With the Mets recovering from a brutal two losses at Shea thanks to Oliver Perez’ best outing of the season for a 3-1 home win to gain a split of the four-game weekend series, here are some quick final observations:

-Perez responded to Jerry Manuel’s criticism by fanning eight Yanks and only allowing three hits. Most notably, the southpaw didn’t walk a batter. Still, you have to wonder if he can do this consistently. The Amazin’s sure hope so.

-It’s amazing to think that the one under Mets are three behind the Phillies for first in the division with the Marlins very much in the mix. Even the Braves with all their rash of injuries are still hanging around. This is a very important week for the Queens club as they head for four at wildcard leader St. Louis before a huge four-gamer in the City of Brotherly Love. We’ll se if they’re up to the challenge.

-Jose Reyes is a baby. Plain and simple. His reaction to an E6 which Carlos Delgado should’ve had was bush league. Isn’t it about time the 25 year-old shortstop acted like one? It’s classic overreactions such as that and his shenanigans in the first inning Manuel managed in California which keep him from being the winning player he should be. And don’t forget how many times he gets caught napping while on the bases. It’s inexcusable. Does he want just be a good player who has ups and downs or a great one who impacts the game and is universally considered as one of the game’s best? The choice is his and a large chunk of the Amazin’s future depends on it.

-I realize that Perez had great numbers versus lefties but could Joe Girardi actually try to play to win? He had a chance to go for the sweep and instead, played into the Mets’ hands by not putting his best lineup out there sitting out Robinson Cano, Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu. Would it have killed him to at least keep a couple of those lefty bats in there? They still would’ve been more of a threat than who started. Sometimes, playing by the book is overplayed. Rolling the dice can pay off.

-It’s nice to see Derek Jeter back hitting the way he can. Slowly but surely, the career Yankee shortstop and team captain is getting his average up near .300 and playing better which is good news for his team.

-I’ve been an avid supporter of him and his defense in center continues to improve. But unless Melky Cabrera starts swinging a better bat, the Yanks need to consider sitting him out a few games or recall speedy former Staten Island Yankee Brett Gardner, who continues to excel at Scranton/Wilkes Barre. He has 34 steals and hits a high enough average and plays solid enough defense to get a look. The Yanks don’t have enough speed and he could provide an added dimension.

-David Robertson’s major league debut was rocky giving up a key insurance run to the Amazin’s in two innings while permitting four hits and throwing 33 pitches (22 strikes). Still, it was important for the kid who dominated Triple-A to get his feet wet. And to do it in a scrutinized series isn’t bad for what’s coming up later this week.

-When he hits ‘em, there are few batters more fun to watch than Delgado. Sure. He’s not what he once was. But the three dingers including that two homer, team record nine RBI performance Friday in the Bronx was one to behold. No matter who came it against. The Mets are a much more potent lineup if the veteran first base slugger is knocking a few out of the park.

-David Wright really is the Mets’ best player and sure looked dangerous at the plate everytime he faced the Yanks this weekend.

-Billy Wagner sure knows how to make those ninth innings interesting. Alex Rodriguez nearly tied it but his drive fell just shy of the warning track. Still, the Met closer’s curve which froze Wilson Betemit to end it was a thing of beauty.

-The Pinstripes now trail the first place Rays by five and a half (six in loss column) with the Red Sox half a game out. It’s going to be a real challenge in the second half.

-Can Johan Santana come up with anymore excuses for why he can’t do his job every fifth day? Just saying.

-Can’t believe I’m ending with this but the Giambino actually looks thinner.

We return once again to the airwaves where a range of topics shall be covered between all our organized chaos.

Hard Hits will cover the Subway Series as well as more baseball. Plus an NBA Draft review complete with grades. Who will grade best and who will flunk out? Plus I set up the second exciting week of Wimbledon. Can Roger Federer make history by winning No.6 in a row? Or can Rafael Nadal or someone else get in the way? Will either Williams sister rule the women’s draw? Plus a look at the upcoming NHL free agency with the Lightning signing their newest acquistion Ryan Malone to a long-term deal. What do we think?

Find out!

SI Yanks and Birds Rained Out

STATEN ISLAND, NY- Stormy weather prevented the Baby Bombers and Ironbirds from coming close to getting in their afternoon game Sunday in Staten Island by the Ferry Terminal. Instead, two separate heavy thunderstorms created chaos causing for lengthy delays before the Staten Island Yankees announced that it would be made up as part of a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 5 PM.

