A week ago today, the Los Angeles Dodgers were tied with the Arizona Dimondbacks for first place in the National League's western division... The Dodgers headed to Philadelphia to start a 10 day road trip to hopefully take control of the division... such though has not been the case at all... Greg Maddux got pounded by the Phillies as did Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers losing the first two games by a combined 17-3 score. The Dodgers then wasted a great outing by Derek Lowe, blowing a 2-1 lead and eventually losing 5-2 in extra innings. In game four of the series, the Dodgers reached base a staggering 17 times (13 hits and four walks), and yet failed to plate a run in losing 5-0.
While being swept by the playoff contending Phillies on the road is hardly embarrassing, what happened to the Dodgers in the nation's capital the past three days was beyond bad... In game one of the series, another strong outing by D-Lowe was wasted as the Dodgers could only manage a single run off Collin Balester and four Washington Nationals relievers. A throwing error by Greg Maddux led to two unearned runs - the margin of defeat - as the Dodgers lost again to the Nats last night, 5-4.
Game three of the series was a complete rout almost from the outset. After Manny Ramirez gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead with a home run which also plated Andre Ethier in the first inning, the Nationals offense exploded. Clayton Kershaw gave up five runs in just 2 1/3 innings, including a solo home run Cristian Guzman and a three-run blast from the just returning Elijah Dukes. Dukes would homer again in the 7th inning... it was Guzman though who stole the show, singling in the second inning and then doubling in the 6th inning. In the 8th inning, Guzman drove a ball deep and over center fielder Matt Kemp's head for a triple to complete the rare cycle. In the four year history of the Nationals, Guzman's was only the second cycle, the first being by Brad Wilkerson on April 6, 2005. At the end of the night, the Nationals had an 11-2 win and an improbable three game sweep of the quickly fading Blue Crew.
Fortunately for the Dodgers, the Diamondbacks have been losing as well but their losing streak is only four games. With a day off today, the Dodgers loss increased the D-Backs lead to 3 1/2 games in the National League West. Tomorrow, the Dodgers start a crucial three game series in Arizona. Needless to say, something's got to give. Realistically, the Dodgers really need to take at least two of the three games to have a legitimate chance of making the playoffs. Of course, if the Dodgers lose two of three or (gasp!) extend their losing streak to ten games, it will look like my hopes of a "Freeway World Series" will be all but dashed once again.
-----
Showing posts with label Nationals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nationals. Show all posts
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Nats hit new Lowe in L.A.
After splitting the final 128 games of the 2007 season, the Washington Nationals looked at 2008 with some hope and anticipation. A returning Nick Johnson, a promising young offense led by Ryan Zimmerman, comeback player of the year Dmitri Young and the slugging Wily Mo Pena and a promising young pitching staff led by Shawn Hill, Jason Bergmann and closer Chad Cordero looked to at least be a .500 team this year as they opened Nationals Park in our nation's capital.
Things started going wrong almost before they began though for this year's Nationals. Team mainstay John Patterson was released during spring training, and then the injuries began... every one of the above mentioned players has been hurt some point this year, and in the case of Johnson, Pena, Hill and Cordero, they are either done or looking to be done for the year. This week, the Nats traded arguably their best player this year, fill-in closer Jon Rauch to the Arizona Dimanondbacks... being an owner of Rauch in two of my five main fantasy leagues, this trade was especially disheartening.
Coming into tonight's matchup against the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine, it should come as no surprise that the Nats came in with the worst record in the majors at 38-65. Ex-Dodger Odalis Perez took on his old Dodger teammates... It was no contest from the start as Derek Lowe had his sinkerball working all night long, while Perez struggled from the get-go. Matt Kemp homered in the first inning with Juan Pierre aboard, and a scoring flyball by Nomar Garciaparra in the same frame gave the Dodgers an early 3-0 lead. Garciaparra hit a homer of his own in the fourth inning to key another three run inning for the Blue Crew. That was more than enough for "D-Lowe" as he completely stifled the Nats, allowing only a hit and a walk in hos eight innings of work. How bad was it for the Nats? Lowe had as many hits as the Nats did combined, going 2-for-3 on the night. Joe Beimel took over for Lowe in the 9th inning to preserve the 6-0 Dodger victory.
Being an owner of Lowe in four of my five most important fantasy leagues, this strong outing was very important personally, especially in one where aces Justin Duchscherer and Cole Hamels got torched to the tune of 12 earned runs and 20 batters allowed in just 9 2/3 innings of work between them. By the way, I am not winning any of those leagues at the moment... however, one is in second place and three others are within striking distance of the top. The league races are so tight at the moment that only eight points separate first to seventh in the one where I'm in 2nd place, 5 1/2 points out of the lead. In another where I trail the leader by only seven points, I'm actually in 6th place at the moment - FYI, this is the same league where I was down 33 points and mired in 9th place just 2 months ago. You can never give up in this game or ever rest on your laurels for that matter. Yes, it's a long season, a marathon if I must say!
With the win, the Dodgers keep pace, 1 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks in the N.L. West, while the Nats move to 38-66, 18 games behind the New York Mets in the N.L. East and still possessing the worst record in baseball. For the Nats, 2008 is looking like it won't be ending soon enough... for the Dodgers though, there is a lot of hope, even with a 50-52 record thanks to their division being so weak.
-----
Things started going wrong almost before they began though for this year's Nationals. Team mainstay John Patterson was released during spring training, and then the injuries began... every one of the above mentioned players has been hurt some point this year, and in the case of Johnson, Pena, Hill and Cordero, they are either done or looking to be done for the year. This week, the Nats traded arguably their best player this year, fill-in closer Jon Rauch to the Arizona Dimanondbacks... being an owner of Rauch in two of my five main fantasy leagues, this trade was especially disheartening.
Coming into tonight's matchup against the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine, it should come as no surprise that the Nats came in with the worst record in the majors at 38-65. Ex-Dodger Odalis Perez took on his old Dodger teammates... It was no contest from the start as Derek Lowe had his sinkerball working all night long, while Perez struggled from the get-go. Matt Kemp homered in the first inning with Juan Pierre aboard, and a scoring flyball by Nomar Garciaparra in the same frame gave the Dodgers an early 3-0 lead. Garciaparra hit a homer of his own in the fourth inning to key another three run inning for the Blue Crew. That was more than enough for "D-Lowe" as he completely stifled the Nats, allowing only a hit and a walk in hos eight innings of work. How bad was it for the Nats? Lowe had as many hits as the Nats did combined, going 2-for-3 on the night. Joe Beimel took over for Lowe in the 9th inning to preserve the 6-0 Dodger victory.
