. >> 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

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, 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 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 foul by about 5 feet. >> rob: they were pitching him to pull. he hit it down the right field line

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

. >> bob: you are not going to lead nick off. you have to have something like guzman or anderson hernandez type hitter. but get this guy behind him and then if you had a leadoff guy who was a bona fide base stealer, nick johnson would be even more productive because he takes pitches. guys like lou brock who had sizemore hitting behind him, murray wills who had junior and -- will tell you how valuable it is to have a number 2 hitter who has the ability to make things develop and given time work in the count. base hit. 9 in a row. he set his own record. a new nationals record for nick johnson. 9 times in a row on base. 11 games in a row and 19 of his last 21. >> rob: as you talked about, bob, he got to a 3-2 count again. brett cecil having to work really hard to get to this count. to get back to what you were saying, for the 3, 4, 5 guys to get basically two leadoff hitters in front of them, they are seeing every pitch that cecil has in his repertoire. the more patient a guy like nick johnson is, zimmerman gets to sit there on deck

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

look at nick markakis, four out of four. it is the second time this season that he has a four-hit game, the 11th time in his career and he's also beginning to heat up. >> nick markakis is one of those key guys, he's like brian roberts, this ball club just doesn't win unless nick markakis is swinging the bat well. one thing i really love to watch about nick markakis when he hits is wherever they pitch him, that's where he hits the ball. tonight he was picture perfect. another shot to right field. a little sidearm slider up the middle of the plate. last at-bat for nick markakis, another base hit right up the middle. it's good to see him using all the field, using all the pitches and getting him back on track. >> markakis is 7 for 13 in that streak. a .387 average. tonight he goes four for four as the orioles are able to win by a final of 6-4. koji uehara tonight made the start, his second start since coming off the dl, and he gave the orioles five pretty good innings. >> you could tell through portions of the ballgame he was a

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 markakis now, you just don't want to run on nick markakis. you can trust that he's always going to give you the best effort of any outfielder in the game. always good throws. always in the play all the time anticipating ahead of time. wieters with an easy tag at home plate and cuts down a marlin there. good tag by wieters tonight on that play who stayed right at home plate. pretty good throw on the part of nick markakis. he's awesome. >> now, nick markakis has eight outfield assists. is he basically has the strongest throwing arm in the league right now? he has eight along with jay bruce of the cincinnati reds. >> at the -- if he doesn't have the strongest arm, he has the most accurate, strongest arm in baseball. every time he makes a throw, he is on the money. it's just the way that he goes about doing it. he knows how quick he has to release the ball. he's always anticipating ahead of time what he has to do. ball down in the corner like it is there. barehanded the ball. hit the cutoff man is what you have to do 90% of the time and he's alwa

>> 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 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

here is nick markakis. a ground ball to him. nick markakis grounded out his first time up. nick on the home stand, 6-24. he's had a couple of doubles, two runs scored. orioles are 3-3 so far in this home stand with these three games to be played against the mets before they move on to philadelphia with interleague play continuing in one of the band boxes of baseball. one ball, one strike count. markakis to left field. that takes care of the no hitter. martinez over to get it. the first hit off pelfrey comes with two down in the fourth inning. >> jim: mike pelfrey finally gets a ball up in the strike zone. nick markakis notorious to hit the ball to left field especially if you throw him fastballs. that's exactly what he does. >> gary: so, aubrey huff will stand in. the five home runs pelfrey has given have all been hit by left- handers. left-handers hitting with .299. .270 by right-handers. and a discussion here as pelfrey wanted brian schneider to come out. aubrey huff with a three-game hit streak. 2-5 and an rbi in the ballgame on sunday against atlanta to continue the str

