FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- One day after trading third-year tight end Michael Roberts to the New England Patriots in exchange for a conditional 2020 seventh-round pick, the Detroit Lions announced Friday that the deal was rescinded because conditions weren't met. The Lions then waived Roberts, per the club.

Roberts didn't pass his physical with the Patriots, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The Patriots are transitioning without retired tight end Rob Gronkowski, and have a thin tight-end- depth chart headlined by four-year veteran Matt LaCosse, 38-year-old Benjamin Watson and younger players Stephen Anderson and Ryan Izzo. Watson will miss the first four games of the season due to an NFL suspension.

So the 6-foot-5, 265-pound Roberts, who entered the NFL as a fourth-round draft choice of the Lions in 2017 out of Toledo, was projected to compete for a roster spot in New England. He had played in 23 regular-season games over the past two years, totaling 13 catches for 146 yards and three touchdowns, but faced longer odds to make the Lions' roster this year at a crowded spot.

"Obviously with the tight end position, we have good competition in the room right now," Lions head coach Matt Patricia said on Thursday. "We had an opportunity to move on from Mike and hopefully, potentially, get something for it. So it was a good opportunity for us as a team to do that and build our team long term."

The NBA Finals had a wild impact on next year's championship odds, leaving the Los Angeles Lakers as the favorites at some sportsbooks and the injury-riddled Golden State Warriors as second-tier contenders.

The Lakers, at +400, are -- despite their absence from the 2018-19 playoffs -- the favorites to win the 2019-20 NBA championship at Caesars sportsbook, followed by the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers, who are each at +600. The Toronto Raptors, who took down the Warriors in Game 6 on Thursday to clinch the NBA Finals, are +800.

The SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas also has the Lakers as the favorites to win next year's title, but New Jersey sportsbooks DraftKings and FanDuel each had the Bucks listed as the favorites on Friday afternoon.

Every book had the Warriors as the favorites entering the NBA Finals, but Golden State lost stars Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson to serious injuries and saw its odds lengthen to as long as 14-1 to win next year's title. On Friday, the SuperBook took a $10,000 bet on the Warriors to win next year's title at 14-1 odds, according to executive director John Murray.

Durant suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in Game 5 of the Finals, and Thompson tore his ACL late in the third quarter of Game 6. Durant and Thompson, two of several big names that potentially could be on the move this offseason, each face a long recovery.

"[Golden State] is now [Stephen] Curry and Draymond [Green] without much else," Caesars head of risk Jeff Davis told ESPN on Friday morning. "There has been almost zero interest in them in the future market so far, so we made the decision to raise them and lower others."

Durant's and Thompson's injuries throw a wrench into an offseason capable of shaking up the balance of power in the NBA. The champion Raptors head into the summer hoping the franchise's first championship will be enough to persuade star Kawhi Leonard, a free agent, to stay in Toronto. The Boston Celtics and Lakers are reportedly in the mix to trade for New Orleans Pelicans All-Star forward Anthony Davis. The Celtics were listed at +1,200 at Caesars on Friday.

Caesars sportsbook senior oddsmaker Alan Berg said Thursday that he had already taken bets "big enough to make me respect them" on the Clippers and Lakers.

"We are treating all these bets as sharp on the basis that it's a very speculative market, with all the powerful free agents who can turn these teams into championship contenders," Berg added.

At the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas, more money has been bet on the Lakers to win next year's title than on any other team. Three of the four largest bets the SuperBook had taken on next year's championship were on the Lakers, including a $4,000 bet placed in early June at 18-1.

Caesars sportsbook also took a "big bet" on the Lakers for next year, according to Berg, who says the real challenge for bookmakers begins now.

"We're playing this game where hopefully we're on top of the information before everyone else is," Berg said. "But that's usually not the case."

The Houston Rockets are plus-1,000, the Denver Nuggets plus-1,500, the Brooklyn Nets plus-2,000 and the New York Knicks plus-2,200 at Caesars.

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is investigating Toronto Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri for suspicion of misdemeanor battery on a police officer, it confirmed Friday morning.

The alleged incident occurred Thursday night on the floor at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, after the Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors to win the NBA title and Ujiri tried to join the team on the floor. He was stopped by a deputy.