Being an owner of Lowe in four of my five most important fantasy leagues, this strong outing was very important personally, especially in one where aces Justin Duchscherer and Cole Hamels got torched to the tune of 12 earned runs and 20 batters allowed in just 9 2/3 innings of work between them. By the way, I am not winning any of those leagues at the moment... however, one is in second place and three others are within striking distance of the top. The league races are so tight at the moment that only eight points separate first to seventh in the one where I'm in 2nd place, 5 1/2 points out of the lead. In another where I trail the leader by only seven points, I'm actually in 6th place at the moment - FYI, this is the same league where I was down 33 points and mired in 9th place just 2 months ago. You can never give up in this game or ever rest on your laurels for that matter. Yes, it's a long season, a marathon if I must say!
With the win, the Dodgers keep pace, 1 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks in the N.L. West, while the Nats move to 38-66, 18 games behind the New York Mets in the N.L. East and still possessing the worst record in baseball. For the Nats, 2008 is looking like it won't be ending soon enough... for the Dodgers though, there is a lot of hope, even with a 50-52 record thanks to their division being so weak.
-----
Monday, March 31, 2008
Nats Walk-Off with W in New Ballpark!
The first game of the 2008 Major League Baseball season to be played on U.S. soil took place last night at the brand new Nationals Park in our nation's capital as the Nats hosted the Atlanta Braves. President Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and even spent some time in the announcer's booth with ESPN's Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. Our President spent just enough time in the broadcast booth to call the stadium's first home run - a solo shot by the Braves' Chipper Jones. Also in attendance at the game was my friend, 2006 Miss D.C., Kate Michael, who gives a very nice account of the game on her K Street Kate blog.
The Nats went into the bottom of the 9th nursing a 2-1 lead. Closer Chad Cordero had some shoulder tightness and could not come in to do his usual duties, so set-up man Jon Rauch was brought in to close things out. Rauch gave up a one-out double to Mark Teixiera. Matt Prado ran for "Big Teix" and would score on of all things a passed ball with two outs! Rauch retired Brian McCann to end the inning. The sell-out crowd of Nats fans would go home happy though. The familiar chant of "ZIM MER MAN" rang through the air after Ryan Zimmerman hit a dramatic two out walk-off home run in the bottom of the frame to give the Nationals a 3-2 win. With the win, the Nationals now have the best record in baseball at 1-0. :)
-----
Friday, January 11, 2008
No Longer A Hanging Chad...
Is it my imagination or have there been a whole bunch of rumors about the Washington Nationals trading Chad "The Chief" Cordero the past couple of years? Well, I know I've personally seen them a lot of places, and it's been a very hot topic of discussion over on the Baseball HQ forums, pretty much since I became a member early last season.
Well as of today, Chad and the rest of us are no longer hanging... as the Nationals and he put an end to those rumors. Today "The Chief" signed a one year contract for $6.2 million dollars, a raise of over $2 million from what he made last year.
Believe it or not, we are barely two and a half months away from the beginning of the regular season. As we get closer to the season, I'll be doing a lot more entries about baseball and of course fantasy baseball so that you can be almost as prepared as me on draft day. :)
-----
Well as of today, Chad and the rest of us are no longer hanging... as the Nationals and he put an end to those rumors. Today "The Chief" signed a one year contract for $6.2 million dollars, a raise of over $2 million from what he made last year.
Believe it or not, we are barely two and a half months away from the beginning of the regular season. As we get closer to the season, I'll be doing a lot more entries about baseball and of course fantasy baseball so that you can be almost as prepared as me on draft day. :)
-----
Thursday, October 4, 2007
High Hopes For Nats in '08!
While watching the playoffs the past couple of days, I started to look a little deeper into the 2007 standings. The 9-25 start by the Washington Nationals has been a point about which this season turned for me. There seemed to be a whole bunch of articles out about this time predicting the 2007 edition of the Nationals would break the 1962 Mets record for losses of 120... I took issue with these articles, and with a quick turnaround in fortunes, these articles soon went away - the memories of them though didn't.
Look at where all of the National League teams stood (playoff teams in bold) as of that date (5/9/07):
1.Milwaukee: 24-10
2.Atlanta: 21-12
2.N.Y. Mets: 21-12
4.Dodgers: 20-14
5.San Diego: 18-16
6.Arizona: 19-17
7.Chi.Cubs: 16-15
8.San.Fran: 17-16
9.Houston: 16-17
10.Florida: 15-18
11.Phillies: 15-19
12.St. Louis: 14-18
12.Pittsburgh: 14-18
14.Colorado: 14-20
14.Cincinnati: 14-20
16.NATIONALS: 9-25
Notice anything there? The five teams that had the fastest starts didn't even make the post-season this year!!! The Rockies, in the meantime, were tied with the Reds for the 2nd worst start...
Check out the N.L. teams from 5/10/07-forward:
1.Colorado: 76-53
2.Phillies: 74-54
3.Arizona: 71-55
4.San Diego: 71-58
5.Chi.Cubs: 69-62
6.N.Y. Mets: 67-62
7.NATIONALS: 64-64
8.St. Louis: 64-66
9.Atlanta: 63-66
10.Dodgers: 62-66
11.Milwaukee: 59-69
12.Cincinnati: 58-70
13.Houston: 57-72
14.Florida: 56-73
15.San.Fran.: 54-75
16.Pittsburgh: 54-76
Yes, only six N.L. teams played better ball than the Nationals from May 10th forward... considering all of the injuries the team had to deal with throughout the year, this is truly an admirable achievement. Kudos to Manny Acta for not giving up on this team when many others just threw the towel in. The Nats outplayed the Dodgers, Braves and even the 2006 World Champions from that point on. How good would the Nats have been in 2007 if the team had been healthy? Is it any wonder that some of us have very high hopes for them in 2008???