nick coming up with the bat after slick nick with the glove put on a nice show. beer here. two beers! are you insured? do you know when your beer is perfectly cold? or do you risk drinking a warm one? if you have the new coors light cold-activated can, you're covered. because now every can turns blue when your beer... is as cold as the rockies. it's cold insurance, only from coors light. cold beer: that's our policy. ( smack, crowd awes ) you might want to put something cold on that. frost-brewed coors light. the world's most refreshing beer. >>> a little bit of everyth we've seen in this ball game. the one thing we'd like to see a little more of is nats offense against the rookie pitcher, romero. your dad was a long time journalist in new england. >> yes, he was. my father was a newsman, unfortunately passed away about 13 years ago, but he passed on the voice to me. i don't personally love the voice, but my dad had a low voice like this. he went all the way back with bob crane from hogan's heroes fame back in the 50s when bob crane was on radio in new york. there's a l

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

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: nick's been good against left-handers. then there's zimmerman. right side, and two, to the pitcher. the top of the order tonight, the top three hitters with nick johnson coming in, 0 for 11. in fact, nick's the only one hitting the ball out of the infield on three flies. one to each field. this is frustrating. even when you get a really well pitched game, the nats have not been able to solve the marlins. if johnson takes one -- johnson takes one way upstairs. one out here in the top of the ninth.   >> bob: nick johnson drills a base hit to left center. got jammed a bit. fought it off, and as much as you can hope for is to get the tying run up in the ninth inning and it's coming with ryan zimmerman. we'll see if fredi gonzalez counters with leo nunez, but now barring a double play you could bring nunez in, he would end up facing adam dunn and i'm not sure fredi gonzalez likes that idea. >> rob: i don't know, but that was the 30th hit this year off lefties in 84 at-bats for nick johnson. of those 30 hits, 11 are e

nick came into the game batting .213 much better with runners at 2nd and 3rd. >> rob: nick grew up in sacramento, probably didn't hear a lot of cow bells. i like how you find the cow though. >> bob: they have a contest with the fans to find the cow. >> rob: the chick-fil-a cow. >> bob: it's marketing and baseball. ryan zimmermann the dh 0-3 today today. he'll get around late and bounce it over by the bag foul. >> bob: red sox are putting it on the phillies again today 4- 1. >> rob: what's the yankees store? >> bob: let me get an update. 13-0 still, top of the 7th. 10-3 marlins at toronto on top. pirates beating beating the tigers 6-1. phillies tie the red sox. national leagues doing a great job today except for atlanta. they're trail acinging -- trailingng. dodgers and texas just under way. you're up to date on this sunday of baseball. 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:

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

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

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 think i can. >> bob: i'm not sure what i would do. that's a walk. nick johnson going to 2nd base. that's called b

quality at-bat and nick markakis has a four-hit ballgame. four singles tonight. >> jim: i was talking to alex, i said you really came and got that ball last night very quickly. he said because the infield is very hard here. all of a sudden balls caroming through. a little topspin. cora's trying to catch it. maybe gets off the glove a little bit to slow it down. >> gary: that's his second four hit ballgame of the year. the mets have the potential go- ahead run on with their eighth hit of the night. huff has an rbi, 42 on the year. almost got away. >> jim: look where schneider is and look where the ball goes. nick markakis already, and he's got a big lead already with the steal tonight. i don't know what kind of move feliciano harks but he's very quick to the plate. that's a huge lead. >> gary: one down here in the 7th inning. >> jim: you want to deliver the ball to home plate in under 1.3 seconds. about as quick as you can get. >> gary: orioles trying to get to a number that they haven't reached in a while. that's that four run number. they h

nick markakis had a perfect night. when you look at nick markakis, he's been streaky lately. >> he has been streaky lately. when nick markakis breaks out, he doesn't get just one hit. gets three or four. first inning, look at that. he picks up this double right here. gives the orioles a chance to get on the board early. they just can't get him across the plate. later on in the inning, there is another ground ball up the middle. pitcher knocked it down. they can't throw him out at first. he's 2-2 already. later in the ballgame, now he gets another opportunity. he ended up the night with two doubles and two singles. here is another good shot to right field. good contact. that's his third hit of the night. brian roberts goes to second. we have two men on right here. we still can't get anybody across. we can't get that rally going. it wasn't bee

