. >> bob: nick johnson has it. a pitch on 0-2 that was way too good but nick johnson helps out his young pitcher. >> rob: well, nick johnson has an amazing glove at first base. this is just a reaction play. not the most amazing vertical leap i have ever seen but effective. we love nick. >> bob: here is adam lind it would out, bases empty. breaking ball, flyball. centerfield, willie harris. and that quickly, the top of the 6th is over. >> bob: you can make a lot of money pitch for a long time giving up solo homeruns. 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. . >> debbi: we move to the bottom of the 6th inning. manny acta admitted that he was a little more fiery when he was in the minor league. >> i can't believe why people want to yell at somebody for having self-control. i have my own beliefs and my beliefs are that pati

that ball gets away the nick johnson never saw it. he just fell right out of the glove of raul chavez. he had the catcher and the umpire in his line of sight. >> bob: that ball. >> rob: that ball gets out of the sight. did you see barajas -- or not barajas but chavez much he was looking at the runner. >> bob: thighs try at the breaking ball. >> rob: i think nick was shaded by dunn and the catcher and didn't know where the ball was. >> bob: yes. screened. >> rob: i'm thinking of the hockey term. >> bob: like screening the goaly. >> rob: screening the goaly. >> reporter: keeping him in first base kept rolen in the milled will. >> reporter: what are you doing? >> rob: come on, nick. >> bob: one on, one out. scoreless game, bottom of the 4th. these teams have really played a low-scoring series and that's an offspeed breaking ball. he took a little bit more off. his previous one was about 86. that was 82. and two strikeouts in a row. >> rob: here is brett cecil on the delivery. he has some kind of offspeed, fastball, change-up and our expo

nick johnson takes it low and inside. >> rob: how do you not bite on that, nick? >> bob: well, that's how you walk. >> rob: man. >> bob: 40 times this year. look at the walks on a 3-2 count. that's amazing 20 of them. half of his walks a pitch up and away. nick spoils it as he should. just went with it. ryan zimmerman has to be hungry for another chance. he's 0-4 tonight. he's actually hit right-handers better this year. the winning run is on base. a lot of the bottom of the ninths for relievers fall apart when there's a leadoff walk. i'm not saying this is going to happen but over the years the last couple of years, ryan zimmerman has been a great bunter. if he bunts, he takes the bat out of done dunn's hands and the pitcher -- adam dunn's hands and the pitcher's due up next. zimmerman has to be hacking here unless he can guarantee manny acta he can bunt for a base hit. short lead by nick at first. that's up and in. >> rob: you don't need to bunt if he's going to walk you. >> bob: this is one of those situations where if somebody first-pitch swings, you would jus

nick johnson has 73 hits this year. with nearly 100 games left, he's on a wonderful pace. 1-1.  >> bob: that's a brea really good play by rod barajas. that was filthy for the catcher to deal with right there. >> rob: barajas was part of the championship team with arizona in 2001. caught curt schilling. caught randy johnson. very good defensive catcher. >> bob: nick johnson deep to center. how far is this one going? off the wall! guzman to third. it will be second and third, nobody out. >> rob: all right. >> bob: carom played perfectly by vernon wells and nick johnson jabs one 400 plus. it will be second and third with the big guns coming up. nick johnson's 3-3. >> rob: you watch how smooth this swing is right here and he hits the barrel of the bat perfectly, but he doesn't try to overswing and hate home run. he just tries to hit line drives and that ball jumps off his bat 400 feet from home plate. no reason to try to score with no outs. second and third in the mid -- and in -- a

nick johnson singled with one out. then scampered to third on the base hit by dunn. gonzalez running for adam. an extra-base hit could tie the game. willingham foul tips it. and it's come down to the final strike. >> rob: this kid's got a great arm. 96-mile an hour fastball. this league combined hitting only .216 against nunez. >> bob: willingham getting time from bill welke. and willingham out to deep center field, but it's a big ballpark and the game is over. two hours and 30 minutes, a great pitching battle until the end. and the marlins beat the nationals again, this time it's 4-2. >>> you talk about one ball club having the nationals numbers. that's the florida marlins. >> what are they, 22 wins and 3 losses. >> eight straight now in miami. >> you can't explain that stuff. we're in the ballgame. we pitched well. all of a -- olsen, hat off to him. >> we will try to explain it as best we can when we come back. >> bob: johnny and ray always explain it to us. we wish we could come up with something of why the marlins continue to master the nats. for rob dibble and d

then the nick johnson situation. he gets over there, hustling, look, one time, finds the warning track, backs up and just misses the ball right off the heel of his glove. i know it's very tough to see in the metrodome which was the toughest part for me to see the ball n i would lose the ball there on a ball going up. you can't take your eye off the ball. you have to look up and keep your eye on the ball the whole way. when he looked down to find that fence and looked back up, he could not find that baseball. i did that in the metrodome once and never happened again because you can't find it all those rafters and that steel. it just blends in with the color of the baseball into that's a wild finish at tropicana. 4-3 tampa bay. kapler's homerun in the 8th inning after nick johnson overran a pop foul giving him one more shot. you think this game was wild? we'll show you highlights of a wild game at yankee stadium against the mets. c playing thr) - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - totally on. jimmy, it's o

