SI:AM | Shohei Ohtani Not Satisfied Despite Another Brilliant Two-Way Performance

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. A little late-breaking news here: World No. 1 Jannik Sinner has been knocked out of the French Open in the second round. He had a 5–1 lead in the third set but lost in five—6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6, 1-6—as he struggled with cramping. He had won five straight tournaments before Roland Garros.

In today’s SI:AM:
🏈 Options for Texas Tech’s ineligible QB
🏆 Kirby Smart’s existential threat to college sports
⚾ Cubs still in trouble after snapping skid

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Ohtani’s lofty expectations

Shohei Ohtani had another jaw-dropping performance on Wednesday night against the Rockies, but he still wasn’t satisfied with how he played.

Ohtani hit a leadoff home run and followed that up with six hitless innings on the mound. It was the second straight game in which he hit a leadoff homer as the pitcher, and the third time in his career that he’s done so. He remains the only pitcher in MLB history ever to hit a leadoff homer.

So what’s there to complain about? Ohtani issued four walks and had one hit-by-pitch. Only 56 of the 99 pitches he threw were strikes—his lowest strike rate in any of his nine starts this season.

“Of course you want to avoid the hits, but the result of that was a lot of walks today,” Ohtani told reporters through his interpreter. “That’s something that I just don’t really want to do.”

Ohtani also allowed one run. He walked the leadoff batter in the fourth, hit the next batter and then allowed a run to score after two groundouts. He might not have been as sharp as he would have liked to have been, but he’s still yet to allow more than two runs in a start this season.

Canes trounce Habs to go up 3–1

The Hurricanes have done a complete 180 after coming out flat in the first game of the Eastern Conference Final.

Carolina stomped the Canadiens in Game 4 last night, 4–0, to take a 3–1 series lead. Montreal will have to win on the road on Friday to extend its season.

The Habs stunk in Game 4. They gave the puck away too many times, allowed too many easy scoring chances and committed too many penalties.

The game really got away from Montreal in the final minutes of the first period. Carolina struck first with a power-play goal with five minutes left in the period, then added two more goals in a span of less than three minutes. The Canadiens were outshot 16–5 in the period.

And how did they respond after having a chance to regroup in the dressing room? By only mustering six shots on goal in the second period.

This series has been remarkably lopsided. Carolina has 136 shots on net over the four games, compared to just 65 for Montreal. That doesn’t inspire confidence that the Habs can force a Game 6.

Historic streak for Phillies starter

May was a good month for Cristopher Sánchez.

The Phillies starter did not allow a run over seven innings in his team’s win over the Padres yesterday to stretch his scoreless streak to 44 ⅔ innings. That’s the longest stretch without allowing a run by any Phillies pitcher since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893. The record was previously held by Hall of Famer Grover Alexander, who pitched 41 straight scoreless innings in 1911.

The streak is the seventh longest in MLB history. Orel Hershiser holds the overall record at 59 innings.

Sánchez was the runner-up for the NL Cy Young last season and is well on his way to contending for the award again this season. His strong start yesterday dropped his ERA to 1.47, the lowest in the majors among qualified pitchers.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Georgia coach Kirby Smart floated an idea this week that would spell doom for college sports. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In his latest notebook, Albert Breer analyzes what’s next for Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorby after the NCAA denied his request to have his eligibility reinstated for 2026. Breer also provides updates on the Vikings’ general manager search and what the return could look like if the Eagles trade A.J. Brown.
Gilberto Manzano picks every over/under line for each NFL team’s win projection and ranks his predictions by how confident he is in them.
Pat Forde explains why the SEC breaking away from the NCAA would be catastrophic for college athletics.
Forde also reports that SEC leaders are not pleased with the metrics used for the College Football Playoff selection process.
After the Cubs ended their 10-game losing streak on Wednesday, Nick Selbe has three reasons why their season can turn around and three reasons why it could be a lost campaign.

The top five…

… things I saw last night:
5. Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes’s sprawling save on a breakaway early in the first period. It was all downhill from there for Montreal.
4. A great throw by Aaron Judge to nail a runner at home.
3. Yordan Alvarez’s two homers against the Rangers. That’s two straight games with two homers for Alvarez. He now has 20 on the year, tied with Munetaka Murakami for the most in the AL. Six of them have come against Texas.
2. Elly De La Cruz’s leaping catch on a line drive to shortstop. (I don’t agree with the Reds’ social media account’s assertion that De La Cruz is the only shortstop who can make that play, but it’s still a great catch.)
1. A great throw by Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson to get his team out of a bases-loaded jam. (Henderson also hit two homers as Baltimore completed a three-game sweep against the division-leading Rays.)

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