nick has to go backhand. nick puts it to him. didn'treally have time to square up for a conventional throw. >> the best part about this play is that. >> the other thing i saw at the tail end of that play. i'm not sure i've seen many pitchers do it. he had the poise to run with his glove open. >> you're taught to do that. you're also taught to run down the line so he doesn't come up with his heels and spike you. see how he did a direct loin to the bag? you want to find first base 5 feet before the bag and try to run up the line with the runner so he doesn't spike you. >> rios pulls it foul, and the count is 1-1. >> giving him a target is an excellent idea, and that's what they try to teach you in spring training.

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

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 markakis holds off david wright. markakis, 54%. nick had a two-run home run. wright, 44%. alex cora gets 2%. nick markakis is your at&t player of the game. well, tonight here at oriole park, mets go home winners as they beat the orioles 6-4 in the other this have three-game series. samuel adams summer ale is a flavorful wheat beer. it has a very nice spice note. it has a little lemon zest and a historic brewing spice called grains of paradise. it's citrusy, lemony. sam adams summer ale. it just totally reminds you of summer, yeah. >>> tomorrow, middle game  the three-game series. come out and join us. here is the big time collectible that everybody has been anticipating. first 25,000 fans 15 and over take home this adam jones possiblyhead. not only unique, he's going up over the wall to rob a home run and he's blowing a bubble at the same time. so, that is tomorrow night. 888-848-bird for your tickets. it is adam jones bobblehead night tomorrow night. welcome back in jim hunter, rick dempsey. it's "o's xtra" presented by verizon fios. one good sign in this loss is nic

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

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

and nick mark will stands in with the -- and nick markakis will stand in with the bases full. nick has struck out and grod out against hernandez independence with the fielders choice, roberts the double, joins the walk -- andino with the fielder's choice, roberts the double, and jones the walk. >> jim: markakis is very much like not a switch hitter, but much like one of my former teammates, kenny singleton. and kenny always trusted the umpire to know the strike zone. when gets called on out on balls off the plate, it from your traits him, but that is reali. some guys have bigger strike zones than others. >> gary: markakis has one grand slam this year, 2 for 7. that's a borderline strike. once he established that, it is more difficult to hit. >> gary: orioles with a chance to get to hernandez. bull pens is stirring for the mets. 0-1. markakis will take that one y outside. 1-1. hernandez will continue to do the same thing with the bases loaded that he's done with nobody on. same kind of at-ease pitching, trying to get hitters to chase. >> jim

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. ♪

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 deck. >> rob: you want to get this lefty pitch around zimmerman if you could and then go after dunn. >> reporter: front door breaking ball on the inside for a strike. >> rob: cito gaston is a percentage guy, trying to force the double play with a righty against a lefty that has struggled. >> reporter: chavez, a pick-up and throw to second. >> rob: i'm not a fan of that because if he throws it to centerfield, willingham is standing at third with one out. scutaro coming in saying, hey, easy, big shooter. ease up a little bit. >> bob: nick johnson up the middle, right near the bag. and two outs. over to third goes josh willingham. nick's onbase streak is over at 10. fans give him a nice round of applause. they realize what has happened here and it will be a right handed, right handed match-up here as cito gaston will make a switch here. usually one of the last

nick is now batting at.316. rays at 31-31, starting the weekend 6 back of the red sox. >> rob: i had a chance to talk to jean downstairs and he is still upset that the yankees strayeded nick johnson away. anybody who doesn't know who gene michaels is, he is head of scouting. >> bob: i was going to ask you, what job does he not have? the red sox are in philadelphia this weekend and yankees hosting the mets. 1-1 to nick. i i let's see if matt garza continues to pound the zone. he is like a bret myers. bret myers will throw 70 to 80 fastballs throughout the start, does not have nearly the velocity that matt garza has. >> bob: nothing unusual for this guy to go over 100 pitches per outing. he has thrown as many as 120 this year. the first two nationals have hit safely here in the top of the 1st. gabe gross charging the ball and guzman into second right in front of nick johnson, two on and zimmerman now up. >> rob: the one that guzman mit was a little bit lower that he tried to throw 3-2 for a strike. this is the one

