The Sunday Rundown: The 7 Things You Need to Know for 6/24-6/30

Breaking down the last week of the month of June. Halfway through 2012.

Sunday: College World Series Final, Game 1 (8:00 PM ET, ESPN2/ESPN3) On the other ESPN network, you can find the New York Yankees versus the New York Mets, as CC Sabathia takes the hill for the Bronx Bombers, while the sensational R.A. Dickey takes the mound for the Amazin’s. But since there will be several baseball games featured here, I figure it is only appropriate to discuss another baseball game: Game 1 of the College World Series Final. The South Carolina Gamecocks are back in the thick of things once again, making another great run to the Final and tonight they’ll be looking to connect with the first dagger, and try to make their way towards winning their third straight College World Series. Meanwhile, the Arizona Wildcats have been dominant throughout the tournament. They have yet to lose a game in Omaha and they want their fourth National Championship and first since 1986.

Monday: Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees (7:00 PM ET, ESPN2/YES Network/STO) A battle of two first place American League teams (as of now, at least) takes center-stage on Monday evening. The Yankees went on a torrid 10-game win streak before losing three games in a row to the Braves and then the Mets before bouncing back last night with a victory. They’ll look to get back on the right track again in American League play in this outing. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians for a second consecutive year have been players in the AL Central, surprising most by leading the division as of now by .5 game over the Chicago White Sox, and over the preseason favorite Detroit Tigers by 3.5 games. The pitching matchup will be Josh Tomlin versus Hiroki Kuroda, which isn’t stellar, but it isn’t terrible either.

Tuesday: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants (10:15 ET, KCAL/CSN-Bay Area) One of the best rivalries in baseball is underway in my MLB.tv Game of the Week. The Dodgers and Giants have been squabbling for over half a century and this series may provide a major impact in the National League West division for this season. Right now they are separated by just three games, and with the streaking Arizona Diamondbacks on both of their tails they will need to separate themselves from them. The Dodgers trot out the reigning NL Cy Young Clayton Kershaw who has been stellar this season again, and the Giants will be sending Ryan Vogelsong who also has been solid for them too.

Wednesday: UEFA Euro 2012: Portugal vs. Spain (2:30 PM ET, ESPN) The Battle of the Iberian Peninsula will take place Wednesday afternoon with a lot on the line. Most importantly, a spot in the UEFA Euro 2012 Final is on the line, as the winner of this match will take on the winner of Germany versus England/Italy, which will be decided today at 2:45. Both Portugal and Spain have been fantastic throughout this entire tournament. Portugal fell to Germany in their first match, but since then they have won three in a row including a 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic in the Quarterfinals. They are led by world-renowned superstar Cristiano Ronaldo who has scored three goals this tournament, tied for the lead amongst three others. Meanwhile, Spain has been very, very good since they tied Italy in their first match. They too have won three matches in a row, and defeated France in the Quarterfinals 2-0. Spain’s Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fábregas, and Fernando Torres have all scored twice in this tournament, so they can get their offense from a variety of people. This should be a fantastic contest and one you will want to tune into.

Bonus Watch: The Wimbledon Championships start Wednesday morning at 7AM ET on ESPN2.

Thursday: 2012 NBA Entry Draft (7:00 PM ET, ESPN/ESPN3) The 66th edition of the NBA Entry Draft will be taking place this Thursday evening, live from Newark, New Jersey at the Prudential Center. A lot of dreams of these young stars will be made, and several might be crushed if they are not selected. Power forward Anthony Davis is projected to be the first pick of the draft to the New Orleans Hornets, and then from there it looks like it is an absolute toss up. Zaniness may occur and cause this to be a huge spectacle. You might not want to miss out on watching this.

Friday: Detroit Tigers vs. Tampa Bay Rays (7:10 PM ET, FS Detroit/SUN Sports) A matchup between two teams that were supposed to be very, very good this season takes place here this Friday night and the pitching matchup is a dandy. Detroit sits in third place in the AL Central as of right now but they have been playing slightly better ball as of late. They’ll send the AL MVP and Cy Young Justin Verlander out to the mound and as you would expect, he has pitched tremendously this season. The Rays also sit in third place in their division but they have been playing great baseball all season. They have been plagued a bit by the injury bug and the fact that the Orioles and Yankees have played better than them this year. They will send out southpaw David Price who has also been very good this year.

Saturday: Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals (2:15 PM ET, ROOT Sports/FS Midwest) This battle of NL Central teams is the final thing you need to look out for this week, and for good reason. The Pirates have been playing superb baseball and are one game out of first place from the Cincinnati Reds. They did this last year, and we all know how that ended, but the pitching for the Pirates has been stellar as of late so it is not crazy to say that they could be in the thick of things for a while. The Pirates could be in first place by Saturday so this matchup may have more implications. Meanwhile the Cardinals have been plagued by a lot of injuries and inconsistencies this year and will continue to try and right the ship in this one. They’ll send out the surprisingly stellar Lance Lynn for this game, while the Pirates will trot out Erik Bedard.