-----
Look at where all of the National League teams stood (playoff teams in bold) as of that date (5/9/07):
1.Milwaukee: 24-10
2.Atlanta: 21-12
2.N.Y. Mets: 21-12
4.Dodgers: 20-14
5.San Diego: 18-16
6.Arizona: 19-17
7.Chi.Cubs: 16-15
8.San.Fran: 17-16
9.Houston: 16-17
10.Florida: 15-18
11.Phillies: 15-19
12.St. Louis: 14-18
12.Pittsburgh: 14-18
14.Colorado: 14-20
14.Cincinnati: 14-20
16.NATIONALS: 9-25
Notice anything there? The five teams that had the fastest starts didn't even make the post-season this year!!! The Rockies, in the meantime, were tied with the Reds for the 2nd worst start...
Check out the N.L. teams from 5/10/07-forward:
1.Colorado: 76-53
2.Phillies: 74-54
3.Arizona: 71-55
4.San Diego: 71-58
5.Chi.Cubs: 69-62
6.N.Y. Mets: 67-62
7.NATIONALS: 64-64
8.St. Louis: 64-66
9.Atlanta: 63-66
10.Dodgers: 62-66
11.Milwaukee: 59-69
12.Cincinnati: 58-70
13.Houston: 57-72
14.Florida: 56-73
15.San.Fran.: 54-75
16.Pittsburgh: 54-76
Yes, only six N.L. teams played better ball than the Nationals from May 10th forward... considering all of the injuries the team had to deal with throughout the year, this is truly an admirable achievement. Kudos to Manny Acta for not giving up on this team when many others just threw the towel in. The Nats outplayed the Dodgers, Braves and even the 2006 World Champions from that point on. How good would the Nats have been in 2007 if the team had been healthy? Is it any wonder that some of us have very high hopes for them in 2008???
-----
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Nat's Young Hooks Comeback Award!
Dmitri Young (also know as "Da Meathook") came into the 2007 season just looking for a job. He comes out of the season as the National League Comeback Player of the Year. For much of second half of the season, Young flirted with the league batting title while playing first base for the Nationals before a September fade ended his hopes. Still, he picks up the award with a .320 batting average, 13 home runs and 74 RBI's. Congratulations, Dmitri to the culmination of a comeback season that really beat the odds! Click on the link below for the full story on the award:
Young named NL Comeback Player
Young named NL Comeback Player
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Nats Sweep Mets @ Shea!
Who woulda thunk it??? With a two game lead and seven home games left - three against the Washington Nationals, a makeup game against the St. Louis Cardinals and three against the Florida Marlins, many were conceding the National League East race to the New York Mets. As I've been preaching for awhile now though, their pitching has been nothing short of bad lately. Pedro Martinez has been fine of late as has Oliver Perez, but outside of that the entire staff has underachieved.
The Nationals admittedly got a little bit of a break in missing Pedro and Perez these past three days. Last night they took on Mets prospect and 2004 first round draft pick Philip Humber. For three innings last night the Nats were humbled by Humber and the rest of his Mets teammates. Nats starter Mike Bacsik got off to a very rocky start, giving up a two-run homer to Carlos Beltran and a solo shot to Moises Alou (who extended his hitting streak to 30 games) in the first... a Luis Castillo single plated another run in the second inning to make it a 4-0 Mets lead. Beltran struck again in the third inning, hitting another homer and knocking Bacsik out of the game. You have to admire manager Manny Acta's managerial ability - it's very rare that you'll see him leave his young pitchers in the game if they are getting pounded. Of late, his skillful managing has probably been the key to the Nats recent success. Joel Hanrahan then took over for Bacsik and escaped further damage in the inning.
For three innings, Humber was masterful in limiting the Nats to three hits. Things began to unravel for him in the fourth though. Austin Kearns walked to lead off the inning and Ryan Church then clubbed his 15th home run of the year deep into the right field stands to trim the Mets lead to three. Humber was able to regroup after that, retiring the next three batters in order. In the bottom of the frame, the Mets got to Hanrahan for a run as an Alou single plated David Wright. In the top of the fifth, the Nats offense took over the game. Ryan Langerhans walked and Felipe Lopez singled to right to end Humber's night. Joe Smith was then brought in to relieve Humber and was completely ineffective. Ronnie Belliard doubled, Ryan Zimmerman singled and Austin Kearns singled. Suddenly, it was a 6-5 game. Mets manager Willie Randolph then pulled Smith and inserted Pedro Feliciano. Feliciano struck out Church, but left a ball right in Wily Mo Pena's wheelhouse and he didn't miss it, doubling into the gap in left center field to score Zimmerman and Kearns. The resilient Nats had come from five runs down to take a 7-6 lead!!
And the Nats wouldn't look back. They would add two runs on a Church double off the struggling Mets closer Billy Wagner in the ninth. Chris Schroder, Jonathan Albaladejo, Saul Rivera, Jon Rauch and Luis Ayala each pitched an inning of scoreless relief. For the Nats, the 9-6 win was their fourth straight victory. A 5-2 Philadelphia Phillies win over the Atlanta Braves last night drew the Phils within just a single game of the Mets in the NL East race.
Speaking of that Phillies/Braves game, did any of you see what Jeff Francoeur did to the Phillie Phanatic prior to the game last night? Well, Francoeur appears to still be very young at heart - he took the keys to the Phanatics little buggy that he uses to travel around the stadium in... the Phanatic soon found his keys were missing and that Francouer had them in his possession. Francoeur would only give the keys back after the Phanatic did the Braves' "Tomahawk Chop!!!" Finally, the Phanatic relented, doing a couple of very weak little chops with his right hand. With that Francoeur gave the Phanatic his keys back and everyone was happy... :) It was definitely one of the more fun, and lighter moments that I'll remember from the 2007 season.
-----
The Nationals admittedly got a little bit of a break in missing Pedro and Perez these past three days. Last night they took on Mets prospect and 2004 first round draft pick Philip Humber. For three innings last night the Nats were humbled by Humber and the rest of his Mets teammates. Nats starter Mike Bacsik got off to a very rocky start, giving up a two-run homer to Carlos Beltran and a solo shot to Moises Alou (who extended his hitting streak to 30 games) in the first... a Luis Castillo single plated another run in the second inning to make it a 4-0 Mets lead. Beltran struck again in the third inning, hitting another homer and knocking Bacsik out of the game. You have to admire manager Manny Acta's managerial ability - it's very rare that you'll see him leave his young pitchers in the game if they are getting pounded. Of late, his skillful managing has probably been the key to the Nats recent success. Joel Hanrahan then took over for Bacsik and escaped further damage in the inning.
