I didn’t see this coming.
Sure, his loss two weeks ago, in his first match after falling to Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon finals, was understandable, a classic symptom of a Grand Slam hangover.
But when Federer beat Robby Ginepri Tuesday, emerging from two sloppy sets to destroy his opponent, 6-0, in the third and final one, I figured the slump was over. Fed was back.
Apparently not. He didn’t even play all the badly against Karlovic, evidenced by the fact that Federer’s serve was not broken the entire match. But he lost both tiebreakers, sandwiched between a 6-4 second set victory, because he couldn’t mount a consistent challenge against Karlovic’s serve, and because the 6'10" Croat played better during the big points.
Yes, that’s right: Federer was outplayed during the big points. This never happens. Even in his loss to Nadal, Federer hit big shot after big shot when he needed to. Thursday, against Karlovic, the magic just wasn’t there. Federer didn’t look like Federer anymore. He simply looked like a very good tennis player.
For Roger Federer, that simply isn’t good enough.
2. MLB: Cubs 6, Brewers 4 (July 28)
This first matchup between two NL Central titans certainly lived up to its billing. The two teams went back and forth throughout the game, matching the playoff atmosphere in the stands with a similar one on the field.
After two ninth-inning runs propelled the Cubs to victory, nobody could have predicted what happened next.
Simply put, the Cubs took off and the Brewers fell flat. Chicago would go on to sweep the four-game series—perhaps the biggest series ever in Miller Park—and put substantial distance between the two teams in the standings.
The game itself was extremely entertaining. The Cubs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Brewers responding with three runs in the sixth off Ted Lilly to take a one-run lead. With staff ace CC Sabathia toeing the rubber, things looked pretty good in Milwaukee.
That is, until second baseman Rickie Weeks’ terrible throw turned what would have been an inning-ending double play in the top of the seventh into a 4-3 Cub lead. But the Brewers would fight back again, with Russell Branyan’s solo shot in the bottom half of the inning tying the score.
RBI hits from Derrek Lee and Mark DeRosa in the ninth would give the Cubs another lead and provide the final margin. The Brewers haven’t been the same since, and currently trail the Cubs by five games and only lead the Cardinals by one game in the wild-card race.
1. MLB: Red Sox 2, Athletics 1 (August 1)
The Manny Ramirez Era in Boston came to a long, drawn-out end when he was traded to the Los Angels Dodgers on Thursday.
It didn’t take long for a new one to begin.
In his first game with the Sawx, new acquisition Jason Bay scored both Boston runs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the 12th inning. After tripling with two outs, he was brought home on a Jed Lowrie infield single.
The ending was almost much more dramatic. Bay’s triple, a blast to left field, almost cleared the Green Monster, which would have been the perfect storybook ending. But even though it was not to be, Bay hustled and made it to third standing up, as the ball caromed back towards the infield.
From there, all Bay—who also had two walks and made a sliding catch in left earlier in the game—had to do was trot home on Lowrie’s game-winning hit.
It may very well be Bay’s performance that determines whether or not Boston makes the playoffs, and so far, he has proved up to the task. In his first weekend with the Red Sox, Bay hit .364 with a home run, three RBI, six runs scored, and a ridiculous OPS of 1.352. It’s obviously a very limited sample, but if Bay can even come close to keeping up this level of production, Beantown won’t miss Manny after all.
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