MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WBAY) – Milwaukee’s Italian community center says First Lady Jill Biden will speak at Festa Italiana’s opening ceremonies on Friday.

Biden is the first Italian-American first lady.

She’ll speak at Henry Maier Festival Park’s Aurora Pavilion at 6 p.m.

This will be the first lady’s third visit to the Badger State this year. She held an education roundtable in Green Bay and visited the Rail Yard’s innovation center in February. She came back for a day in March, making stops in Milwaukee and Waukesha.

Festa Italiana runs through Sunday, featuring Italian food, music and culture.

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MILWAUKEE — Regression was inevitable for Shota Imanaga, the Japanese pitcher whose first nine starts for the Chicago Cubs were almost spotless. It was always a matter of how soon it would happen and how much of a decline, not whether he could go undefeated and keep his ERA within range of zero. The game is forever humbling.

Two months into his rookie season, it’s conceivable that Imanaga will pitch in the All-Star Game, earn Cy Young Award votes and start Game 1 of a playoff series. Everyone in Imanaga’s camp and Jed Hoyer’s front office would have taken that when Imanaga signed a four-year, $53 million contract in January. All of their big-picture objectives remain in sight.

There will also be more moments like Wednesday night’s 10-6 loss at American Family Field, where the Milwaukee Brewers were all over Imanaga’s fastball/splitter combination. These things happen, and it was never as easy as Imanaga made it look. But given how this team is constructed, the Cubs will have trouble being good enough if Imanaga is less than extraordinary.

Because the Brewers aren’t going away. Not after watching manager Craig Counsell jump to a big-market rival. Not after trading Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles. Not after showing interest in Imanaga but ultimately passing on the 30-year-old left-hander. So much will change over the next four months, but so far Milwaukee’s system still works.

Brewers fans booed Counsell when he walked out to the mound in the fifth inning to take the ball from Imanaga. In giving up seven runs, Imanaga’s ERA increased from 0.84 to 1.86. He had allowed only five earned runs in his first nine major-league starts, a beginning that surpassed even Fernando Valenzuela’s and “Fernandomania” with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981.

Capping our #AAPIHeritageMonth features with tonight’s starting pitcher, Shota Imanaga!

Take a look back at the Throwing Philosopher’s journey to Cubs pinstripes. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/pbdBBu2DEp

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 29, 2024

“It’s hard for me to say I’ve proven something,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “We’re a third of the way into the season. Hopefully in the next two-thirds, I can prove something.”

That attitude is a major reason teammates appreciate Imanaga and believe he will continue to make adjustments. They will need him to make up ground on the Brewers, a first-place team that heads into Thursday afternoon’s series finale with a 4 1/2-game lead over the Cubs in the National League Central.

The Brewers didn’t appear to be off-balance or uncomfortable against Imanaga, a fly-ball pitcher who had surrendered only three home runs to the first 209 major-league hitters he faced. But there was Christian Yelich, Milwaukee’s No. 3 hitter, hammering a first-pitch fastball an estimated 441 feet out to right-center field for a two-run homer in the first inning.

Imanaga struck out only one of the 22 Milwaukee hitters he faced. He didn’t get in trouble with walks — there was just one — or bad defense. The Brewers put up five runs in the third inning with three singles, a double and a home run off Imanaga.

“He’s been the definition of an ace,” Cubs outfielder Ian Happ said. “This day was coming. He’ll learn from it. He’ll move on and figure out what was a little bit different today and come back the next start and be great.”

Imanaga had not pitched since May 18, when the Cubs won their second 1-0 game started by him. Counsell and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy rearranged their pitching plans off a rainout last weekend in St. Louis, skipping Imanaga in the rotation so he could get extra rest and then go on a six-day schedule for his next start.

The same instincts that led Counsell to pull Ben Brown from Tuesday night’s game after seven no-hit innings factored into that decision to prioritize Imanaga’s future and give him a break. Keeping those long-term interests in mind is a way Counsell gains respect from players. It’s part of how the Brewers consistently functioned as a strong second-half team.

The Cubs also iced one of the hottest pitchers in baseball history.

Imanaga downplayed that angle — “I don’t really think there was an issue with that” — and said the time off was “good for recovery.” During his 10-day layoff, the Cubs experienced a five-game losing streak and flipped their run differential from positive to negative. The Cubs are now a .500 team through 56 games: 8-2 in games started by Imanaga, and 20-26 in the rest of their schedule.

“I guess the historic start is over,” Counsell said. “The great start is still here. Nothing changes from my perspective. He’s been a joy to watch. He’s been a huge part of us getting a bunch of wins. I look forward to him going out there again.”

(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)

Wednesday, May 29 marks the deadline for withdrawal from the 2024 NBA Draft for incoming prospects. One of those prospects who is teetering on the fence of staying in the draft and returning to college basketball is Mark Sears. Sears is reportedly scheduled to workout with the Bucks today.

Should the workout go well, the Milwaukee Bucks may be able to convince Mark Sears that he will be drafted with one of their two picks, 23 or 33. The Milwaukee Bucks are also working out Dillon Jones of Weber State, who will be a candidate for the 33rd pick as well.

Mark Sears led the Alabama Crimson Tide deep in the 2024 NCAA March Madness tournament, advancing all the way to the Final Four before losing to the eventual champion UConn Huskies.

Sears averaged 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, four assists and 1.6 steals per game. Sears shot 50.8 percent on field goals, 43.6 percent from the 3-point line and 85.7 percent from the free throw line. The numbers from the field and behind the arc are career highs.

During the March Madness Tournament, Sears scored 30, 26, 18, 23 and 24 points to help Alabama continue advancing to the Final Four. Across the five games, Sears stepped his game up to 53.2 percent from the field, 45.5 percent from the 3-point line and 82.6 percent from the free throw line. Being able to step up his game when the pressure is on is certainly a valuable trait.

Mark Sears certainly helped his stock during the March Madness tournament offensively, but also defensively, after the game on March 24 over upstart 12 seed Grand Canyon, Alabama head coach Nate Oats praised Sears’ defensive effort saying “This is as good of defense as Mark Sears has played all year.”

Two days earlier, after the Crimson Tide defeated Charleston in their opening tournament game, Sears said he “took it personal” when he heard people saying bad things about the Alabama defense.

At 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, he is slightly undersized for the NBA but certainly fits the stature of some of the backup point guards standing out in the Eastern Conference of the NBA Playoffs, namely T.J. McConnell and Payton Pritchard.

McConnell is almost exactly the same size as Sears, and Milwaukee Bucks fans can certainly attest to the level of pest that McConnell was during the first round of the playoffs against the Indiana Pacers. Size is not the only similarity, as their shooting percentages are extremely close as well. Sears shoots a slightly lower field goal percentage but higher 3-point and free throw percentage than McConnell, albeit at the college level.

The Milwaukee Bucks potentially getting their own backup point guard who can pester opponent guards and fill the potential void that Patrick Beverly could create should he sign elsewhere would be a quality move

If the Bucks bring Beverly back, they could still draft Sears and then have Beverly teach him the artist’s ways of annoying opponents with tough, in-your-face defense.

Kevin Sweeney of Sports Illustrated gave his thoughts on Mark Sears, saying he believes Sears should probably return to Alabama.