elijah dukes. now elijah dukes running -- running has been an adventure this year. two steals in nine attempts. several of those are pickoffs when you are picked off first, that does count as caught stealing. baker, 10-53 this year. and that's another by product of a young pitching staff. >> rob: in elijah's case, too, he's work on stuff. he was an excellent base steal her in his day when i played against him. you have to separate the game from work on stuff and trying to pickup certain things off a pitcher and there's marquis grissom. sometimes you're thinking a little too much. he's got to get out there and just execute, let it happen. elijah is way too good of an athlete to be 2-9 in stolen bases. >> bob: elijah is very fast once he gets going. part of the stealing bases art is getting that jump and exploding towards second base. >> rob: i wouldn't mind bringing ricky henderson in here. work with the outfielders, the base stealers. >> bob: two balls, two strikes to wil nieves. anybody on our ball club have a relationship with him? >> rob: i'll call him. ricky, yo

. >> reporter: elijah dukes' turn. we used to say in the pool hall, talk's cheap. >> rob: is that the swimming pool hall. >> bob: no, the billiard. >> rob: is that how you put your self through college? >> bob: i will take you one day. >> rob: okay. >,i can see that. >> bob: that ball is hit hard. vernon wells ties the game. that's his 6th of the year. and the third given up by detwiler in seven starts. so the homerun ball has not hurt ross that much. that ball was really smoked. >> rob: you asked me earlier in the game what do you think about pitches that are up for a high strike zone and you will get hurt if you leave pitches up like that. that's a hanging curve ball, right on the sweet spot of vernon wells' bat. there you see it, mr. spawlding leaving the building. i know it's rawling. you don't have to tweet me on twitter. >> bob: that was a change-up >> it's 1-2. >> rob: it's going to happen. we said this about zimmerman, martis. guys who throw really hard, sometimes, you hang them, second, third best pitch, you w

elijah dukes coming up.   >> bob: seven washington hits, hernandez had given up the same number of hits through five that guthrie did last night. i think you'd have to say one guy today is pitching better than the guy did last night, but the guy last night got the win. >> jim p.: well, a lot of it has to do with run support. the one thing, you do miss melvin mora at third base. melvin, hadn't hit a home run in over 150 at-bats but he's playing sparkling defense. salazar is a good hitter, but he's not the glove guy. >> bob: elijah dukes, he's not a guy that hits the ball the opposite way a lot. but even when he does it a little, he's much better than he is now. >> rob: if you're going to stand in the middle of the box and not step in towards the plate or try and go the other way with t. then they're going to have a field game against you. you've got to go towards the ball. >> jim p.: he should get pretty good pitch to hit here, 2-1. the one guy that david hernandez has had great command on the outside quarter to third of the plate is elijah dukes. >> rob: yep. >> bob:

it was also elijah dukes first career hit. straightaway center. >> rob: they retired those uniforms along with the devil in front of the ray. >> bob: they got rid of that green color. >> rob: that wasn't the greatest uniform combo. >> bob: that was in 07. elijah would hit only .190 that year, but he drove in 21 in 52 games. 184 at-bats. drafted in the third round in 02 by the rays. out of hillsboro high school in tampa. there's a pop-up to the right side. off the bat of pat burrell. nick johnson has it. two outs. gabe gross last time gave the rays a big pushing, so that was five hitters, five runs given up by jason bergmann and manny had to go get it. >> rob: you saw wil nieves wanted that ball down and away. jason ran that ball a little bit too close to the inner half on the lefty, down and in on the lefty. the place you want to throw it. even jordan zimmermann found out these guys can hit. why they're in first in offense in the american league. 95-mile an hour fastball and turned around by carlos pena. jordan zimmermann. the

here is one, a home run by elijah dukes. tavares grounded to third, struck out looking and swinging in his three trips against detwiler.  jason bergmann scoreless  at 9 of 11 games pitched this year. >> rob: that might have got will nieves, thought it got him maybe in the hand. but it got him high also. >> johnny: hopefully giving kneeev's little time to -- >> rob: a little foul tip. got the inner half of his knee. that's gonna leave a mark. i don't know johnny yup. >> rob: and catchers wear those bruises with pride. one that was just too deep is now the fractured shoulder bone. >> johnny: yeah. an off-balance swing by tavares. >> rob: couple of punch-outs by bergmann. >> johnny: don't forget saturday, june 13th the rays will host the nationals. first pitch for 6:08 p.m. because of major league baseball's national black out on saturdays masn will join the game in progress with live coverage beginning at 7:05. so we hope you join us as the home team, tampa bay chooses the game start time

here is elijah dukes that was a slider. there they are. the whole family. >> rob: nowhere to put them. >> bob: guzman, johnson, dup aboard. zimmerman struck out. elijah dukes came into the game .300 this year with runners in scoring position. fastball runs right back to the outer half. >> rob: camp throws side arm. he'll bring this as a two-seam fastball. watch it sink back over the plate what we would kala raido. >> bob: this is a battle now. >> rob: got to be ready for anything if you're elijah. >> bob: tried the same pitch. missed a little low and away with it. 1-1 game. nats outhit the blue jays. fighting another a. l. east team here. now the situation has turned itself around because camp does not want to go to 3-2. josh bard, switch-hitting catcher on deck. nationals want that scoreboard to change right here with one out. got him on a front door slider. the nationals have made two outs this inning by not swinging at 3-2 pitches. that was nasty. >> rob: well, he comes around the side but gets on top of it really nice t comes back down

