Sports Media Report
Thuuz Sports, the most powerful automated video highlights production platform for worldwide sports, today announced their July Top 10 most exciting games, with a very unique 24 hour period in the UK, The Cricket World Cup and Men’s Final at Wimbledon outdistancing some exciting and emotional MLB matchups during the month The full top ten is below.
Using their custom designed algorithms to measure real-time event excitement, Thuuz provides a unique look into what games have gotten fans the most excited and engaged as 2019 rolls along.
The game excitement ratings are measured on a 0 to 100 scale and take into consideration game pace, team parity, play novelty, momentum shifts, social buzz, and historical context. The algorithms behind the excitement ratings are statistically calibrated to insure the appropriate distribution of ratings across the duration of a season or course of a tournament.
Using the Thuuz excitement measurement platform, the top ten most exciting games were:
- New Zealand 241/8 & 15/1, England 241 & 15/0 (Cricket): 7/14: Some people are dubbing this cricket match the greatest one ever, and rightly so. In front of their home fans, England prevailed over New Zealand in the first ever Super Over in a Cricket World Cup Final. After the match ended with both teams at 241, the Super Over then ended with both teams at 15. The teams were so evenly matched that they even tied in OT. In the end, ENG were declared the winner because they had more boundaries than NZ.
- Novak[JF1] Djokovic vs. Roger Federer 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12(3) (ATP): 7/14: London had quite the day. At the same time the Cricket World Cup was happening, so was the Wimbledon Final between these two classic rivals. It resulted in the first ever 5th set tiebreaker in Wimbledon history after the tournament introduced a tiebreaker at 12-12 in the 5th set at the beginning of the tournament. Federer won more points and games, but Djokovic won when it mattered most, including all 3 tiebreakers to secure his 5th Wimbledon trophy.
- Yankees 14, Twins 12 (MLB): 7/23: Similar to the first two games on this list, this battle between two of the American League powerhouses was a runaway candidate for the best game of the year. After being down 8-2, the Yankees scored 3 runs in the 5th inning followed by another 5 runs in the top of the 8th to take a 10-9 lead.. The Twins took the lead back in the bottom of the 8th. The Yanks took the lead again in the top of the 9th. Then, in the bottom of the 9th, the Twins tied the game to send it to extra innings. NYY followed with a run in the 10th, and after an Aaron Hicks’ diving catch with the bases loaded, the Yankees secured the win.. In total, the teams combined for 12 runs in the final 3 innings, including 9 for the Yankees.
- Astros 11, Angels 10 (MLB): 7/7: The game’s best player Mike Trout (LAA) homered twice for the Angels, but they ultimately came up short after WS MVP George Springer hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning. Each team had 6 hitters log multi-hit performances, including 4 of the Astros recording 3+ hits. The game also had a really dark moment when Angels’ catcher J. Lucroy suffered a devastating concussion on a collision at the plate, dampening the mood of an otherwise fantastic baseball game.
- Twins 7 Athletics 6 (MLB): 7/21: A back-and forth affair, this game saw at least one team score a run in seven innings. Trailing 5-4 entering the 8th inning, the bottom of the A’s lineup did some damage, hitting an RBI double and sac fly giving the A’s bullpen a 6-5 lead. It was not enough, though, as Twins leadoff hitter Max Kepler hit a walkoff single for his 3rd hit and 4th RBI of the night.
- Cardinals 12, Reds 11 (MLB): 7/19: A wild offensive output saw the Reds take an early 7-0 lead behind a 3-R HR from catcher R. Lavarway. Down by 7, the Cards exploded for a 10-run 6th inning. However, the real story of the inning was that STL scored 7 of those runs with 2 outs in the inning, culminating with a 3-R HR from slugger Jose Martinez. That wasn’t it for the offense, as the Reds scored 4 runs and had Joey Votto up with 2 outs in the 9th, but he grounded out to end the game and the offensive fireworks.
- Brewers 7, Pirates 6 (MLB): 7/5: Powered by 3 homers, the Brewers took a comfortable 6-1 lead into the bottom of the 9th inning. The Pirates, however, would not go down easy, putting together a spirited rally capped off by a game-tying solo homer by Jung Ho Kang with 2 outs in the 9th. In the top of the 10th, The Brewers responded with a go-ahead single by Lorenzo Cain to make the score 7-6. After blowing the save in the 9th, Junior Guerra shut the door in the 10th to give the Brewers a thrilling 7-6 win.
- Blue Jays 10 Rays 9 (MLB): 7/27: The Blue Jays faced a daunting 9-3 deficit heading into the bottom of the 8th inning. They put up 2 runs in the 8th inning on solo homers, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed a three-run homer in the 9th to cut the Rays’ lead to 1. With the Blue Jays down to their final out, Brandon Drury hit a solo homer to tie the game at 9. In the bottom of the 12th, Teoscar Hernandez broke the tie with a walk-off home run to complete the Blue Jays’ improbable come-from-behind win.
- Rays 10, Blue Jays 9 (MLB): 7/28: Take the recap from the game above, flip it on its head, and that is pretty much the outcome of the game between the Jays and Rays from the next day. The Jays were down 8-1 after 5 innings, but 3 runs in the 6th, 2 in the 7th, and 3 more in the 8th tied the game up at 9 apiece. An RBI groundout with the bases loaded gave the Rays a 10-9 lead in the 9th that they wouldn’t relinquish to extract some revenge from the previous night’s game.
- Angels 13, Mariners 0 (MLB): 7/12 On the surface, a 13-0 game is not all that exciting. Dive into it and suddenly the power of sports becomes apparent. In the Angels first home game after suffering the tragic death of pitcher T. Skaggs, two Angels pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter. Some of the crazy stats from that night include… The Angels scored 7 runs in the first and 13 runs overall, and Skaggs’ birthday was on July 13th. In the 1st inning, Mike Trout hit a HR 454 feet. Skaggs number was 45. And yes, every Angels player was wearing his number on their jersey that night. The no-hitter began with Skaggs’ mom throwing a perfect strike in the ceremonial 1st pitch. It was a brilliant and emotional night from start to finish.
