PTI - How Big a Deal is Dodgers' 6-Game Losing Streak?

Episode Date: July 10, 2025

Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser discuss Wimbledon, the LA Dodgers, and Cooper Flagg. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. There's a nude bowling tournament, nude in Pittsburgh Saturday, Tony. Would you ever bowl in the nude?

And Tony Cornheiser, not again. One arrest is enough. Not doing that again. Nope. I don't believe. I don't believe this story. It's like a Florida man. I'm not buying a nude bowling tournament.

Not in Pittsburgh. In Amsterdam, maybe not Pittsburgh. Well, you're the bowler between the two of us. You know more about bowling. If you don't know nude bowling, I'm staying out of this. Welcome to PTI, boys and girls. In today's episode, Cooper Flagg debuts in Summer League. The Dodgers have lost six straight,

and Leonel Messi is putting up big numbers for Into Miami. But we begin today, as we have all this week, with compelling action from Wimbledon. The first women's semifinal between top-seat Arena Savalanka and the 13th seed, American Amanda Anasamova was spectacular. Three sets, each won six, four. Anasimovna won the first and the third,

and at one point in the third set, peeled off four games in a row. In the second semifinal, Igoshviantec steamrolled Belinda Benchich, 6-2-60 in 71 minutes. Wilbon, what do you think of who won and the finals match up? Well, Tom, there wasn't much in the second match that you just mentioned, a six-love score. That's right.

Finishing that off. But the first one, I mean, Onyonova and Sabalinka had the drama, the tension. It seems like you could easily line up behind one or the other. I certainly did and have done that during this tournament. And I found myself at triple match point even, Sabalinka can work herself into such a state when she's behind and just rip off winners that even does. down triple match point. I was like, oh, my gosh, he's going to extend this thing because at one point she had to do that in the second set to get the second set. So it just had everything, Tone. And I don't know about projecting to the final. I didn't have much interest in that. I was pretty absorbed in that first match. And I felt like I was tired, like I had played some points by the time it was over, because I don't know how you could be entertained, more entertained than that.

We agree right down the line. We're not going to talk about the Shviantec match. It was not a compelling match. And the Sabalanka match was absolutely fabulous. I mean, I'm watching this thing. I thought when they get to the third set and Sabalinka breaks in the first game, I say to myself,

okay, she's going to cruise now. Anna Samova can't stay with her now. And then Anna Samova wins four in a row. She breaks right back, wins four in a row, including another break game. And so I say to myself, okay, this one is over because what I watched then,

Sabalanka was wild with a lot of shots. She was committing unforced errors, and I thought, okay, she's done. But she breaks back to 4-5 on, and she gets served at 4-5. And I think, you know what? It's just like against Radikano. She's going to win this thing.

She's a champion. She's going to win. But she couldn't close this time. There was, as you say, triple match point, and Sabalanka got two, but she did not get the third. I just thought it was an absolutely

riveting set. I'm really glad I watch. I'm okay if Shviantek wins because she's already won a lot on clay, she's won on hard court, if she wins on grass, she's won on all surfaces, and then there is greatness in that. But I'm rooting for Anasimova, and I'm rooting for her because this is someone, and I'm grateful to Patrick McEnroe from mentioning her when he was on the show. She was, that had said he was keeping his eye on her. She was ranked 189th last year. Right.

Not five years ago. Last year, she was given up. Last year, she was going through a period where she didn't like tennis, so she seemed to like it today. So I'm going to root for her because you know what, Mike, if she wins, that's three American women in a row winning majors. That's Madison Keyes. That's Cocoa Gauphin.

That's, you know, Onisimova. Yeah. I just hope that the final gives us something as riveting as that first semi. It may not turn out that way, but I hope it does. Let's move to the men's semis, which take place tomorrow morning. Fifth seed that Taylor Fritz takes on two-time defending champ Carlos Al-Qaraz in the first match. And in the second, 38-year-old Novak Djokovic faces world number one Yonix Center. Tone, which would be the bigger upset, Fritz over Al-Karaz or Joker over Center?

This to me is not even close. The bigger upset is if Taylor Fritz beats Al-Karaz. I know Taylor Fritz is the five-seat, and I know Jokovic is the sixth. And I know doing the numbers that the disparity is greater if a six beats a one than if five beats a two. I can do that math. But come on, which of these four people does not belong in this group? It's Taylor Fritz. All the other guys have multiple majors.