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. then he comes up the next time and lays down a bunt. >> bob: 0-2 to gross.  >> bob: having to soak up inning-plus work here for colome. he's given up two runs on three hits. and that ball out to left center. willie harris is tracking it. waved off elijah. the rays go in order, bottom of the 7th.  >> bob: beautiful evening in st. petersburg, florida, especially for the rays fans. they lead it 8-2 as we go to the 8th. you can follow the

nick johnson 1-for-3 tonight. the ripken all stars, the valley league all stars, collegiate ball players, the mid-atlantic classic on july 15th, furnish tour stadium, regency furnish tour stadium in wall cover. homerun derby and for ticket information, (410)588-9900. >> rob: i was going to say about cristian guzman, he cannot be hitting the ball in the air like that. he does not have the kind of power to put it out of the stadium. he has to work on getting the ball down on the ground and get on base for nick. they were eating up garza first time through the night. this guy came in with a 5 earned run average. >> bob: nick johnson hits it hard the other way. longoria to his left with a fine play, two outs. nearing the 10 0-0 hour here on the gulf coast in florida. tropicana field, capacity 44,000. the rays are averaging 22,000. pitch change cominging up. bases empty, two outs. brian zimmerman on the way against wheeler. ♪

nick johnson has his 18th multihit game of the year. nick is 4-11 with a walk this weekend. >> rob: before the game, they do the cow bell etiquette. they have a whole presentation. >> bob: how do you have time to know all this stuff? >> rob: i don't know. i know a lot about a little. >> bob: zimmermann a strike out and fly ball today. 2-10 with a homen, two rbis in the series. that's a big time rip. >> bob: 1-2 to ryan. good base running play. safe to 2nd is johnson. he had a good lead. he was off soon as the ball hit the ground. >> rob: little tip, see ball come off navarro, blocks ofin on@bt himsf. ck keas of  gegeoff f with the pitch, get a extra step, get to 2nd base. you don't have to have great speed to be a great base runner. >> bob: that's a stolen base that will be ruled a wild pitch. nobody out. and zimmermann rock this is one to center. ball slicing away from b.j. upton. upton didn't run the greatest route to that ball. his speed enabled him to catch up. >> rob: i don't think he thought the ball was hit as hard as it

nick johnson with a pick. this is a very good 6-3.   >> bob: cristian guzm his best play of the year on a hot shot to the hole. get your family fun pack tickets. you might see a play like that sundayment for autopsy all sunday games, $14 an upper right field terrace. either side of the ballpark. with each ticket, a hot dog,nonalcohol alcoholic drink and chips. minimum of two tickets per purchase. bring the family out. kids run the bases afterwards. 888-632-nats or you can stop by the box office at the ballpark out there in left field. there is parking available on the street during nonnationals game days out there, so you can park for a few moments, run in, get your tickets. maybe make your stop at the team store. top of the third and nick johnson leads off. nick bounced to hanley ramirez at short first time. rolled over that one and nick johnson is 1-23. we are going to have a wednesday matinee for you tomorrow. we'll be on the air at noon. first pitch 12:10. josh johnson and jordan zimmerma

nick johnson holding the runner. that's a nice breaking ball. >> rob: it is. >> bob: it's about the speed of a change-up, 84. >> rob: he threw a 93 running fastball that was off the charts. now he comes back with an 83 mile-per-hour change-up. he turned that over like a screw ball. no telling what julian tavarez has learned over 17 years in the big leagues. >> bob: they used to get all over him about the debris that accumulated on the bill of his cap. he got thrown out of a game one time. that's inside and strike 2. >> rob: he accumulated a lot of knowledge over the years, why not a lot of goo. >> bob: look at that. good location. that will now allow the runner to mu. at first is adam lind. on deck, raul chavez, the catcher. breaking ball, low and away, two on, two out. now a base hit could put toronto on top. chavez, 1-for-4, opposite field base hit. and the play of the game by willie harris with millar aboard leading off the 5th, the reason we're still here. so lind at second after the walk issued by colome. and mi

into center field. >> bob: can nick johnson get on base one more time? he's walked twice, three hits tonight. each bullpen has one pitcher remaining. there's his left-hander b.j. ryan who has a 5 5.71 e.r.a. and nationals remaining pitcher is their closer mike macdougal who closed and put away those two games in new york. guzman doesn't run much at this stage of his career. 1-4 in stolen bases this year. 118 steals, but very few in recent years. bottom 11, 1-1. the count, 1-1 the score. and number 11 on deck. i'd love to see a two somewhere, but not strike two. guzman at first. one out. a lot of hitting room right side. rolen way off the line left side. nick johnson came into this game ninth in the national league with an on-base percentage of 4.12 -- .412. he's added five times to base on that. target in. nick just got enough it have and it got pass the catcher and took a chunk out of brian gorman. >> rob: well, it's dangerous being a catcher and/or an umpire. you see the ball goes right back. here is what it sounded like. looked like it caught him up a

