DAN GARTLAND
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Can anyone lend me $5,000 for a ticket to the Knicks game tonight?
In today’s SI:AM:
😷 U.S.’s big flaw in World Cup prep
Rough times in Wrigleyville
Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images
Things are headed south on the North Side.
The Cubs lost to the lowly Giants in 10 innings on Sunday Night Baseball last night, 2–1, as they continue to fall farther out of first place.
The trouble started early for Chicago as starter Jameson Taillon gave up a run in the first inning. Taillon then exited the game with an injury after walking the leadoff batter in the second. He told reporters after the gamethat he hurt his hamstring and believes he will end up on the injured list.
Javier Assad pitched well when pressed into action in relief of Taillon, but Chicago’s offense couldn’t help him out. The Cubs went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. Their lone run scored on a single by Moisés Ballesteros in the third. Chicago only had three hits over the final seven innings of the game.
The Cubs have now lost 10 of their last 12 games at home, a rough stretch that began immediately after a 15-game home winningstreak. Chicago’s only two wins at home after May 7 were walk-off victories on Thursday against the A’s and Saturday against the Giants.
The Cubs’ troubles began shortly after that early May homestand. They’re 7–20 since May 9, the worst record in the majors over that span. They’ve gone from having a 3 ½-game lead in the division to sitting in fourth place, 7 ½ games behind the first-place Brewers.
Chicago’s season isn’t lost, though. Fangraphs still gives the Cubs a 43.1% chance of making the playoffs. That’s a far cry from the 91.2% chance they had before this recent skid, but they’re certainly not dead.
Nelly Korda’s dramatic win
Kiyoshi Mio/Imagn Images
Nelly Korda’s dream season just got even better.
Korda, the No. 1 player in the world, is in the midst of a historically dominant LPGA season, and on Sunday, she won her first U.S. Women’s Open.
The U.S. Open had been feast or famine for Korda. She had three previous top-10 finishes (including a runner-up finish last year) but also missed the cut three times and finished well off the pace in her three other appearances as a pro.
So you can imagine the thoughts that must have been swirling through Korda’s head as she stood over a three-foot putt on the 72nd hole, needing to sink it to win the tournament. She pulled the putt to the left and it swirled around the edge of the cup before finally dropping into the hole.
“Obviously, I’ve had doubts, like even mid-round, I was like, ‘Well, will I ever win it, right?’” Korda said. “I mean, you always have those doubts. But I think you’re just a human being if you have them.”
The win was Korda’s second major victory of the season after she won the Chevron Championship in April. She has two other victories, two solo runner-up finishes and one tie for second. The only tournament in which she did not finish in the top two was last month at the Queen City Championship in Cincinnati, where she finished in a measly tie for eighth.
Wild sports week on tap
Geoff Burke/Imagn Images
This is going to be a sports week for the ages.
It gets started with Game 3 of the NBA Finals tonight—the first Finals game in New York this millennium. It should be a raucous scene inside the Garden, although enhanced security measures to accommodate President Trump’s appearance could cause headaches for fans.
I know the NBA is much more popular than the NHL, but I hope you’re equally excited for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday. The Hurricanes-Golden Knights series has been fantastic. Game 1 was a 5–4 barnburner, Game 2 went to overtime after a bonkers third period and Game 3 was decided in doubleovertime. At that rate, Tuesday’s game will go to triple overtime.
The main event, though, is the World Cup. It only comes around once every four years and this time it’s being hosted in North America. You probably can’t afford a ticket, but the fact that the games will be played in our hemisphere means you’ll be able to watch them at convenient times. The first match is Mexico vs. South Africa on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. The other co-hosts, the United States and Canada, kick off on Friday. Canada will play Bosnia-Herzegovina at 3 p.m. and the U.S. plays Paraguay at 9.
The NBA and NHL have carefully crafted their schedules to not interfere with the first U.S. game, but the fact that we have two championship series intertwining with a World Cup on home soil is a once-in-a-generation occurrence.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- With Aaron Donald reportedly considering a comeback to the NFL, Albert Breer talks to six-time Pro Bowler Eric Weddle, who came out of retirement to help the Rams win a Super Bowl, about what it takes to return to the field.
- Breer also tells the rest of the story behind the A.J. Brown trade and examines the Browns’ future, the Packers’ wide receivers and the Steelers’ investment in edge rushers in this week’s takeaways.
- While the United States federal government has spent $625 million on security in preparation for hosting the World Cup, Celine Gounder articulates how the nation has left itself exposed to a public health crisis.
- How does Norway reconcile its humbling Law of Jante with having one of the biggest stars in soccer? As Norway approaches its first men’s World Cup match in 28 years, Thore Haugstad writes about what it means to be a fan of the national team in a country that doesn’t often allow itself to forge the superstars it needs to succeed.
- Jon Wertheim breaks down all the action from a wacky 2026 French Open, offering his 50 parting thoughts from Roland Garros.
- Max Schreiber details how world No. 1 Nelly Korda won her first U.S. Open title.
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Wendell Cruz/Imagn Images
👀 The top five …
… things I saw last night:
5. A nice sliding catch by Corbin Carroll.
4. Owen Hull’s walk-off double to send North Carolina to the Men’s College World Series.
3. Jhon Arias’s perfect header for a goal in Colombia’s pre-World Cup friendly against Jordan.
2. Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s three-run homer in the eighth to break the game open for the Yankees against the Red Sox. Chisholm revealed after the game that he used Aaron Judge’s bat.
1. An utterly bizarre double play by the Dodgers’ Triple A affiliate. The left fielder tried to make a sliding catch in foul territory, but the ball bounced out of his glove before being caught by the third baseman, who then threw to first to double off the runner.
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RJ Hamster 