Happy Memorial Day to everyone. I hope your beers are cold, your grills are working and most of all that you have a happy and safe day. Take a moment to remember why we have this day, as well. Many brave men and women gave their lives for us to enjoy days like this, and we should be thinking about them a bit today as well.

The Tampa Bay Rays are one of the best teams in baseball. I suppose that shouldn’t come as much of a shock because the team has been one of the better franchises in the sport for many years. They somehow find a way to win no matter what team they have on the field. More than almost any franchise, they make diamonds out of starting pitchers, and their team plays good, fundamental ball. This year, they are almost 20 games over .500 and lead the American League East. They have, however, not been great on the road.

With a 15-11 road record, it isn’t like they are terrible, but they definitely have room for improvement. Today’s starter, Shane McClanahan, is one of the better pitchers in baseball, but injuries have kept him down for a couple of years. This season, he is throwing very well to a 5-2 record with a 2.82 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. His numbers are worse on the road, but they really aren’t that much different than his home starts. He faced the Orioles last week and allowed four earned runs on six hits over five innings.

The Baltimore Orioles were supposed to be improved this year. They made a lot of additions in the offseason and looked to try to get back into the playoffs. The team is 23-29 for the year, and in fourth place of the AL East. The team was 18-34 last year on Memorial Day, so there is at least progress. But, they are already 12 games back of the Rays, which means they will need quite a bit of help if they want to make a run for the postseason.

Looking to try to give him a bit of that help is today’s starter Kyle Bradish. I read on X from a sportsbook operator that their biggest liability (before the season started) was for Bradish to win the Cy Young. I don’t think the books have to worry about that. Bradish is 2-6 with a 4.13 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. He has good stuff, but injuries hurt him too. He’s made 10 starts this year, which is more than he made in either of the past two seasons. In fairness, most of his outings haven’t been bad, but the Orioles aren’t giving him much support. He faced the Rays in his last game and allowed two earned runs on four hits over 5.1 innings.

This should be a pretty good matchup. Looking across the board, I’d say this is likely the best pitching matchup of the day. That doesn’t mean it will definitely be a pitcher’s duel, but on paper the signs point to that. I’ll probably stay off of the total, though.

I am going to back the Rays. Tampa Bay swept Baltimore, so I’m sure the Orioles are looking for some revenge. Unfortunately, I don’t think they will do that against McClanahan. The Tampa pitcher didn’t have a great game last time, but he rarely has two bad performances in a row. Bradish has been decent this year, but he is also allowing a lot of traffic on the basepaths which are converting into crooked numbers. Give me the Rays to win.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024 

Americans know something is broken in healthcare. Premiums keep rising, deductibles keep climbing and medical bills often arrive with charges no one can explain. Behind those frustrations is the fact that we operate within a healthcare system built around secrecy.

On May 18, President Donald Trump took on drug pricing with the expansion of TrumpRX, a first-of-its kind platform designed to allow Americans to find their drugs for less in a system styled to work like Airbnb or Priceline.com. Next, he should set his sights on hospitals and insurance companies.

Healthcare remains one of the most expensive and least transparent sectors of the American economy. Hidden prices, opaque billing systems and layers of middlemen cost taxpayers and working families hundreds of billions of dollars each year through fraud, waste and abuse.

The good news is that the Trump administration has the authority needed to begin to provide relief to the American people right now. What is missing is the enforcement.

TRUMP ROLLS OUT ‘GREAT HEALTHCARE PLAN,’ URGES CONGRESS TO SLASH COSTS FOR AMERICANS

There are three practical steps that could be taken immediately to lower costs, expose fraud and restore public trust in the healthcare system.

First, give patients prices before care and empower them to join the fight against fraud, waste and abuse.

Americans cannot fight fraud if they cannot see it. Today, most patients learn the true cost of care only after treatment is complete, and the bills start arriving. By then, it is too late to compare costs or challenge suspicious prices.

TRUMP’S HEALTHCARE ORDER WILL HELP FIX HEALTHCARE FOR EVERYONE

Congress and Trump already addressed this problem in the No Surprises Act by authorizing an Advanced Explanation of Benefits, or AEOB, at the end of Trump’s first term. Patients are supposed to receive itemized charges before scheduled care showing expected services, prices, and out-of-pocket costs. That protection sat on the shelf for four years under President Joe Biden and is yet to be fully implemented.

Completing it would create immediate accountability. Patients could compare prices, identify inflated charges before treatment occurs, and keep a documented record if billing disputes with insurers or providers arise later. Every other major purchase in the economy comes with an upfront price. Healthcare should too.

Second, clean up the federal employee health program.

TOP HEALTH POLICY EXPERT CALLS MINNESOTA FRAUD ‘DISGUSTING,’ WARNS OBAMACARE ISSUES ARE NATIONWIDE

The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program is one of the largest healthcare purchasers in the country, yet taxpayers and government alike still lack basic visibility into where much of the money goes.

Under existing law, the Office of Personnel Management already has authority to demand standardized claims and pricing data, conduct aggressive audits and verify dependent eligibility. Those are basic financial controls that would be expected in any competently managed organization.

Audits can uncover duplicate billing, inflated charges and improper payments. Eligibility verification can eliminate fraudulent or outdated enrollments that continue draining taxpayer dollars long after they should have ended.

