Football is back!

This is The Sports Reset for Friday August 7th

In the NFL preseason, the Carolina Panthers opened Hall of Fame week by edging the Arizona Cardinals 33 to 30, a reminder that even August football can still deliver a real finish. The setup had good Canton texture, too: undrafted Carolina quarterback Haynes King came in as a preseason name to watch after Will Grier’s retirement thinned the Panthers’ quarterback room, while Larry Fitzgerald and Luke Kuechly were part of the Hall class being celebrated around the game. In MLB, the New York Mets put up the loudest offensive number of the night in a 13 to 6 win over the Cleveland Guardians, and the Detroit Tigers blanked the Seattle Mariners 11 to 0. The Boston Red Sox also survived the Chicago White Sox 12 to 11 at Fenway. In the WNBA, the Las Vegas Aces slipped past the Indiana Fever 86 to 84, while the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Minnesota Lynx 89 to 82 and the Portland Fire handled the Toronto Tempo 97 to 83.

Looking ahead, MLB owns the day, with the Atlanta Braves visiting the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers heading to the Arizona Diamondbacks as the two biggest national draws. Braves-Yankees brings Aaron Judge into the middle of the night, while Atlanta’s lineup has been getting production from Drake Baldwin and Mauricio Dubon. Dodgers-Diamondbacks has star power on both sides, with Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages driving the Dodgers’ offense and Corbin Carroll giving Arizona a headliner of its own. In the WNBA, the Phoenix Mercury visit the Connecticut Sun, the Atlanta Dream go to the Washington Mystics, and the Golden State Valkyries meet the Dallas Wings. In golf, the Wyndham Championship continues with Beau Hossler at 9 under, one shot clear of Sahith Theegala and Ben James. NFL preseason ramps up next week, starting Thursday with Detroit Lions at Cincinnati Bengals.