elijah dukes had the ford drive of the game that put the nats up. >> rob: cristian guzman, elijah dukes and nick johnson with the doubles. elijah thrown out trying to go to third. ryan zimmerman and adam dunn 0- for-10 tonight with four strikeouts, three of them looking. it's opinion an odd night for the 3-4 guys. dukes pulls off a breaking ball, hits it right off the end of his bat. fair ball. picked by scott role en and a good throw and a good stretch. we are going into the 12th inning.  scott rolen has been doin for years. 7 gold gloves worth. inning number 12 coming up. it's on. - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - it is totally on. jimmy, it's on. it's on. oh, yeah, it's on. pilot: affirmative, it's on. doing what it takes to make home a little better. that's why we lowered over a thousand prices. and carry powerful tools from dewalt, milwaukee, ridgid, and more. so you spend less, but drill, saw, and nail... more. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now, save $20 on a ryobi 18v starter kit with drill and cir

boy, those dukes of hazards. >> rob: elijah dukes coming home with a two-rbi double and matt garza not too pleased. >> bob: early game geico highlights for you. nationals already three runs on six hits. garza came into this game rather unhittable with an opponent batting average of .206. >> rob: who mays boss hog? >> bob: you are not asking me. >> rob: you didn't watch the show, did you? >> i live out by the blond haired guy. snyder? still drives that general lee around town. >> bob: dukes with two men aboard again. nasty breaking ball in the dirt. did he not swing, says paul naert. >> rob: this is a strong young man. we talked about this. watch him hold up the bat. he stops on a dime. >> bob: that .206 by garza, number 2 in the american league league, hardest to hit. tallet of toronto, .2 .201. >> rob: greinke is a hard-luck guy. took a seagull in extra innings to get the base hit. >> bob: tough call. and dukes overmatched here. that's the first out of the 3rd and for matt garza, his third strikeout. you are not looking for elijah dukes to bunt a ground ball but you would have loved t

here's elijah dukes. of the guys on the bench, he easily has the most power, and manny knows that one swing of the bat might decide this game, 2-2 in the 8th. dukes is in a big-time slump though. he's four for his last 31 and they are killing him with breaking balls. >> rob: i had a great conversation with elijah on the way down here. he knows what's going on. >> bob: fastball drilled to center. too bad there's no elevation, two outs. >> rob: he got in on him a little bit. the thing about elijah dukes that i love about him, he has very good smarts when it comes to hitting. >> bob: that was a good at-bat, when you're down 0-2 and hit a ball that well. top of the order now. that's 12 in a row for nolasco and 18 of his last 19. he's only thrown six pitches to get two outs this inning. the nationals first three hitters are 0 for 9 and their first five hitters are 1 for 15 tonight. with only the zimmerman homer. man, what a hook. he has shown tonight how effective a right-handed pitcher can be against left- ha

zimmerman staying at first and elijah dukes will step in. struck out the last two times he has been to the plate. 0-3 afternoon. dukes hit that homerun on tuesday night. along with guzman. but now the idea just to get a base hit. just getting some guys on base. first pitch swinging. a high fly to right. but bruce will handle this with ease and there's two down. coors light freeze cam brought to you by frost brewed coors light. the world's most refreshing beer. >> rob: cristian guzman slaps it to third. freeze it. hairston catches it. does he have a shot at the plate on willingham, maybe. but he chooses to just go over and take the sure out. and they would get out of that inning. keep the score 2-1. coors light freeze cam. >> johnny: and the reds with a run in the second, a run in the 4th. they have got a 2-1 lead. josh willingham. he has had base hits his last two times up. he has 2 of the nationals five hits. throw back to first and zimmerman back safely. austin kearns waiting on deck. zimmerman not a big lead off 1st base. carlos fisher de

and on the other side of the coin is that elijah dukes, as we saw the numbers, 3-24, the last seven games, he made a nice adjustment. now, do you want him hitting soft singles to left? yes. >> rob: as a pitcher, yes. >> jim: a sinker down and in might have been a pretty good pitch, especially if you want to get him out with that breaking ball. >> rob: i know you showed five or six pitches, does he is have too many? >> jim: no, basically to me she a sinker baller. he can go from 88 to 92 and every once in a while run it up there. he was talking about and we showed you the e.r.a., he was very good in june and struggled in may, or late april when he came up. if you drop down, you know, you were a sinker baller because you were a high fastball guy, what happens is the ball looks like it sinks bu stays on the same plain. he is a fast learner. not overpowering, though. he has to make his pitches. >> jim: and he earned his way here. he was drafted out of high school by the orioles in 2004 and the first two years in proball, he was assigned to short season teams. so he signed with the short seaso

he jacks it into right center, in the sun, elijah dukes, one out. >> rob: a little bit, too, rob, it's going to be tricky. a lot of shadow here, especially late in the afternoon. the sun is shining in the back of the field. you saw elijah dukes go from the shade into the sun and made the catch. >> bob: somewhere, george harrison is smiling because here comes the sun, shining. >> rob: very nice beatle reference. my favorite beatle song is "while my guitar gently weeps". >> bob: george did that one, too. right off the end of the bat. of course, as a high school boy, your favorite song was hey jude. it was slow dance that lasted 7 minutes. [ laughter ]. >> bob: can you play that again? >> rob: that's awesome that you know that was a slow song that they played for 7 minutes. >> bob: just a little bit off the plate. 2-1. detwiler in 33 innings, 20 runs, 19 earned, 36 hits and aaron hill is right up there. 91 hits. leads all of baseball. one more than miguel tejada here in this league. detwiler, lots of fastballs to start things off and he goes 3- 1. >> rob: they are not the most powerful te