Play was suspended with Aberdeen leading 1-0 in the middle of the second. They’ll pick it up and play nine in Game One while going seven for Game Two. 

The Bombers currently are 5-7 in last place two games behind McNamara Division leader Hudson Valley who took two of three in the recent series. They’ll look to get a good start on a six-game homestand this week in St. George.

The other day, I gave my view on the weekend Subway Series between what’s still a couple of mediocre New York teams which have disappointed until proven otherwise. Here’s another one on what’s taken place thus far with one game left later this afternoon:

-It’s hard to believe the Mets dropped the next couple after blowing the doors off the Yanks at the Stadium to sweep all three for the first time in the history of the series. They had the match-ups and momentum but that proved to mean zilch when somehow, they couldn’t solve Sidney Ponson allowing him to escape two bases loaded situations while a more desperate Bronx Bomber attack got to Pedro Martinez to win by an identical nine-run margin Friday night at Shea.

I like Pedro and always have. He’s easy to root for. Hopefully, he gets it together because when he decides it’s over, it will be a sad day. This is a great competitor who’s improvised despite injuries and has worked very hard to become one of the best pitchers this game’s seen over the last decade. I wish him the very best.

Now, for yesterday’s Yankee 3-2 win over Johan Santana with Andy Pettite outpitching the former Twins’ two-time AL Cy winner. Not that Pettite isn’t still a good starter. He has gotten it together after a dreadful first six weeks. He did what he needed giving his team a chance limiting the Amazin’s to two solo homers in six innings which also included a 79-minute rain delay.

Still, one would’ve expected Santana to rise to the occasion and shutdown the Bombers. Sure. He pitched well enough to win working six and K-ing eight looking flat out dominant at times. But the one frame where he lost the strike zone cost him two runs which the Yanks manufactured. And his balk of A-Rod to second allowed Robinson Cano to drive in the winning run. So there is some responsibility for why he’s now a .500 pitcher.

Not what the Mets are paying him for. This isn’t all on the likeable southpaw from Venezuela. It’s also on the talented Jose Reyes, who continues to baffle fans with his up and down play. Oh. The 25 year-old shortstop has turned his season around getting the average close to .300 and hitting for more power and stealing more bases. But sometimes, his lack of baseball instincts are alarming. How was it possible in a two-run game that he managed to get picked off second by Pettite with David Wright at the plate killing a potential two out rally?!?!?!?!?!

There’s just no way he should be going anywhere as WFAN radio man Howie Rose pointed out immediately when the inning ended. You have your most dangerous bat who had hit two Pettite pitches hard forcing Melky Cabrera to come up with a tough running catch near the track. You don’t go in that spot and take the bat out of Wright’s hands.

So, was it any shock that Wright ledoff the home sixth with a solo shot to cut the lead to one? Of course not. Instead of maybe tying or putting his team ahead, he made it 3-2.

From there, the Yankee pen of Jose Veras, Kyle Farnsworth (pitching bandaged up) and the impeccable Mariano Rivera closed the door to give the Pinstripes at worst a split of the four-game weekend series.

For the Mets, it proved costly as the Phils finally figured out how to win again for only the second time in 10 games beating the Rangers and gaining a game in the standings. They lead the Queens club by four (two in loss column).

Now, they’ll send out jekyll and hyde lefty Oliver Perez this afternoon trying to salvage the final game at Shea. That should be an advantage over Darrell Rasner if we’re going by paper. But these days, you can’t figure out much. Either Perez will be very good bouncing back from an abysmal outing that saw the lowly Mariners tattoo him or he’ll have a repeat performance and it will be a slugfest becoming a survival of the pens.

The Yanks meanwhile are seven over and need to keep winning just to not lose ground to Boston and Tampa, who almost never lose. They finally recalled promising relief prospect David Robertson. He was lighting up Triple-A Wilkes Barre/Scranton. We’ll see if he makes his major league debut later on.

Copyright Getty Images

Their names both start with ‘M’ and it would be easy to point out how physically gifted each player was entering this year’s Wimbledon. What wasn’t known about either Croatian Mario Ancic or Russian veteran Marat Safin was how they would perform.