For three innings, Humber was masterful in limiting the Nats to three hits. Things began to unravel for him in the fourth though. Austin Kearns walked to lead off the inning and Ryan Church then clubbed his 15th home run of the year deep into the right field stands to trim the Mets lead to three. Humber was able to regroup after that, retiring the next three batters in order. In the bottom of the frame, the Mets got to Hanrahan for a run as an Alou single plated David Wright. In the top of the fifth, the Nats offense took over the game. Ryan Langerhans walked and Felipe Lopez singled to right to end Humber's night. Joe Smith was then brought in to relieve Humber and was completely ineffective. Ronnie Belliard doubled, Ryan Zimmerman singled and Austin Kearns singled. Suddenly, it was a 6-5 game. Mets manager Willie Randolph then pulled Smith and inserted Pedro Feliciano. Feliciano struck out Church, but left a ball right in Wily Mo Pena's wheelhouse and he didn't miss it, doubling into the gap in left center field to score Zimmerman and Kearns. The resilient Nats had come from five runs down to take a 7-6 lead!!
And the Nats wouldn't look back. They would add two runs on a Church double off the struggling Mets closer Billy Wagner in the ninth. Chris Schroder, Jonathan Albaladejo, Saul Rivera, Jon Rauch and Luis Ayala each pitched an inning of scoreless relief. For the Nats, the 9-6 win was their fourth straight victory. A 5-2 Philadelphia Phillies win over the Atlanta Braves last night drew the Phils within just a single game of the Mets in the NL East race.
Speaking of that Phillies/Braves game, did any of you see what Jeff Francoeur did to the Phillie Phanatic prior to the game last night? Well, Francoeur appears to still be very young at heart - he took the keys to the Phanatics little buggy that he uses to travel around the stadium in... the Phanatic soon found his keys were missing and that Francouer had them in his possession. Francoeur would only give the keys back after the Phanatic did the Braves' "Tomahawk Chop!!!" Finally, the Phanatic relented, doing a couple of very weak little chops with his right hand. With that Francoeur gave the Phanatic his keys back and everyone was happy... :) It was definitely one of the more fun, and lighter moments that I'll remember from the 2007 season.
-----
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Nats Spoiling Mets Party!
The Washington Nationals playoff hopes were doused long ago, but they've been playing for something else all season long after their 9-25 start - R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Many were saying they would have a good chance at tying the 1962 New York Mets and their record for futility of 40-120. Some of us that have followed the team for some time knew better, and manager Manny Acta made sure that nothing like that was going to happen. Since that awful start, the Nationals have quietly become one of baseball's most pleasant surprises, putting up a 61-62 record over their past 123 games. Another win last night over those same Mets would get them to an even .500 mark over the past 4 1/2 months.
The Mets had a seven game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies two weeks ago in the National League East race, and many conceeded them the division title at that time. Not me though... Back on September 8th, a poster on my favorite fantasy baseball site, Ron Shandler's Baseball HQ made the following statement:
"6 game lead w/ 22 to go, with apologies to Howie Rose I think it's safe to say "Put it in the books"!!!
To which I responded:
That would be a grievous error to make, given the following...
Some numbers since 8/1/07:
Oliver Perez: 5.22 ERA, 1.64 WHIP (and only a 25/22 K/BB ratio the past 5 starts)
John Maine: 7.07 ERA, 1.77 WHIP (finally coming back to earth)...
Tom Glavine: 2.87 ERA, 1.43 WHIP (that ERA should be A LOT higher)
El Duque: 4.17 ERA, 1.15 WHIP (got torched last time out)
Billy Wagner: 6.43 ERA, 2.21 WHIP (a tired arm???... these are very un-Wagner-like #'s)
Not to mention Delgado's out for 10 days or so... Unless these guys can suddenly turn it around, the Mets 6 game lead is anything but safe especially with three games against both the Phillies and Braves next week. If I were a betting man, I'd say their lead is no more than 4 games by the end of next weekend (Sept. 16).
The key to their success (or failure) the coming three weeks may indeed be the effectiveness of Pedro Martinez.
-----
As we know, the Mets increased their lead to seven games by September 12th, but then lost five straight. By September 18th, their lead shrunk to 1 1/2 games as the Phillies won six straight games themselves. And who has been one of the few bright spots for the Mets the past few weeks? Well, Pedro Martinez, of course! Pedro's allowed three runs or fewer in all four of his starts since he came off the disabled list. The only other pitcher on their staff to pitch decently over that time is Oliver Perez. Indeed, the effectiveness of Pedro and Oliver the past few weeks has basically kept the Mets in first place.
Early in the season, the Mets dominated the Nats, winning eight of their first 12 contests. The Nats though took two out of three against them in their last homestand and took game one of this weeks three game series at Shea Stadium on Monday.
Yesterday, the Mets had their ace, Tom Glavine going. For his second straight start though, he was pounded. Austin Kearns slugged a three-run homer in the first and Tony Batista then added a solo blast to give the Nats a quick 4-0 lead. Jason Bergmann pitched an effective 5 2/3 innings for the Nats, giving up three runs and seven hits. By the time he left, the Nats had a fairly secure 6-3 lead. Galvine only last five innings, giving up six earned runs and nine hits. The Nats tacked on four additional runs in the final three innings to take a 10-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
The unthinkable then almost happened... the Mets rallied, and rallied, and rallied... Paul LoDuca singled to lead off the ninth against Nats reliever Jesus Colome. After pinch hitter David Newhan struck out, Chris Gomez walked. Jose Reyes then crushed a ball deep into the right field stands for a three run homer. Suddenly it was a 10-6 game. Luis Castillo then singled, and "the Chief," Chad Cordero was brought in to close things out. Chad just didn't have it last night as David Wright singled and Carlos Beltran walked. The ageless wonder, Moises Alou then smacked a ball down the right field line for a 3-run double. Suddenly we had a 10-9 game. Jon Rauch then came in to try and save the game. He got the dangerous Carlos Delgado to strike out swinging and then ended the game on a harmless LoDuca pop out to right field. WHEW!!!
With the win, the Nats are now at .500 (62-62) over their past 124 games, and are starting to finally earn some much-deserved respect amongst their peers... As for the Mets, they were fortunate that the persuing Phillies lost. At the moment their NL East lead is two games over the Phils and three games over the "never say die" Atlanta Braves.