of the six hits, two home runs hit by elijah dukes and guzman. verizon if i o's, we break down coming up on nats postgame, ross detwiler's outing tonight, recap a wild and important day in nats park with byron kerr and ray knight and preview game number 2 coming up tomorrow with harang against march tease. the pitching matchups beginning at 6:30 with nats extra. and mike mink doing al becomes the nationals fourth pitcher following jason bergmann, ron villone and the starter ross detwiler. for  . >> rob: can't allow a r got to tell you're a one-run up. >> johnny: the sixth game with washington, only one unearned run and stranded all three inherited runners when he has come in ball games. came back from syracuse may 29th, a couple of saves and a 3.24 e.r.a. in eight appearances a. >> rob: from the d.c. area, born right here. >> johnny: likes to pitch inside and francisco cordero goes to work on the cincinnati pen. >> rob: he was given a contract nearly $50 million to bring him over here. he has done a great j

 . >> johnny: home run n for elijah dukes and r.b.i. number tied thi >> rob: ballhnny: homer in this ball park and t 62nd of the year r the ball club.  . >> is just some k rob: yes he would. >> johnny: got so much talent still not even tapped into. >> rob: quite raw. >> johnny: willie harris with a foul off the plate. harris struck out in the first and his on-base percentage is .382. >> rob: johnny lab none, 41 starts, detwiler, his fifth start, jordan zimmer hand hamas nine starts in the big leagues, cy he has 15, the other four. so the others don't have as many as johnny lannan. so you know when i came up i had, you know, phil gull lick son was at the major league level, you had ron robinson, tom browning had been there for many years, tom franklin had been there for many years, our pitching coach years late would be don argue lick. even the griffey seniors and dave collins and joel youngblood and guys like this, they can help you with your psyche and that's the most difficult thing i th

dukes now has 29 rbis. welcome home. >> rob: who says you can't go home, elijah? he probably has a lot to prove. the 91 mile-per-hour on his hand. you mean they don't have a scouting report on elijah? he can turn on that pitch. you see that, rumbling, numberrable around and he scores. >> bob: i saw him check out where the ball was as he was approached third base. i think he knew he was going to score here is josh willingham. good to see josh back healthy in the last couple of days of the hope stand. by the way, just to mention elijah dukes one more time, hillsboro high school in tampa produced doc gooden, gary sheffield, carl everett, mike heath and nationals prospects michael burgess. burgess. of course, a lot of other major leaguers have come out of high schools in and around tampa. garza falling behind most of his hitters here with the exception of adam dunn, had him 0-2. willingham has had a great base-on average lately. that's a good pitch, under his hands for a strike. he already tripled. >> rob: he only tripled the amount he has given up in his prior starts

elijah dukes faces owings. quarius, i appreciate that. elijah dukes faces owings. if you are throwing over a hundred miles an hour and that guy reacts to a fastball coming back at you, you don't have much time to make a decision, do i duck, or do i go after it, put the glove up. dukes goes down swinging. so, that is tryout number 4. 2-0 cincinnati. - it's on. - ( music playing throughout ) - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - totally on. jimmy, it's on. - it's on. - oh, yeah, it's on. affirmative, it's on. announcer: southwest airlines announces new service out of bwi airport, with three daily nonstop flights to new york laguardia for just 49 dollars one-way starting june 28th. grab your bag. it's on. - ( ding ) - book now at southwest.com. grab your bag. it's on. welcome to chili's. something new is on the grill. try chili's new fire-grilled quesadillas, starting at just $6.99. like our bacon-ranch chicken quesadilla, flame-grilled tortillas layered with all white meat chicken, applewood smoked bacon, jack cheese, and ranch dressing. they're crispy on

elijah dukes makes it 4-0. a no- doubter line drive to left. >> that baby got out of here in a hurry. into elijah dukes coming back home to tampa, drafting by the rays in the 2002 draft. he only hit .190 when he played down here but i think he was just beginning to scratch the surface of what is going to be a big career. you know he has to be thrilled to go back to tampa. >> ray: i'm sure he is, johnny. it's hard sometimes to play at home with a lot of people making demands, asking for tickets. he hit for average, power, run, throw and field. he's really got on this ball club that fits that. zimmerman is close. he just can't run quite as well as elijah. >> johnny: and we have seen in centerfield elijah loping to those balls like did i imagine quo, mays. >> ray: he can become a true centerfielder if his legs hold up. he has had some problems with his knees over his his career, and his leg. if he is able to keep these lotion strong, he can develop into a strong centerfielder. >> johnny: let's talk about the pitch

elijah dukes steps in. his average at .262. 1st base umpire rings up dukes with a called strike. >> rob: took a lot of heat last night for getting picked off 2nd base. but as he said he was trying to get a secondary lead. he does have 59 steals in his career. dunn has some wheels. not just a big, slow player. he can run a little bit. >> johnny: owings delivers. the flip to second to brand don phillips and the inning is over. we will talk more and debbi is going to have more on adam dunn. we go to the top of the second scoreless in washington. úúpp÷÷ >> we are back and scoreless we move to the 2nd inning. the nats hosting adam dunn's former team. adam's dad said he coached all three of his sons and adam, who was the middle child wasn't always easy to coach. >> coaching adam was hard as anybody could imagine because he always thought he knew