That’s been the case for the two-time former slam winner Safin for quite a while. Where you just never know what kind of game he’ll bring to the court. As he’s proven this first week at the All England Club, the always entertaining Marat has made plenty of noise thus far eliminating third seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic from the second round in straight sets.

So, how would he follow up such a big win? That answer was provided late in the day as he completed a hard fought four set win over Italian Andreas Seppi 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to advance to the second week of a major for the first time in nearly two years. In fact, it was only the second time in the moody Russian’s career that he’s advanced to Week Two of Wimbledon with the previous one coming seven years ago when he got to the quarters on his least favorite surface.

Despite a pesky opponent who made him work for every point, the 28 year-old still had enough big shots to take the third and fourth sets after they split the opening two. The third set saw the server in control with a second tiebreaker needed to decide matters. In the opening one, Safin stepped up when he needed to for a mini break and then a service winner to close it out.

This time, he got off to a quick 4-0 two mini break lead before Seppi closed within 4-3. But the former 2005 Australian Open winner made a couple of tough shots and closed out the breaker by taking the last three points for a one set lead.

After trading early breaks in the fourth, Safin held and then broke again. It looked like he would not be threatened on serve. With a chance to close it out, he faced three break points. When he needed it most, his bigger ground strokes came through as did an underrated net game (26/35, 74 percent) to get him out of trouble and to the finish line in spite of darkness which he afterwards complained about despite pulling through.

“At the end of the match it was pretty tough because we both, I think, couldn’t see the ball anymore,” a relieved Safin expressed during a postmatch interview of the third round match which concluded at 9:17 PM London time. “I was a little bit worried … at the score 3-2, I just couldn’t see.”

In a competitive match where not much separated the two players, he saw well enough to play the bigger points better to advance to a Round of 16 meeting with 13th seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.

While one happy comeback story unfolded, yet another took place with Ancic, who was given a wildcard into the tournament. The 24 year-old talented Croat had dealt with a rash of injuries and sickness over the last year which dropped his ranking but finally appears fully recovered ready to make a dent and possibly fulfill expectations.

The last man who defeated Roger Federer on grass at this very event six years prior continued his resurgence with an impressive four set triumph over gritty fifth seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3). Playing an all court game which included his huge serve which produced 18 more aces (Ancic-23, Ferrer-5) than his opponent, he jumped out to a two set lead against one of the ATP’s most consistent performers.

If Ancic thought it was going to be easy, forget it because the word quit isn’t in Ferrer’s vocabulary. Instead of wilting despite not being able to break his tough opponent’s serve (0-for-6 on break points), the 26 year-old baseliner upped his game a couple of notches to force a third set breaker.

In it, when push came to shove, the determined Ferrer made it happen by hitting penetrating groundstrokes including a huge forehand inside the baseline which drew an Ancic error for 6-5 setting up set point. A big first serve out wide wasn’t returned giving the emotional Spaniard the set and momentum.

Both players continued to play despite dark conditions past 9 as was the case in the other match. They each held serve throughout an ultra competitive fourth set which featured some of the best grasscourt tennis you’ll see. With each player very fit, there were plenty of crowd pleasing extended rallies along with winners and most notably, not many errors. They combined for just 45 unforced which is a very good number for the kind of high calibre tennis they played.

In the breaker, it was Ancic’s bigger serve and game which made the difference. He imposed his will and made the shots when he needed to including a very cool backhand stab volley winner on a net cord from a difficult position. It was that kind of play which allowed him to avoid having to go five against one of the game’s most fit players.

When it ended, an emotional Ancic kissed the grass at Centre Court.

“It was an incredible match from first point to last point. The crowd was going crazy,” he later admitted. “It was just a couple of points that went to my side. I was looking forward to playing on Centre Court. That was my dream. I’m so, so happy I’m back again.”

He’ll next get 22nd seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. If Ancic wins, there’s a very good chance he’ll meet Federer in the quarters. The rating five-time champ made quick work of Frenchman Marc Gicquel posting a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win to setup a Round of 16 Monday date with former 2002 winner Lleyton Hewitt, who has been rejuvenated under the world No.1’s former part/time coach Tony Roche. The Aussie eliminated Italy’s Simone Bolelli 6-1, 6-1, 7-6 (2) and was very much looking forward to another meeting with Federer despite little recent success. He’s dropped the last 11 with the last win dating back to the 2004 Australian Open.

