The 49ers take over NFC West with third straight win, plus a massive World Cup upset

Completely happy Tuesday, all. Hope you are properly. Now we have some huge information to go over proper on the prime. Early this morning, Saudi Arabia earned themselves a spot in World Cup historical past with one of many nice shock wins within the event’s 92 12 months historical past. They overcame an early deficit to stun Lionel Messi and Argentina and win 2-1 at Lusail Stadium.

For a deeper dive on the wild upset click here, and don’t forget to sign up for our World Cup newsletter.

Let’s get to the remainder of the information.

Good morning to everybody however particularly to…

THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

The 49ers are hitting their stride and searching like a workforce nobody will wish to face… once more. San Francisco simply dispatched the Kyler Murray-less Cardinals, 38-10, in Mexico Metropolis for his or her third straight win final night time. They now lead the NFC West.

Two giant causes the 49ers dominated: Jimmy Garoppolo performed practically excellent:

And the San Francisco protection was manner an excessive amount of for Arizona to deal with:

The 49ers offense did just about no matter it wished to all night time. Christian McCaffrey helped with 106 yards from scrimmage and Deebo Samuel scored his first landing since Week 5. San Francisco earned an A+ in our weekly grades.

Honorable mentions

And never such morning for…

THE UNITED STATES MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM

A dominant begin. A superb breakthrough purpose. A steep drop off. A brutal mistake. A irritating draw. The United States males’s nationwide workforce took its supporters for a journey on a rollercoaster of feelings Monday, ultimately settling for a 1-1 draw with Wales.

 In a vacuum, it is a respectable — even — consequence. Given what it may have been, it is a disappointment.

• The US dominated possession within the first half, and the purpose finally came in the 36th minute, with Christian Pulisic sprinting down the center of the sector and placing an ideal by way of move to Tim Weah. It was awesome.
• That might be the USMNT’s solely shot on track, although, and a poor second half lastly caught as much as them when Gareth Bale drew a foul from Walker Zimmerman within the penalty field. Bale transformed the penalty kick — even with Matt Turner getting his fingertips to it — within the 82nd minute.

Holding onto a lead on the World Cup is not any simple process, particularly for a traditionally younger workforce like this United States one. However Zimmerman, a 29-year-old veteran who’s been penciled in as a starter for months, making the error is an particularly powerful blow. He acquired the bottom ranking of any U.S. participant in Roger Gonzalez’s player ratings.

• Gonzalez: “Walker Zimmerman: 3/10 — Sturdy and dependable, no less than within the air, cleansing some harmful balls out of the field that would have precipitated huge bother. On the bottom, it was one other story. His foul on Gareth Bale to surrender a penalty kick was reckless and stunning. He knew instantly that he made a grave mistake.”

Whereas a draw is in no way a dying sentence for america’ hopes of advancing, it does place big added emphasis on the U.S. performing properly Friday towards an England aspect that thrashed Iran, 6-2.The primary tiebreaker within the World Cup is purpose differential, so the U.S. cannot afford to let issues get away towards a really, very gifted England aspect.

Not so honorable mentions

Why the four-team School Soccer Playoff made the weekend nice 🏈

The College Football Playoff image hung within the stability seemingly all of Saturday afternoon and properly into the night time. Michigan and TCU wanted late area targets to maintain their excellent data intact. Ohio State trailed at halftime. Tennessee misplaced. USC narrowly escaped a high-scoring thriller.

It is what makes faculty soccer nice: one of the best groups in high-stakes battles each weekend, not simply towards the highest opponents. However that drama is simply doable with a four-team playoff: A 12-team playoff would mean fewer regular-season games we love most, writes our Tom Fornelli.

• Fornelli: “As a substitute of upset losses probably costing these groups a CFP berth, it might’ve merely affected their seeding. That does not carry fairly the identical drama, does it? The argument many make for enlargement is that it’ll give us extra significant video games late within the season, however we simply had a weekend that wasn’t supposed to supply a lot drama present loads of significant video games with excessive stakes. … Growth’s coming, however when it does, and you do not expertise one other Saturday just like the one you simply had in November, do not say you were not warned.“

Baseball Corridor of Fame releases 2023 poll: Who will get in? ⚾

The 2023 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot got here out Monday, and we’ve loads of controversial names each outdated and new among the many 28 candidates.

Carlos Beltrán is much and away the highest newcomer. A nine-time All-Star, three-time gold Glove winner and one-time World Sequence champ with over 2,700 profession hits, he has the numbers to get in. We’ll get to the opposite stuff in a bit. The subsequent-biggest title among the many first-year candidates is Francisco Rodríguez. Here is extra in regards to the poll:

• Scott Rolen (63.2 p.c), Todd Helton (52 p.c) and Billy Wagner (51 p.c) have been the one returners who acquired no less than 50 p.c of the vote final 12 months.
• Alex Rodriguez is probably the most recognizable title among the many returners. He is in his second 12 months on the poll after receiving 34.3 p.c of votes final 12 months.
• Gamers should obtain no less than 75 p.c of the vote to get in and are on the poll for 10 years. Additionally they fall off in the event that they fail to obtain 5 p.c of the vote any given 12 months.

The massive names that are not on the poll, after all, are Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling and Sammy Sosa. These first three could get in another way, though. Our baseball knowledgeable Matt Snyder broke down 10 things to know about the ballot, and the large one is Beltrán’s position within the Astros’ dishonest scandal.

• Snyder: “I’ve completely no concept how this can have an effect on issues. Connections to PEDs have saved quite a few otherwise-worthy candidates out. This is not that, however Beltrán was stated to be one of many ringleaders of the sign-stealing operation in Houston in 2017… his involvement may trigger him to lose votes via the so-called character clause.”

Matt offers a wonderful and informative breakdown and even makes a prediction for who will get in. I extremely encourage y’all to learn it.

Olivia Pichardo makes historical past for Brown baseball ⚾

Olivia Pichardo, a freshman at Brown College, made the college’s baseball workforce on Monday. She is the first NCAA Division I female varsity baseball player ever.

• Pichardo, a walk-on, “put collectively probably the most full walk-on tryout I’ve seen from a participant since changing into a head coach,” head coach Grant Achilles stated.
• Pichardo will function a utility participant each on the infield and within the outfield.
• She performed for the United States Baseball Girls’s Nationwide Workforce in 2022 as an outfielder and pitcher.

Virginia-Virginia Tech soccer recreation canceled; Cavaliers’, Hokies’ seasons finish 🏈

The Virginia Cavaliers‘ scheduled recreation towards the Virginia Tech Hokies was canceled Monday, roughly every week after three Virginia gamers — linebacker/defensive finish D’Sean Perry, vast receiver Lavel Davis Jr. and vast receiver/returner Devin Chandler — were fatally shot by former participant Christopher Jones Jr. Two different college students, together with working again Mike Hollins, have been wounded within the taking pictures.

What we’re watching Tuesday 📺

⚽ We’re watching the World Cup. Here’s the schedule.
🏀 Nets at 76ers, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 No. 10 Creighton vs. No. 9 Arkansas, 8 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Lakers at Suns, 10 p.m. on TNT