now you have to get out elijah dukes. when dukes is swinging well or zimmerman, that is the protection he needs to see better pitches. but with 1st base open here and one out. >> johnny: and he swings through a fastball. >> rob: he expanded his zone. we talked about that. he didn't get anything to hit the first time up. second time, staying way away from him. elevates the fastball right here after that 78 miles an hour breaking ball. >> johnny: owings racks up his first strikeout of the afternoon. he has walked four, struck out one. it is up to elijah dukes to see if he can get guzman home from third. and zimmerman from second. two down here in the bottom of the third. elijah 6-30 with a double, a couple of homeruns, three rbis, three walks. in his 8 games since coming back off the dl june 2nd. he has driven in 14 runs his last 21 games. had that big homerun on tuesday night. >> rob: jeff brantly is marv ling at the -- marvelling at the size of dukes. >> johnny: g grounded foul down the 3rd base line. >> rob: he broke up

he'll take the rbi, keep the rally going, bring elijah dukes to the plate. he's batting for the pitcher in the spot occupied -- he throws him a pitch out of the ball park. it's a 2-run game. the nats still have a large hill to climb. they have scored a couple here. it's now 9-4. - oh, it's on. - it's on. it's on. - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - it is totally on. jimmy, it's on. it's on. oh, yeah, it's on. pilot: affirmative, it's on. >>> dad's sake -- saying, d give up until it's time to go home. there's a lesson to be learned here in the ninth inning. the blue jays have a pull benpy committee now. the tying run is not as close as the on-deck circle. two for his last 16, elijah. that's a loud pop with a 94- mile an hour heater. >> right down broadway. >> one ball, one strike. reaching, fouling it, and the blue jays are one strike away from salvaging a game of the series. slider just outside, 2-2. >> heaters and the old slider, just a bit outside in the ball just got a piece. clouds are gone, bright sunshine again. out of play on the rig

elijah duke at 1st base, nobody out. cincinnati has a 2-0 lead. we'll take you right back now to espn news. >> right now on "espnews" big poppy and the red sox have their eyes on the prize, unbeaten, 6-0, so far against the yankees, game seven tonight. the phillies have been struggling as of late. cole hamels takes on the mets going for his fifth win in a row. an emotional phil mickelson prepares to rejoin the pga tour as he and his family prepare to

here is elijah dukes top of the second. >> rob: put that in perspective. our entire starting lineup has six combined steals. >> bob: tonight. >> rob: morgan has three times that. right away, that gives us at the top of our lineup or even if he hits in the eight hole a lot of speed and once he gets on base and he's got a very good eye. 3.9 pitches per at-bat. there's a ways hit -- base hit by elijah dukes. >> bob: there's extension on that one. >> rob: he'll fit in our lineup. >> bob: the nationals, 3-4 last hitters hitting safely now. another note on morgan. he brings his 18 steals to a team that has 26 total. only the milwaukee brewers, and they're a power team station to station, have fewer steals with 24. the nats will start climbing the charts in that department. here is alberto gonzalez. the two new ball players will be here in time for the day game tomorrow. pirates are in pittsburgh and the ironic thing for joel hanrahan is the pirates are here friday. they're playing the cubs, scoreless in the second inning. so, joel hanrahan, when i talked to him

. >> bob: elijah dukes next here in the top of the 8th. ball 3. breaking pitch i'm i people who may not know who mike grizz yo; he independento, he inked -- he is very well versed as part of that 2007 draft, as they said, the best draft in 2007 by baseball america. he should be the general manager. >> bob: that got the bag. that's a fair ball down into the corner. the rays can't believe the call from paul naert and the nats have a leadoff double here in the 8th inning. >> rob: this will be interesting. >> bob: here is the replay by above. >> rob: looks like he is right over the bag. he has to go over the middle of the bag. and it can land in foul territory. >> bob: sure can. >> rob: hooking, hooking, fair. >> bob: it's a difficult call for the umpire because, kind of in his mind, he has to freeze frame the exact moment that ball passes the bag and he called it fair there is no hesitation at all. here is elijah ducks. nobody out. elijah is 1-for-3 with a double today. there is that tight slider of wheeler. >> rob: you are saying he does not have th

he will be pleased with this -- >> bob: elijah dukes cruising for this one. one out. top of the order coming up now. >> rob: if you're steve mccatty, you want to see the evolution of guys like stammen. today, you're going to have gays -- have days where you don't have your best stuff. detwiler had one really big mistake. other than that, it was an excellent day for detwiler. >> bob: do you see a difference now in the way our young pitchers are approaching hitters? >> rob: absolutely. they're trying to work ahead. they're working with their best pitches and getting beat on some of their best pitches instead of nibbling around the plate and trying not to get beat out there. you're going to have to pitch to contact. that's what steve preaches. go out with your a game. see what happens three times through the line up. i think a lot of guys were worried about the end result before they went out and performed and performed and executed. i think you have to have an idea when you take the field as a pitcher. steve is telling the guy, it's on yous. >> bob: completely fooling u

it gets beyond elijah dukes, and adam jones is off to the races. dukes misses the cut-off man. >> jim: 11-1, you're not sending a guy. first of all, it is embarrassing, but he was thinking. the one thing about adam jones, he is a fun - loving guy. dukes tries to catch it. the ball just gets inside the line, and then it is off to the races. a very tough corner here at camden yards, but he's thinking right about here he's thinking, you know what? maybe i'm going to get a triple. but here he is thinking i have an inside-the-park home run. >> rob: he put it in another gear here. >> jim: the coach says we don't need to do that. it is the respectful thing to do. >> rob: yes. >> bob: he's at third base. two outs and mar cake advertise hitter. nick is 3-4 tonight with his 47th rbi. and his batting average has jumped up from .297 to .303. >> jim: he gets into a low period and he'll put four hits on the board like he did last night or the week before last. >> bob: 11 more opportunities with runners in scoring position for the home team tonight. >> jim: and t