nick johnson has now been on base 10 consecutive games. toronto is the second best defensive team in the american league. 27 herrors. wins with 24. marco scutaro and aaron hill very good up the middle. vernon wells made a spectacular diving play in philadelphia yesterday. alex rios and adam lind on the flanks in the outfield. scott rolen, very good as we mentioned. lyle overbay and rod barajas has always been a solid, major league catcher. >> rob: not a lot of original blue jays on this team. >> bob: right. up and away to ryan zimmerman who is an original nat. >> rob: richardi is a very busy manager. >> bob: he's a wheeler dealer. >> rob: he is. >> bob: one on, one out. zimmerman at .310. 2-0. interesting about ryan. this year he's hitting .335 against right-handed pitchers. so, you figure he must murder lefties. you don't see lefties that often. then, you're facing guys like this who is so -- who are so hedeceptive. rite ryan's batting average against lefties considerably lower than that .335. >> rob: especially against a good changeup le

here is nick johnson. walked his first time.  >> bob: right now, averaging 15 pitches per inning. jordan zimmermann is averaging 20. that didn't feel too good. nick got his foot with that one. the count is 0-2. >> rob: we talked about that with craig stammen that kind of overworking a little witt. -- a little bit. here is the foul ball on the x- mo right off the foot. right off the top. that's going to leave a mark. our x-mo camera, 500 frames per second to give you that wonderful shot of he hit the ball off his big toe. >> bob: that's pretty impressive when your name is embroidered on your shoes. nick is a stylish guy and he has a base hit. he's on for the second consecutive time. 10 games in a row and 18-20 last now, nick johnson has visited with marquis grissom over there at first base. >> rob: you scenic stay on this ball, head down, boom. didn't try to do too much. you hit down on the ball and make a lot more contact and hit drive lines -- line drives around

nick johnson's souvenir day. that got inside on him a little bit. he was checking checking the trademark area on his bat. gallon nick is doing a great job for his pitch total. already up to 15. >> bob: that's going to be in right field. great at bat for johnson. finally getting something he could pull with tomorrow. they've scored in both first innings of this series with zimmermann going deep last night. >> rob: i like the way ryan walks in, greats greats the catcher and umpire. >> bob: he's a kid that really enjoys playing the game. he plays with a lot of flair and joy. it's good to see somebody that appears to be elated to be out there. he takes a big time rip and fouls it away. he took a big time rip last night. >> rob: don in there. right out near the restaurant. they have a better's eye restaurant behind the tinted windows. for a moment, somebody thought there would be a fly ball in their soup. [cheering and applause] >> bob: there it is. dining in air condition comfort 400 something feet away. can you eat for three hours? >> rob: can i? i thi

nick johnson is now in the top 7 in the league in walks with 42. he has only struck out three more times than that. zimmerman is next. the nats may be building a 1st inning rally here. we'll see if manny does something with the runner guzman on a 3-2 to nick. he is holding and it's ball 4. 2 on, nobody out. pnc bank scouting record on mr. cecil. a big time wrapper, wraps that arm around his back and shows the ball to the hitters. big t back in 2006, he more than doubled the career save record up at the university of maryland and copy cat, he said he formulated his delivery off of that of one andy pettite of the new york yankees. so he copied most of it, except that wrapping because andy pettite does not wrap that much behind his back but very similar as you might notice. >> bob: big spot early for ryan zimmerman, fifth in the league with 81 hits. long ballgame last night. zimmerman 0-for-5 with a walk. but his walk in the 11th inning did set up adam dunn's walkoff hit. good speed out there, guzman at second, nick johnson behind him. they play zimme

nick johnson has been consistent all year. he's been around here a long time. >> a great season, and bob, when a guy's hiting in the two hole and setting up three, four, five guys, he's doing a great job. what we really need is ryan zimmerman. without him right before dunn makes things very difficult and he kind of hurt this club big time early in the ball game, first and second, no outs. not moving those guys over to second and third. things kind of went into a tailspin for the team after that. ryan zimmerman, i think he needs a day off tomorrow very badly, and that will refresh him. then you've got the red sox coming in. so as they say in soccer, nick johnson, the man of the match today. he was really great all weekend long. >> when you look at what's gone on, basically week after week, nationals pitchers two outs, struggle getting the third out. they get two strikes on the guy and struggle to get the third strike or at least get the guy out. i mean, it seems like it's over and over again. >> you're dead right with that one.

it's two balls and no strikes to nick johnson. nick bounced into a double play in the first. flied out to willie tavares and then walked in the sixth. >> rob: he was hurt the whole year with the mariners in '07 and they let him go in october. >> johnny: johnson takes a called third strike on the outside part of the plate.   ryan zimmerman heads to  plate now. and, in the past, some pretty good selections here, rob, of buys that the nationals drafted leading with detwiler just two years ago, jordan zimmermann two years ago, ryan was first in '05, lannan, stammen and bergmann also draft picks by this ball game club. >> rob: now zimmerman, jordan zimmermann was the compensation pick for soriano, so that was well-done there. detwiler sixth pick overall in '07. always nice when you draft guys high and they do well. i talked to former orioles general manager ... and he said that very high draft picks pretty much 50:50, 52% make it. so it's not an exact science, it's very difficult to project young men, a lot of them high school kids, to the

nick johnson scores. adam dunn rumble around third. pat listach will send him and the nationals have a big crooked number here in the top of the 1st, the number 3. 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.