Ivanovic bows out: In a week which saw so many big names fall by the wayside including women’s No.1 Ana Ivanovic yesterday to comebacking China’s Jie Zheng 6-1, 6-4, it was refreshing to have a couple of good stories such as Ancic and Safin making the second week intriguing in spite of some of the game’s biggest stars who won’t have a shot at winning the trophy.

For the 20 year-old Ivanovic who captured her first major earlier this month at Roland Garros winning the French, she couldn’t avoid the upset bug like in the second round when she used a net cord to save match point against veteran Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy before rallying to pull out an epic three set marathon which went more than three hours. Perhaps it took something out of the Serb.

“It was a very emotional last couple of weeks for me and it took a bit of a toll,” a disappointed Ivanovic later said. “I didn’t have great preparation.”

STATEN ISLAND, NY- Some late hustle helped the home club snap a tie score and end their two-game skid. Second baseman David Adams’ leadoff basehit in the eighth along with some smart baserunning allowed the Staten Island Yankees to pull out a well earned 4-3 win over Hudson Valley before 6,025 at Richmond County Bank Ball Park in St. George on Friday Fireworks Night sending the majority home happy.

“We made it exciting. Down to the wire. … I’d say we earned our chances,” echoed second-year corner infielder Braedyn Pruitt, whose successful sacrifice contributed to Adams’ winning run. “Well, you’re not hitting, you got to find other ways to help out.”

Deadlocked at three after the Renegades pushed across two runs in the fourth off Baby Bomber starter Casey Erickson, the hot bats finally were cooled off by each teams’ bullpen. Staten Island used three relievers to keep their pesky opponents at bay. Andy Shive, Jacinto Gonell and closer Pat Venditte combined for five scoreless while fanning six.

Erickson didn’t have his best stuff but was able to limit the damage in four innings despite allowing 10 hits. Shive took the ball and worked two middle frames without permitting a run scattering a couple of hits, a walk and fanning three including Michael Ross swinging to conclude his night.

After Gonell came on and tossed an effective seventh, the second-year Staten Island Yankee gave up a two out double to Hudson’s Jacob Jefferies putting the potential go-ahead run in scoring position. S.I. skipper Pat McMahon didn’t fool around calling on his two-armed specialist to get out of it. The plan paid immediate dividends when it took Venditte all of three pitches freezing Jason Appel with a nasty curve to end the threat.

With the game still knotted, it set the stage for Adams to spark his team. He ledoff with a clean single to left and was immediately sacrificed over by Pruitt. With Mike Lyon looking to get him in, Adams swiped his second base of the night taking third without a throw due to Hudson Valley backstop Mark Thomas mishandling a pitchout from losing reliever Marquis Fleming (0-1).

The righty then intentionally walked Lyon putting runners at the corners with an out to setup the double play. However, with pinch runner Jahdiel Santamaria in at first, the strategy backfired. Paying too much attention to the eventual key defensive first base sub, Fleming’s pickoff got away allowing Adams to score the winning run without a throw.

“We started off hot but then ran into some bad luck,” Lyon later explained in the winning locker room after coming in and manning the hot corner the final three innings after DH Brian Baisley was mysteriously kicked out by testy plate umpire Nick Mahrley for barely arguing a called out third strike during the home sixth. “But it ended out working out for us. The baseball gods were with us I guess.”

Still, the game was far from over due to a couple of miscues by the S.I. Yanks which put the win in jeopardy. The first two Renegades reached base safely on consecutive errors by Ryan Wilkes and Santamaria. When Robi Estrada successfully sacrificed the runners over, Hudson Valley was setup. But Venditte buckled down getting local Staten Island product Mike McKenna to pop out harmlessly to short for the second out.

The game then hung in the balance. Venditte forced Jason Corder into a grounder which he tipped to Wilkes, whose throw nearly pulled a diving Santamaria off the bag. Somehow, he managed to keep the foot on long enough to just get Corder for the final out giving the Bombers (4-5) an exciting win.

“That wasn’t an easy play at the end there,” Venditte (1-0) noted after picking up his first victory of the season before his family who was in town visiting. “He easily could’ve booted that ball and just packed it up. But he stuck with it and that was a great play to end the game.”

“That was big that we pulled that out. Pat did a good job shutting down after a couple of things behind him. It looked like that was a guaranteed run. Especially first and second no out in that situation but he did a great job. The defense did a good job behind him. It worked out in our favor tonight,” Lyon also pointed out.

