The pitching matchup in Detroit on Sunday sounds like it belongs in Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

The Phillies’ Zack Wheeler and the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal were not named All-Stars this season, but they’re easily among the best pitchers on the planet. The pair will start the rubber game of a three-game series.

Wheeler is coming off a dominant performance in Cincinnati when he matched his career high with 14 strikeouts in a 4-1 Phillies victory last Tuesday. The right-hander lasted seven innings, allowing just one run and four hits.

Wheeler has a 9-1 record and 2.28 ERA but got overlooked when the All-Stars were announced on July 4.

“I felt like that was a reminder for whoever needs to be reminded,” he said. “It pisses me off. It’s kind of BS. Maybe if I wasn’t necessarily right in (the All-Star mix), I wouldn’t be saying this. But I feel like I’ve earned it.”

According to The Athletic and NBC Sports Philadelphia, Wheeler was offered a spot that opened on the NL roster on Friday but declined.

Wheeler, who had a blood clot in his pitching shoulder last season, didn’t make his season debut until late April. He quickly reestablished his status as one of the majors’ most feared starters. He’s given up two or fewer earned runs in 11 of his 14 starts.

“I had expectations when I got hurt,” Wheeler said. “I’m going to be the same guy or even better. I’m going to use this time to get a little bit stronger, maybe just tweak a couple things. That’s what I’ve been able to do. And credit to the coaching staff, the training staff and my family for helping me get through that mentally and physically.”

He’s 1-1 with a 3.05 ERA in three career starts against the Tigers. Skubal has won both of his career starts against the Phillies, allowing three runs in a combined 14 innings for a 1.93 ERA.

Skubal (5-4, 3.06), who won the American League Cy Young Award each of the last two seasons, was not chosen for the Midsummer Classic mainly due to the fact he missed six weeks after undergoing an elbow procedure.

He’s won his last two starts, including a five-inning outing against the Athletics last Tuesday. The left-hander gave up five hits and walked two, but the Athletics only pushed across one run. Skubal struck out nine for the third consecutive start while throwing 96 pitches.

“Part of that is, I counted 20 non-competitive pitches,” Skubal said. “That’s a high percentage of my outing. The other part is, that’s a good lineup over there. I sprayed the ball a little, especially my fastball. And some changeups, too. Not my best showing by any means.”

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch was much less critical of his ace’s performance.

“He’s always the hardest critic on himself,” Hinch said. “He beats himself up quite a bit. But give him some grace. He goes out and one run is deemed an OK start. Think about that standard every time you take the mound no matter what you do. The bar is really high and he can handle it.”

The teams split the first two games, with Philadelphia snapping Detroit’s six-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory on Saturday night.

With the All-Star break coming up and a six-game road trip to follow, the Tigers won’t play another home game until July 23.

–Field Level Media

Former Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold will be allowed to continue working out with NFL teams after a judge ruled Friday he does not need to wear a GPS tracker as a condition of his release.

Arnold was arrested on June 24 and is facing felony charges of armed robbery and kidnapping related to an incident in February near Tampa, Fla.

He was released on a $1 million bond and subjected to home confinement with the exception of work and legal appointments.

After the Lions cut Arnold on June 29, the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office filed a motion to reconsider the terms of his bond conditions, arguing that no longer being an NFL player was a “substantial change” in his circumstances, the legal standard required to consider bond condition changes.

Arnold’s lawyers argued a GPS monitor would prevent him from being able to sign with another team.

His agent, Nicole Lynn, testified at the hearing that the New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts all inquired about Arnold within 24 hours of his release from the Lions.

“He actually had a workout with the team, an NFL team, just yesterday. So he was in their facility, they paid for him to fly in, he did a physical, which shows you how serious these teams are about him,” Lynn told the court. “With an ankle monitor, it would be extremely difficult and maybe even impossible for him to get a job.”

She testified Arnold worked out with the Texans this week and had another workout scheduled next week with another NFL team, though she said there is currently no verbal agreement or contract with any team.

Arnold is accused of being the ringleader of an alleged plot to avenge a theft in February by detaining and pistol-whipping the men he believed were responsible. But authorities said none of the victims Arnold and his co-conspirators allegedly kidnapped and attacked were involved with stealing items from Arnold.

The 23-year-old was the primary conspirator, according to prosecutors. All three victims are in their teens, according to court documents.

Arnold reported the theft of more than $250,000 in property from an Airbnb in Largo, Fla., near Tampa, three days before the alleged kidnapping and assault occurred.

Arnold was selected by Detroit in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Across 24 games in his two seasons with the Lions, he has recorded 91 tackles, 18 passes defensed and one interception.

He is an unrestricted agent after clearing waivers Monday.

–Field Level Media

A twist of fate has touched Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin over the past two weekends, and it has resulted in a shakeup at the top of the NASCAR Cup Series standings.

Over that span, Reddick has been transformed from points leader to runner-up to Hamlin with more drama expected on Sunday night (7 p.m. ET, TNT) for the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Ga.

At the Sonoma road race to close out June, power steering issues plagued Reddick and the 23XI Racing team, putting him six laps down and leading to a 36th-place finish.

Hamlin was involved in a spin with Carson Hocevar but finished 26th at Sonoma, good enough for a one-point lead over Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota that Hamlin co-owns with Michael Jordan.

Reddick’s misfortune continued on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, coming in stark contrast to his success early in the season when he won the first three races and five of the first nine.

Instead of power steering, debris ruined Reddick’s day last weekend. A splitter stay off Zane Smith’s No. 38 Ford ripped through Reddick’s radiator and put a hole in the oil cooler, sending fluid onto the track during Lap 131.

Reddick went 30 laps down this time and ended up in 36th place to trail Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota by 44 points.

Reddick led by 129 points after Watkins Glen two months ago and appeared in complete control as teams raced toward the regular-season’s conclusion at Daytona on Aug. 29. But a massive 173-point swing has changed all that.

“I guess the year is balancing itself back out, but we’ve got all the right things that we need to succeed,” said Reddick, who won at EchoPark the week after his Daytona 500 triumph in February. “We’ve just got to survive some of these races, I guess.”

Second to Reddick with four victories, Hamlin said on his podcast this week that it is important for him to win one more over the next seven races after going winless in three straight.

“I just want to win,” he said. “That’s 10 races. That’s a dry spell.”

Chase Elliott started 15th in this race last season and beat Brad Keselowski by 0.168 seconds, with Reddick running fourth and Hamlin in 31st after crashing.

Like Chicagoland, EchoPark is listed as another intermediate track but is unique in that drafting has become a major factor on the 1.54-mile layout. It has quickly emerged as a fan favorite because of the tight racing and even tighter finishes.

EchoPark’s racing lends reminders of superspeedways like Daytona or Talladega, while the exciting finishes could be straight out of a touring short-track series around the country on a hot Saturday night.

The flip-flop at the top of the standings will reveal its next chapter in a setting just as dramatic.

–Field Level Media