nick johnson, high chopper right side. ben sow -- ben zobrist two outs. ray knight and johnny holliday coming up for nats extra. a lot of groundouts today. the nats offense very strong. alberto two of the hits. martis and sea bath i can't --- . >> bob: this is the second run issued by the rays today. it's time for adam dunn to jump up and hurt tampa bay. >> rob: not a good day for santana. 82 pitches in 3 innings. aj burnett on the other side 6 inning, 4 hit, 8 punch outs. >> bob: evidently at yankees stadium you need to make them swing and miss. >> bob: he's adam dunn. this could be the defining play of the day for the nationals. bullpen about to take over. fastball for a strike. not the kind of first pitch you usually see from a lefty. the pitch selection or the location. >> rob: on the pitch track here, fastball that cuts back over the plate. the catcher had to set up outside. >> bob: nearly threw it away. navarro saves a run. this is supposed to be a cutter. >> rob: he tries to aim it and throws it in the dirt, navarro. probably instead of block it wi

so nick johnson has been well over .300 since the first week of the season. that's how consistent he's been. he got jammed enough on that one. it will stay in the park for carroll. and ricky nolasco gets a 1-2-3 in the third. @@pp÷x fios guy! where ya headed? ah, just installed fios in the whole building. now everyone has the fastest upload speeds. and we're giving them a mini netbook. well, i'm sticking with cable. so's ted. (voice) no i'm not! he's just goofing. (voice) no i'm not! (sighing) ted has betrayed me. (announcer) switch to verizon fios tv, phone and internet today and get an ultra-sleek compaq mini netbook. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities >> bob: come on, buddy, cheer up, it's 2-0 nationals. they've outhit the marlins 3-1. this is an interesting number right here, rob. starts as they relate to wins and with shairon martis gone now, john lannan has just about the best ratio. >> rob: and four of those five wins have come in the last month, in june. so john lannan is definitely -- has definitely taken over the number one slo

nick johnson not going to get him. if nick makes a good throw -- what is it about emilio bonifacio the nats cannot stop this guy? everybody else can. >> rob: well, first of all, you have a very fast hanley ramirez running. he should have just ate that ball. he tries to make a super throw. throws it away. nick johnson gets over to the ball, throws it. bonifacio scores easily. the bottom line is you don't want a big inning here in the first inning and there goes your errorless streak. >> bob: yep, another throwing error on ryan zimmerman. >> rob: bottomline is you've got to make good choice. that isn't a god choice of you just teeth right there. there goes ramirez. >> bob: looks like they have not given ramirez a hit on the batted ball. >> rob: he gets a walking lead. i mean, stammen never looked over there. as soon as stammen looked towards home plate, he took off. >> don: on the -- >> bob: on the previous play, if they don't give ramirez a hit, they have to give zimmerman two errors for the errant throw and -- i guess

this will be interesting with zimmerman on deck, does manny acta have confidence in nick johnson to make contact and start guzman on a 3-2 pitch? runner goes. ball four! that's a side door breaking ball that just stayed outside. two on, one out. ryan zimmerman, who is 0-5, gets another chance nick johnson on base for the sixth time tonight. >> bob: a huge spot for zimmerman. struck out with the bases loaded looking. strung struck out one on, one out swinging. chance to make up for those two bad ab's and get an extra inning win for the nats. winning run is at second base. backup breaking ball hangs up and in. >> rob: right man in the right place. >> bob: blue jays have good arms in the outfield all around. slider, 2-0. ryan zimmerman does some dwessing -- gegz up there now and then f he's ever going to get two men on, one out, this will be it. fastball, but he missed. 3-0. adam dunn is next. he misses again. bases loaded with one out and one of the most vektive -- selective, good batting eye hitters in the game coming in in adam dunn. now, they're waving the outfielders in. their defensiv

nick johnson will step in as a pinch-hitter. he will face the offerings of jared burton coming in out of the arizona bullpen. nick is overdue. runners at first and second. >> rob: see some tape going up his neck and his shoulder. you watch baseball, you see a lot of shoulders that are taped up like that. might have a shoulder ailment going on with that left shoulder. >> johnny: over the last 10 games, a little bump in the road for nick. 8-38. 0-12 slide right now he is in. but still hitting .313 with 5 homers and 30 driven in. at 2nd base, he's got a potential 31st. low and ball one. activity in the nationals bullpen. we saw tavarez loosening up. as you look at willingham at second and nieves over at first. and there once again is the veteran right-hander. breaking ball down low inside. it is 2-2. >> rob: you see, they don't want to let nick get his arms extended and hit it to left field. they are playing him to pull. >> johnny: runners in scoring position for cincinnati, 2-7. the nationals 0-6. shot down the right field line, a

