In the weeks leading up to the NBA season last October, a bettor at the SuperBook at the Westgate Resort & Casino in Las Vegas placed a $67,000 wager on the Golden State Warriors to make the playoffs at minus-10,000 odds.

The bettor was rewarded with a $670 profit when the Warriors reached the postseason.

The same bettor was back at the SuperBook on Wednesday and this time played a little Philly Special.

According to Jeff Sherman, vice president of risk for the SuperBook, the anonymous bettor placed a $100,500 bet on the Philadelphia 76ers to make the playoffs at minus-5,000 odds Wednesday. If the 76ers reach the postseason, the bettor will win a net $2,010.

Sherman confirmed to ESPN that the Sixers bet was placed by the same customer who wagered on the Warriors last year. The customer will have to wait a little more than nine months for the wager to be graded.

Philadelphia added Al Horford and Josh Richardson in the offseason and traded away Jimmy Butler. The 76ers, along with the Milwaukee Bucks, are considered the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. At the SuperBook, the Bucks are plus-125 to win the Eastern Conference, followed closely by the 76ers at plus-150.

The SuperBook has the over/under on Philadelphia's regular-season wins pegged at 55.5. The Bucks at 58.5 are the only team with a higher season-win total at the SuperBook.

The 76ers went 51-31 last season and earned the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They reached the conference semifinals before being eliminated by the eventual champion Toronto Raptors in seven games.

Boston Red Sox starter Rick Porcello took out his frustrations on a couple of TV monitors in the dugout Wednesday night.

Porcello allowed six runs on nine hits and one walk, striking out seven in 5⅔ innings before leaving with a 6-2 deficit against the Tampa Bay Rays. He proceeded to smash two TV monitors in the dugout as he headed to the locker room.

"I kind of wish I did that without cameras being on me,'' he said after the Red Sox's 8-5 loss. "I apologize to everyone that had to see that. It's not a behavior that I feel like is representative to me and my personality. The frustration got the best of me.''

Porcello, the 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner, was the beneficiary of the best run support in the majors in his previous four starts, with the Red Sox scoring 49 runs while he was in the game. He was 4-0 in those starts, despite allowing 19 runs in 22⅔ innings.

Porcello is 9-8 with a 5.74 ERA this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Right-hander Trevor Bauer was officially traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, but he was still on hand as the Tribe took on the Houston Astros at Progressive Field.

Bauer also met with Indians manager Terry Francona for a final time. Francona said the meeting with Bauer was "pretty short'' and it brought him relief.

"Sometimes it's emotional, and sometimes it's not quite as emotional,'' Francona said. "That's just being honest.''

Francona acknowledged that he was concerned about long-term effects within the team following Bauer's spectacle Sunday, when he angrily threw a ball from behind the mound over the center-field wall in Kansas City. Bauer later called the act "childish'' and was fined by Major League Baseball.

"I had concerns what it could do to our team, and I voiced those concerns," Francona told reporters. "I would never, ever go tell [the front office] something, but they are good enough to always allow me my opinion, and you just try to do the best you can, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit worried."

Bauer, who met with Cleveland reporters during Wednesday's game, reacted with a smile and a long exhale when told of Francona's comments.

"Well, I'm not on the team. So none of that really matters," he said.

Bauer added that he has been pitching with an assortment of injuries -- torn ankle ligaments, back spasms -- since early this season.

"It's been really frustrating,'' he said. "One of the things I'm most proud about is I haven't missed a start this year through two months of probably needing to be on the IL and probably should have missed some starts. I was able to get myself ready and take the ball.''

Among the players the Indians got back in the three-team, seven-player swap is mercurial outfielder Yasiel Puig, who was expected to arrive in Cleveland late Wednesday. Puig had a memorable departure from Cincinnati on Tuesday, when he ended up in the middle of a benches-clearing brawl with the Pirates shortly after the trade was agreed upon.

Francona watched the brawl unfold on a TV in his office but said he isn't worried about Puig being a troublemaker. MLB has yet to announce any discipline.

"I need to talk to him. I need to ask him what's important to him,'' Francona said. "The fact that he may have done something four years ago in L.A. doesn't affect how he'll be treated here.''

