week in review

The Week Before the U.S. Open

TORONTO, CANADA - AUGUST 14: Serena Williams celebrates winning a point during the final against Samantha Stosur of Australia on Day 7 of the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank at the Rexall Centre on August 14, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)
Serena Williams.

The U.S. Open is set to begin on Monday, and a number of Americans — like Mardy Fish and Christina McHale — are looking to orchestrate upsets. Meanwhile, another American, Serena Williams, enters this year’s tournament as the No. 28 seed, thanks to USTA’s decision to follow the WTA rankings. (Having said that, she’s still a threat to win.) But what happened this week that didn’t involve predicting who’d be crowned a champion at Flushing Meadows two weekends from now?

The Yankees dropped two of three to Oakland, but in their one victory, they set a major-league record by hitting three grand slams.

The Mets lost two of three in Philadelphia, but at least Jose Reyes is on his way back.

New Meadowlands Stadium was officially renamed MetLife Stadium.

The Giants lost Terrell Thomas for the season because of a torn ACL.

And, in a Sports Section special investigation, we figured out how many times Jeff Nelson picked off a runner by using “the old Jeff Nelson.”

That’s it for us. Stay safe this weekend, everybody.

The Week Before the U.S. Open