The Major League Baseball all-star break starts after Sunday’s games for all teams. The Phillies have a significant lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. They have a record seven all-star representatives for the National League.
The all-star game is only an exhibition. For a while, it used to determine home field advantage for the World Series. It should’ve been just a fun day all along.
The biggest concern for the Phillies should be keeping their four very good starting pitchers as healthy as possible going into the August and September stretch. If Zack Wheeler or Aaron Nola were to get hurt and have to miss a significant period of time, it would be tough for the Phillies to live up to their expectations of going deep in the playoffs. The starting pitching has been the strongest part of the team for the whole season. It’s something that's been missing in past years.
The only two teams in the National League that can beat the Phillies in a playoff series are the Dodgers and the Braves. The Braves will be highly motivated to defeat the Phillies as revenge for the last two years.
The Wimbledon tennis tournament is coming to close. On the men's side, both players in the one semifinal have a chance to win. Daniel Medvedev is playing Carlos Alcarez. They are the No. 5 and No. 1 ranked players in the world. Novak Djokovic is playing a journeyman player, Lorenzo Musetti from Italy, on the other side. I am not the biggest fan of Djokovic, but what he’s doing in this tournament is impressive since he had microscopic knee surgery only three weeks ago and is now two matches from the championship for the seventh time.
On the women’s side, the two finalists are big surprises. They are both well known for their play on clay courts, not grass. Jasmine Paolini of Italy and Barbara Krejcikova of Czechia have both made the French Open final, and Krejcikiva won the 2021 French Open. Both of this year’s semifinals were three-set matches that lasted over two hours.
The two finals are on Saturday and Sunday morning.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