-----
Also of note, Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers slugged two homers yesterday in a 9-1 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals to give him 50 on the year. At age 23, he becomes the youngest player ever to hit 50. Additionally, I believe he now becomes part of the first-ever father/son duo to hit 50 homers. Prince's father, Cecil "Big Daddy" Fielder, hit 51 homers for the Detroit Tigers in 1990. Congratulations to Prince on this HUGE accomplishment!
-----
The Mets had a seven game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies two weeks ago in the National League East race, and many conceeded them the division title at that time. Not me though... Back on September 8th, a poster on my favorite fantasy baseball site, Ron Shandler's Baseball HQ made the following statement:
"6 game lead w/ 22 to go, with apologies to Howie Rose I think it's safe to say "Put it in the books"!!!
To which I responded:
That would be a grievous error to make, given the following...
Some numbers since 8/1/07:
Oliver Perez: 5.22 ERA, 1.64 WHIP (and only a 25/22 K/BB ratio the past 5 starts)
John Maine: 7.07 ERA, 1.77 WHIP (finally coming back to earth)...
Tom Glavine: 2.87 ERA, 1.43 WHIP (that ERA should be A LOT higher)
El Duque: 4.17 ERA, 1.15 WHIP (got torched last time out)
Billy Wagner: 6.43 ERA, 2.21 WHIP (a tired arm???... these are very un-Wagner-like #'s)
Not to mention Delgado's out for 10 days or so... Unless these guys can suddenly turn it around, the Mets 6 game lead is anything but safe especially with three games against both the Phillies and Braves next week. If I were a betting man, I'd say their lead is no more than 4 games by the end of next weekend (Sept. 16).
The key to their success (or failure) the coming three weeks may indeed be the effectiveness of Pedro Martinez.
-----
As we know, the Mets increased their lead to seven games by September 12th, but then lost five straight. By September 18th, their lead shrunk to 1 1/2 games as the Phillies won six straight games themselves. And who has been one of the few bright spots for the Mets the past few weeks? Well, Pedro Martinez, of course! Pedro's allowed three runs or fewer in all four of his starts since he came off the disabled list. The only other pitcher on their staff to pitch decently over that time is Oliver Perez. Indeed, the effectiveness of Pedro and Oliver the past few weeks has basically kept the Mets in first place.
Early in the season, the Mets dominated the Nats, winning eight of their first 12 contests. The Nats though took two out of three against them in their last homestand and took game one of this weeks three game series at Shea Stadium on Monday.
Yesterday, the Mets had their ace, Tom Glavine going. For his second straight start though, he was pounded. Austin Kearns slugged a three-run homer in the first and Tony Batista then added a solo blast to give the Nats a quick 4-0 lead. Jason Bergmann pitched an effective 5 2/3 innings for the Nats, giving up three runs and seven hits. By the time he left, the Nats had a fairly secure 6-3 lead. Galvine only last five innings, giving up six earned runs and nine hits. The Nats tacked on four additional runs in the final three innings to take a 10-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
The unthinkable then almost happened... the Mets rallied, and rallied, and rallied... Paul LoDuca singled to lead off the ninth against Nats reliever Jesus Colome. After pinch hitter David Newhan struck out, Chris Gomez walked. Jose Reyes then crushed a ball deep into the right field stands for a three run homer. Suddenly it was a 10-6 game. Luis Castillo then singled, and "the Chief," Chad Cordero was brought in to close things out. Chad just didn't have it last night as David Wright singled and Carlos Beltran walked. The ageless wonder, Moises Alou then smacked a ball down the right field line for a 3-run double. Suddenly we had a 10-9 game. Jon Rauch then came in to try and save the game. He got the dangerous Carlos Delgado to strike out swinging and then ended the game on a harmless LoDuca pop out to right field. WHEW!!!
With the win, the Nats are now at .500 (62-62) over their past 124 games, and are starting to finally earn some much-deserved respect amongst their peers... As for the Mets, they were fortunate that the persuing Phillies lost. At the moment their NL East lead is two games over the Phils and three games over the "never say die" Atlanta Braves.
-----
Also of note, Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers slugged two homers yesterday in a 9-1 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals to give him 50 on the year. At age 23, he becomes the youngest player ever to hit 50. Additionally, I believe he now becomes part of the first-ever father/son duo to hit 50 homers. Prince's father, Cecil "Big Daddy" Fielder, hit 51 homers for the Detroit Tigers in 1990. Congratulations to Prince on this HUGE accomplishment!
-----
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Dodgers, Mets Attacked By Rockies, Nats!
This is the time of year where a game or two or a series or two can define a season. In the case of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, the past several days might just be remembered historically for both teams as the time the 2007 season got away. It's kind of ironic both of these teams are faltering at this crucial stretch considering that the two teams were 2006 first round playoff opponents - the Mets winning their best of five series in three straight games.
The Dodgers came into yesterday's day-night doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies three games behind the San Diego Padres for the N.L. Wild Card spot. The Rockies hopes were even slimmer coming in to the series, starting the day five games back of the Padres. Given the history of Colorado's Coors Field, this figured to be a very high scoring series. Home plate umpire Tim Welke did his best to make sure that game one would not be your typical scoring fest at Coors, employing a very generous strike zone throughout. Starting pitchers Jeff Francis and Chad Billingsley were almost constantly in trouble, allowing baserunners in practically every inning. Thanks to some fortuitous double-play grounders and questionable third strike calls, only four runs would be scored in game one. Billingsley allowed only two runs in his 5 1/3 innings of work - Matt Holliday singled in Cory Sullivan in the fourth and Todd Helton scored Sullivan with a single of his own in the sixth. The Dodgers managed ten baserunners against Francis, but only scored once - a solo home run by Olmedo Saenz with two out in the seventh knocked Francis from the game. Francis was the big beneficiary of Welke's big strike zone, fanning a career high ten batters. Joe Koshansky quickly erased Saenz' run, scoring Brad Hawpe in the bottom of the seventh for a 3-1 Colorado lead. LaTroy Hawkins, Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas kept the Dodgers in check the final 2 1/3 innings to seal the victory in game one.
