Cape Verde Stalls Spain As Reds And Wings Roll

Cape Verde gave Monday the cleanest lead: Spain 0, Cape Verde 0 in its World Cup opener against the European champion. ESPN's event summary described Cape Verde as a tournament debutant and showed both teams leaving Group H with one point. That is a hard, useful result for Cape Verde and a frustrating one for Spain, because a team with Spain's pedigree expects three points from this kind of opener.

The other World Cup scores stayed tight. New Zealand 2, Iran 2 came with goals from Ramin Rezaeian and Mohammad Mohebbi for Iran and two from Eli Just for New Zealand, according to ESPN's event summary. Belgium 1, Egypt 1 and Uruguay 1, Saudi Arabia 1 completed a four game soccer board where every result left both sides with a point.

MLB: Cincinnati supplied the loudest baseball result

Cincinnati Reds 12, New York Mets 0 was the bluntest MLB result. ESPN's recap credited Eugenio Suarez with two homers and a career high six RBIs, including a grand slam in the second inning. JJ Bleday added a three run homer. Chase Burns worked five innings and struck out seven as Cincinnati and three relievers finished a six hitter. The scoreboard put the Reds at 34 wins and 37 losses, which keeps the result useful as a read on a club still trying to climb.

Philadelphia Phillies 7, Miami Marlins 0 added a second shutout. Zack Wheeler struck out nine over six scoreless innings of two hit ball, and Gabriel Rincones Jr homered for his first career hit. Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Tampa Bay Rays 3 had the sharper late swing, with Miguel Rojas hitting a pinch hit homer in the seventh and Kyle Tucker supplying a three run homer plus an outfield throw that cut down a runner at the plate.

The rest of the MLB board kept the theme loud: Washington Nationals 7, Kansas City Royals 3. St. Louis Cardinals 3, San Diego Padres 0. Chicago Cubs 5, Colorado Rockies 4. Minnesota Twins 4, Texas Rangers 2. Detroit Tigers 9, Houston Astros 3. Arizona Diamondbacks 4, Los Angeles Angels 3. Athletics 11, Pittsburgh Pirates 2, with Nick Kurtz at two homers and five RBIs and Jeff McNeil at three hits and four RBIs in the ESPN recap.

WNBA: Dallas and Minnesota owned the night

Dallas Wings 96, Las Vegas Aces 66 was the WNBA result that jumps off the board. Arike Ogunbowale scored 22 points and hit five 3 pointers. Jessica Shepard had 15 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. ESPN's recap also listed Dallas with its fifth straight home win, and the scoreboard moved the Wings to 9 wins and 5 losses while Las Vegas fell to 10 wins and 4 losses.

Minnesota Lynx 107, Portland Fire 74 was even heavier on total points. Natasha Howard led Minnesota with 18 points, and ESPN's recap had seven Lynx players in double figure scoring. Minnesota scored 26 points off 22 Portland turnovers. Nia Coffey added 15 points, five rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Golden State Valkyries 78, Los Angeles Sparks 58 closed the WNBA board.

Morning headlines: empty NBA and NHL boards shift attention

The NBA scoreboard had zero games for June 15, and the news feed led with James Dolan asking the Knicks to sacrifice for a title in an April speech. The NHL scoreboard was also empty, while the hockey feed led with the PWHL's Las Vegas expansion team naming Kim Weiss coach. The NFL feed led with Vikings minicamp storylines around quarterbacks and the front office. The FIFA World Cup feed led with its daily live item that included a giant inflatable match ball breaking loose and Messi, Mbappe and Haaland action on the slate.

The takeaway is simple. June 15 belonged to stubborn soccer underdogs, baseball shutouts and WNBA blowouts. Cape Verde gets top billing because one World Cup point against Spain changes the shape of a group faster than any midsummer baseball rout. Cincinnati and Dallas supplied the force. Cape Verde supplied the result everyone had to check twice.