"Mr. Ujiri was unknown to the deputy at that time. He [the deputy] asked him for a credential," said Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the sheriff's office. "He shoved the deputy out of the way and walked toward the court. The deputy pushed back. The president came forward more with a more significant push and ended up striking the deputy in the face."

NBC Bay Area posted video of the aftermath of the incident late Thursday night, but it does not show what happened first.

The sheriff's office is gathering information on what occurred, talking to witnesses and members of the security teams as well as gathering available video, Kelly said Friday.

Ujiri watched the end of the game on television outside the Raptors' locker room with other team officials. He then came down the tunnel to the floor to join the on-court celebration.

The NBA requires extra credentials to gain access to the floor when the series is clinched, including a gold armband. Kelly said the NBA had asked law enforcement officials to be extra vigilant on requiring the credentials. Kelly said Masai either didn't have the credentials or didn't show them.

"The incident is being looked at, and we are cooperating with authorities," the Raptors said in statement Friday afternoon. "We look forward to resolving the situation."

Kelly said the sheriff's office has spoken with the NBA and that the league is aware of the investigation. As of Friday morning, the sheriff's office had not yet spoken to the Raptors or Ujiri.

NBA spokesman Mike Bass said the league was in contact with the Raptors and local authorities and is "in the process of gathering more information."

The investigation should be wrapped up by next week, Kelly said.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst contributed to this report.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Three years ago, as the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrated the franchise's first NBA championship on the Golden State Warriors' home court, Draymond Green sat at his locker and sent a text message to Kevin Durant.

Green wanted to let Durant know that -- even at his lowest moment, just an hour after losing a Game 7 of the Finals -- he was thinking about Durant. That the Warriors needed Durant. And that he'd be welcome on a team that had previously won a title and 73 regular-season games.

Back then, they knew each other only as competitors. But Green's instincts were dead on -- the outreach did its job. A few weeks later, Durant joined the Warriors as a free agent, forever altering the NBA landscape.

Three years later, as the Warriors again absorbed the ignominy of watching a team -- this time the Toronto Raptors -- celebrating its first title at Oracle Arena, Durant was the one reaching out.

Klay Thompson was in the Warriors' locker room, his left knee wrapped in ice, hoping that the injury he'd just suffered wasn't as bad as the doctors suspected.

Thompson had come into this game believing the Warriors had a little magic left in them. That they'd win this last game in Oracle Arena for Durant, who'd suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in Game 5. "We all know this is a minor setback for a major comeback," Thompson had written in an Instagram post with the hashtags #doitforK and #onelastdance.

But this injury, already described by doctors as a likely ACL tear, wasn't something Thompson could will himself through. This was the end of the road. For this season, and perhaps for the Warriors' dynasty.

Then his phone rang.

Durant was on the line, FaceTiming him from New York, where he's recovering from surgery on his torn Achilles.

"I heard them talking," Klay's father, Mychal, said of the conversation. "But I don't think they'd want me to divulge it."

Durant was probably the only person in the world who could relate to exactly what Thompson was feeling in that moment. His dad knew to give them space.

"They were encouraging each other to come back strong," Mychal Thompson said. "They got unfinished business."

THIS SEASON HAS been a war of attrition and attention for the Warriors. At times, the team seemed to be dragging itself along -- too talented and proud to surrender, but too tired and injured to mount the kind of fight it has become known for.

Five straight years of breathing the same air with the same group of human beings can wear on the most gentle soul. Five years of doing that under the spotlight that accompanies being the best team in the NBA is when pipes start bursting.

But the way things finally ended, with Durant and Thompson going down with catastrophic injuries that will keep each of them out a significant portion of next year, makes every other issue around the Warriors feel less important.

Before Game 5 in Toronto on Monday, general manager Bob Myers spent a half hour talking to Durant's agent, Rich Kleiman, on the court. Cameras dissected their every move, knowing the immense pressure Durant and the Warriors had been under the past few weeks to clear him medically.

"How are you?" Myers was asked.

"Tired," he said.

That was before Durant reinjured himself and ruptured his Achilles in Game 5. And before Thompson crashed to the ground in the next game, the guard clutching his left knee after landing awkwardly following a dunk attempt.

