⚾️ Y! Sports AM: MLB power rankings

(Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports) We're about one-quarter of the way through the MLB season, which presents an opportunity to view teams through the lens of expectation vs. reality. **Now vs. then:** Here's where each team landed in our latest power rankings, compared to their spot in our preseason rankings in March. No team has risen quite like the Rays and Cardinals (up 17 spots), and no team has fallen quite like the Mets (down 22 spots). **Top 10:**

The Wanamaker Trophy in front of the Aronimink clubhouse. (Scott Taetsch/PGA of America) The 108th PGA Championship tees off tomorrow at Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia, where 156 golfers will compete for the Wanamaker Trophy in the season's second major. *It's been a while: This is the first men's major in the Philadelphia area since the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club, and just the second PGA Championship ever held at Aronimink. The first was held in 1962, and won by Gary Player.*

The 7th hole. (Dave Evenson/PGA of America) **Origin story:** Aronimink, originally founded as the Belmont Golf Club in 1896, bounced around various locations for three decades before landing in Newtown Square in 1928, when legendary architect Donald Ross was brought in to work his Scotland links-inspired magic on the track. *Notable quotable: "I intended to make this my masterpiece," Ross said in a 1948 quote you're likely to hear often during this week's coverage. "But not until today did I realize I built it better than I knew."*

The 12th and 13th holes. (Scott Taetsch/PGA of America) **Timely restoration:** It's no mistake that Aronimink is hosting *this* year's tournament, on the 250th anniversary of America's founding in Philadelphia. To prepare for the milestone, the club enlisted famed architect Gil Hanse in 2018 to restore the course based on Ross' original vision. *What changed? Hanse's restoration focused on subdividing the bunkers (there are now nearly 200), removing trees and re-contouring and significantly expanding the greens, which now average 8,200 square feet. That's roughly 25% larger than the average PGA Tour greens.*

The 5th green. (Scott Taetsch/PGA of America) **The greens are the key:** "You want to know the secret to Aronimink Golf Club? Look no further than the greens," writes Yahoo Sports' Jay Busbee. "Turtlebacked, sloping, with vicious swales and card-killing breaks, the greens will test the best." *The last word: Players understand this week's tournament will be won or lost on those devilish dance floors, and that everything else is fair game. "Strategy off the tee is pretty nonexistent," Rory McIlroy said candidly on Tuesday. "It's, basically, bash driver down there and then figure it out from there."*

(Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) In a Vanity Fair piece published on Monday, Lane Kiffin indicated that a stronger sense of "campus diversity" factored into him leaving Ole Miss for LSU. *When he was coaching there, Kiffin says, top recruits would tell him, 'Hey, coach, we really like you. But my grandparents aren't letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi.'* *"That doesn't come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus' diversity feels so great: 'It feels like there's no segregation. And we want that for our kid because that's the real world.'"* **The very next day**, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian took a shot at Ole Miss' academic standards in an interview with USA Today. *"At Texas, we will only take 50% of a player's academic credit hours. You may be a semester from graduating, but you're going all the way back to 50% if you play here and want a degree. But at Ole Miss, they can take you. All you have to do is take basket weaving, and you can get an Ole Miss degree."* **The fallout:** Kiffin has since apologized for his comments, but it's safe to say that the Rebels fan base that already hated him hates him even more now. A perfect time for ABC to announce that this year's LSU-Ole Miss game (Sept. 19) will be in primetime! **Watch:** The problem with Kiffin's comments (Yahoo Sports)

The series returns to Detroit tonight. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) **🏀 NBA Playoffs** The Pistons host the Cavaliers in a critical Game 5 *(8pm ET, ESPN)*, with their series tied at two games apiece after both teams held serve at home. **Cleveland's extreme splits:** The Cavs are 6-0 at home in these playoffs, and 0-5 on the road. Can they flip the script tonight and take a 3-2 lead? Or will the trend continue? **🏒 NHL Playoffs** The top-seeded Avalanche (up 3-1) will look to close out the Wild at home *(8pm, TNT)* and book their spot in the West Final. **Conn Smythe watch:** Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon is the betting favorite (+250 at BetMGM) to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (postseason MVP), and teammate Cale Makar has the third-best odds (+900). **More to watch:**

(Carl Recine/Getty Images) Six active golfers have won multiple PGA Championships, but with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh not in this week's field, just three are teeing it up. **Question:** Can you name all three? **Hint:** Two Americans, one European. *Answer at the bottom.*

(Tom Haberstroh/Yahoo Sports) If Monday was LeBron James' final game as a Laker, he'll walk away knowing he had a Hall of Fame career *based solely on his eight seasons in purple and gold*. **But wait, there's more:** If we can establish that James had a Hall of Fame worthy career as a Laker, it means something even bigger. It means he has stacked four separate Hall of Fame careers on top of each other, demarcated by the three offseasons in which he switched teams. ***Here are the numbers to prove it.*** **Trivia answer:** Brooks Koepka (2018, 2019, 2023); Rory McIlroy (2012, 2014); Justin Thomas (2017, 2022) *We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.*