“Good comeback after a couple of losses. Hopefully tomorrow, we can take the series and win two out of three in Hudson Valley.”

Notes: Despite only seven total runs, the teams combined for 24 hits and stranded a ton of runners. … Both SS/3B Brian Chavez and SS Addison Maruszak are out with injuries and won’t be expected back until some time next week. … Bombers scored the game’s first three runs in the first thanks to a Pruitt sac fly and RBI singles by Baisley and newcomer Jack Rye who played in right field finishing 2-for-3. … For Hudson Valley, Jefferies finished a perfect 4-for-4 with an RBI in a losing effort. … Renegade starter Tyree Hayes settled down following giving up three by tossing the final five scoreless and K-ing three to get a no-decision. … S.I. DH Dan Brewer also had a pair of hits. … Bombers released OF D.J. Hollingsworth to make room for SS Walter Ibarra. … Staten Island returns home Sunday to host Aberdeen for a 2 PM matinee on Military Appreciation Day as part of a six-game homestand. 

I only have one thought crawling around my head as I get ready to head out to cover a more fun brand of baseball between the Staten Island Yankees and Hudson Valley Renegades. It’s this:

-Why whenever the Mets beat up on the Yankees does a professional broadcaster such as Howie Rose turn into such a complete homer? Suddenly, a man who’s one of the most respected play-by-play men in the business feels the need to exceed in his calls making silly references to how “most Yankee fans have left” when their team is down by seven runs in the eighth at The Stadium. Well, duh Howie! Let’s not be too obvious about how important it is for the Amazin’s to beat up on the Yanks’ Double-A pitching version in Game One of an overhyped Subway Series between two overrated teams. Heck. I bet if I put together a team of high school All-Stars, they could’ve batted around against what the Yanks sent out there for the first game in the Bronx.

Has anyone even seen the pitching match-ups for this dreaded series? Tonight when it shifts to Shea for the rest of the weekend, the Yanks send out veteran scrub Sidney Ponson for his second tour of duty against Pedro Martinez. That’s about as fair a fight as Mike Tyson in his prime against Michael Spinks.

Don’t try telling Mike Lupica, who always takes cheapshots at the Yanks whenever he can while pushing Mets propaganda in the Daily News whenever possible even if they’re the bigger embarrassment in this town. He probably still thinks the Yankees play in the weaker division when at last check the Rays were for real and even the Orioles are playing a respectable brand of ball having taken a couple from the Cubs at Wrigley when nobody had beaten the majors’ best team there in a while.

Let’s be real. Before the WFAN Mets homers wave their pom poms if their team does what it should this weekend with very favorable match-ups, the only reason they’re in the hunt is because their division is mediocre. The Phillies have comeback to earth and the Marlins are remembering who they are. On paper, you’d still have to say the team in Queens should wind up winning the NL Least.

Heck. If you went and looked at what’s happened to the senior circuit since Interleague, only two teams boast great records and they both reside in the NL Central which happens to also be the best division in the league with the Cubs, wild card leading Cardinals and Brewers all playing well. Even the Pirates have improved but don’t tell Lupica that they entered Friday only a game and a half worse than the NL’s highest payroll.

It doesn’t count. Only the BIG BAD Yankees do when they lose to much cheaper teams which have more chemistry and better pitching without three of their starters hurt. See. Facts sometimes elude this columnist who continues to write the same recycled columns.

But again, what would you expect? This town has officially become a circus. While there’s a much more glorious event going on over in London at the All England Club with Wimbledon, the New York papers continues to obsess and overanalyze every move in what basically is a meaningless series. Will it mean much in late August and early September? We already know the answer.

But the way Rose and Lupica act regarding these games is like some sort of holy war. This is exactly what the late great George Carlin- the best comedian ever- was talking about when it comes to this country. The press have lost their minds.

Oh. The Yanks and Mets do play in New York where everything is heavily scrutinized. But they’re about as much rivals as the Giants and Jets. Unless these teams start fulfilling lofty expectation$ and meet in the World Series daily, there’s not much of a rivalry to speak of no matter what propaganda the talkies on WFAN feed you.

The one time they met for all the marbles, the Pinstripes were the superior team winning their last World Series.