They are big stage bright lights tennis player. If Taylor Fritz were to win this, be the greatest win of his career. He would beat the defending champion. He would go to the finals at Wimbledon. I don't think that's going to happen. but I understand what's at stake. I also think it's an upset if Jokovic beats Sitter. I mean, Jokovic didn't even practice today, I read.

You know, he fell the other day and maybe he's taking some time off. But it would be an upset because Sitter just beat him in the semis in France, and Sinter, I think we decided yesterday has beaten him four straight times. But Mike, this is Novak Djokovic. He has won more majors than any other man of all time. This guy can smell the finish line. and neither of us is going to be surprised if he wills himself into winning this one. Upset doesn't even begin to describe.

It wouldn't even surprise me if Jokovic beat Center. Not surprise me at all. Not even at 38, not having fallen down, not having practice. When I heard it in practice, I went into Allen Iversome. No, practice. Practice? No, he doesn't need practice. He needs to be in a frame of mind, which he seems to be able to get himself.

into as often as any male tennis player ever when it comes to getting deep in the biggest and best tennis tournament. So it wouldn't be an upset. Taylor Fritz would be an upset, even though Fritz was in the finals of the U.S. Open less than a year ago, and Fritz is on the come. It's still going to be an upset. We're talking two-time defending champ. And since struggling in that first match, Al-Karaz's only lost two sets. So Al-Karaz has really gotten himself together. I know he hasn't been tested, hasn't played, you know, a top-flight player recently. But when he's on a roll, Tony, I don't know that it matters.

I'll just say this, Mike, that the correct final would be one against two. It would be Sinner and Al-Karaz. I mean, they are the best players in the world, and it is visible that they have the best players in the world. but I'll bet you more people would rather see Jokovic Jal-Karaz. I'll bet you. I'll bet you. Let's go to baseball where the Los Angeles Dodgers were swept last night by the Milwaukee Brewers on a walk-off single by Jackson Churiel in the 10th inning.

This is the first time the Brewers have ever swept the Dodgers in Milwaukee. And this was the Dodgers six loss in a row. That's the first time the Dodgers have lost that many in a row since 2019. We'll be on the Dodgers losing streak. Big deal, little deal, no deal. is between little deal and no deal, Tony, because everything is relative in sports, which people forget.

And they want to cite stats and say, this is the first time ever, and he's the youngest ever, he's the oldest ever. The Dodgers are going through something that every team in the National League, so far maybe except my Cubs, and I'm worried they're going to go through it, has either gone through recently or is going through now.

The Phillies just went through this. The Mets have gone through it. We talk about every week, somebody particularly nationally. Even in the American League, the Yankees went through it. The Astros did it early. They haven't done it lately. But we're seeing this.

They go through where they lose six out of seven or eight out of 11 or five in a row. This is the nature of baseball and particularly right now in the National League. So do I expect the Dodgers to live in that forever, to dwell in it? No, I don't. The Giants have been through it. We've already seen that. have been through it. So it's the Dodgers turn. This is it surprised me. They've lost these six in a row and got swept by Milwaukee for the first time ever in Milwaukee. Yeah, it surprises me,

but it's not a big deal. It's just not. Right. I don't think it's no deal. I agree mostly with what you're saying. I don't think it's no deal. I would point out that the teams that are beating the Dodgers at the moment, the Astros and the Brewers are good teams. They're playoff teams. It's not like the Dodgers have lost to the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago White Sox. You know, that didn't happen. But it is six in a row, and that is of concern, particularly to a first place team. I should say it's mitigated a little bit by the fact that the Dodgers before losing six in a row, one nine out of ten. Although I concede that was against the underbelly of the league.

That was the aforementioned Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox and my Washington Nationals who are stumbling and struggling at the moment. I agree with you that teams go through this. If I was concerned, I'd be concerned about the run differential in these six games, Mike, because the run differential is 34. It's, you know, I mean, the run differences a lot. Here are the scores of the games. Oh, stop with this bell while I hit my nose, because this is important. 18164-5191312.

So four of the games, Mike, the Dodgers only got one run. And this is a team with, you know, with Otani. with Freeman and with Betts and to Oscar Hernandez and the catcher. They're not hitting right now. They're not. They're not. If you take Hernandez and Betz and Freeman and Otani for the last six weeks, they're hitting 225.