But what about last night?

"I can tell you that if something ever happens, I'll be behind him every step of the way,'' Francona said.

Just remember, sometimes the biggest deals don't end up being the most important. See: Nathan Eovaldi and Steve Pearce for the 2018 Red Sox. Anyway, let's review some of the winners and losers from a 2019 MLB trade deadline that finished with a flurry of activity. (Note: This is not a comprehensive review of every trade, but I did like the A's picking Tanner Roark in the most A's trade the A's could make.)

Winner: Houston Astros

In a move that broke in the minutes immediately after the 4 p.m. ET deadline, the Astros acquired Zack Greinke, the blockbuster deal that made all the weeks of rumors and speculation worth the wait. With a rotation now of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Greinke and Wade Miley for the postseason, plus one of the best bullpens (they also acquired Joe Biagini and Aaron Sanchez from the Blue Jays), the Astros will probably now rate as the consensus World Series favorites.

When so many front offices are afraid of making a mistake and dealing a prospect who then becomes a star, Jeff Luhnow continues to outmaneuver his peers. In 2017, he acquired Justin Verlander at the Aug. 31 deadline and won a World Series. That offseason, he acquired Gerrit Cole from the Pirates for four young players and Cole has gone 27-10 with a 2.90 ERA in Houston. Now he gets Greinke, who is 10-4 with a 2.87 ERA. Verlander, Greinke and Cole rank first, fourth and eighth in the majors in weighted on-base average allowed. In the year of the home run, starting pitching is a precious commodity and the Astros now have three of the 10 best starters in the majors. Heck, even Miley is top-15 in ERA.

Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke this season (69 starts):
36-13 W-L
2.85 ERA
0.92 WHIP
11.1 K/9
6.1 K/BB
.197 Opp BA
.608 Opp OPS
13.3 WAR

— Paul Hembekides (@PaulHembo) July 31, 2019

Yes, Luhnow gives up three of Houston's top 10 prospects in J.B. Bukauskas, Seth Beer and Corbin Martin, but all three have notable flaws: Bukauskas struggled with his control and has a 5.25 ERA in Double-A; Beer can hit, but has no position; Martin reached the majors this year, but underwent Tommy John surgery. The Diamondbacks also get Triple-A utility player Josh Rojas, who has hit .315/.403/.575 and could be a nice sleeper.

Arizona also gets salary relief, as Greinke was set to make $35 million each of the next two seasons (the Diamondbacks will send the Astros $24 million, according to a report by Ken Rosenthal). Luhnow also kept his top two prospects in outfielder Kyle Tucker and pitcher Forrest Whitley. The Astros also have a replacement now for Cole, in case he leaves as a free agent. And don't undersell the addition of Sanchez, who hasn't been able to replicate his 2016 season, when he led the American League in ERA. As Buster Olney said, he looks like the perfect science project for Houston's analytics department, maybe as a power reliever (he's under team control through 2020). Man, I would hate to be one of the four other AL West teams.

Today just adds to the wonderful mystery of "What hat will Zack Greinke wear on his Hall of Fame plaque?"

— Joe Posnanski (@JPosnanski) July 31, 2019

Losers: New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers

As the Greinke deal was announced, Yankees and Dodgers fans had a collective Twitter meltdown. Hey, it's not easy being a fan of a big-market team. The Yankees didn't do anything on Wednesday; they didn't do anything all month after acquiring Edwin Encarnacion in June. The Dodgers made a couple minor deals in getting veteran infielder Jedd Gyorko from the Cardinals and left-hander reliever Adam Kolarek from the Rays. Kolarek is a lefty killer (.187 average, .531 OPS allowed) and will help, but the Dodgers missed out on getting a premium setup guy for Kenley Jansen.

And for the Yankees, for the second time in two seasons, Luhnow outdueled Brian Cashman. It's not quite that simple: Greinke had a no-trade clause to 15 teams, including the Yankees, and reports say he never would have approved a trade to New York. So it's not fair to bash the Yankees for not getting Greinke. But it's perhaps fair to bash the front office -- and by extension, ownership -- for not adding a starter like Robbie Ray or even a reliever. The rotation has been in a freefall since April. The Yankees are good, but the Astros won the day. And just as Verlander beat them twice in the 2017 American League Championship Series, you wonder if Greinke will haunt the Yankees this October.