You want old fashioned rivalries? You have to go back to the 50’s with the Dodgers and Giants occupying Ebbets Field and The Polo Grounds.

Maybe one day, the papers will come to this realization because our ballclubs are flawed and not that good.

Upset Thursday continued as Serb Janko Tipsarevic eliminated American Andy Roddick by posting a hard fought four set victory getting the better of the No.6 seed in a fourth set tiebreak 7-4 to capture the last three sets for a big upset win into Round Three.

It was another disappointment for the former two-time runner-up who was hoping to make a big run and possibly meet Rafael Nadal in the semis and Roger Federer in the final. Instead, he’ll pack his bags and have to regroup preparing for the hard court season with the U.S. Open Series next month before the final grand slam of the year here in Flushing Meadows.

In watching that fourth set closely, the difference was Tipsarevic’s backhand which produced at least 15 more winners from that side than Andy’s. There were a couple of key moments late during extended rallies which Roddick made the wrong choice in where the 24 year-old talented Serb flattened it out a la Marat Safin going down the line for big winners.

If there was a game which summed up the level of frustration for the Roddick camp, it had to be the 10th game of the set when Tipsarevic couldn’t make a first serve and practically handed him the fourth on a silver platter. But on two break points, Andy couldn’t even make him play a ball coming up with awful returns which didn’t come close. Sadly, he tanked. There’s no other way to put it. These were not hard second serves. His indecisiveness cost him.

He also blew a third set point in the 12th game allowing his opponent to get into the breaker where he completed a 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-5, 7-6 (4) win advancing to a third round meeting against Russian Dmitry Tursunov.

From our vantage point, Roddick’s tactics and not his will were the reason he lost today. At times, he didn’t use the right plays during pivotal moments. Whether it was going the wrong way right into a backhand reply down the line or missing a return because he couldn’t decide whether to chip and charge or stay back, he just didn’t make the right choices.

Andy always gives his best on the court. If he improved tactically, he could win another major. The clock is ticking.

His beautiful fiancee SI swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker sure looked concerned. Maybe she can tell him what he’s doing wrong before it’s too late.

Nadal advanced to Round Three with a four set win over hard server Ernest Gulbis 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-3.

Also avoiding the upset bug was defending women’s champion Venus Williams who was a straight set winner. Tenth seeded Slovakian stunner Daniela Hantuchova wasn’t as fortunate falling in three to Russian Alisa Kleybanova (try pronouncing that a few times) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

One thing you can conclude is that players who had injuries and missed the French haven’t performed well in London as both Roddick and Hantuchova were out and didn’t have much match play coming into Wimbledon. Though in Andy’s case, he did reach the semis at Queen’s Club before losing a competitive match to Nadal.

I definitely think having matches underneath your belt helps. Especially on a surface players aren’t used to due to how brief the grasscourt season is.

Veteran former champ Lindsay Davenport withdrew from her second round match against Gisela Dulko due to a bad knee.

We’ll have more on Wimbledon later.

They’re only in the fourth day at the All England Club in London but already we’ve seen some big names fall by the wayside.

Yesterday, No.3 seeded Serb Novak Djokovic was upset in the second round by veteran Russian Marat Safin. Surprisingly, it took the two-time slam winner straight sets to oust the 2008 Australian Open champ. Safin is still a threat whenever he plays due to his mammoth ground strokes and big serve. He also has good touch for a big guy.

However, this wasn’t expected to happen. Djokovic was having a great season having won his first major and two other ATP tournaments threatening Rafael Nadal’s No.2 ranking and quite possibly challenging Roger Federer for No.1. The 20 year-old was so cocky entering the grass court tournament that he had some candid remarks about how the rating five-time Wimbledon champion was looking more vulnerable and was worried about whether he could make it a remarkable six in a row.

The tables were stacked for Djokovic, who was a semifinalist last year to meet Federer in the same round and then possibly beat Nadal in the final. Instead, he bowed out in disappointing fashion 4-6, 6-7 (3), 2-6 against his childhood idol. Maybe next time, he’ll keep his mouth shut before such a prestigious event.

Djokovic wasn’t the only big name to lose in the first week. Today, former 2004 champ Maria Sharapova stunningly joined him by dropping her second round match in straight sets to 20 year-old countrywoman Alla Kudryavtseva 2-6, 4-6 on Court 1.

