Italy in action vs Serbia during the VNL Week 2 at PhilSports Arena in Pasig. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Defending champion Italy recovered from the brink of a meltdown and outlasted Serbia in five sets, 25-14, 25-15, 21-25, 21-25, 15-12, in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) women’s week 2 on Thursday at Philsports Arena.

With the game tied at 10 in the fifth set, Josephine Obossa took matters into her own hands, putting on the finishing touches to keep the Italians unbeaten in the Philippine leg of the VNL.

Obossa finished with 18 points from 15 kills and three blocks, saving Italy after blowing a two-set lead.

Italy’s Josephine Obossa in action vs Serbia during a game in the VNL Week 2. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Italy tied the United States at 5-1 ahead of their marquee duel on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Sarah Luisa Fahr also came to the rescue for the Italians with 17 points off 10 kills and seven blocks. Linda Nwakalor and Kate Antrapova added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Serbia dropped to a 1-5 record after falling short of another five-set match, following their tough setback to Japan on Wednesday.

Nina Cajic powered the Serbians comeback with 19 points. Branka Tica contributed nine points, while Minja Osmajic and Masa Kirov added eight each.

Serbia takes on the winless Dominican Republic on Friday at 4 p.m.

Thursday features a nine-game MLB slate with games both in the afternoon and evening, creating plenty of online sports betting options for MLB fans and baseball bettors throughout the day. There are several entertaining forms of baseball prop betting, including MLB home run props. Before you lock in your MLB HR picks today, you’ll want to see what SportsLine data analyst Jacob Fetner has to say. Fetner was up 50 units on his MLB home run picks on betting sites last year and just revealed three MLB prop bets for Thursday, June 18. Claim $200 in bonus bets with a $5 wager at DraftKings here:

Two of Fetner’s three home run picks homered on Friday, backing the Brewers’ Jake Bauers (+453) and the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez (+340), who hit two home runs on Friday. Fetner had five correct home run picks last week, including one at +650 odds. Over the last few weeks, Fetner’s correct home run picks include the Tigers’ Kerry Carpenter (+479), Giants’ Casey Schmitt (+590) and Phillies’ Alec Bohm (+820) for nice paydays. He also hit a home run parlay bet, which paid out more than 30-1, a few weeks ago.

For Thursday, Twins outfielder Byron Buxton is among his best MLB HR bets today, and you can also parlay today’s selections for a return of over 130-1 on some of the best sports betting apps. Buxton is third in baseball with 23 home runs, and he’s gone deep in three of his last five games and in five of his last eight contests.

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Best Home Run picks for Thursday

• Byron Buxton, Twins (+290, FanDuel)
• Jared Young, Mets (+500, Hard Rock Bet)
• Dominic Canzone, Mariners (+475, Hard Rock Bet)

Byron Buxton, Twins (+290, FanDuel)

“Byron Buxton has three home runs over his last five games on the road,” Fetner said. “Buxton faces a same-side right-handed pitcher — no platoon edge, so the other factors need to carry the case. Buxton has been dominant against right-handed pitching this season, hitting .270 with a .977 OPS in 204 plate appearances, with 19 of his 23 homers coming off RHP this season. One thing to note: He’s been significantly better at home (1.115 OPS) than on the road (.774 OPS) — he’s on the tougher side of that split today.” Back Buxton to go yard on Thursday by clicking here to bet at FanDuel, where new users get $350 in bonus bets with a $5 bet over their first seven days:

Jared Young, Mets (+500, Hard Rock Bet)

“Jared Young (bats L) has the platoon advantage against Phillies right-handed Aaron Nola, posting a .762 OPS against right-handed pitching this season, and all eight of his home runs this season have come against RHP,” Fetner noted. “For context, he’s only posting a .473 OPS against left-handed pitching, so this is clearly the better matchup for him. Left-handed batters are hitting a .881 OPS against Nola, who has been struggling at home — a 6.91 ERA over his last three starts, allowing 11 earned runs in 14 ⅓ innings pitched. He has failed to record a quality start in any of those three outings.” Back Young to go yard on Thursday by clicking here to bet at Hard Rock Bet, where new users get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins:

Dominic Canzone, Mariners (+475, Hard Rock Bet)

“Dominic Canzone is hitting .297 with a .955 OPS against right-handed pitchers this season, with 11 of his 11 home runs coming off RHPs,” Fetner said. “He’s hitting .338 with a 1.080 OPS at home this season, compared to .253 and .808 on the road. He has been on a tear lately, hitting five home runs over his last 10 home games. He has been swinging a hot bat, hitting .379 over his last 10 games.” Back Canzone to go yard on Thursday by clicking here to bet at Hard Rock Bet, where new users get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins:

RFK Racing has locked in Chris Buescher on a multi-year contract extension but has not yet found a third charter for 2027. According to team president Chip Bowers, the team will run three cars next season and it is also prepared to enter races as an open team until a permanent solution is found.

The team, co-owned by Brad Keselowski, is staring at a major charter problem for the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season. It owns Keselowski’s No. 6 and Buescher’s No. 17 charters, but leased the No. 60 Ford, driven by Ryan Preece, from Rick Ware Racing. And since NASCAR allows charters to be leased for one year at a time, RFK and RWR alternated between Ware’s two charters in 2025 and 2026. That arrangement is set to end after the 2026 season.

Speaking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Bowers responded to questions about the team’s charter plans and detailed what was non-negotiable inside the company.

“We’re going to be a tier one team, and you can’t do that running a two-car operation, so we will find a third charter. If we have to run open next season, we will do that. We’ve already communicated that to our staff and organisation and to our partners, and we have wholesale support from our ownership all the way down to the interns in the organisation.”

One of Rick Ware Racing’s charters has been sold to Legacy Motor Club, which will expand its Cup Series program to three full-time entries in 2027. Once that charter moves to Legacy, RFK Racing will lose access to the leased entry.

Brad Keselowski also addressed the charter hunt recently. He said that no charters were available for sale despite the team’s active search.

“He wanted to be here” – RFK Racing president on Chris Buescher’s loyalty after contract extension shuts down rumors

Chip Bowers also commented on RFK Racing’s recent contract renewal with Chris Buescher, who has been part of the team since joining its development program in 2009.

“Our organization is excited that Chris has been with us half of his life at this juncture. He’s been a stalwart within the RFK racing family. He’s just an exceptional human being,” Chip Bowers said.

“From day one, we’ve made it clear to him that he was a priority to us. And Brad and the entire organization wanted to make sure that he felt that from the very start of our conversations. And he wanted to be here. He’s excited about the future.”

Chris Buescher’s contract extension ended rumors about his future and interest from other Ford teams, including Penske.

Meanwhile, the 33-year-old is ranked seventh in the NASCAR Cup points standings ahead of this week’s street race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego.