Weekend Sports Roundup: Falling Fast Edition
>> They can have all the closed door clubhouse meetings they want, but after being swept by the Padres over the weekend, our beloved Nationals have lost 22 of their last 30 games. Ouch. Nats manager Frank Robinson tried to shuffle the line up yesterday to no avail, and if this keeps up, he's running out of time to try any other tricks he has up his sleeve. The Nats are off today as they travel to Houston for an important three game series before continuing on to Colorado, Philadelphia and finally Queens, New York. Any questions we have about the team's playoff hopes will likely be answered by the end of this 13 game road trip. To make matters worse, it looks like Jose Guillen will miss at least the Houston series as he gets a second opinion on his injured shoulder.
>> Andy Roddick won the Legg Mason Tennis Classic yesterday in straight sets, beating friend and frequent hitting partner James Blake 7-5, 6-3, but it was Blake that garnered most of the headlines. A fan favorite since capturing the Legg Mason title in 2002 for his only pro tour title, Blake was injured much of last year and saw his world ranking tumble into the 200's. He beat three seeded players on his way to yesterday's final, which might herald good things for him at the US Open at the end of the month. If nothing else, Blake should be saluted for being the only player able to break Roddick's serve all week.
>> The Skins got mixed reviews on their controlled scrimmage against the Baltimore Ravens over the weekend. If you think it's too early to get excited over preseason football, tell that to the 35,517 that showed up at M&T Stadium in Baltimore to take in the action. Wide reciever Taylor Jacobs sprained his big toe during the scrimmage and will miss at least a week. The Gibbskins open their proper preseason slate on Saturday against the Carolina Panthers.
>> DC United won an incredibly entertaining match in Chicago over the Fire 3-2, but lost wunderkind Freddy Adu in the first half to a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Adu suffered the injury early in the first half but continued to play until coach Peter Nowak subbed him out around the 35 minute mark. Adu will undergo an MRI today to determine the extent of the injury, but he's expected to miss a few weeks. Brian Carroll, Dema Kovalenko and Jaime Moreno all scored for United, who moved within four points of first place in the East.