The Yankees and Tigers had quite the beanball war today. There was some bad blood back in late July when the Yankees hit two of their players – one in the head by Kahnle. Today, the Tigers hit Sanchez after yet another home run and things deteriorated from there. Baseball likes to talk about taking care of things on the field but let’s face it: beanballs are stupid. Especially when you have pitchers throwing in the high 90s these days. Betances was ejected after hitting another batter in the head with the score 6-6. You have to figure it wasn’t intentional but it looked bad. SU lost some respect for Miguel Cabrera. He made a big deal of his teammates not sticking up for him back in the Bronx in late July. Today he got in Austin Romine’s face, shoved him and threw a punch.
The problem for the Yankees is that Sanchez threw some punches – he will get suspended just as he is red hot. As Girardi likes to say, “It’s not what you want.” Btw, Girardi was very emotional after the game with the media. Hopefully, they will use this as motivation for the next couple of weeks.
SU made its first appearance at the US Open Qualification matches today. Wow, this is a great deal. Admission is free, the crowds are not big and you can pretty much sit wherever you’d like. The level of play of these guys is only a notch below the top players. They are really, really good. SU focused on the top American players but the best of the bunch today were both Canadians: Denis Shapovalov is the 18-year old who made it to the semis in Montreal and took out Nadal. He is terrific and will be a presence in the near future. The other impressive player is just turned 17-year old Felix Auger-Aliassime. Whoa, he is good. While he lost his match, keep an eye on him in the coming years. Anyway, this is a great experience without the crowds. SU says check it out.
SU’s prediction for this year’s US Open is Sasha Zverev. He is the hot player coming in having just won Montreal and is ready for that next step. Federer is nursing a bad back, Murray is coming off a long layoff with a nagging hip injury and Nadal, while #1 now, is not a world beater on the hard courts.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Zverev is a good pick, but I think he’s still too young — while he was obviously tired, his recent loss to Tiafoe suggests to me that he’s not consistent enough to win a major (yet). I think one of the older more experienced second tier (non-big 4) top 10ers like Berdych, Cilic, Del Potro, Tsonga, or even Dimitrov will sneak a GS in a weaker than usual field. My bet’s on Dimitrov or Cilic.