.: this is a terrific play by nick johnson. >> rob: but don't run him towards home. run him the other way. >> jim p.: you usually don't want to have any more than two throws in a run down. >> rob: that is great job by nick. comes right up firing, get rid of the ball, throws it over to zimmerman. one throw, tags him out. salazar moves up to third. that's good base running on his part. >> jim h.: here's robert andino, the number nine batter. lannan has a chance to get out of this very inexpensively after second and third and nobody out. here's a tapper out in front of the plate. nieves pounces on it and fires to fires. lannan gets out of it. ú we've got a ton of stuff we've gotta pay for. and a few things we want to pay for. on top of it all, we're still trying to put away some money for the future. with the wish list, we can save up for anything we want. and still have enough to cover the day-t0-day. plus, the savings engine helps our money grow. and that's something we need and want. introducing the virtual wallet from pnc, a high definition, online view of

actually he is in because the orioles are 11-1. >> rob: this is why nick johnson has been hitting so well all year. he get as national and watch him crush this. boom. perfect defense. >> jim: yeah, the atom boll ball. the only thing better is the atom ball with the guys running. >> jim: here is alberto gonzalez. manny acta allowing zimmerman to have a couple of innings off on the hot night. >> jim: i played with cal ripken jr. -- sr., and he said nothing like the atom ball. i'm 18 years old going what is he talking about? is he getting into physics? molecular science. the atom ball? there you go. >> rob: that was at his foot. >> jim: 0-2 the count. albers last year left the game at wrigley field interleague game, and that was when it was diagnosed that his shoulder had the issues, and he elected to go the rehab route. last spring troy patton, the pitcher of the orioles, got in the me gel tejada trade. he elected to have the surgery. a base hit up the middle by gonzales. he rehabbed all of last year and now he's in triple a they're bringing him back slowly. it is interesting how two g

. >> bob: here is nick johnson playing at first base, another of the veterans on this team. the nationals while trying to go young as they rebuild, they have veterans like guze nan and nick johnson at the top. there's really a balance you have to try to figure out. if you go too young, too quickly, the young players might get overmatched. >> rob: absolutely. nick johnson has done well in the two hole. he is about .36 of off of left- hander this is year. he has just been fantastic. last night he caught a curve ball from john smoltz in the left shin. he had a huge egg on his shin and had to come out of the egg. >> bob: bounced towards short. andino waits on the hop and two men down. >> rob: ryan zimmerman comes up, last night he was unbelieve well the glove. he has been doing it all year. he had a 30-game hitting streak during the season so far, and he is just one of the mainstays of this washington nationals team. he pretty much is the face of the franchise, and there you see him at camden yards, guys. .306. he kind of likes interleague play. >> jim: i don't know too many hit

it's another multi-hit game for nick johnson. nick johnson is now seven for 10 with five walks in this series. >> i've got a nickname for nick, nick the machine johnson. the machine gets another knock. >> all right. now it's ryan zimmerman's turn. baseball's success can come like bolts of lightning out of no where, and that's what ryan needs here. zero for 13 in this series and zero for his last 15. we'd love nothing better than to see a sharply hit ball go right to johnson in right field. outside. >> moving up on the plate a little bit. i know he's moved up in the box. this guy throwing breaking balls in front of the plate all day to him. maybe he'll smoke one right back up the box. >> okay over there? >> yeah, little frog in my throat. >> have to do -- hate to do the maneuver on father's day. >> it's eight runs in the fourth for st. louis. we're still a week and a half away from the true halfway point of the season. that's why the nats would like to pile up a whole bunch of wins between now and then and shut off all the emails.

ryan zimmerman, who is 0-5, gets another chance nick johnson on base for the sixth time tonight. >> bob: a huge spot for zimmerman. struck out with the bases loaded looking. strung struck out one on, one out swinging. chance to make up for those two bad ab's and get an extra inning win for the nats. winning run is at second base. backup breaking ball hangs up and in. >> rob: right man in the right

but nick johnson and he have become better friends than either had anticipated. ryan zimmerman, after he tied the franchise record, a rough weekend, zero for 10. they've been getting ahead and then tricking him. he has had a hard time identifying the breaking ball and pulling the trigger. >> five walks in four innings, red sox won that ball game 8-2. that was an off-speed pitch and chopped into the ground. >> he needs to be patient. he needs something to get it to the right side of the infield and try to get it through the infield to move the runners up, but it has to be a conscious effort on his part not to

markakis and you're -- nick johnson, you're already trailing by a run, with one swing it can really change your numbers for the afternoon. >> bob: that ball a little bit high, jim joyce is not giving anywhere near a high strike today. >> rob: he's been missing with that curveball up all day. i don't think he was going to give it to him right there. >> jim p.: this is your hanger. >> rob: that was outside the

hernandez is over there at second now, nick johnson back at first base, guzman at short. a lot of speed out there. zimmerman at third base over there. getting the start today, john lannan, from new york. >> jim h.: born on long island. went to college at ciena which is up near albany. >> rob: had a chance to talk to his high school baseball coach when he was up in new york. he's a leader, he's got a big heart. i love watching this kid pitch. doesn't have the best stuff, but he's got the best approach. >> jim p.: but 88 to 93, that should get a lot of guys out if you can command your stuff. we all know he's got a good change-up. >> jim h.: looking at his numbers from last year, he went 9 and 15 and an e.r.a. of 3.91 and not seeing him all the time, the first wonder is how the heck can you go 9 and 15 with that impressive an e.r.a. markakis lifts it to left field. it hung up there just long enough for him and two men down. so markakis is retired and two away. he's not out of it yet, because here comes a red-hot hitter aubrey huff. >> jim p.: of course last year nobody in th

