July 8, 2013
Ceci Ferrara
Sports Writer
Sports Insider
With the sun blazing and sweaty fans downing soda and beer in ninety-degree heat, Nationals Park could have been mistaken for Southern California on Sunday afternoon. But the San Diego Padres were far from home when Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals shut them down 11-7.
Strasburg (5-6, 2.45 ERA) has struggled to win games this season, with his team offering little to no run support. The Nats have scored just seven runs in his previous five starts, but offense was a non-issue Sunday afternoon. Washington led by as many as six runs at one point.
They broke the game open in the third inning, scoring six runs highlighted by a Ryan Zimmerman grand slam. Leading 5-1 they were not done yet—Jayson Werth drew a walk, which was followed by Anthony Rendon’s third homer of the year. The run support was a welcome respite for Strasburg, who was effective but not dominant. He allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings, and gave up free bases by hitting three batters.
Alexi Amarista hit a two-run homer for the Padres in the fourth, but the Nats added runs in the fifth and were able to hold off a late-game rally. The win gave the Nats a three-game sweep of San Diego, their first series sweep since April.
With a loss by Atlanta, the Nats are now four games over .500 and have moved within four games of the division lead.
“I think it was a good series for us,” Strasburg said. “You swing like that, I think we’re going in the right direction. I think we’ve still got our best baseball ahead of us.”
Wimbledon
Even before the finals, this year’s Wimbledon was full of upsets and surprises. Just one day into the tournament’s second week, the No. 1-seeded Serena Williams made an early exit after dropping four straight to Germany’s Sabine Liscki. Williams was the latest on a growing list of stars that had already been eliminated—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and even Maria Sharapova.
But none of those upsets were as shocking, or memorable, as Andy Murray’s victory Sunday afternoon.
“Winning Wimbledon—I still can’t believe it. Can’t get my head around that. I can’t believe it,” Murray said.
Murray beat Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday, finally able to hoist the winner’s trophy above his head. He had seen it slip through his fingers last year, when he lost to Federer in the finals. In the last match, it looked as though Murray might not close the deal. He was up 40-0 with three championship points, but was unable to finish as Djokovick began to narrow the gap. In the end, Murray prevailed.
“I think I persevered,” Murray said. “That’s really been it, the story of my career probably.”
Murray’s victory was not just for him, but for his country. He is the first British male to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry won his third tournament in 1936. Virginia Wade, a female tennis player from England, won in 1977. Wade was also the last British tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles tournament until Murray did so last year.
Twenty-eight-year-old Marion Bartoli of France overpowered Liscki 6-1, 6-4 in the women’s final round for her first Grand Slam title. “Those five, ten seconds before you shake the hands of your opponent felt like you’re almost not walking anymore on earth. You’re really flying,” Bartoli said of her win. “It’s really hard to describe how it felt.” Like Murray, she had come close before but fallen short, losing to Venus Williams in the 2007 Wimbledon final.