The Warriors had spent the better part of two weeks managing the narrative around Durant's recovery from a calf injury. But when Durant remained out longer than expected, they'd started to lose control of it. Myers said that the Warriors' internal target had always been Game 5 of the Finals, with a very small chance at Game 4. But the Warriors never said that explicitly, and it led to a constant sense in the early part of the Finals that Durant's return was just around the corner.

There were daily questions and reports on his progress. Players read and reacted to those reports. Then they saw Durant go through individual workouts at the team's practice facility, and thought he looked good. So after Game 4, when Thompson fought his way back from a hamstring injury and Kevon Looney returned to play with fractured cartilage near his collarbone, the narrative and the optics of Durant's absence got janky, to steal Stephen Curry's word.

"It's that time of year when you get scrutinized," Myers said before Durant's return in Game 5. "For us, if we made it to Game 5 ... that was always going to be Kevin's shot at returning. But I can't control what you guys write and all the narratives out there.

"But the nice thing about being part of a team, is that you know what's going on within the team."

If only that were the case. According to multiple team sources, several players expressed frustration over the prolonged uncertainty of Durant's situation.

That's different than being frustrated with him or questioning his desire to play. But as one source put it, "It's like you're swimming in the ocean and someone says, 'We're getting you a life jacket soon.' Well, until you get that life jacket, you're waiting for it. And I think that created tremendous anxiety."

That anxiety was heightened by what all this could mean for Durant's free agency this summer. All season, the uncertainty over Durant's future with the team has been a fascinating, frustrating wrinkle. Most people learned to compartmentalize it. To accept whatever comes. Even to make peace with it.

But the specter of Durant's departure was always there. It was hard for some inside the organization not to take personally, not to wonder what Durant could want beyond what the Warriors had given him these past few years.

But when Durant was hurt in Game 5, everything changed. All that anxiety went out the window and turned to genuine concern.

Veteran public relations VP Raymond Ridder said he knew right away how serious the injury was, without even having to ask.

"There was a lot of raw emotion back there," Ridder said of the scene in the locker room as Durant was examined. "Bob Myers had his head in his hands. It was very quiet."

A few hours after the Game 5 win, Warriors players, owners and staffers went to a team dinner at The Chase restaurant in Toronto. It had been planned, win or lose.

"We won the game, but I was very, very depressed at dinner," Warriors owner Joe Lacob said after Game 6. "That was a devastating injury. I'm not as depressed tonight because I don't know how much more depressed I can get. We've just gotta just move forward now."

KLAY THOMPSON FOLLOWED the final quarter of Thursday's Game 6 on the NBA app. He had left the arena on crutches during the fourth quarter to get an MRI, still with the slight hope the injury wasn't as bad as the doctors feared. "He told me he didn't feel it pop," Mychal Thompson said. "So I was hoping maybe he just twisted it."

Klay had had the same hope -- after being helped off the court by his teammates, he came sprinting back to take two free throws, and made them both. He tried to coax his way back into the game by running down to the other end of the court on defense before the Warriors committed an intentional foul to get him out of the game. As he reluctantly left the court, he told Warriors coach Steve Kerr he'd be back in a few minutes.

But within minutes of going back to the locker room, Thompson knew something was very wrong. Everything in his knee stiffened and swelled up. The pain became intense. He tried to stretch and walk it off. But the Warriors' medical staff told him that his knee was unstable and they suspected it was an ACL tear.

"I was so hurt for him," Mychal said. "He wanted to be out there with his teammates. If he was going to lose, he was going to go down with his teammates."

"I was back there when they told him he was out the rest of Thursday," Ridder said. "And all he said was, 'Do you think I can play Sunday [in Game 7]?'"

Thompson's brother, Mychel, drove him to an imaging center in Berkeley. His parents followed in a separate car. The Warriors were keeping it close deep into the fourth quarter.

With just a few minutes remaining in the game, Thompson was wheeled into the MRI machine. The game ended while he was in there.

"What happened?" Thompson asked as soon as he finished. "Did we win?"

It wasn't until he learned that the Warriors had lost that he began to consider what this injury might mean to his career.