young pitcher trying to put him away, nick johnson out ahead of that one. >> jim p.: and i look at nick johnson, i've seen him when he came up with the yankees. had great on-base percentage. he's very much like nick markakis, where if you look at his pattern of hits, all over. left, center, he's got more -- >> bob: sprays the field. >> jim p.: a lot of hits to center and left for nick. to me, that makes it just hardatory pitch to him. because if you make a good pitch down and away, which is a good pitch to a pull hitter because they roll over and they try to pull it. to him it may be a ball that finds a gap or a hole in the left center or left field part of the ballpark. >> rob: the thing we've found with nick, ryan zimmerman and adam dunn is sometimes they take too many pitches. they're so disciplined that in situations where you'd kind of like your guys swinging, they're walking. sometimes it's not that bad to walk your three, four, five guys. >> jim p.: if you're david hernandez, again, this is your third major league start, if you pitch around nick markakis and you're -- nick johnso

. >> bob: 2-0 count and a oncer over nick johnson. roberts scores. jones scampering home. it's 9-1, baltimore. and those last four runs charged to joel hanrahan who already had a 6.68 e.r.a. >> rob: let's take the at-bat here to huff. he throws him a big breaking ball outside. he is going to come back with a hard fastball away. and he throws him a hard fastball down and in and he just feeds it off the dirt right over nick johnson's head. >> jim: the scoreboard dictates you play in, otherwise that is at least one out. >> jim: but that is a big strong man and he crushed that ball right in important of home plate all the way over nick johnson's head. >> jim: on our newer, faster infield. it make as difference, pes levelly when you play the infield in. >> bob: with this offense, make that thing into a parking lot. >> rob: here is the thing, it is the same way for both teams. >> jim: it is st. lower e.r.a. here at home versus the road, the batting average up, the runs scored, up. the record, up. 21-17 coming in versus 11-23 on the road for the orioles. >> bob: nolan reimold sta

early on the high chopper got over nick johnson's head on friday. that was part of that eight run sixth inning. but huff, well, not that much taller, but the ball just didn't bounce as high. then he turns a nice double play. you don't see that play too often from a right-handed fielding first baseman. you could see him. very agiley touched the bag, then made the throw. >> jim h.: here's nick johnson who is 0 for 4 batting in the number three spot today. takes ball one. there's the good splitter. >> rob: you should shove one of the pitches. you need that as a start, but you don't need three pitches as a reliever. so try to master two, throw them for strikes, maybe change speeds with the splitter. that will be like that off speed curveball he threw in there for strike one. >> jim p.: the story of course after tommy john, they actually tried to audition him as a starting pitcher which didn't work very well, and he went to the bullpen about the middle of spring training. he made the ball club and he's been one of their more consistent, there's obviously

it's up to nick johnson to keep things going and keep the nationals' hope's live. down by 2 in the 12th. >> rob: nick johnson would be bringing back in he gets it here here. >> johnny: out field playing that straight away. right back at you later on today beginning at 4:30 the give away game in the series. >> johnny: 3-0 to johnson. got to get a man on. >> rob: got the heart of the order coming up. got to get on. >> rob: weathers came up from the blue jays in the 88 draft. 3-1. nobody on. ryan zimmermann waiting on deck  he's . the count even at 1-1. racked up they're 34th win of the season. the nationals 9-21. overall 15-41. the ball game is over at 12:52 a.m. if reds have won it 4-2. the final score the cincinnati reds beat washington 4-2. joining us again coming upped to on masn 2. it's been a presentation of masn. stay tuned for nats extra post game coming upright now.  there's a look at nationals  park with the look at delay. the final 4-2. nats extra post game show on masn is brought to you by verizon fios. the f

out of play, nick johnson. not a whole lot doing for the nationals, one, two, three hitters tonight, but they're right thereupon with the best in baseball with jeter and company. and the orioles with roberts, jones and markakis. >> rob: and the dodgers. they have been phenomenal this year even without manny ramirez who is less than a week away from coming back. >> bob: two of the five team ifs last place, interesting. >> rob: maybe the one, two, three hitters shouldn't be so good. they should be the four, five, six. >> bob: make, them the one, three, five and put somebody between them. >> jim: they give numbers for everything now. of course when the mets came in, david wright, as he still is, was hitting the highest average in the national league. of course everybody was saying that they should move him from -- that they should move him from fifth to third or fourth, whatever, because if you start looking at the total of at-bats you get in a year, it is something like 780 to 730 depending upon where you hit in