Winner: National League East bullpens

Look, the Nationals could have acquired Charlie Sheen and that kid from "Rookie of the Year" and that would have improved a bullpen that ranks last in the majors with a 5.93 ERA. Adding Daniel Hudson, Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland will certainly help. Are they big difference-makers? No, not really. Hudson has a 3.00 ERA, although his peripheral numbers aren't as impressive (4.21 FIP). Elias is a journeyman lefty who has closed for the Mariners, but has a 4.40 ERA and a significant reverse platoon split (righties have hit .182 off him, lefties .353). Strickland just returned from a strained latissimus dorsi that had kept him out since the fourth game of the season. Nothing flashy here, but this trio should improve the seventh and eighth innings in front of closer Sean Doolittle.

So the Nationals did OK, but the Braves probably did better. They added Chris Martin on Tuesday and then Shane Greene and Mark Melancon on Wednesday to a bullpen that has struggled in July:

Braves have added Chris Martin and Shane Greene to a bullpen that has struggled in July: pic.twitter.com/BtYr0T2ck1

— David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) July 31, 2019

Greene comes with the magical labels of "closer" and "All-Star" and also owns a 1.18 ERA. All three items probably overstate his value -- he has allowed five home runs and just five earned runs, as he also has allowed six unearned runs, and his runs allowed per nine is actually 2.61. It seems almost impossible, but here's how that has happened:

Shane Greene has allowed five earned runs. He's also allowed five home runs. He's allowed 10 runs on those five home runs, but five were unearned (including a grand slam). He's allowed just one run that didn't come via a home run (and that was also unearned).

— David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) July 31, 2019

Greene has also thrown just 38 innings, including just 14 innings over the past two months. Let's see what happens when he has to pitch five times in a week.

Still, as Ryan Milowicki of ESPN Stats & Information points out, the Braves' acquisitions have been better in the clutch than the guys the Nationals picked up. Here's how these guys rank in Win Probability Added out of 697 MLB pitchers this season:

Chris Martin: +1.26 (33rd)

Shane Greene: +1.14 (41st)

Mark Melancon: +0.52 (106th)

Daniel Hudson: +1.08 (46th)

Hunter Strickland: -0.40 (442nd)

Roenis Elias: -0.79 (559th)

Winner: San Francisco Giants fans

Madison Bumgarner stays put, which should make Giants fans happy. I think it's the right decision by Farhan Zaidi. With their tremendous July, the Giants have earned the right to give the wild-card race a run (and give Bruce Bochy one more shot at a playoff run in his final season). They did trade away three relievers (Mark Melancon, Sam Dyson, Drew Pomeranz) and acquired Scooter Gennett, so it seems Zaidi tried to play it both ways, realizing that odds of reaching the playoffs are slim (6.2%, according to FanGraphs) and making a deep run even slimmer. Still, trading away a franchise icon isn't easy if you're only 2.5 games out of a wild card.

Loser: Boston Red Sox

They needed a reliever. They didn't get one. But maybe Dave Dombrowski is right: Really, they just need the current guys to pitch better. (Hey, the bullpen does have the second-highest strikeout rate in the majors and if Nathan Eovaldi can get going, maybe the pen will be fine.)

Winner: New York media

The Yankees don't do anything, the Mets don't trade Zack Wheeler or Noah Syndergaard. Plenty of fodder to discuss.

Was it the right move by the Mets to keep Wheeler, who is a pending free agent? Riding a five-game winning streak, the Mets' playoff odds have increased to 16.4% -- and odds of winning the division are just 1.1%. But why not? Plus, they can always extend Wheeler a qualifying offer and get a pick for him -- or even re-sign him. How about a 2020 rotation of Jacob deGrom, Syndergaard, Stroman, Wheeler and Steven Matz?

Winners ... or maybe Losers ... or maybe something in between:Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds

The fascinating three-way trade that sent Trevor Bauer to the Reds, Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen and Yasiel Puig (and two minor leaguers) to the Indians and prospect Taylor Trammell to the Padres could end up being a win-win-win or a lose-lose-lose. We don't know.