So that is of a concern to me. That is. But it's 162. Let's take a break. Coming up, Cooper Flagg makes his Summer League debut tonight. What is the word for that? And what's the best way to describe the goal scoring tear that Lionel Messi has been on? They got good well-pitched games. The Dodgers wasted two well-pitched games in a row.

Four games out of six where they only scored one run. That's very surprising with that lineup. Moncey's out. Time to flex some lexicon on what's the word. What's first? Cooper Flagg Summer League debut. tonight will be blank. My word is overstated. I'm taking one of your words, Wilbon, overstated, and also overpriced.

There's a report that courtside seats are going for $3,000 for this game, for a meaningless summer league exhibition game, contested mainly by people not good enough to ever play in the NBA. In this particular case, it's Dallas and the Lakers. And so, you know, you get last year in the Summer League's curiosity and Brony James, this to me is a product of the hype machine. I don't think there's anything short of breaking his leg that Cooper Flagg can do in this game that will have any meaning whatsoever in his NBA career. And having said that, I am convinced that get up and first take will lead with this this morning, tomorrow morning. I don't know if they'll be on with Wimbledon. But anyway, Tony, I want to disagree with you a little.

it is overstated, but it's also worthwhile. And that's my word, worthwhile, just because I want to see Cooper Flag. I'm going to watch. I'm going to watch it live, 5 o'clock out here in the desert in the West. I want to see what Cooper Flag looks like. I want to see how he moves. How much is you going to have the ball? You're right, Tony.

Only, let's say, six of the people on the court, max, if we go over under, how many of them will play meaningful games in the NBA at some point? in their lives, maybe seven. But that's about it. And by the way, Tony, real games and maybe playoff games, you're talking about maybe three or four. So it could be two people on each side. But I want to see Cooper Flagg. He's the novelty.

He's the curiosity. He's why you and I think that the NBA would go as far as fixing the lottery. If you're going to fix a lottery for God and, damn it, I want to see him in Summer League. I want to see him. I'm going to see him. Meaningless. Come on. Exhibition, nonsense.

Come on. You got nothing but the Nats. Nonsense. Nonsense. What's next? Leonel Messi has scored two goals in four straight MLS games. That's blank. That's indicative.

Indicative of what you ask. Indicative of the huge gap between the MLS and real soccer. You will remember 10 or 12 days ago into Miami and Messi played against Paris Saint-Chermain. That's cool. in the Club World Cup, and they got their doors blown off, 4-0 at halftime. And then they come back to the very comfortable land of the MLS. And before that game, they won games 5-1 and 4-2,

and after that game, they won it 4-1 and 2-1. And now, and what all that goes to show is that Leonel Messi is indeed the great draw in American soccer, and he is worth the money. He's worth Cooper flag-seat money. He's that good. And his teammates here, you know, who were, according to the Zlatan, they were carrying bags of cement when they played against PSG. Now they somehow look lighter than they are in the MLS.

Yeah, Tony, I mean, I'm not going to go as far as to say that the MLS is sort of nothing. But my word is inflated. I mean, the four goals in the MLS are nice. But then when he got to the international stage with Club World Cup, there was one goal. And so then we get some perspective on the value of a goal, the value of a goal in MLS, the value of a goal against the world's best club teams. And so I don't, you know, I get that Messi can still do this on one level, but that step up is a little bit difficult to navigate. So inflated, and this is what, you know, people aren't going to want to hear that. The messy brigade, the messy sycophants, they're coming after you and me, even though you're in your white.

coat. Too bad, inflated. I'm in my white doctor coat, but underneath, I have the heart of a pink shirt. That's the final word. Let's take one last break still to come. Dionne Sanders supports a college football salary cap. And did Janus just indicate where he wants to play this coming season? Hmm. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, the Paris Saint-Germain game, there's a lesson in that for the MLS teams. It is.

Yeah. DC United fired its coach today. They fire a coach every year. Every year they fire somebody. Yeah, pretty much. Happy time, people. Happy 65th birthday, Roger Craig. The Hall of Fame running back for the San Francisco 49ers

tends to get overshadowed by Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, as does everyone on those 49ers, honestly. Craig had been a second round draft choice out of Nebraska in 1983. He ended up with three Super Bowl rings and four Pro Bowl appearances. Craig was the first first. player in the NFL to have 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season. Since then, Marshall Falk and Christian McCaffrey have accomplished that. Craig's 566 pass receptions ranked 9th all time for a running back.