The second game of the twinbill was much more typical of what we've become accustomed to over the years at Coors Field. Each team tallied three runs in the first inning. It was the beginning of what would be an epic see-saw battle. Matt Kemp plated Juan Pierre with a double in the third off of Rockie starter Mark Redman to give the Blue Crew a one run lead. Matt Holliday then slammed a one out two-run homer deep to left-center field off of David Wells in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Rockies their first lead at 5-4. The Dodgers would strike right back in the next inning. James Loney homered to deep right off of Rockie reliever Matt Herges to tie the game. Herges was pulled after giving up a single to Ramon Martinez and a Mike Lieberthal walk. Jeremy Affeldt quickly retired the first two batters her faced, but Tony Abreu then lashed a triple into the left field corner to make it a 7-5 Dodger lead. Russell Martin hit a solo off of Jorge Julio in the top of the eighth to increase the Dodger bulge to three. In most places a three run lead with Jonathan Broxton and Takeshi Saito is just about as sure a bet as you can have, but this is Coors Field we're talking about so as we have known for a very long time now, the normal rules don't apply. Addtionally, Broxton had been quite shaky coming into last night's outing, allowing five earned runs in his prior eight appearances coving 5 1/3 innings for an 8.44 ERA. Broxton's slump continued into last night as Ryan Spilborghs homered deep to center after a Garret Atkins single to trim the margin to one. Unlike Broxton, Saito had been nothing short of incredible for the Dodgers of late, allowing only TWO hits and not a single earned run in his previous 15 appearances covering 15 innings. With a 1.21 ERA, he was within an inning of eclipsing Eric Gagne's Dodger record 1.20 ERA set back in 2003. Saito quickly retired the first two Rockie batters before Holliday singled to right. That brought up the dangerous and very hungry Todd Helton to the plate. Helton only had one hit in his first eight at bats of the twinbill - an RBI single in game one. Saito quickly got two strikes on Helton, but then left a pitch out over the left inside part of the plate. And Helton didn't miss it, crushing the ball into the right-center field stands for a dramatic 9-8 Rockie victory. With a Padres win, the Dodgers and Rockies now both lie 4 1/2 games back of them for the N.L. Wild Card.
-----
Back in our nation's capital, the Washington Nationals are definitely trying to close old RFK Stadium out in style - and they are also doing their best to spoil the Mets title run. Just a week ago, the Mets held a seemingly commanding seven game lead over the Philadelphia Philles in the N.L. East race. A few days earlier, I had told a few people on Ron Shandler's BaseballHQ site that the Mets pitching beyond Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine was very tenuous at best and that I wouldn't be at all surprised if they lost several games off their lead down the stretch. Flash forward to a week later. The Phillies went into last night winners of five straight games, while the Mets had lost four in a row, including a humiliating 12-4 loss to the Nationals on Monday night. That big seven game lead now was only 2 1/2 games for the Mets.
Early on, it looked like the Mets would finally put an end to their losing skid as they pounded Nats starter Joel Hanrahan for four runs in the top of the first inning. Hanrahan continued to struggle and was pulled after only pitching three innings, giving up five runs on seven hits, while walking two. Mets starter John Maine continued his post-July struggles, giving up three runs to the Nats in his first four innings. The Mets tallied two more runs in the top of the fifth inning to give Maine a 7-3 lead. The gritty Nats finally got to Maine in a big way in the bottom of the fifth. After a Nook Logan single and a Felipe Lopez walk, Ryan Zimmerman was caught looking at a called third strike. Wily Mo Pena continued his heroics for the Nats, plating Logan with a single to center. Austin Kearns singled to right to score Lopez to cut the margin again to two. Ronnie Belliard then delivered the knock-out blow, slamming a three-run homer deep into the left field seats to give the Nats an 8-7 lead. Maine mercifully was pulled after that pitch. D'Ángelo Jiménez added an insurance run for the Nats in the bottom of the sixth to give them a 9-7 lead. Several times, I've commended Nats manager on the job he's done this year. Since their 9-25 start, the Nats had played very respectable .500 ball (58-58) going into last night's game. Acta may have done his best managing job of the season last night, employing NINE pitchers! Chad Cordero quickly recorded two outs in the ninth and then got into trouble as the Mets plated Shawn Green on a Jeff Conine single. "The Chief" ended the game in style for the Nats, striking out Ruben Gotay to end the game and sending the 19,966 in attendance home very happy. With a Phillies win, the Mets once gaudy seven game lead in the N.L. East race is now only 1 1/2 games.
-----
The Dodgers came into yesterday's day-night doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies three games behind the San Diego Padres for the N.L. Wild Card spot. The Rockies hopes were even slimmer coming in to the series, starting the day five games back of the Padres. Given the history of Colorado's Coors Field, this figured to be a very high scoring series. Home plate umpire Tim Welke did his best to make sure that game one would not be your typical scoring fest at Coors, employing a very generous strike zone throughout. Starting pitchers Jeff Francis and Chad Billingsley were almost constantly in trouble, allowing baserunners in practically every inning. Thanks to some fortuitous double-play grounders and questionable third strike calls, only four runs would be scored in game one. Billingsley allowed only two runs in his 5 1/3 innings of work - Matt Holliday singled in Cory Sullivan in the fourth and Todd Helton scored Sullivan with a single of his own in the sixth. The Dodgers managed ten baserunners against Francis, but only scored once - a solo home run by Olmedo Saenz with two out in the seventh knocked Francis from the game. Francis was the big beneficiary of Welke's big strike zone, fanning a career high ten batters. Joe Koshansky quickly erased Saenz' run, scoring Brad Hawpe in the bottom of the seventh for a 3-1 Colorado lead. LaTroy Hawkins, Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas kept the Dodgers in check the final 2 1/3 innings to seal the victory in game one.
