>> 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.