Sports Morning: Belgium Ends The U.S. Run

Belgium 4, United States 1 is the hard start to the July 7 sports morning. ESPN's FIFA World Cup summary has the U.S. out in Seattle and Belgium into the quarterfinals after Charles De Ketelaere scored at 9 and 33 and assisted Hans Vanaken at 57. Malik Tillman made it level at 31, which kept the home side alive for only two minutes. Romelu Lukaku closed it at 90 plus 3. The sequence matters because it removes the polite version of the result. Belgium created the better chances, putting 7 of 15 shots on target. The United States had 55.9 percent possession and finished with 2 shots on target from 7 total attempts. That is empty control, and on a knockout night empty control buys nothing.

World Cup

Spain 1, Portugal 0 came earlier in Arlington, Texas. Mikel Merino scored at 90 plus 1, with Ferran Torres listed on the scoring play, and the goal put Spain into the quarterfinals. ESPN's summary gave Spain 55.4 percent possession, 15 shots, and 6 on target. Portugal had 10 shots, 2 on target, and left Cristiano Ronaldo with the headline nobody in Portugal wanted: his World Cup career ended against Spain. The quarterfinal field is being sorted by finishers, and sentiment helped no one.

Baseball

MLB did the other kind of damage. Kansas City Royals 15, Philadelphia Phillies 1 was the loudest box score. ESPN's recap credited Salvador Perez, Luke Maile, Lane Thomas, and Tyler Tolbert with home runs, and said the Royals tagged Cristopher Sanchez for a career worst 9 earned runs. That is the sort of loss that turns an ace start into a staff meeting.

Washington Nationals 12, Houston Astros 11 had the chaos. James Wood hit a grand slam in the fifth, and ESPN said Washington overcame a five run deficit. Los Angeles Dodgers 8, Colorado Rockies 7 needed 11 innings, with Dalton Rushing singling in the winning run. New York Mets 7, Atlanta Braves 6 also went 10, with Luis Torrens delivering a two run double. The Yankees had the cleanest note: New York Yankees 5, Tampa Bay Rays 1, with Caballero homering twice and Schlittler pitching 8 innings.

Milwaukee Brewers 4, St. Louis Cardinals 3 came on a four run seventh. Arizona Diamondbacks 8, San Diego Padres 0 gave the night a shutout. San Francisco Giants 10, Toronto Blue Jays 1 added another crooked result after Ramos homered twice and drove in 5.

WNBA

Connecticut Sun 90, Minnesota Lynx 89 is the WNBA result that should travel. ESPN's summary gave Brittney Griner 29 points and 10 rebounds, with Kennedy Burke adding 16 off the bench and hitting two 3 pointers in the final three minutes. Minnesota entered at 15 and 6 on the scoreboard, Connecticut at 5 and 16, so this was a record gap win as well as a one point finish.

Golden State Valkyries 62, Washington Mystics 49 and Seattle Storm 82, Los Angeles Sparks 64 filled out the card.

Headlines

Current ESPN news adds the slower league business. The NBA feed had Kyle Lowry retiring after signing a one day contract with Toronto, and Donovan Mitchell agreeing to a four year, $273 million maximum extension with Cleveland through an agent report. The NHL feed had Calgary signing Simon Nemec for 5 years and $36.25 million. The NFL feed was heavier on draft guide and feature material than hard transaction news this morning.

The Read

The lead remains Belgium. De Ketelaere had two goals and a helper, Belgium had 7 shots on target, and the United States gave up goals in the 9th, 33rd, 57th, and 90 plus 3. The soccer night also retired Portugal's Ronaldo story at World Cup level, while baseball offered run totals that looked like football scores and Connecticut turned a 5 and 16 record line into the WNBA result of the night. The morning has one clean message: knockout soccer rewards possession only when it becomes shots, and July baseball punishes bad pitching before breakfast.