The second game of the twinbill was much more typical of what we've become accustomed to over the years at Coors Field. Each team tallied three runs in the first inning. It was the beginning of what would be an epic see-saw battle. Matt Kemp plated Juan Pierre with a double in the third off of Rockie starter Mark Redman to give the Blue Crew a one run lead. Matt Holliday then slammed a one out two-run homer deep to left-center field off of David Wells in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Rockies their first lead at 5-4. The Dodgers would strike right back in the next inning. James Loney homered to deep right off of Rockie reliever Matt Herges to tie the game. Herges was pulled after giving up a single to Ramon Martinez and a Mike Lieberthal walk. Jeremy Affeldt quickly retired the first two batters her faced, but Tony Abreu then lashed a triple into the left field corner to make it a 7-5 Dodger lead. Russell Martin hit a solo off of Jorge Julio in the top of the eighth to increase the Dodger bulge to three. In most places a three run lead with Jonathan Broxton and Takeshi Saito is just about as sure a bet as you can have, but this is Coors Field we're talking about so as we have known for a very long time now, the normal rules don't apply. Addtionally, Broxton had been quite shaky coming into last night's outing, allowing five earned runs in his prior eight appearances coving 5 1/3 innings for an 8.44 ERA. Broxton's slump continued into last night as Ryan Spilborghs homered deep to center after a Garret Atkins single to trim the margin to one. Unlike Broxton, Saito had been nothing short of incredible for the Dodgers of late, allowing only TWO hits and not a single earned run in his previous 15 appearances covering 15 innings. With a 1.21 ERA, he was within an inning of eclipsing Eric Gagne's Dodger record 1.20 ERA set back in 2003. Saito quickly retired the first two Rockie batters before Holliday singled to right. That brought up the dangerous and very hungry Todd Helton to the plate. Helton only had one hit in his first eight at bats of the twinbill - an RBI single in game one. Saito quickly got two strikes on Helton, but then left a pitch out over the left inside part of the plate. And Helton didn't miss it, crushing the ball into the right-center field stands for a dramatic 9-8 Rockie victory. With a Padres win, the Dodgers and Rockies now both lie 4 1/2 games back of them for the N.L. Wild Card.
-----
Back in our nation's capital, the Washington Nationals are definitely trying to close old RFK Stadium out in style - and they are also doing their best to spoil the Mets title run. Just a week ago, the Mets held a seemingly commanding seven game lead over the Philadelphia Philles in the N.L. East race. A few days earlier, I had told a few people on Ron Shandler's BaseballHQ site that the Mets pitching beyond Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine was very tenuous at best and that I wouldn't be at all surprised if they lost several games off their lead down the stretch. Flash forward to a week later. The Phillies went into last night winners of five straight games, while the Mets had lost four in a row, including a humiliating 12-4 loss to the Nationals on Monday night. That big seven game lead now was only 2 1/2 games for the Mets.
Early on, it looked like the Mets would finally put an end to their losing skid as they pounded Nats starter Joel Hanrahan for four runs in the top of the first inning. Hanrahan continued to struggle and was pulled after only pitching three innings, giving up five runs on seven hits, while walking two. Mets starter John Maine continued his post-July struggles, giving up three runs to the Nats in his first four innings. The Mets tallied two more runs in the top of the fifth inning to give Maine a 7-3 lead. The gritty Nats finally got to Maine in a big way in the bottom of the fifth. After a Nook Logan single and a Felipe Lopez walk, Ryan Zimmerman was caught looking at a called third strike. Wily Mo Pena continued his heroics for the Nats, plating Logan with a single to center. Austin Kearns singled to right to score Lopez to cut the margin again to two. Ronnie Belliard then delivered the knock-out blow, slamming a three-run homer deep into the left field seats to give the Nats an 8-7 lead. Maine mercifully was pulled after that pitch. D'Ángelo Jiménez added an insurance run for the Nats in the bottom of the sixth to give them a 9-7 lead. Several times, I've commended Nats manager on the job he's done this year. Since their 9-25 start, the Nats had played very respectable .500 ball (58-58) going into last night's game. Acta may have done his best managing job of the season last night, employing NINE pitchers! Chad Cordero quickly recorded two outs in the ninth and then got into trouble as the Mets plated Shawn Green on a Jeff Conine single. "The Chief" ended the game in style for the Nats, striking out Ruben Gotay to end the game and sending the 19,966 in attendance home very happy. With a Phillies win, the Mets once gaudy seven game lead in the N.L. East race is now only 1 1/2 games.
-----
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Garret Anderson EN FUEGO!
Another day, another Garret Anderson home run, another Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels win! It's beginning to sound like a broken record, but this is good news if you happen to be an Angels fan or where fortunate enough to grab "G.A." in your fantasy league when he first started getting hot. With a 4-3 win last night, the Angels have now won seven of their past nine games and opened up a 7 1/2 game lead in the American League West race. Over that nine game stretch, G.A.'s been nothing short of amazing - 6 home runs, 17 RBI's, 10 runs scored, and even a stolen base to go along with a .438 batting average!!! If you go back to cover his past 14 games, he has 8 home runs and 27 RBI's!!! Actually, G.A.'s been an absolute RBI machine for about the past month and a half - in his 45 games beginning July 19th, he has hit .293 with 11 home runs and 52 RBI's to go along with 27 runs scored. For those of you other numbers fiends out there, that's a 187 RBI pace!!! - Incredibly, that RBI pace is still short of the 191 that Hack Wilson put up in 1930 in only 154 games! Just shows you how truly great that 1930 season of Wilson's was.
-----
After a very difficult stretch where they lost 11 of 12 games, the Los Angeles Dodgers have suddenly seen their fortunes change. Brad Penny bobbed and weaved through seven innings at Wrigley Field in Chicago, allowing only one earned run despite giving up seven hits and three walks. Penny was clearly not at his best as he only struck out two batters, but he made good pitches when it counted, inducing the Cubs to ground into three double plays. Matt Kemp continued his hot hitting, going 4-for-5 to raise his batting average to .344. Jonathan Broxton and Takeshi Saito contined to pitch masterfully in the closing innings, each pitching a scoreless frame to secure Penny's 16th win on the year. Broxton now has a 2.13 ERA on the year, while Saito's ERA is a microscopic 1.31. Saito has a reasonable chance of breaking Eric Gagne's Dodger record ERA for a closer of 1.20 which was set in 2003. With their 13th win in their past 19 games, the Dodgers are now within just three games of the Arizona Dimaondbacks and San Diego Padres for the National League West division lead and Wild Card spot. The Dodgers looked hopelessly out of things just three weeks ago... Now, they look like they just might indeed be the playoff team we saw during the early part of the season.