"Do you think this could affect my free agency?" he asked.

BACK AT ORACLE Arena, in a small room adjacent to the Warriors' locker room, Myers and Lacob began talking about the questions that lay ahead as the franchise begins one of its most important offseasons ever. Thompson and Durant can both become unrestricted free agents. Should they choose to go elsewhere, there is no way to replace either of them, in talent or with what few financial options the Warriors will have at their disposal. But keeping both of them could balloon the team's salary cap and luxury tax payments to a staggering $375 million.

"It's very complicated," Lacob said. "Once I get through being depressed about the injuries, I'm actually excited about the challenge. How do we stay competitive? What's our plan? Frankly, I've already formulated one. I've been talking with Bob and [assistant GM] Kirk [Lacob], and we've got a couple ideas."

Myers had come into the room to collect a half-dozen dress shirts and blazers he'd left during the season. There was no need for them here now or, ever again. The season, and the Warriors' run in Oakland, is over. He found Lacob there, escaping the crowd that came to drown its sorrows at the bar inside the Bridge Club, his exclusive suite near the Warriors' family room.

"I don't drink," Lacob said. "Or rather, I'm not gonna drink right now. I have too much work to do."

They have the draft next Thursday. They have to figure out how to handle Durant's and Thompson's free agencies. They have to decide how the devastating injuries each player suffered in the Finals affects next season and beyond.

Lacob couldn't talk about his thinking regarding potential free agents because of NBA tampering rules. He could, however, praise a player for his performance and effort during the series.

"We win that game, in my opinion, if he stays healthy," Lacob said of Thompson. "He's fantastic. Unbelievable. I love him."

AS LACOB TALKED about the Warriors' uncertain future and got to work on processing how this season came crashing to such a terrible ending, Dell Curry came bounding down the hallway with a giant bag of popcorn.

Normally, his son Stephen is the popcorn guy. He eats it after every game. But a small bag -- nothing so garish as this giant plastic bag full of buttery goodness that his dad was munching on.

"To do it for five years, with the circumstances that we had, and still be in it, I can't believe it," Dell Curry said. "We've celebrated more tonight, during a loss, than ever. Because we knew how hard it is. We lost, but it's still a win."

His son would've been favored to win Finals MVP if the Warriors had come back to win the series. In Game 6, he missed an open shot that would have put the Warriors up with less than 10 seconds remaining.

"I'll live with that," Stephen Curry said in the locker room after the game. "We always talk about that -- myself and Klay -- in terms of shots we take. You live with it. And I'd shoot that shot every day of the week."

But by the time he left Oracle Arena for the last time, such things seemed to be the furthest thoughts from Curry's mind.

Curry spent extra time packing up his locker before leaving. Then he stopped to say goodbye to every security guard, usher and custodian who worked there. Many of them won't be working in the new arena in San Francisco next year. The choice was given to all employees, but the new commute has proved prohibitive to many.

When Curry finally drove away from the arena he had helped make NBA history in, he went home and hung out with a dozen or so members of his family. They ordered In-N-Out burgers and played video golf deep into the night.

He has always been the bellwether for these Warriors. They went as he did. They fed off his energy and his emotions. So as this season wrapped up in such abrupt fashion, the organization followed his lead once again.

"There's a lot of different emotions," Curry said. "No regrets at all about how this series ended.

"We had a lot of great memories in this building. I think it's iconic, in the sense of our entire history of this organization and how we got to this point. Whenever I drive by it, I'll have great memories of what we have been able to accomplish.

"As we move across the bridge, we want to be able to continue that and create new memories. So hopefully every fan that was in this building appreciates the journey and the ride."

Oakland Athletics outfielder Stephen Piscotty had successful surgery Thursday to remove a melanoma from his right ear, the team announced Friday.

The melanoma, a form of skin cancer, was discovered during a routine spot check with a dermatologist when a suspicious mole was identified on Piscotty, and a subsequent biopsy came back positive.

Piscotty will be evaluated daily while awaiting further information from the pathology report on surgery, according to the A's. They anticipate his return to the team within the next week.