The Indians probably have the most on the line because they're the team trying to make the playoffs and they just traded a very good starting pitcher who leads the majors in innings pitched. Reyes and Puig will help an offense that ranks 10th in the AL in runs per game, and Reyes and Allen, who projects as a back-end starter, should help the Indians win the long-term WAR comparison because they'll have years of team control of those players in comparison to Bauer.

But does it improve their chances of catching the Twins and winning a World Series? I'm not so sure. I'd take my chances in the playoffs with a rotation of Bauer, Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger and Corey Kluber, even with a mediocre offense. Of course, if the Indians had addressed their outfield in the offseason, maybe they wouldn't have been in position of making this trade. It also could work in their favor: They start scoring more runs, Kluber returns and pitches well and they also have Reyes mashing for the next five years.

The Padres' side is easy to understand: They're swinging for the fences with Trammell, who is loaded with tools but has struggled in Double-A with a .236/.349/.336 line. In contrast to Reyes, who is a one-dimensional slugger with limited defensive value, Trammell is a more well-rounded player who projects as the team's center fielder of the future if the bat comes around.

The Reds, with playoff odds of 4.9%, essentially acquired Bauer for next season. Trammell seems like a high price to pay for one year of Bauer's services, but maybe the Reds aren't as high on Trammell and now they have a rotation of Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray and Bauer to build around. Plus, they can give Bauer a qualifying offer at the end of 2020 and receive draft-pick compensation or trade him if they're not in the playoff race, so their side of the deal really includes a prospect to be named later.

Winner: Challenge trade!

The Marlins traded pitcher Zac Gallen to the Diamondbacks for minor league shortstop Jazz Chisholm, an odd trade to make on July 31. The Marlins better hope Gallen isn't their next Chris Paddack or Luis Castillo. His raw stuff isn't on their level, but he has a 2.72 ERA through his first seven major league starts with 43 K's in 36.1 innings, suggesting he can pitch off a fastball that has averaged 92.2 mph.

Chisholm began 2019 as Arizona's top prospect, but he has struggled mightily in Double-A, hitting .204/.305/.427 with 123 strikeouts in 364 plate appearances. He does have 18 home runs, but just 11 other extra-base hits, so it has been an all-or-nothing approach. He's just 21, hits left-handed and can run, so he fits the Marlins' profile as a tools-laden position player with a questionable hit tool, but how many players who strike out 34% of the time in Double-A turn into good major league hitters? There's a chance the Marlins gave up a solid rotation anchor for Lewis Brinson II. Or maybe they hit a home run with a kid who develops into a power-hitting shortstop.

Winner: Jerry Dipoto

Sit quietly? No way. Trader Jerry didn't disappoint, trading Mike Leake to the Diamondbacks and the two relievers to the Nationals. Were they good trades? Who cares. Trader Jerry rose up to the occasion -- unlike some other general managers -- and that's all that matters.

American teenager Coco Gauff is out of the Washington Open after losing to Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas in straight sets in the first round.

Gauff, 15, continued her stunning form from Wimbledon by qualifying for the third WTA main draw of her career.

Playing in front of a packed court in the American capital, she was beaten 6-4 6-2 against world number 84 Diyas.

It was her first main-draw appearance since SW19, where she beat Venus Williams on her way to the last 16.

Gauff, who has climbed up to 146th in the world after her recent exploits, was the youngest woman to reach the second week at the All England Club since Jennifer Capriati in 1991.

Meanwhile, top seed and former champion Sloane Stephens suffered a shock 6-2 7-5 first-round loss to Swede Rebecca Peterson on Tuesday.

England's players are shedding around three times as much weight during training sessions in extreme humidity in Italy as they would do during a Test match, says Mike Brown.

Treviso was picked to host a 12-day camp as the conditions are similar to what players can expect when the World Cup begins in Japan in September.

Humidity levels have reached as high as 80-90% in north-east Italy.

"As soon as you step outside everyone starts sweating," said Brown.