OVER A DOZEN STATE OFFICIALS RALLY BEHIND GAME-CHANGING TRUMP ADMIN RULE CRACKING DOWN ON FRAUD: ‘ESSENTIAL’

Stronger oversight alone could save billions without cutting benefits or passing a single new law.

Third, force transparency across employer health plans.

Most Americans receive coverage through employers or union-sponsored plans, yet many employers are denied access to the data needed to identify fraud and control costs. That must change.

BIPARTISAN BILL SEEKS TO STOP PHARMACY MIDDLEMEN FROM DRIVING UP DRUG COSTS FOR FINANCIAL GAIN

The Department of Labor is already moving toward stronger compensation disclosure requirements for Pharmacy Benefit Managers under ERISA. Those transparency requirements should extend to third-party administrators, insurers, stop-loss carriers and any entity receiving compensation from plan assets.

Employers and plan fiduciaries need direct access to claims data, payment records and fee structures without interference from middlemen.

Right now, many employers are effectively writing blank checks while intermediaries operate behind layers of secrecy. Transparency would shift employers from passive payers to active purchasers capable of negotiating better value for workers and businesses alike.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

These tools already exist, but they’re not being used. That is not a policy failure. It is an enforcement failure. Transparency rules without enforcement are meaningless.

Federal transparency rules are in place for hospitals and insurers, but many organizations continue filing incomplete or unusable pricing data with little to no consequence.

Americans are tired of hidden prices, surprise bills and unexplained costs. They want accountability. And unlike many healthcare debates, this is not fundamentally about ideology. It is about whether patients, employers, and taxpayers deserve to know where their money is going.

The authority already exists. The laws are already on the books. What is needed now is the will to enforce them. Maximum price transparency enforcement is the fastest way to empower Americans and make healthcare affordable again, and the Trump administration can get it done.

An investigational dementia drug may also ease alcohol withdrawal by calming the brain inflammation linked to addiction and relapse.

That’s according to researchers at the University of Kentucky, who studied an experimental medication called MW150 that targets a brain inflammation pathway known as p38α MAPK.

The drug, which has not yet been approved, is designed to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

ALCOHOL DEATHS HAVE MORE THAN DOUBLED IN RECENT YEARS, ESPECIALLY AMONG WOMEN

Scientists believe neuroinflammation may contribute to relapse risk and long-term neurological damage in people with alcohol use disorder.

In laboratory and animal-model experiments, MW150 was found to reduce certain inflammatory markers during alcohol withdrawal.

The work, which was published in the journal Alcohol, came from the University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, led by neuroinflammation researcher Linda Van Eldik.

ALCOHOL POSES THESE 8 RISKS TO OLDER ADULTS, EXPERTS WARN

Caleb Bailey, PhD, co-author of the study and a researcher in Van Eldik’s lab, said the study provides “biological plausibility” that MW150 could mitigate neuroinflammation arising from alcohol withdrawal.

Alcohol use disorder is difficult to treat because of high relapse rates, especially during withdrawal, according to Bailey.

“If follow-up experiments reveal similar anti-inflammatory effects of MW150 in animal models of alcohol use disorder, it would provide a strong rationale for development of MW150 as a treatment for those struggling with chronic alcohol relapse due to alcohol withdrawal,” he told Fox News Digital.

‘I”M A NEUROSURGEON — HERE’S WHAT ALCOHOL DOES TO THE BODY’

MW150, along with a related drug called Neflamapimod, is already being investigated in clinical trials as a potential therapy for dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions, the researchers noted.

“That gives this work added significance,” Bailey said. “Because these compounds are already further along in development for other neurological diseases, it raises the possibility that they could someday be repurposed more efficiently for alcohol-related conditions if future studies continue to show promise.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

There were some important caveats of the research, including that it was conducted in cell culture and animal models.

“Because they are ‘dish’-based models, they provide limited information regarding what happens in the full organism – or even the full brain for that matter,” Bailey said.

“A series of follow-up studies in living animals is required to more fully understand how future MW150 treatment in alcohol use and withdrawal affects systemic health and/or alcohol consumption.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

Dr. Amy Swift, deputy chief medical officer at Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut, was not involved in the study but shared her reactions to the findings.

“Although detoxification using tapering doses of medication has long been considered the evidence-based first step in treating alcohol use disorder, its impact on the long-term trajectory of a person’s drinking behavior has been limited,” she told Fox News Digital.

“Put simply, detoxification does not treat alcohol use disorder itself; rather, it prevents the potentially fatal complications of alcohol withdrawal.”

Adding supportive medications — especially those intended to improve overall brain health — could address an important gap in early treatment of detoxification, according to Swift.

“Given the profound inflammatory effects alcohol has across multiple organ systems, it is worthwhile to investigate whether reducing neuroinflammation could improve a patient’s ability to engage in treatment earlier in recovery and, in turn, meaningfully alter their long-term relationship with alcohol,” she added.

Bailey emphasized that no amount of alcohol consumption is good from a physical health standpoint.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

“We don’t currently have robust pharmacological treatments to mitigate damage caused by chronic alcohol consumption,” he said. “Minimizing alcohol consumption, therefore, is the best strategy for staying healthy.”

As the MW150 compound continues to be studied for dementia patients, Bailey saud, “information regarding the interaction between these drugs and alcohol – for better or for worse – will be important for patient outcomes.”