Piscotty is hitting .250 with eight home runs, 29 RBIs and 34 runs in 65 games this season, his second with Oakland. He entered Friday tied for second on the team with 65 hits.

CHICAGO -- The New York Yankees' biggest reinforcements are almost back.

Injured sluggers Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge are beginning the last phase of their respective rehab assignments this weekend, the team announced Friday.

Both outfielders will be reporting to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and are expected in the lineup Friday night. The Yankees minor league affiliate has a three-game series at the Durham Bulls beginning Friday.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday before his team's series opener at the Chicago White Sox that Stanton likely would spend the full series with the RailRiders before getting an off day Monday and then being inserted back into the Bronx Bombers' lineup at home against Tampa Bay on Tuesday. Judge, meanwhile, will probably be looking at a slightly longer stint with the RailRiders, Boone indicated.

The Yankees have missed both power hitters since April, when they were lost along with several others as an early-season injury bug ravaged the roster. In all, 20 players have been on the Yankees' injured list since spring training, with only six having returned from it. Currently, 14 players are on the Yankees' IL, including Stanton and Judge.

Stanton has played in only three games this season, going on the IL on April 1 with a left biceps strain. He's batting .250 (2-for-8) with no homers, no RBIs and one run scored this season. Nearly a month into his rehab stint, the biceps injury improved, but Stanton was suddenly afflicted with a left shoulder injury.

He eventually got over that shoulder issue. But while he was participating in a live batting practice session last month at the Yankees' complex in Tampa, Stanton was hit by a pitch around his left knee/calf. The hit-by-pitch left him with a calf strain that he's been rehabbing for nearly the past month. Boone indicated that he has healed from that.

Judge went on the IL on April 21 after suffering a left oblique injury during a swing the day before. For most of the past four weeks, Judge has slowly worked himself into throwing again, performing defensive drills and eventually to swinging a bat in live batting practice and extended spring training simulations.

Following two live hitting sessions at the Yankees' complex in Tampa earlier this week, he has progressed to the point of participating in rehab games with the RailRiders.

Before getting injured, Judge was batting .288 with a .925 OPS. He also had five homers and 11 RBIs in 20 games.

The Yankees, meanwhile, are currently on a 16-game homer-hitting streak, despite being without both superstar power hitters.

While the big bats and long balls are garnering most of the headlines, we're seeing some special -- and surprising -- performances on the mound as well. We look at some of them and the other big storylines that will play out this weekend.

White Sox starter Lucas Giolito, who is 7-0 with a 0.88 ERA and .385 OPS allowed in his past seven starts, has a tough test in facing the Yankees on Friday night. Where does Giolito fit in your early look at the AL Cy Young contenders?

Eddie Matz: Given his massive dimensions, it's hard to fit Lucas Giolito into anything. But when I saw him last week in D.C. (when he told me he was bummed to not be facing his former team, the Nationals), he looked significantly leaner than in the past. Still towering, but leaner. As such, I suppose I can fit him into my early American League Cy Young ballot ... right near the top. If not for a couple of missed starts in April (hammy), he'd probably be at the top. As it is, he's still neck-and-neck (and neck) with Charlie Morton and Jake Odorizzi.

Sam Miller: It probably comes down to Justin Verlander and Giolito for me, with Giolito getting the edge for being slightly better and then 20 seconds later Verlander getting the edge for throwing a bunch more innings. And then 20 seconds after that, I have a vision of Chris Sale in The Freeze's suit, 85 feet behind them both but gaining eight feet with every start.

David Schoenfield: Just as expected, it's Verlander battling Giolito, Odorizzi and Morton for Cy Young honors. Verlander has 21 more innings than Morton (the No. 2 guy), 25 more than Giolito and 30 more than Odorizzi. On the other hand, he's allowed more home runs than the other three combined. Verlander has allowed 17 home runs -- but somehow only 28 runs, which is weird and crazy. I think the innings matter, and Verlander has 13 quality starts in 15 outings, five more than Morton's eight. I go Verlander-Morton-Giolito-Odorizzi at the moment.

Speaking of Cy Young contenders, Hyun-Jin Ryu enters his Sunday Night Baseball start against the Cubs (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) sporting a 9-1 record and a 1.36 ERA. What is the most impressive aspect of Ryu's most impressive season thus far?

