In the upset of the tournament (apologies to Greece), the Italians used two Mario Balotelli goals and a workman-like performance in net from Gianluigi Buffon to eliminate Germany and advance to their first European Championship since their 2000 loss to France.

The Italy/Spain final is a rematch from the first weekend of the tournament, when the two teams drew 1-1. There will be no drawing in the final on Sunday.

As many expected, Kentucky forward Anthony Davis was the first overall selection in the 2012 NBA Draft, going to the New Orleans Hornets. NOLA used their second lottery pick (10^th overall) to draft Duke guard Austin Rivers, establishing, in the span of an hour, one of the best young nucleuses in the league.

Elsewhere, the Charlotte Bobcats drafted Davis’ college teammate Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with the second overall pick. The Wizards followed by taking Florida freshman Bradley Beal. Cleveland surprised many by drafting Syracuse guard Dion Waiters with the fourth pick, despite the fact that Waiters never started a game in his two years in college. Finally, Sacramento rounded out the top 5 by taking D.C.-native and Kansas forward Thomas Robinson.

The surprise of the draft, though, may have been that there were no surprises. No big trades (apologies, as always, to Tyler Zeller). No shocking picks (we call those Mouhamed Sene’s). The fans booed NBA Commissioner David Stern. They cheered Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. And the ESPN analysts talked about wingspan and upside.

–Great Pitching Performance #1: Felix Hernandez. Maybe it’s because he plays for a terrible team (that’s exactly what it is), but King Felix doesn’t get enough notice for just how good he is. Last night saw a return to form for the King, after a bit of an off season. Hernandez threw a shutout and struck out 13 Red Sox hitters and got the minimum of run support from his teammates to lead Seattle to a 1-0 victory.

-Great Pitching Performance #2: Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner came within one hit of throwing his first career no-hitter, as he led the now first place San Francisco Giants to a 5-0 victory over the Reds. Cincinnati’s only hit came off the bat of Ryan Hanigan. Bumgarner struck out 8.

-Great Pitching Performance #3: Andrew Cashner. The Padres decided last month to conver the electric-armed (and often-injured) Cashner to a starting pitcher role. They sent him to the minors where he was dominant. Last night, in his return to the Majors and his debut as a full-time starter, Cashner took a no-hitter into the 7^th inning before surrendering a line drive single to Carlos Lee. Cashner dominated the Astros, though, in the previous six innings, striking out 9 and walking just 1. The Padres rallied in the 9^th for a 7-3 victory.

-Mediocre Pitching Debut #1: Trevor Bauer. Pitching in his MLB debut on short rest (which is apparently the way to do this sort of thing…?), Diamondbacks prospect Trevor Bauer pitched 4 innings, surrendering 2 runs and striking out 3. Better things to come.

-Coming off of a week-long series with their cross-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Pirates now find themselves just 1 game back in the NL Central. The Pirates begin a weekend series tonight with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Yesterday was just your run-of-the-mill 11-10 extra innings game between the Nationals and Rockies. The Nats were on the 10 run side of the equation and drew to a disappointing split with the Rockies.

Starter Edwin Jackson was rocked for 8 runs early and exhibited as much life on his fastball as Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Nats were able to sustain an unsuccessful rally thanks to a late-inning homer by Bryce Harper that traveled up I-25 to Cheyenne.

The Nats begin a three-game series in Atlanta tonight. They enter the series with a 3 ½ game lead on the Braves. Your weekend pitching matchups and start times:

Friday: Ross Detwiler v. Randall Delgado (7:35 p.m.)

Saturday: Stephen Strasburg v. Mike Minor (4:05 p.m.)

Sunday: Gio Gonzalez v. Tim Hudson (1:35 p.m.)

Soccer: Spain v. Italy (Sunday 2:45/ESPN)

MLB: Tigers @ Rays (Friday 7:10/MLB.TV……Justin Verlander v. David Price)

And then some tennis and stock car racing, and I’m sure a golf tournament. Perhaps some cage fighting and some bowling.

Enjoy your weekends. Safe travels to those hitting the road, rail, or sky.