The 21 year-old three-time slam winner just never found a rhythm against an equally hard hitting opponent who played the bigger points better after cruising in the first set. As usual when she falters, double faults (8) and unforced errors (22) were Sharapova’s undoing. When she had opportunities to get back in the match, the Russian just couldn’t deliver despite a nervous unranked foe who gave her looks.

What Kudryavtseva did well was keep the ball in play hitting deep strokes which drew errors. She only committed nine unforced errors for the match. Sharapova had a couple of points to square the second set but she was outhit from the baseline and then doubled to setup match point. After a short second serve which had her on the run, the younger Russian struck a perfect crosscourt forehand which fell out of Maria’s reach to clinch the stunning upset.

For Sharapova, this was a bitter pill to swallow because her part of the section was weak and should’ve been an easy route to a potential quarterfinal date with either four-time Wimbledon champ Venus Williams or Jelena Jankovic.

Instead, she exits quietly in a year which was wide open.

On the men’s side, American James Blake also lost in five sets to German Rainer Schuettler 3-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4, 4-6, 4-6. The No.9 seed who’s the most talented player to never reach a grand slam final had five set troubles again blowing a two sets to one lead against a rejuvenated opponent who outslugged him.

Is it a shock that Blake’s out on grass? Hardly. On a surface you’d assume would help him do better, for whatever reason his big court game just doesn’t translate. He and Andy Roddick could’ve met in the Round of 16. But that’s not happening. In fact, Roddick is locked in a tight battle against Serb Janko Tipsarevic at a set apiece on serve in the third set.

If anyone recalls, Tipsarevic is the same player who gave Federer all he could handle in an epic five set battle down under. He has huge serve and hits big kind of like Roddick. So, it’s no surprise that it’s close.

I figure Andy will pull it out. We’ll see.

Aberdeen’s three-run seventh proved to be the difference in defeating the Staten Island Yankees 4-1 Monday night. The loss snapped a two-game win streak for the Baby Bombers, who will try to bounceback in the next two in the three-game road series.

The game featured a 71-minute rain delay after two innings of play keeping Bomber starter Luke Greinke from pitching deeper. He worked the first couple allowing one unearned run on a hit while walking a batter and striking out three.

Meanwhile, Birds’ starter Chris Salbert also permitted a run on a first inning Brian Baisley RBI single which plated second baseman David Adams. Despite that, the 23 year-old southpaw retired all six Bombers by fanning them.

When the contest finally resumed, both Staten Island’s Brad Rulon and Aberdeen’s Stephen Procner pitched extremely well keeping the bats silent. The just turned 22 year-old Rulon out of Georgia Tech continued his run of scoreless relief tossing three hitless frames while whiffing an impressive five. Procner matched zeroes by working the next four giving up two hits while K-ing four.

The Baby Bombers put the first couple on against new pitcher Rich Zagone but he worked out of the jam by striking out the last three.

With the ballgame still knotted in the Aberdeen home half, they finally got to losing S.I. reliever Andy Shive. After he retired the first two batters, a two out rally produced four consecutive singles including Tom Edwards’ go-ahead base hit to center followed by a two-run hit from Kyle Hudson which put them up 4-1.

Staten Island tried to get something going in the eighth but Birds’ reliever Nick Haughian induced Baisley into a 6-4-3 double play following a leadoff walk to third baseman Braedyn Pruitt. As fate would have it, Dan Brewer then singled with nobody on. Haughian got Mike Lyon to line out to second ending the threat.

The Bombers couldn’t rally in their last at bat as Fredy Deza closed it out 1-2-3 getting shortstop Addison Maruszak to bounce out to short for his second save.

Notes: It was a struggle for Bomber batters all night as they struckout 14 times against five Aberdeen pitchers including winner Zagone (1-0), who fanned the side in the seventh. Staten Island pitchers combined to K 11 including three from loser Shive (0-2). … Aberdeen recorded five of their six hits against Shive while the S.I. Yanks had five total hits with no one having more than one. … OF Matt Morris came in as a pinch hitter for leadoff man Ray Kruml but struckout before taking over in center. … Aberdeen drew a solid attendance with 6,470 despite the rainy conditions. … Aberdeen (4-3) is currently tied with the Cyclones for first in the McNamara Division with both the Bombers and Renegades each 3-4 trailing by a game. … Auburn boasts the best league record at 6-1 pacing the Pinckney Division.