Craig ended his career with 8,189 yards rushing, 4,911 yards receiving, and 88 total touchdowns. Craig largely predated fantasy football, Tony. People have gone nuts. I mean, but in real life, he ran so hard. He and Rathman back there, and you think of, yes, Montana to Rice and Young to Rice, but they ran the ball so effectively, which gets overlooked, and Roger Craig was the primary reason why they could run it down your throat, and they did. And you know what that means, Mike?

They were a great team and a dynasty. Right, truly, legitimately. Happy anniversary, Fernando Valenzuela, and Dwight Gooden. posthumous for Valenzuela. But on this day, 41 years ago, the two pitchers combined to strike out an All-Star game record six consecutive history. Hitters. Valenzuela pitched the fourth, and he struck out Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, and George Brett. Wow. Let me repeat that. Wow. Then Gooden, who was the youngest All-Star ever at age 19, struck out Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon, and Alvin Davis in the fifth on the way to a three-to-one National League win.

All this happened on the 50th anniversary of the great Carl Hubble in the 1934 All-Star Game, striking out five Future Hall of Famers in a row. Write these names down. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Fox, Al Simmons, Joe Cronin, Murderers Row. Well, if that was 1934, it had to be the second All-Star Game ever. All-Star Game, I think, was born in 1933 in my hometown. But, Tony, when you talk about Valenzuela and Good. And again, this is why I got so excited the other night over a starting pitching matchup. We don't have them.

Gooden and Valenzuela. I know they didn't oppose each other, but they followed each other. They were stacked. We don't even dream about that kind of stuff anymore. I don't think there's ever been anything like Hubble, though. I mean, once you start with Ruth and Gerard. Those five. Nothing like that.

A melancholy trails Frank Layden. The longtime Utah Jazz coach and GM has passed away at the age of 9. Leighton was hired as GM of the Jazz when the team was still in New Orleans, then added head coaching responsibilities for seven and a half seasons after the team moved to Salt Lake City. He won the NBA's Coach and Executive of the Year awards in 1984, and that's before he drafted John Stockton and Caram Malone. Eventually, Layden appointed Jerry Sloan as head coach, but stayed on as GM and team president. Leighton was a very popular guy, both competent and not a jerk.

And he was college roommates at Niagara with U.B. Brown. And Tony, he was so engaging to be around when you go to Salt Lake. And I don't know that you can have more opposites, greater opposites, right, than Jerry Sloan and Frank Layden in terms of their demeanor and how they went about it. But they were quite a one-two combination. And it's just difficult to believe that they're both now gone. I will say this about Frank Layden. He was one of those people when people when you were a sports writer, you and Jim, He enjoyed talking to him.

It was not confrontational. He was very getting with it and he was a very funny guy. We're running out of show. Let's go to the big finish. Let's do it. Tromter? Ray's Slugger Jr. Caminero has joined the home run derby. I'll bet you're excited.

No, I mean, the home run derby is like the dunk contest to me. It's over. It jumped the shark years ago. I don't care. Really? I don't care. I like it. Ronald de Cunia Jr. broke out of a slump with two home runs in a win over the A's last night.

You impressed? I didn't even. I didn't even know he was in a slump. I thought he was bad at like 380. I thought he came back to the league and just was killing it. The Thunder signed Jalen Williams to a five-year rookie max of up to $287 million. Your thoughts? J-dub, SGA, and Chet have just signed for $822 million. Just the three of them, Tony.

Dionne Sanders says he supports a college football salary cap. I bet you're surprised by that. I'm not even surprised at all. He's a pro football player. He understands money. He understands the cap. He knows it can be applied to have a certain amount of fairness.

I'm not surprised. Last one, Janice told live streamer, I show speed that he'll probably stay in Milwaukee. Do you believe that? Today I do, but stuff happens. We got a long way to go before the start of the season, much less the trade deadline. I know, but you're going to be occupied with Summer League tonight.

We're out of time. Try to do better than next time. I'm Tony Cornyhine. I'm Mike Goebaughan, same time tomorrow, knuckleheads. I'm gonna miss the next.