THE SEC REPORT

A&M dropped the ball, LSU showed a weakness and Georgia took care of business

A&M dropped the ball, LSU showed a weakness and Georgia took care of business

LAST WEEK

Now this was the kind of weekend college football was made for! Texas A&M lost another important game, LSU might have shown some weakness and Georgia proved how strong the top of the SEC truly is. These were some epic games. A&M is now playing for pride and a mid level bowl game but that's ok, it's been a good season but that loss to Auburn ended all hopes for them. Georgia played a great game against Notre Dame and it was worth watching. LSU's defense is allowing a lot of points to be scored and it's becoming a trend to me.

THREE STARS OF LAST WEEKEND

Garrett Shrader, running back of Mississippi State, had 125 yards on eleven caries. Holy smokes that's the stuff of legends right there.

Elijah Moore, wide receiver of Ole Miss, even though they lost he had eleven catches for 102 yards. He was the security blanket of that offense and while they came up short, he worked hard in that game.

Kyle Trask, quarterback of Florida, in his first start he gets to go out there and prove the coach right and beat up on struggling Tennessee. It would have been easy to lose and blame the nerves but he came through.

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND

This weekend, the first game that jumps out of the schedule at the casual SEC fan is A&M vs Arkansas.

A&M desperately needs a win to stop the losing and they are now in danger of falling straight out of the top 25. The tough competitive game will be Kentucky at South Carolina as the rest of the week is set up for blowouts as LSU and Florida are off.

THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH

South Carolina Gamecocks Defense, they're going to have to play a lot better if they want to turn their season around and Kentucky is as good a team to start against.

Bo Nix, quarterback of Auburn, it's telling how a quarterback plays the week after a big win. And winning on the road in Kyle field is as big as it can get.

Jimbo Fisher, head coach of Texas A&M after their second high profile loss it'll be important to see how the head coach handles getting this team ready for the rest of the season.

Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

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Kyle Tucker returns to Houston this weekend. Composite Getty Image.

Two first-place teams, identical records, and a weekend set with serious measuring-stick energy.

The Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs open a three-game series Friday night at Daikin Park, in what could quietly be one of the more telling matchups of the summer. Both teams enter at 48-33, each atop their respective divisions — but trending in slightly different directions.

The Astros have been red-hot, going 7-3 over their last 10 while outscoring opponents by 11 runs. They've done it behind one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, with a collective 3.41 ERA that ranks second in the American League. Houston has also been dominant at home, where they’ve compiled a 30-13 record — a stat that looms large heading into this weekend.

On the other side, the Cubs have held their ground in the NL Central but have shown some recent shakiness. They're 5-5 over their last 10 games and have given up 5.66 runs per game over that stretch. Still, the offense remains dangerous, ranking fifth in on-base percentage across the majors. Kyle Tucker leads the way with a .287 average, 16 homers, and 49 RBIs, while Michael Busch has been hot of late, collecting 12 hits in his last 37 at-bats.

Friday’s pitching matchup features Houston’s Brandon Walter (0-1, 3.80 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) and Chicago’s Cade Horton (3-1, 3.73 ERA, 1.29 WHIP), a promising young arm making one of his biggest starts of the season on the road. Horton will have his hands full with Isaac Paredes, who’s slugged 16 homers on the year, and Mauricio Dubón, who’s found a groove with four home runs over his last 10 games.

It’s the first meeting of the season between these two clubs — and if the trends continue, it may not be the last time they cross paths when it really counts.

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -112, Cubs -107; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

Here's a preview of Joe Espada's Game 1 lineup.

The first thing that stands out is rookie Cam Smith is hitting cleanup, followed by Jake Meyers. Victor Caratini is the DH and is hitting sixth. Christian Walker is all the way down at seventh, followed by Yainer Diaz, and Taylor Trammell who is playing left field.

How the mighty have fallen.

Pretty wild to see Walker and Diaz hitting this low in the lineup. However, it's justified, based on performance. Walker is hitting a pathetic .214 and Diaz is slightly better sporting a .238 batting average.

Screenshot via: MLB.com



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