"You are absolutely dripping with sweat and that makes ball-handling very tough. It's also hard to keep your core temperature low because you are sweating all the time.

"It just sits on your skin and then heats up even more so you can't get your body temperature down. It's really sunny here as well so you're constantly feeling incredibly hot.

"We have guys coming on and spraying us with cold water and we're constantly trying to wipe the sweat off you so your skin gets the chance to cool down."

Brown was left out of head coach Eddie Jones' initial training squad but the 33-year-old has been given a chance to impress before Jones picks the 31 players he will take to the World Cup on 12 August.

Each player is weighed before and after training and the Harlequins full-back says nutritionists are on hand to make sure they regain the weight lost during sessions by eating properly and hydrating.

"On our first really hard session I lost 3kg of weight. Back in England, I would barely lose any weight from a normal session in normal conditions," said Brown.

"After a Test match, I would probably lose a maximum of 1kg. And that's playing at the highest level under massive fatigue. So that puts into perspective the weight loss that you can get over here.

"Once you have taken all the right things, we will go and eat lunch and you are pretty much back on it by the afternoon session. It's no problem as long as you do the right things."

England return home on Friday to start preparations for the first of four warm-up matches, against Wales at Twickenham on Sunday, 11 August.

KENT, Wash. – Finding success at the final race of the famed three-race NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Western Swing can be a difficult task, as the physical and mental rigors of three straight races add up.

But that hasn’t been the case lately for Antron Brown and his talented Top Fuel team at Pacific Raceways, the site of this weekend’s 32nd annual Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Northwest Nationals.

Brown has finished the Western Swing with a victory in Seattle the past three years, putting together a number of impressive performances in his Matco Tools dragster. The three-time world champ would like to add a fourth straight Seattle win this weekend, which would also give him his first victory since last year’s race at Pacific Raceways.

It would be a perfect primer for the upcoming Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship, and Brown feels like his team is ready to thrive once again.

“We have a marathon team,” Brown said. “The more back-to-back races we have and the harder and tougher it gets, the more our guys really dig in. Seattle is the end of the Swing and we always look forward to going there. It’s a sea-level track, it gets a little warm and it’s one of those places that really suits the way we like to race. The track can get a little tricky with the sun on it, but we always seem to navigate it well and we have plenty of notes we can look back on.

“We can really make our car perform at the level it needs to be.”

Sitting in the shadows of majestic Mount Rainier and surrounded by towering treex, the Seattle event marks the 16th of 24 races during the 2019 season.

For Brown, he hopes it provides a building block for the rest of the year.

His team has been close to a victory all season and Brown currently sits second in points, a nod to the consistency they’ve had this year. There’s no catching points leader and defending world champ Steve Torrence in the regular season, but Brown – who earned his 500th career round win on Sunday in Sonoma – is eager to get back to the winner’s circle.

“We’ve been growing and growing, but it’s going to take everything we’ve got for all of our hard work to finally come to fruition at Seattle,” Brown said. “I think that’s why we always do well there, because we know that’s the race where the switch always has to be on. It’s got to come on by then.

“We’ve got to race hard to win every round from here on out and finish strong.”

Brown, who has 66 career NHRA wins, has two finals appearances in 2019, but he’s ready to raise his game to finish off the Western Swing.

He’ll have to get past the likes of Torrence, Brittany Force, Clay Millican, Terry McMillen, Doug Kalitta, Leah Pritchett and Richie Crampton to earn his fifth career Seattle victory and tie Joe Amato for the most in Top Fuel history, but Brown knows precisely what it will take to find success in Seattle.

“It’ll take a lot of hard work to win,” Brown said. “At the end of the day, our car and our combination has definitely come around. We have a really good engine combination now and our clutch is definitely where it needs to be. I think we’re going to be peaking at the right time.

“Seattle will be a great place to come out with a win because it really sets in motion everything that we need to do going into Brainerd and the U.S. Nationals, our biggest race of the year.”

CARS Tour driver Justin Carroll was at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday to reveal his paint scheme for the Throwback 276 on Saturday, Aug. 3 at Hickory Motor Speedway. The scheme pays tribute to the late Alan Kulwicki, who won the 1992 NASCAR Cup Series championship.