you have to manufacture a run here any way you can if you're elijah dukes and leading off this inning. >> johnny: cordero comes out of the bullpen, has not given up a run in his last 12 appearances. he posted a 0.250 era. the right hander delivers. dukes takes the ball. josh willingham next on deck. then it would come ronny belliard. 2-0 bottom of the 9th. nationals 3-6 against the nl central. the reds under .500. 5-7 against the national league east. that's why they play nine. you don't stop there. >> rob: absolutely. they're playing it. it's not really coming down anymore. >> johnny: last save for francisco came last night. right behind the nationals dugout, cincinnati one error. josh willingham misplayed a ball in right field. got to give him a break there. it was his first time ever in that right field area. >> rob: there's a lead off walk. very nice. that's using the old melon. at the plate right now. you've got to find a way to get willingham in however he can get on base. [cheering and applause] >> johnny: i'd love to see josh get a hold of one now. he takes a strike from corde

elijah dukes is backing up against wall. he makes the catch. a terrific play by dukes in the field. does he cover the territory out there? >> rob: yes, he does. when he's in right, he covers the territory. get on your horse elijah and start running. he goes right in contact with the wall as he makes the grab. >> johnny: he knew exactly how close the wall was. >> rob: absolutely. watch the alertness. i've got a guy at 2nd. he throws it right in. that's not quite the pitch he was looking for. >> johnny: it almost went over bard's head. they will pass hanigan to get to harang. talking with elijah dukes before the ballgame, i was relating stories about high school athletics. i asked him about hillsboro high school if he ever played them. he said mr. holiday, i went to hillsboro, you should know that if you followed my career. he said it with a smile. he was very nice. talk about how tough the football teams were in the tampa area when we grew up. >> rob: i lived out near the hillsboro district. we played at the old field there in tampa that's no longer around. i lived out by bush garden

elijah dukes strikes out. nationals strand their third runner of the day. 4 life 2 half way through. thro) - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - totally on. 2 -- 4-2 half way through. . - it's on. - oh, yeah, it's on. affirmative, it's on. announcer: southwest airlines announces new service out of bwi airport, with three daily nonstop flights to new york laguardia for just 49 dollars one-way starting june 28th. grab your bag. it's on. - ( ding ) - book now at southwest.com. >>> nationals baseball on mas brought to you by southwest airlines. book your next trip on www.southwest.com. timely hitting here sunday in st. petersburg. rob dibble you just hope this was the one bad inning ross detwiler will have and he'll get it together here in the 5th. >> rob: this is one of the better offenses in baseball. you know what, ross detwiler will have to battle better pitches in the major leagues. james shields is no different. he's allowed 4 runs through 5 innings and gone 6 innings in 11 of his 13 starts com

. >> bob: elijah dukes now, bottom of the 2nd. >> rob: that shows you how good major league hitters are in that millisecond that they can see your knuckle hanging off the ball and they can tell what's coming. >> bob: what does a knuckle curve from a left hander do to be a problem for a right handed hitter? >> rob: it's going to drop almost 1 to 7:00 o'clock. it's an excellent pitch. mike mussina threw one of the best knuckle curves, i have seen. that thing was ridiculous. >> bob: here one on the hands of dukes. before that, the pitch that seemed to establish that pitch was bert hoot en of the dodgers. >> rob: i played with the late team leona of the reds team. that was his one pitch. he three 87, 88, threw that knuckle curve. when you talk about the nasty boys, the phrase came from that knuckle curve, and then our fastballs. it was the entire bullpen. it was not meant to be the final three guys. god bless tim. he was amazeingwith that knuckle curve. >> bob: rolen makes a nice play but dukes is too fast and the nationals lead the 2nd inning with a hit. >> rob: dukes list it right off the

elijah dukes goes back to his base. >> rob: he is very impressive. i was taught rule of thumb, if it's an hour rain delay, the guy out there last, he's done for the night. you warm up somebody else. you have david weathers. chord row, two hours and 10 minute, he must really want there at bat. he's back out there. >> johnny: 117 and 109 saves in the national league. talk about a throw back guy. this guy wants to get out and play ball. >> rob: most of the time you do it to protect the guy. you go from humidity and rain and go sit in air conditioning climate inside the locker room. >> johnny: elijah dukes on 1st base. he had walked before the rain delay. >> rob: this is like my softball league. you start way 1-1 count and come back out with a 3-2 count. cordero delivers. 2-2. the score board had 2 hours and 10 minutes to get it right and couldn't handle it. >> johnny: now its 3-2 to willingham. >> rob: willingham goes to 1st 1st. dukes goes down to 2nd. >> johnny: it's a great time when these guys are here. >> rob: i think ronny belliard needs a sign to

here's elijah dukes with two outs. the bats have gone quiet again here. >> rob: manny may allow zimmermann to go back out there. >> bob: that's down the line and foul. craig stamen told me something interesting today. he was very upset at himself for not getting through six innings last night. he got longoria to line out in the sixth last night, gave up a couple of hits and manny took him out, that was still chafing at him when i ran into him this afternoon. i like that about craig. he was not happy pitching only 5 1/3 innings. dukes into right center. that will be run down by b.j. upton. p boss: so you've been doing a nice job out there helping people save money on car insurance. gecko: aw thank you, sir. boss: but i think there are a few other things you can say about what a reliable company geico is. gecko: right. uh, well maybe how geico's the third-largest car insurance company in america? nice tidbit there. boss: exactly. and i've been thinking, looking a bit more businesslike might help t

