Thuuz Sports, the most powerful automated video highlights production platform for worldwide sports, today announced their June Top 10 most exciting games, with two Stanley Cup Finals wins by the St. Louis Blues, as well as a pair of NBA Finals games and some high scoring MLB contests taking most of the attention of fans around the country. 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:
- St. Louis 2, Boston 1 (NHL): 6/6: The Blues secured a critical Game 5 win on the road to take a 3-2 series lead. Controversy surrounded David Perron’s game-winning 3rd period goal, as an obvious tripping call was missed 10 seconds prior. The hero for the Blues was their rookie goalie, Jordan Binnington, who recorded 38 saves in a brilliant performance.
- Toronto 114, Golden State 110 (NBA): 6/13 The Raptors went into Oracle Arena in the final game in Oakland for the Warriors and left it as the 2019 NBA Champions. Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard was one of four Toronto Raptors to score 22+ points.
- St. Louis 4 Boston 2 (NHL): 6/3 Down 2-1 in the series, the Blues battled back to tie the Stanley Cup FInals at 2 apiece with a thrilling 4-2 win at home. Eventual Conn Smythe trophy winner Ryan O’Reilly scored 2 goals for the Blues, including the game-winning goal with just under 10 minutes remaining, to lead the Blues in attack.
- San Diego 16, Colorado 12 (MLB): 6/14 In a historically high scoring series, the Padres completed one of the best comebacks of all time thanks to Hunter Renfroe’s 3 HR game. Entering the 9th trailing by 6 runs, the Padres rallied to force the game into extra innings. The Padres then exploded for another 5 runs in the 12th after a leadoff triple from Fernando Tatis Jr. was capped by Renfroe’s 3rd HR to secure a 16-12 win. The Padres were 0-766 in franchise history when trailing by 6 or more runs in the 9th prior to this game.
- Golden State 106, Toronto 105 (NBA): 6/10 The Warriors welcomed Kevin Durant back into the mix, and for 12 minutes looked like the Warriors at their best. A devastating torn achilles ended Durant’s heroic effort, but the Warriors were able to pull out a stunning 106-105 victory in Toronto to force the series back to Oakland for a Game 6. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 57 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists in a stellar effort for the Warriors.
- Los Angeles Angels 10 Oakland 9 (MLB): 6/5 Tommy La Stella set the tone with a shot over the right field fence on the 2nd pitch of the game. The A’s wasted no time however, scoring 7 unanswered runs of their own in the 2nd and 3rd against Félix Peña. The Angels answered quickly, scoring 7 runs during the next 2 innings, highlighted by HR’s from Trout and Ohtani to take the lead 8-7 in the bottom of the 4th. The score held until the top of the 8th when the A’s scored twice. In the 9th with the game tied at 9, Garneau’s walk-off pinch-hit ground rule double drove in the winning run as the Angels outlasted the A’s in a 10-9 shootout.
- Toronto FC 3, Atlanta Utd 2 (MLS): 6/26 A goal 28 seconds into the game for Toronto FC opened up a flurry of scoring in the first 30 minutes of the game. Two Atlanta Utd goals within 5 minutes gave Atlanta a 2-1 lead, before a Pozuelo (TOR) goal in the 28th minute tied the game at 2 apiece. The game remained tied until stoppage time, when TOR was awarded a PK. Pozuelo calmly put the penalty away, which looked like it would end the game. However, Atlanta Utd were then given a PK in the 5th minute of stoppage time after a VAR check confirmed a penalty. The penalty was launched over the bar, resulting in a 3-2 Toronto FC victory.
- Los Angeles Dodgers 12, Colorado 8 (MLB): 6/27 After going back and forth all game, the Dodgers scored four runs in the 9th inning to beat the Rockies 12-8 as the teams combined for 33 hits. Coors Field may have played a role, as 5 different Dodgers homered and Max Muncy impressed going 3 for 4 with 2 HR’s. The Dodgers’ 12 run tally was their highest since putting up 18 on the Diamondbacks back in March.
9 Seattle 9, Minnesota 6 (MLB): 6/12 After trailing by 5 in the 8th, the Twins fought back and tied the game in the 9th thanks to a HR from Byron Buxton. However, 3 errors in the 10th spoiled their comeback, gifting the Mariners a 9-6 win. Dan Vogelbach starred for the Mariners, going 4 for 5 and with a solo HR to open the scoring in the 6th. In a losing effort, Jose Berrios held the Mariners to 1 run through 6.2 innings.
- Chicago White Sox 8, Boston 7 (MLB): 6/26 A back-and-forth battle saw the White Sox get out to an early lead by ambushing Chris Sale and the Red Sox with 3 first inning runs. The Red Sox battled back, taking a 7-6 lead on a two run single by Xander Bogearts with 2 outs in the 8th inning. Facing a 1-run deficit entering the 9th, ChiSox star Jose Abreu battled with Red Sox closer Matt Barnes, and on the 10th pitch of the at-bat, deposited a game-winning 2-R HR over the Green Monster.