Matz: I'll take "Ridiculous Strikeout-to-Walk Ratios" for $400 please, Alex. In 13 starts, the Los Angeles Dodgers lefty has 77 punchouts with just five free passes. Five! Cinco! Chamesh! That works out to a K-BB ratio of 15.4 that is the best in the majors by a landslide meets a mudslide meets a slide guitar meets an electric guitar meets an electric eel. Speaking of electric eels, here's how shocking Ryu's ratio is: The next-closest guy is Max Scherzer, whose ratio of 6.6 isn't even half of Ryu's. If Ryu keeps this up, he'll shatter the single-season record of 11.6, currently held by Phil Hughes. Where I come from, we call that impressive.

Miller: What do Yu Darvish, Luis Castillo, Robbie Ray, Julio Teheran and Trevor Bauer have in common? They all have higher walk rates this year, against all batters, than Ryu has in three-ball counts. (So do a bunch of other starters, by the way.) And with runners in scoring position, Ryu is allowing a .037/.054/.037 line. So when things have gotten a little rough -- runners on, or a bad count -- he has made the pitch he needed to make.

Schoenfield: OK, so Ryu is a strike-throwing robot. Here's a fun non-strike-throwing robot fact: Nolan Ryan had 26 separate games in 1977 when he walked at least five batters. Yet he still managed a 2.93 ERA in those games. Maybe Ryan was a robot. After all, imagine how many pitches he must have thrown in some of those games: 9 IP, 7 H, 9 BB, 13 SO; 11 IP, 9 H, 7 BB, 11 SO; 10 IP, 6 H, 5 BB, 19 SO; 9 IP, 5 H, 8 BB, 12 SO. And so on. He did this all season. I guess that's my point about Ryu: He's been the anti-Nolan Ryan. And I'll take the anti-Nolan Ryan.

The Rangers -- who are in Cincinnati this weekend (1 p.m. ET Sunday, ESPN+) -- are one of the most pleasant surprises of the season. Will they be able to stay in wild-card contention through September?

Matz: Can they stay in wild-card contention? Sure, along with half the league. Will they win the wild card? Only if they continue to play 56% of their games against the Mariners, Orioles and Royals, as they've done over the past month (they're 12-3 against that hole-y troika during that stretch). For what it's worth, Texas faces Seattimore City just 13 times over its final 94 games. They don't call 'em the dog days for nothin'.

Miller: The Rangers took an extremely risky strategy into this season, betting on recent Tommy John-ers Shelby Miller, Drew Smyly and Edinson Volquez in their rotation. It worked out even better than they planned: Those three have thrown 91 innings, allowed 91 runs and somehow caused the rest of the team to wildly outperform all expectations. The Rangers have, in the past few weeks, remade that broken rotation on the fly, and it's sort of working. I could see them winning 84 games, for sure. But the three teams they're holding off in the wild-card race -- Cleveland, Oakland and Boston, all just a couple of games back -- won 91, 97 and 108 games last season, respectively, and I can't really see all three of them collapsing to 83 or worse this year.

Schoenfield: What they said! Look, with four American League teams on pace for 100 losses and the Mariners trending in that direction, the season is set up for a surprise team. Somebody has to win some of these games. Aside from Texas' rotation concerns, I'm not sure this is a playoff-caliber offense, and that's even without assuming regression from Joey Gallo and Hunter Pence. The Rangers are second in the AL in runs (through Wednesday), but fourth in batting average, sixth in OBP and fourth in slugging. They've hit .281/.365/.508 with runners in scoring position, so they've hit well in the clutch. They need that to continue, but you don't want to have to bet on that to continue.

Writers' choice: What are you most looking forward to this weekend?

Matz: Baltimore lefty John Means has been good enough that the O's -- yes, those O's -- actually have two guys who deserve to be in the All-Star conversation (Trey Mancini being the more obvious one). A 26-year-old rookie, Means didn't crack the rotation until mid-April, so he's a teensy bit shy of qualifying for the ERA title. But if he did qualify, his 2.60 ERA would rank sixth in the AL. This weekend, he and his pet changeup draw the Red Sox again. He's already faced Boston twice and pitched well both times. I'll be looking to see if he can fool the Sox thrice and keep the Means mojo going.