elijah dukes is there. vils vernon wells who is 2-2 will step in. wells on a distinctive list of center fielders with 100 rbi's seasons. in his rookie season 2002, he hit 23 homers, drove in 100. next year, he really put it altogether going to his first all-star game hitting .317, 33 homers, 117 batted in. vernon wells is from shreveport, louisiana, originally. his dad, vern orrin, was a wide receiver ironically in the canadian football league. >> rob: you're making that stuff up. >> bob: you can't make that stuff up. >> rob: his dad played in the canadian football league? >> bob: a lot of good americans have played -- >> rob: i'm not saying that. his dad played in canada and he plays for the blue jays? i think you made that up. >> bob: that's one of those when the sownt effects go duh- duh-duh. 3-1. [ laughter ] >> rob: nice breaking ball. nice 3-1 pitch. >> bob: yeah, wells thought he was all over a fastball. then it hit the bottom of his bat. >> rob: he's had a couple of fastball hits tonight. he may not get a fastball here. let's check out the d

elijah dukes has a robert for an arm. the throw comes home. so does the runner and it is high. and the orioles lead 11-1. a brett -- a pretty good at-bat by melvin mora. quite a bat toll stay alive and he gets his forty rbi of the night. >> jim: and the guzman error hurts because it allows them to get another run without a hit. >> rob: he does a great job going to second ton throw that does not go to the cut-off man. >> jim: if you're going to and the orioles have been struggling with their base running, that's the way you're taught to do it in spring training, even if thewieters an roberts, the only two lineup spots for the orioles without a base hit tonight. he's walked twice and struck out. >> rob: it is not too often you'll come up switching your at-bats in the same inning. rob villone, >> jim: he has hit at every level. he has made the adjustment. >> bob: he is getting on base. two walks tonight, on base. Áand a back door breaking ball, 1-2. >> jim: don warner, we talked about the roving catching instructor and he was watching them in spring training and they were down an

elijah dukes tied it up early in the game, a big home run. great catch from tavares to keep a big inning from happening in the bottom half of the fifth inning. we go to the sixth inning johnny and that great defense sometimes it will keep your opposition off the board. we only have three hits against this guy, they only have four against detwiler. >> at&t the fastest 3g network. at&t the world is delivered. cueto 23, to ross detwiler 23, we go to the sixth inning in this three-run ball game. >> rob: 43 for cueto, you know, career starts right now and he had his growing pains as i told you the other day or earlier in the day. >> seemed like the other day. >> rob: feels like the other y. ere at the end of the season last year he really struggled. and i think a lot of it is as your arm strength is waning and you're a 22-year-old and you've never pitched half-way through september. that'when how to pitch, when you have nothing. you come out of the bullpen after a bad warm up, you feel like, you know, you don't want to pitch today but you have to.

elijah dukes snaps his bat off. the ball is coming to nick green, the red sox' shortstop. the bat hits him. he's got to swat it away. and this is tonight. bergesen saws him off. the bat comes right back up the middle. very dangerous stuff. there is your coarse light freeze cam. >> jim: here is george sherrill coming on in the ninth inning and if you're wondering what the heck is the closer doing in the game if you're up 10 runs, he needs some work. he has not been in the game since last sunday and you want to get the rust off before it is a save situation. >> jim: what did he tell us in texas when he came in with the four-run lead? i never met a four-run lead that i liked. how about a 10-run lead? >> jim: he has been 11-11. >> rob: closers hate big leads or deficits. >> jim: you closed. >> rob: for a while. >> jim: it was kind of like by committee? >> rob: yes. and there were a couple of years when we had one closer, two closers. but, yeah, it was whoever had the hot hand. when randy myers was there, he was the guy. i didn't like coming in just to get some work, whether it

elijah dukes was slumping. four for his last 29 is next. we usually get a reading of how far the home runs go. >> rob: there's a lot of frustration pent up in that swing. >> bob: he hit one at citi field they're still talking about. went by the end of the third deck. >> rob: he's a little lazy with some of his off speed pitches. >> jim p.: i think what happens is he's more comfortable throwing his fastball. again, it's not that you don't throw your breaking balls, but if you spot your fastball, you can use your breaking ball out of the strike zone and you can finish it a little more. to me it was always a lot easier to throw my breaking ball down. >> rob: we're seeing the same trend with your staff, is the second and third time through the line-up their batting averages are going up. they're giving up more extra- base hits. it's really concentration thing. now the second time they've already seen me once. i have to focus a little bit more. the third time, fourth time. i have to focus a little bit more now because this guy's seen me twice. >

elijah dukes has eight outfield assists this year, and the orioles have a rally going with two singles around a double and an error. it will be first and third, nobody out, for melvin mora. >> rob: jim made the point earlier on huff, you've got to get those pitches in, and even on nick markakis, you know, if you don't get it in far enough, they're going to let it. you might even jam them. you have to be able to locate it in and under their happens, and that is two lefty this is inning that have gotten base hits on jam shots and singles on fastballs. >> jim: there is aubrey huff and he is having a nice night tonight. and steve talked about again not calling pitches. he said, listen, i was a young pitcher and played for billy pleater and i made a lot of mistakes. he said not only that, the adversity that goes with it when you make those mistakes. so i'm going let them learn on their own. he likes their arms, likes their make-up. there you go. this is -- it is almost like you want to work for state farm because you have to be an adjuster. you get them out the first time, and the second ti

