RivALZ… all for a good cause

Blondes vs. Brunettes

Blondes vs. Brunettes
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Video Credit: Quy Tran Photography

Each year over 120 ladies come from all over the surrounding areas of Houston to raise funds & awareness for the Alzheimer's Association and play some football. The two rival teams, Blondes and Brunettes not only compete on the field on game day, but off the field with fundraising. For 8 weeks both teams' practice, while fundraising through tons of events, sponsors, and personally via each player until the morning of the big game. By game time both teams will have raised hundreds of thousands in the fight against Alzheimer's disease. This year's goal is $380k for the RivALZ Houston chapter. And across the country over $13 million dollars are raised through RivALZ in over 40 cities throughout the country.

These ladies from all around Houston have a passion for the flag football game, with quite a few of them coming from a former college athlete background. Some players and coaches participate for the passion of helping a great cause and great organization. For others, the fight against this terrible disease is deeply personal. It may be a family member or close friend affected by Alzheimer's. But after weeks training and fundraising leading up to the big game, everyone has one common goal, and that is to end Alzheimer's.

·Game Day- Saturday, April 27th @ Noon UH/TDECU STADIUM

·$25 donation gets you in the door

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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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