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

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

nick masset hasn't given up a run since april 24th. only given up one hit his last three games he has appeared in.

nick markakis has been consistent with his defense. mechanically, he dawz lot of rings things right. he charges the ball well, he has a strong, accurate arm, and he's always given the infielders a good throw to make plays on. last night he picked up his ait's eighth assist of the evening. he's halfway to his total a year ago. he led last the major leagues last year with 17 assists. nick markakis takes a lot of pride in what he does. i asked him what his check list is as he prepares to make a throw to the plate. >> anytime you have run aer on second base, you're always thinking, anticipating what if the ball is hit to me trying to position yourself. you know, when it's hit to you, the main part is executing and it that's always the the -- always the tough part and you have to think scenarios in your head before it actually happens. >> how much does it matter the score, where you are in the game, who the runner is? for instance, hermida last night probably an average run her in your estimation. >> yeah, aid chance to play him a lot young

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

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 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. 2-2 zimmerman hanging tough here. breaking ball, strikes him out. he's just not seen the breaking ball

. >> 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 your money. pnc. leading the way.  >>> nats hitting coach rick eckstein admits this team is struggling with their situational hitt

adam jones and nick markakis need your support. both are in the running for a starting position in the american league. so vote now for all of your favorite o's at orioles.com. plus, with vote orange, save green, you could receive an upper reserve seat to any non- prime o's game after the break when you vote the maximum 25 times. vote early, vote often. for all of the details, online orioles.com/vote orange. >> buck: de aza comes in to play center field. he'll bat in the pitcher's spot, number nine in the lineup. he'll be scheduled to bat second in the bottom of the 11th. badenhop comes on to work the top of the 11th. he has pitched in 16 games so far. he, too, is one of the players' acquired from the detroit tigers in the cabrera- willis trade. >> jim: luke scott fouls it off. so fredi gonzalez's book has gone through six of his seven relievers in the game. the closer had a three-run lead going to the ninth and couldn't close it out. >> buck: and dave trembley has four in his pen including the closer george cheryl. >> jim: luke sc

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 then you get him in when you get the opportunities. >> bob: yeah. >> jim: the orioles last night, they had guys on base. they only had one earned run, the same time in 20 innings pitched against the marlins. all of a sudden you get them on, in and thins look a lot better. except true through the eyes of dave trembley. >> bob: when colome gets somebody on base twork rate slows down considerably. >> rob: yes, he goes to the four-corners offense. when somebody gets up there. you had trachsel here for a few years. >> jim: well, i hope he throw as ball because i'll tell you after steve trachsel story. a fellow hall of famer, tom seaver, has his vineyards up in diamond mountain but by kalas stowinga. and fred manfra,

. >> 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

he looks like nick, using the whole field, letting the ball get deep, not chasing pitches nick's a bureau, bona fide mar league -- a pure, bona fide major league hitter, and a good one. >> he is a good warnings he ia good one, and he seems to get better as the years go on. and here he is, june, .317, ts june, he got off to a slow start, but he is coming on, 16 hits, a bunch on the home stand, four last night. >> you can call him the pacman of hitters, when he gets hit early in the games, you know he's going to get two, definitely sometimes three ife gets three, he gets four. 11 times through the course of his career, he has had four hits in a game. that's 44 hits in 11 games. that's half a season for me. he is a he -- he is an amazing hitter. he makes it look so simple, the hands rarely every move out of that set position in the back. he sees the ball, he goes with it, he hits it hard all the me. when he gets hot, he can carry this ball club and certainly set the table for a lot of other guys in that order. >>> 16 hits in the month of june, h