so now instead of zimmerman, it's nick johnson. and nick is on a bit of a strange little run here. similar to what zimmerman went through a week ago. nick suddenly is 0 for 17 in his last five games. the on-base average is .410, 8th best in the league. and certainly padded up after he really got whacked in that left leg. nick's kind of a walking bruise right now. he's got a couple of areas that are bothering him. >> rob: come on, that old woman kicks you harder than that. the one off the shin is a lot more painful sometimes when it happens, and then that bruise is going to stick there for a long time. but off the top of the foot, there's no padding in your shoe on the top of the foot. that's going to be painful. >> bob: and the swelling went down in the ankle, or the shin. that doesn't mean it stopped hurting. ricky nolasco on the year, 4-6 with a 6.42 e.r.a., but he gets good run support whenever he pitches. a 4.14 e.r.a., but in 10 games over the years, he's 6-1. the nats have hit against him okay in the past, they just haven't been able to stop the marlins. this will be a high d

nick johnson striking out. the tampa bay rays in two hours 47 minutes beat the nationals 5- 4 and sweep the three game series. the nats are 6-3 on the road. more up next. where is that dollar? i got it out to show you... uhh... was it rather old and wrinkly? yeah, you saw it? umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. >>> hi everybody. johnny holliday and ray coming up on nats extra next. >> we had one base hit. after the 5th inning lead off single to johnson, no offense plays. >> we'll look ahead to the yankees series. let's go back to tampa. >> bob: thank you johnny holliday. rays win it 5-4. nats are 16- 45. let's have a look at our drive of the game. dukes drove twice to. >> rob: he took a lot of heat from the crowd last night. he came back strong. this helped the nationals off early in the ballgame. >> bob: rays win it 5-4 with bob carpenter, rob dibble, it's on to new york. tuesday night on masn hd. city tuned for the latest news on the nats. stay tu

nick johnson, base hit first time. stranded there when zimmermann and dunn struck out in the top of the 1st. >> rob: nick was getting so many lits the first two months of the season. now they're starting to pitch him in. first at bat, he pulled to the right side for a single. >> bob: former yankees, nick will be the subject of a lot of attention when we get to the bronx tuesday. [cheering and applause] got jammed. over to zobrist. two outs. despite the ball being in on his trademark, nick got pretty good wood on it. >> rob: got good wood on it, little bit of damage. just enough slow down for zobrist to do a nice play on the turf. >> bob: evidently he stepped on a dime out there. it's loose, but it's sticky loose. there's like this black rubber next to the green rubber. >> rob: strange infield. >> bob: somebody developed that with the goal of making it play as real as possible compared to natural grass. it's definitely not as fast as the old astroturf which was basically laid on top of concrete. this will be easy for up

nick is johnson gets jammed and an easily flyball to right for gabe gross. the nats have had a bunch of base runners already, five hits and lead it 3-0, middle of the 2nd. at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free". times may be tough today, but the things we all look forward to haven't changed. like owning a home. watching our children grow. and retiring with confidence. so whatever you're looking forward to, m&t bank is here to help you get there. m&t bank. understanding what's important. . >> bob: nats lead 3-0 and a difference a year can make. they are not out of the race by any means but they are in 4th, six games behind the red sox. and, th

nearly throw it is away but nick johnson makes the play. nick johnson saved a disaster right there. i mean, you are looking at maybe a run throwing if that ball goes down the line. >> rob: there is a look right there. the base runner is going on contact. you see zim looking at the runner and then nick. nick, with his foot on the bag at the end there. >> bob: that will bring up crawford. >> rob: if that. >> bob: if that ball gets away from johnson, bringing yak might score. >> rob: and a runner out third. >> bob: at the barrier and he must have lost the ball in the lights or something. he flinched right at the end. never played in this ballpark before. and there are lights all up and down the roof here. watch him flinch. >> rob: right here at the end, loses the ball. >> bob: never saw it. >> rob: never saw it. don't want to take one in the face here. >> bob: sorry, folks, but this is a bad baseball park. the lights are too low and too close compared to most stadiums. that gets crawford in the hole, 0-2. we hate to see something happen after that pop fly went uncaught. no, you have to

a big night tonight for nick johnson. he talked to the media moments ago about his approach when he came to the plate tonight. i was just trying to get on base for guys behind me and drive guys in before me. >> debbi: what's different about this team compared to, say, a month ago, two weeks ago, last week even? >> playing better baseball. great job in the bullpen and swinging the bat and continuing to do that and get runners in. >> debbi: how much confidence, you know, to go into new york, take two out of three from the yankees and now, you know, being in a position to sweep the blue jays. >> playing good ball. we are' going to come out tomorrow, continue to do that and, you know, pick the ball up and score some runs for the pitchers. >> johnny: tomorrow's starting pitcher, ricky ticki romero. >> phil: you hear his name and you think [ humming ] he has a 3-1 strikeout to walk ratio. he pitched well into into he has 3.7 e.r.a.. shairon martis trying to get his 6th win of the year. >> phil: martis has been effective. he has