-----
Meanwhile, back on the other coast, the Washington Nationals continue to demonstrate the resilency which has marked their first season under manager, Manny Acta. After a horrific second half of August, which saw them lose 12 of 15 games, including the final seven, the Nats came into yesterday's game against the Florida Marlins in the midst of a three game winning streak. Shawn Hill pitched an effective 6 1/3 innings for the Nats, allowing three runs and eleven hits, walking none and striking out six. Unfortunately for Hill, he left the game without a chance to win as Dontrelle Willis kept the Nats in check for seven innings, only allowing single runs in the first and third innings. Willis got into trouble in the bottom of the seventh as with one out, Nook Logan doubled and Felipe Lopez singled. Lee Gardner was then summoned from the Marlins pen and promptly got Ryan Zimmerman to hit a line drive right at the second baseman Alfredo Amezega, who doubled Lopez off of first...
Chris Schroeder pitched a scoreless ninth for the Nats, and the Marlins would then bring on their closer Kevin Gregg. Gregg has been a pleasant surprise for the Marlins this year, closing 28 games in 30 opportunities. Given his 93% success rate, the Nats chances at winning seemed slim at best. Gregg immediately got into trouble though as he walked leadoff man Dmitri Young. Ryan Langerhans (yes, he cleared waivers) then pinch ran for Da' Meathook... After an Austin Kearns strikeout, Wily Mo Pena singled to put Nats at first and third. Ronnie Belliard then fouled out weakly to first, and that set the stage for Jesus Flores. Earlier in the game, Flores dropped not one, but two foul pop-ups. While they didn't have any impact in the game, they did force a few extra pitches to be thrown. Flores then lined a ball deep to left field chasing home both Langerhans and the slow footed Pena to give the Nats an improbable come-from-behind 4-3 win!
-----
In other sports news, Phil Mickelson announced he will not play in this week's FedEx Cup event - Tiger Woods and Ernie Els had missed prior events. Perhaps tour commissioner Tim Finchem needs to listen to the tour's players a little more - it's a huge revenue and ratings loss when one of the big names isn't there. Maybe next year he will cut back on the pro-am tournaments that are part of the series and also spread out the tournaments so that the players can have a little more time with their families as their children begin the school year.
At the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York, there will be no "battle of the sisters" as Serena Williams was ousted by #1 seed Justin Henin by a 7-6, 6-1 score... #3 seed Jelena Jankovic takes on the 12th seeded Venus tonight, the winner will get to take on Henin... On the men's side, #2 Rafael Nadal was upset by #15 seed David Ferrer in four sets by a 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 score. Tonight, the much awaited feature match pits #1 seed Roger Federer against #5 Andy Roddick. We all hope A-Rod can win, but he's been unable to do much against Tiger's buddy Federer the past several years...
-----
-----
After a very difficult stretch where they lost 11 of 12 games, the Los Angeles Dodgers have suddenly seen their fortunes change. Brad Penny bobbed and weaved through seven innings at Wrigley Field in Chicago, allowing only one earned run despite giving up seven hits and three walks. Penny was clearly not at his best as he only struck out two batters, but he made good pitches when it counted, inducing the Cubs to ground into three double plays. Matt Kemp continued his hot hitting, going 4-for-5 to raise his batting average to .344. Jonathan Broxton and Takeshi Saito contined to pitch masterfully in the closing innings, each pitching a scoreless frame to secure Penny's 16th win on the year. Broxton now has a 2.13 ERA on the year, while Saito's ERA is a microscopic 1.31. Saito has a reasonable chance of breaking Eric Gagne's Dodger record ERA for a closer of 1.20 which was set in 2003. With their 13th win in their past 19 games, the Dodgers are now within just three games of the Arizona Dimaondbacks and San Diego Padres for the National League West division lead and Wild Card spot. The Dodgers looked hopelessly out of things just three weeks ago... Now, they look like they just might indeed be the playoff team we saw during the early part of the season.
-----
Meanwhile, back on the other coast, the Washington Nationals continue to demonstrate the resilency which has marked their first season under manager, Manny Acta. After a horrific second half of August, which saw them lose 12 of 15 games, including the final seven, the Nats came into yesterday's game against the Florida Marlins in the midst of a three game winning streak. Shawn Hill pitched an effective 6 1/3 innings for the Nats, allowing three runs and eleven hits, walking none and striking out six. Unfortunately for Hill, he left the game without a chance to win as Dontrelle Willis kept the Nats in check for seven innings, only allowing single runs in the first and third innings. Willis got into trouble in the bottom of the seventh as with one out, Nook Logan doubled and Felipe Lopez singled. Lee Gardner was then summoned from the Marlins pen and promptly got Ryan Zimmerman to hit a line drive right at the second baseman Alfredo Amezega, who doubled Lopez off of first...
Chris Schroeder pitched a scoreless ninth for the Nats, and the Marlins would then bring on their closer Kevin Gregg. Gregg has been a pleasant surprise for the Marlins this year, closing 28 games in 30 opportunities. Given his 93% success rate, the Nats chances at winning seemed slim at best. Gregg immediately got into trouble though as he walked leadoff man Dmitri Young. Ryan Langerhans (yes, he cleared waivers) then pinch ran for Da' Meathook... After an Austin Kearns strikeout, Wily Mo Pena singled to put Nats at first and third. Ronnie Belliard then fouled out weakly to first, and that set the stage for Jesus Flores. Earlier in the game, Flores dropped not one, but two foul pop-ups. While they didn't have any impact in the game, they did force a few extra pitches to be thrown. Flores then lined a ball deep to left field chasing home both Langerhans and the slow footed Pena to give the Nats an improbable come-from-behind 4-3 win!
-----
In other sports news, Phil Mickelson announced he will not play in this week's FedEx Cup event - Tiger Woods and Ernie Els had missed prior events. Perhaps tour commissioner Tim Finchem needs to listen to the tour's players a little more - it's a huge revenue and ratings loss when one of the big names isn't there. Maybe next year he will cut back on the pro-am tournaments that are part of the series and also spread out the tournaments so that the players can have a little more time with their families as their children begin the school year.
At the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York, there will be no "battle of the sisters" as Serena Williams was ousted by #1 seed Justin Henin by a 7-6, 6-1 score... #3 seed Jelena Jankovic takes on the 12th seeded Venus tonight, the winner will get to take on Henin... On the men's side, #2 Rafael Nadal was upset by #15 seed David Ferrer in four sets by a 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 score. Tonight, the much awaited feature match pits #1 seed Roger Federer against #5 Andy Roddick. We all hope A-Rod can win, but he's been unable to do much against Tiger's buddy Federer the past several years...
-----
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