Miller: Byron Buxton has climbed to sixth in the American League in WAR, and certainly in the top three for sharable defensive highlights. The Twins are hosting the Royals this weekend, looking to pad their 95% chance of winning the AL Central, and I'll be looking for Buxton to punish a terrible Royals pitching staff and play himself into the MVP conversation. There are few things I'd enjoy more than Buxton, with so much beauty in his game, putting everything together and finishing second to Mike Trout.

Schoenfield: Well, Cubs-Dodgers should be fun, including that Ryu game Sunday. But the matchup I want to check out is Kyle Hendricks versus Rich Hill on Friday, a meeting of two of my favorite pitchers in the game. In this era of power pitchers followed by power relievers, I love watching these two finesse guys outwit batters. Hendricks is unique as a finesse right-hander, Hill with that big looping curveball. They remind us that you don't have to throw 95 mph to succeed.

PICK 'EM TIME

The top two teams in the NL East meet with the Phillies facing the Braves in Atlanta. Who will win the series?

Matz: Pretty much everyone in the Braves lineup is mashing right now. Meanwhile, pretty much everyone in the Phillies bullpen is M*A*S*H-ing right now. Advantage Atlanta.

Miller: It's simple: The Phillies just need Jay Bruce to stay the hottest hitter in the world. I'll take the Braves.

Schoenfield: The Phillies swept the Braves in Philly to begin the season (their only meeting so far), when two of the Atlanta starters were Bryse Wilson and Kyle Wright. This time it's Sean Newcomb, Max Fried and Mike Foltynewicz. I'll go with the Braves taking two of three at home, with Newcomb having a nice return to the rotation after his excellent relief outing the other night (4.2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 SO).

As we all know, home runs are flying everywhere. Choosing from three of the top homer-hitting teams of June, which team will hit the most long balls this weekend: Mariners, Braves or Twins?

Matz: Seattle plays at Oakland, where dingers go to die. Minnesota plays at home, where Twins taters don't happen nearly as much as they do on the road. That leaves the Braves, who will leave the yard early and often this weekend. Eight times, to be exact.

Miller: I'm not ashamed to admit: I did not expect that question to end with those three teams. The Braves get to face the Phillies, who have been the National League's most homer-prone pitching staff. And unlike the Mariners, they're at home. I'll take them.

Schoenfield: The Twins laugh at Eddie's prediction of eight home runs for a weekend. They've hit eight in a game twice already. They do face Brad Keller on Friday, and he's been stingy with the big flies (four in 86 IP), but since I'm picking the Twins to win every game the rest of the season, I'll go with them.

Anyone willing to boldly pick the Cubs to beat Ryu and the Dodgers on Sunday night?

Matz: Um, no. But I am willing to boldly pick my nose. Inside the privacy of my own car. When nobody's looking. And I'm on the highway, where I can roll down the window and use the wind as a disintegration agent.

Miller: I'd like to be the brave one -- the Dodgers have slugged 50 points lower against lefties than righties this year, and the Cubs will start Jose Quintana, soooooo maybe? -- but the actual better team is at home and starting a pitcher with a 1.66 ERA since the start of 2018. I'm not that brave.

Schoenfield: Ryu has allowed two runs or fewer in all 13 starts. Only one starter (not including Rays opener Ryne Stanek last season) has begun a season with more consecutive starts of two runs or fewer (at least since 1908). It was not Nolan Ryan. It was a guy named Al Benton for the 1945 Tigers, who had 15 in a row. Not bad for a guy who served in the military the previous two seasons. I think it's time for Benton's mark to fall. Ryu does it again with seven scoreless innings to go to 14 in a row.

TWO TRUE OUTCOMES

Each week, we ask our panelists to choose one hitter they think will hit the most home runs and one pitcher they think will record the most strikeouts in the coming weekend. Panelists can pick a player only once for the season. We'll keep a running tally -- and invite you to play along at home.