elijah dukes is next. adam dunn gets around it and fouls it. 18 homeruns this year, four away from 300. 48th rbi last night. i interairport hill is 20 feet behind the dirt. >> rob: i aaron -- aaron hill is 20 feet behind the dirt. >> reporter: that's going to get him. >> rob: come on, that's not even close. i think the first time this ball gets the plate is when the catch erythros it around the horn. let's see how far that pitch is. >> bob: that's unfortunate. >> rob: it looks pretty, a pretty pitch called the back door slider but the baseball needs to get over that white thing that's called the plate. >> bob: here is dukes. >> rob: elijah was really swinging the bat well. in the batting cage. he carried it into the game. >> bob: a couple of knocks for elijah tonight. a base hit and a double, one rbi. >> rob: he has that hard sinker. talk about the touch and feel of being a pitcher. sometimes, you put the fingers close together to get movement on the baseball. >> >> bob: zaun camp has now pitched a four-hi

. >> bob: elijah dukes 0 for 3. he's popped up three times tonight. the rays are trying to go two games over .500 and eight over here at home. willie harris is next, then austin kearns, here in the ninth. a reminder, the nats are coming home to play the blue jays and the red sox in the next home stand. give a call, order some tickets for toronto and ask them if they have any left for boston. broken bat, base hit center field for dukes. elijah now 2-8 in the series.  >> bob: next up is will harris who is 0 for 3 tonight. and willie will break his bat, right field, easy play. gabe gross, one out. johnny holliday and ray knight, "nats xtra" presented by verizon fios, starring those two, straight ahead. i know this has to be frustrating for ray, because for several weeks he has just like you have, and me, too, that this ball club was just on the verge of better things. it's just very slow coming together here. pitching has been good, bergmann had a nightmare in the sixth inning tonight. other than that it's been a solid week for the pitching sta

. >> rob: elijah dukes is running on this play. adam dunn was not. dukes' speed gets him back to 2 2nd. dukes just got back. >> bob: shields thought he had a rare double play. here's gonzalez. he's driven in one run and run a strike. he's not a runner you would squeeze with. hard sinking fastball. 1-1. >> bob: 2-3 one out, time given. often this is the kind of hit you'd rather have batting in this situation than a big free swinger that strikes out a lot. no swing. that was interesting. the 1st baseman was the first to call for the appeal. >> bob: nationals trying to increase their 1- 0 lead here in the top of the 4th inning. that will work. a drive to left center. that will bring in two. dunn from 3rd. dukes from 2nd. alberto gonzalez has all three nationals rbis. how about the little guys in this series. gonzalez and hernandez. >> rob: whatever they did to gonzalez in syracuse, he came back on fire. a pitch is up in the zone. he cranks on it. elijah and adam come in to score easily. shields can't believe it. >> bob: beautifully swung by gonzalez. 3-

sheer dukes. elijah this year,.300 with runners in scoring position. he's 0-7 last. batting average downd down under .250. >> rob: go figure that brian tallet grew up in oklahoma and grew up loving nolan ryan. don't we all. >> bob: dukes will pop it up into short right field. alex rios is waiting. nats will get a couple of base runners, a walk and sangle, leave two, no -- a single, leave two, no score. ÷pñ)y@@p >> debbi: scoreless as we m to the top of the second inning. craig stammen told me last night that the young the starters are feeding off each other. they're good friends and a tight knit group. here is more from manny acta on that topic. >> they play together at some point. a couple of those guys are together before. they motivate each other and feed off each other and it's good. they don't have any type of competition going on, but they're trying to outdo each other, followup in each other's step every feist days. >> debbi: for jordan zimmermann, he told me he needs to continue to pound the zone. he has a really good strikeout to walk ratio. he has ne

elijah dukes will pick it up. that's the lead run here in the 8th inning. [cheering and applause] in this series, the nationals have not scored an earned run after the 4 4th inning. >> bob: fastball up in the zone. second ball carlos pena hit hard this series. he hit a home run earlier in the series. he's been kind of quiet with a couple of bunt hits. >> bob: 5-11 in the series with two bunt hits. there's a lot of pressure on the nats bullpen. the nationals have scored one run in this series after the 4 4th inning that was an earned run last night. their bullpen has been outstanding. zobrist 0-2 with a walk. his job if he can't score the runner is to push him to 3rd. this guy is a big, strong power hitting 2nd baseman with 13 home runs. >> bob: popped up, left side, up near in b ring. it doesn't hit anything. willie harris just ran into our bullpen catcher as he was trying to make that play. >> rob: just when you thought it was safe to go after a foul ball, you run into your bullpen catcher and can't get near it. nelson tried to get out of the way. willie h

elijah dukes is right there and stammen gets that quick inning he and the nats were hoping for. top of the 5th coming up. ryan zimmerman, 1-for-2 tonight. it will be zimmerman with his great grandmotherwatching followed by that old guy dunn and the young guy dukes. try chili's new fire-grilled quesadillas, starting at $6.99. flame-grilled tortillas layered with chicken, bacon, cheese, and ranch. crispy on the outside, melted perfection on the inside. new fire-grilled quesadillas. only at chili's. . >> bob: nationals baseball brought to you by southwest airline. book your next trip on southwest. brought to you by ge, imagination at work. st. petersburg is a beautiful town. not exactly a beautiful baseball park but a useful one with the roof and, no, i would not want to be outside in florida tonight. it was a sizzler today. 85th of the game by matt garza and he misses against ryan zimmerman. you see this from outside and you can't really tell but the roof slants. how far is it going? far enough to be run down by b. j. upton. i guess they figure that nobody can hit the roof in

elijah dukes is putting on a power display today. >> rob: how do you like me now? looks like a hanging curveball. it is. 85 miles per hour north on the pitch track. it's a double off the wall. second one of the day. >> bob: the ball got out there so quickly. adam dunn who could see off the bat it wasn't going to be caught couldn't get beyond 3rd

