight series opening in Philadelphia.
Marquee: Dodgers at Phillies, first of three at Citizens Bank Park (7:00 PM ET, ESPN)
Los Angeles (63-37) leads the NL West and owns the best record in the league. Philadelphia (55-45) sits second in the NL East and gets the pitching edge tonight. Cristopher Sanchez takes the ball at 11-4 with a 2.62 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 127.1 innings. The Dodgers counter with Emmet Sheehan, who is 4-6 with a 4.81 ERA, per MLB.com. That gap is why the home team is favored despite the record. Los Angeles took two of three when these teams met in LA earlier this season. ESPN's matchup predictor gives Philadelphia a 55.2 percent shot.
Vegas line: Phillies -149, Dodgers +123. Total 8.5 (o/u -110). Run line Phillies -1.5 (+142). Odds via ESPN.
Also tonight
- Mets at Brewers (7:40 PM ET). Milwaukee is 62-37, the best record in the National League by percentage points. New York is 42-58 and playing out a lost summer. The gap between these two teams is the widest on tonight's board.
- Aces at Tempo (8:00 PM ET, Peacock and NBCSN). Las Vegas is 17-7 and Toronto is 10-15 in the expansion team's first season. National TV window for a franchise still building its identity.
- Liberty at Wings (8:00 PM ET). Dallas is 17-8 and New York is 13-12. The Wings have quietly put together the better season, which is not how anyone drew this up in May.
- Lynx at Storm (10:00 PM ET, USA Network). Minnesota is 20-6, the best record in the league. Seattle is 6-21. Watch it for the Lynx, not the competitiveness.
- Mystics at Valkyries (10:00 PM ET). Golden State is 19-7 in year one and keeps beating teams that should not lose to a first-year roster. Washington is 12-12 and fighting for position.
- Cardinals at Angels (10:00 PM ET, ESPN). ESPN's late window. St. Louis is 51-47 and still in the mix. Los Angeles is 39-61 and is not.
The through line tonight is expansion. Toronto and Golden State both entered the WNBA this season, and one of them is 19-7. That is the story worth watching while the Dodgers and Phillies sort out who actually runs the National League.
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