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 thought, he is not going to bunt, will go for the down, hit a double last time up and he laid down a very nice sacrifice bunt. >> bob: 10 consecutive times on base over three games. here is nick. it would be funny if they intentionally walk him and that's how he would get the record but they have a right hander zimmerman on de

two balls and two strikes to nick johnson. that ball out to left center. carl crawford speed to burn, he was waiting for it.  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: here's the at&t rap rewind. at&t, the nation's fastest 3-g network. your world delivered. those are basically your long ball highlights. a little bit of pitching by zimmermann so far. a well-played, well-pitched game so far. >> rob: right now jordan zimmermann is holding the best offense in the american league in check. i think it's a great job of the young catching and the young pitchers going out there and doing what they can do. they're executing right now and it's fun to watch. >> bob: so jordan zimmermann goes back to work, continue to try to be convicted on every pitch that he makes here in the bottom of the fifth inning. got the top of the order coming up after the first

i don't know why he would peak at nick johnson, now they've given the nats a chance to get back in this game with adam dunn coming up. but he won't be facing the right-hander. >> rob: well, you can't take your eye off the ball. you saw him there. he peaked at nick. trying to sneak a peak at nick and it cost him and error. >> bob: i think that's a classic example of making a play more complicated than it was because the nats are down by five and nick johnson is not going anywhere. so the nats get a break. how far can you see? at pnc, taking the long view is how we help you take the right path. even to change it when conditions demand. keeping you on the road to achieving your goals. it's something we've been doing for over 150 years. let our strength and stability be the basis for yours. pnc. leading the way. >> bob: andy sonnanstine solid night. only one walk and five strikeouts. at one point he retired 15 consecutive nats from the third through the 7th. lefty, lefty match-up. adam dunn against randy choate. in eight games recently, opponents are 1 for 21 against him. >> rob: you

nick johnson heading up to the plate. nick is going to step in. when you talk about a guy that is overdue, i think johnson is overdue. johnson went up to the plate and micah owings is finished for the afternoon. dusty baker with a call to the cincinnati bullpen. nationals threatening with runners at first and second. we will be back in just a moment. 2-0 cincinnati leading washington. ÷xxppúú nce 1873, coors banquet has been brewed in one place... and one place only: golden, colorado. it's followed one tradition: use the best high-country barley... and only rocky mountain water. and it's been brewed under one motto: never compromise. now maybe this means we're a little set in our ways. but we know a few guys who will drink to that. coors. the banquet beer. for the next minute, i'm gonna show you what it's like to have verizon fios. these are your widgets, they let you put whatever you're watching down here, while you check out local traffic, weather, even your news up there. i've got a news flash you're out of mayo. how did y

nick johnson's fly ball to center. get your family fun packs for sunday games. you can purchase the $14 upper right field terrace ticket or $25 lower left right field reserve ticket and you'll get a hot dog, non-alcoholic drink and chips, minimum of two tickets per purchase, bring the whole family out and kids run the bases. for tickets call 188862 nats, or stop by the nationals park box office and get your red on. >>> we're in the bottom of the third in national's park as ryan zim every man steps in against johnny cueto in this 1- 0 cincinnati ball game. both ball clubs with two hits, the reds have a run on theirs. zimmerman takes a pitch hand- tight for one ball an one strike. >> rob: now how many years were you a d.j.? >> johnny: almost 20 i guess. Ároll? rock >> johnny: yup. yup. >> rob: meta lot of the old- timers, eh. >> johnny: give me a name. >> rob: i don't want to date you. >> johnny: that's all right. i think you already have. i was -- i started -- >> rob: ever meet elvis. >> johnny: beatles, rolling stones. >> rob: and if somebody don't remember rad

that's the first hit of the game as raul chavez sneaks one under the glove of nick johnson. chavez now hitting .276 with that base hit. a great chance -- i'm not sure, but for brett cecil who has never had a major league at- bat. >> rob: chavez goes the other way with it, just sneaks under the glove of nick johnson. great job on the x-mo. >> bob: this could be ugly. cecil just got reactivated and has not been around for any interleague play. he is a rookie. so you know as much about his hitting as we do. >> rob: first career at-bat. >> bob: he will do well to get the ball in play. >> rob: he could not have been that atrocious. he was a couple of years removed from college. >> bob: he was a closer for the terrapins. i don't know if wil was caught glancing at the catcher. why would he? that's a catcher running. >> bob: they call it a wild pitch. it was wide enough to call it that. but wil will tell you he should have had that. it will be gravy for them if he can push that run are to -- runner to third base. marco scutaro on deck. >> rob: he hit .307 with 23 extra base hits in

>> bob: nick johnson, high fly ball, left field. this ball slicing toward the corner, and over there to grab it, chris coghlan. boy, they've got some interesting plays in that part of this ballpark. josh willingham played 12 games in 04, 16 in 05, so he was one of those guys in 06. so 12 of the last 13 nats batters retired by ricky nolasco. here's zimmerman who took him way deep leading off the second. ryan takes his first pitch of the night. he'd only seen two pitches. homered on one, popped up on the other. >> rob: he gets a hard slider there. nolasco pulling another trick out of his magician's hat. he's got a lot of pitches, this kid. >> bob: usually that would indicate fastball, but he tried to go front door with another hook. >> rob: he dropped down, threw like a sidearm slider. >> bob: ronny paulino was considered a very good young defensive catcher when the pirates had him. he and john baker, left-handed batter the platoon here. ricky nolasco career, 31-27. his 62nd career start. he doesn't have that many more starts, about 1