. >> rob: after he got on, nick with a double, elijah dukes with a double. right now, another big two- spot. that was a great job by the nationals coming right back and saying, no, no, no, you are not having that momentum. we are taking it away back. >> bob: guzman could be bunting. it is the bottom of the 8th and you are the home team. i'm not sure that would take the bat out of nick johnson's hand. against a left handed pitcher, you would have ryan zimmerman next but they to have a right handed right hander warming -- a right hander warming up. >> bob: sean kemp was pretty impressive here last night, getting a couple of key outs in the 7th inning. mike macdougal, the nats' closer up. >> rob: in case we get the lead. >> bob: maybe pitching the 9th either way. >> there he is, mr. onbase. bunt. that will move the runner. well done by cristian guzman, his third of the year. so manny gave him a pitch or two to see if he could drive the ball somewhere. then when the count got to 1-1, a perfect sac suffice. >> rob: looks like a decould i with that big swing. they

we got elijah dukes from the rays. we picked up a lot of talent. then you sprinkle in veterans. he gets people to believe in his style of baseball. the bottom line is once everybody gets on the same page. we talked about this whether the offense playing well or now the pitching, you've got to get everybody on the same page everyday as often as possible. >> johnny: zimmermann with a full count. takes ball four. if you take a look at the last pick, last overall picks -- >> upton, brother bj upton, price. >> johnny: brian fullington. beck am. >> rob: he held out for a year. who knows the that year he took off hurt his development of becoming a super star. >> johnny: adam dunn with a chance to get guzman home from 3 3rd. harang has lost the strike zone. ball one. a lot of talk too about strasburg and how much long term negotiating will go on the client and the guy that represents him. i'm assuming he wants to play as much as the young guy that signed today does. >> rob: i think aaron crow was in the same position last year. it's not so much the ages i worry about. it's the way the g

elijah dukes when he puts it all together is going to be fantastic. the defense has gotten better there. i think it's too early to start worrying about what you're trading for when you don't know what you have. if you don't sign this strassburg kid or you do, then you know moving forward you have some of the best young pitchers that money can buy. i would trade for a great young guy just like the marlins did with hanley ramirez. you gave up josh beckett, you gave up a mike lowell. if you look out there on the field who the best player is, it's a double-a kid named hanley ramirez that the bosm said we'll give up this talent for some pitching and a third baseman that nobody really wanted. he should be a great minor league prospect, that you can get and steal and be like a matt wieters or somebody like that, but possibly in the field. >> okay, have a pleasant evening. we'll see you guys tomorrow night. >> all right, guys. >> look forward to stammen tomorrow. >> thank you. as you look at this ball club now, what area would you go after to maybe solidify i

dukes, willie harris center, hernandez in second base, ross detwiler. they have the .340 average in wins. he is 24 years old and has tremendous poison the mound for such a young guy. >> rob: yes he does and that's one of the things with bulk heads, and it is much a lot like the nationals, the young kid had to develop quickly. >> johnny: johnny questionnaire some winning six, he went 7 innings and more in his previous eight starts.  certainly doesn't pitch  is 21. >> rob: no he does not. and bulkhead, when he pitches he pitches like an older gentlemen. >> johnny: the first pitch is in there for a strike. johnny get oh in for a strike from the dominican republican. 5'10", 200 pounds. one two lost one this year, e.r.a. of 4.23. a strike, 0-2, 1-2. cristian tip in the nats lead with the .328 average had a big night against the mets on friday with a double. and the 1-2. high drive to center, base hit. 

elijah duke at 1st base, nobody out. cincinnati has a 2-0 lead. we'll take you right back now to espn news. >> right now on "espnews" big poppy and the red sox have their eyes on the prize, unbeaten, 6-0, so far against the yankees, game seven tonight. the phillies have been struggling as of late. cole hamels takes on the mets going for his fifth win in a row. an emotional phil mickelson prepares to rejoin the pga tour as he and his family prepare to face their toughest test yet. brad childress speaks at least about the brett favre situation. he now says there was never a deadline. >> good evening, welcome to "espnews" where we keep you current with the latest breaking news, scores, highlights, everything, all in hd. along with mark morgan, i'm michelle lafontaine. mark, is it over? red sox-yankees? >> not yet. it almost is. game two of a three-game set between the yankees and red sox, tied for the lead in the a.l. east, the yankees 0 for the season against their arch rivals. let's set the scene. posada at the plate, runner on second, top nine, pa

they elijah dukes comes to the plate and he smokes the ball out there which was almost caught but, again, the guy got the glove on it, could not hang on to it. that's a two-base hit. and elijah was thrown out at third base. >> johnny: there is no question that willie harris has the hottest bat on the team but he has made some great dave plays. he had one tonight and then one against a-rod in yankee stadium. chavez hits one, harris goes after it: then against alex rodriguez, look at this. he slide on his stomach, armed stretched out like superman. then vernon wells last night, incredible catch. gets the applause from joel hanrahan. you do it every night, they're going to start expecting it every night. >> johnny: that's right. he had a great line. was last night's catch the greatest catch you ever made? he said not even close. he made so many of them. we'll take a break, phil and i will be back in just a moment to continue and we'll talk to mike macdougal who came in and go a great job. it has a very nice spice note. it has a little lemon zest and a historic brewing spice called grains of