Home run hitters

Matz: Mookie Betts

Miller: Freddie Freeman

Schoenfield: Wow, I see I'm getting crushed in this race. Plus, I've used my Bellinger and Yelich cards and neither homered. Let's go Ronald Acuna Jr.

Strikeout pitchers

Matz: Jake Odorizzi

Miller: Gerrit Cole

Schoenfield: Trevor Bauer

Olympic 800m champion can compete “without restriction” during appeal process after governing body’s attempt to reverse the suspension of new rules on female classification fails

The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland has rejected the IAAF’s request to reimpose its eligibility regulations on Caster Semenya, the two-time Olympic 800m champion’s legal team has said.

Earlier this month, the global governing body said it would be seeking “a swift reversion” of the Swiss court order which allows Semenya to race “without restriction” while her appeal against the IAAF’s new rules on female classification is pending.

“In an order issued on June 12, the Swiss Supreme Court upheld its prior order issued by the Court on May 31 in favour of Caster Semenya,” reads a statement from Semenya’s legal team.

“The Supreme Court’s prior order requires the IAAF to immediately suspend the implementation of its eligibility regulations against Caster Semenya in light of the athlete’s pending appeal. After considering the IAAF’s arguments, the Court has now determined in a second order that the IAAF’s request failed to set out any reason or change in circumstance that would justify a reconsideration of the prior order.

“This means that Caster remains permitted to compete without restriction in the female category at this time. The IAAF and Athletics South Africa have until June 25 to make submissions to the Supreme Court on Caster’s request that the IAAF regulations be suspended throughout the entire appeal proceedings. Until the Supreme Court decides on this request, the IAAF regulations remain suspended against Caster.”

According to the statement, Semenya said: “No woman should be subjected to these rules.

“I thought hard about not running the 800m in solidarity unless all women can run free. But I will run now to show the IAAF that they cannot drug us.”

Semenya had submitted an appeal after she lost her landmark case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the IAAF’s new rules, which relate to restricting testosterone levels in female runners in certain events.

The ‘IAAF Eligibility Regulations for Female Classification (Athletes with Differences of Sex Development (DSD))’ had originally been due to come into effect on November 1, 2018, but were suspended. Following the CAS ruling, the regulations started on May 8.

Under the new rules Semenya – and other female athletes with DSD – would need to reduce their natural testosterone level in order to take part in women’s events from 400m to the mile in international competition.

According to a quote from Semenya in the statement from her legal team, the hormonal drugs she was required to take in order to comply with previous IAAF rules left her feeling “constantly sick”.

“I am a woman, but the IAAF has again tried to stop me from running the way I was born,” reads the quote.

“The IAAF questions my sex, causes me great pain and required me to take hormonal drugs that made me feel constantly sick and unable to focus for many years. No other woman should be forced to go through this in order to have the same right that all women have – to do what we love and run the way we were born.”

Semenya has been named in South Africa’s preliminary team for the IAAF World Championships in Doha later this year but her participation in the 800m there depends on the outcome of her appeal.

Heptathlete is to contest the 200m and long jump at the London Stadium

Commonwealth heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson is to compete on both days of the Müller Anniversary Games as she takes on the 200m and long jump in the London Stadium on July 20-21.

The 200m takes place on day one of the Diamond League meeting, followed by the long jump on day two, exactly 10 weeks before the start of the IAAF World Championships in Doha.

“I’m really looking forward to competing on both days at the Müller Anniversary Games this year. I love this meet and the London Stadium is such an amazing venue, there’s no place like it in the world,” said Johnson-Thompson, who won Commonwealth and world indoor gold medals in 2018 and then regained the European indoor pentathlon title in Glasgow in March.

“With just 10 weeks to go until the world championships, all the best athletes will be competing with an eye on being in the best shape for Doha.

“I’ll be doing the same, trying to put together what I’d be working on in training to produce good performances on both days.

“I’m really settled now, in France, and the improvement in my performances have reflected that. My coach and training group are great and working with them has definitely given me more confidence.”

Last month the 26-year-old set a heptathlon world lead of 6813 points, a PB by 54 points, as she claimed victory at the Hypomeeting in Götzis.

Tickets for the Müller Anniversary Games are on sale at www.theticketfactory.com/british-athletics