. >> bob: she wants nick to pick here. >> rob: nick to get a hit. >> bob: he has one. walked and got a single. all-time interleague, blue jays, eight. nationals, four. it's really kind of an oddity because these teams have played nine times only three times in washington for some strange reason. nats took 2-3 from the blue jays at rfk back in 2005. swept at toronto a three-game series in 2006. the last time nationals traveled north of the border in 2007, blue jays won 2-7. it's about time we got these guys back down here. the toronto montreal interleague series used to be a pretty spirited rivalry. they played a lot over the years a total of 42 games and the blue jays won 23 of them involving the expos and the nats. nick will just step back from that one. 1-2. brian tallet pitching a really good game as well. four innings, one run on four hits. 61 pitches, 32 strikes as he entered the bottom of the fifth. yankees lead 5-1 at florida. news out of new york had them benching alex rodriguez for two games to give him time off and get things back together. the nats really pi

adam jones, nick markakis are both in the running for the all- star game. you can vote for your favorite orioles at orioles.com. the all-star game suddenly closing in. >> jim: is it ever. >> gary: that will be foul back. martinez, a strikeout victim. his first time up. orioles up 3-1. each team's got three hits in the ballgame. koji uehara getting his first start against the mets. quick toss over to get cora back to the bag. >> jim: he actually has stolen and attempted six steals, five of them successfully. the mets do lead the national league in stolen bases. come in with 64 of them. situational hitting. the new ballpark, citi field huge. jerry manuel, he understands, he said, if we're going to win, we're going to have to situational hit. >> gary: that one behind the plate. >> jim: especially when you lose delgado with 39 home runs. we talked about his hip injury. i talked to the trainer, he said he's actually doing quite well. when you get to be in your late 30s, it's difficult to project that a guy will be back on a certain day. >> gary: another one foul

he throws a first pitch breaking ball to nick. johnson under .300 for the first time in a long, long while. >> rob: you guess that he tries to throw three or four in a row, and nick can recognize the rotation and crush it. you saw that one, that last breaking ball was hanging. >> bob: the last time i can find nick johnson under .300 was 22 at-bats into the season when he was batting .273. 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 f

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 masset hasn't given up a run since april 24th. only given up one hit his last three games he has appeared in. >> rob: oh. >> johnny: two balls and a strike. >> rob: you got the guy you want to have up there. adam dunn on the deck and then dukes. one's got to come threw right here. at least or at worst a fly ball deep to the outfield. tie the game up. >> johnny: check swing. he did not go through. the count is 3-1. >> rob: this side angle here on the fastball. >> johnny: masset's walked only one batter his last 9 innings out of the bullpen. 3-1 to zimmerman. 2-1 ballgame. bottom of the 8th. bags are full. grounded to short. they throw to second, back to first it got away! and a runner scores. >> rob: and the nationals have taken the lead! boy, were we due for that one. >> johnny: you are not kidding. hernandez from third scores. guzman comes in to score. and the nationals have got a one-run lead. >> rob: wow. this is a slow roller right here that they try to turn an unbelievable double-play. sometimes you are trying to do too much

it's mine. >> johnny: josh willingham takes cuts against nick masset. he's walked the last couple of times he's been to the plate. >> rob: it's got all your information. so are you going to get a shot of that? >> johnny: willingham batting .250. his average dropped tonight with the 0-2. 3-0 to josh willingham. nicely done. >> rob: you see the nice little extra battery pack it comes with it for these long nights. stay in touch. got pitching right now. macdougal, hernandez. >> johnny: 3-1. pops it up out of play down behind the nationals dug out. for those 85 fans still with us, it's 12:25 a.m. these are the die hards. a lot of folks bailed early, rob. >> rob: it rained for two hours. >> johnny: across the diamond, hernandez, one down. >> rob: belliard here, one out. bottom of the 11th inning. one away, 2-2 ballgame. .177 batting average. you have to make adjustments when you get older. i'll go back to the conversation i had today. he said as he got older, you know you're not swinging like you did when you were 25. he said your skill deteriorates with age