cora leads it off against sherrill. he has delivered a single, reached on a walk, lined out and struck out in the ballgame. >> jim: george just lights out against lefties, but tatis who came in for martinez right- handed on deck, then beltran, then wright. that's why they want to get somebody on. >> gary: cora's got that big average against left-handers at .333. one ball one strike count. and cora will work sherrill, 1- 1 deep into the count if he can. and he goes to 2-1. >> jim: the one thing george sherrill has been much better this year is command. walks were a problem last year. 23 strikeouts, so almost one per inning. >> gary: cora will go to left. reimold coming and not quite. it was in the seats and he was almost there with it. george sherrill has made things interesting in many of the save situations this year with people ending up on base with a base hit or something to start it. then he's found a way to get it done. >> jim: don't you think a little bit over the last maybe 10 saves, a little less dramatic? >> g

they make it a bit easier for george sherrill. >> rob: mcdougal is going to come right at you. occasionally throw a breaking baugh. but mostly i'd say 90% fastballs. >> jim p.: doesn't he have a big curveball? >> rob: got a big curveball, but i think guys are probably not going to react too much to the curveball. they'll go after the fastball. >> jim h.: mora on deck, then zaun in the 8th inning. the nationals will have the lower third of their line-up coming up in the ninth. this is an amazing game. the orioles had gone three straight games without a home run, had hit only one home run over the last five games. tonight they've hit three accounting for all five of the runs. zaun and huff with so low -- solo home runs, and nolan reimold's shot which gave the orioles the lead. >> jim p.: if you're a nationals fan, you know what mike mcdougal's job is, keep it right there. if you keep it within two runs, then george sherrill, first man that gets on, tying run comes to the plate. >> jim h.: there's the dreaded lead-off walk when you're trying to do just that. so the orioles now can

as sherrill earns the save. p - oh, it's on. - it's on. it's on. - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - it is totally on. jimmy, it's on. it's on. oh, yeah, it's on. pilot: affirmative, it's on.  >> jim h.: we invite you to join us again tomorrow for more of the beltway series action. john lannan will be on the mown as the order look for the sweep, nats look for a win. game telecast at 1:30 on masn hd, masn, masn 2, and dc 50. jim hunter saying so long from orioles park at camden yards. tonight's telecast, a masn presentation. >>> hi, everybody. time for "nats xtra" post-game here on masn. johnny holliday along with ray knight. the nationals had a 2-0 lead, the nationals had a 3-1 lead. the orioles win it 6-3. five of the runs tonight scored by baltimore coming on the long ball. >> and most of those fastballs right down the middle. one breaking ball. martis, he wasn't sharp tonight. he threw 98 pitches, 57 strikes. that's just 55% strikes. and that has really been the negative that i've seen on him. it take

the save to sherrill.  >>> hi, everybody. rick, what an uplifting win. orioles had the lead and the mets able to tie it, but it didn't matter. the orioles pull it out. >> matt wieters hits his first home run of his career and his first two rbi's. >> outstanding back end of the bullpen work tonight. jim johnson two scoreless innings, and george sherrill picks up the save to even up the series at a game each. >> thanks very much. let's go down to the one of the stars at least tonight with amber. >> that's right. matt wieters gets his first home run in the major leagues. are you just glad you got it out of the way. you knew it was going to come at some point. >> i mean redding was a guy i faced a little bit in the minor leagues so i knew he threw a lot of strikes, i was fortunate enough to get it to carry out. it's good oh get the zeros out of the home run and rbi column. >> looking at what aubrey huff was able to do. this was a good ballgame going back and forth, but to come out on top in a game like this. >> it was, both the starters gave their teams a ch

they love the setup now, but he could be a closer. >> sherrill is about five or x years older than jim johnson. and. >> he needs to get out of here and -- [ indiscernible ] he'll go to sarasota. he told me july 2nd, he'll be in because which, making his first -- bow which, making his first injury rehab appearance. >> gary, jim? >> gary: amber, thank you. she's yelling! >> jim: she's right here. >> gary: we can hear you. you can't miss rock. got to see some old country land, her family coming back from greece, family members fm the old hometowns in greece. that's great. got that one to left field. curve to the pole, and it will be a fall ball. -- it will be a foul ball. >> jim: and -- >> gary: here's the deal. i'd say, gather -- i was over a.m.ed. -- i was over amped. >> gary: put that in the baseball vernacular. >> jim: yes. >> gary: off the end of the b. oh, my goodness. he stopped it before it went foul. believing it wasn't going to. wigginton is on. >> jim: if he picks it up, its not an easy play. even though the runn

. >> jim: here is george sherrill coming on in the ninth inning and if you're wondering what the heck is the closer doing in the game if you're up 10 runs, he needs some work. he has not been in the game since last sunday and you want to get the rust off before it is a save situation. >> jim: what did he tell us in texas when he came in with the four-run lead? i never met a four-run lead that i liked. how about a 10-run lead? >> jim: he has been 11-11. >> rob: closers hate big leads or deficits. >> jim: you closed. >> rob: for a while. >> jim: it was kind of like by committee? >> rob: yes. and there were a couple of years when we had one closer, two closers. but, yeah, it was whoever had the hot hand. when randy myers was there, he was the guy. i didn't like coming in just to get some work, whether it was the seventh, eighth or ninth inning in a game like this. >> jim: a mile high, josh bard. one hit and one down in the ninth inning. join us here on sunday the finale of three, the final interleague game of the year. the first 20,000 fans 15 and over will receive an orioles cap present

george sherrill has pitched phenomenal. matt albers has been exceptional. brian bass has been their long man and even hendrickson has picked autopsy win. a 1.29'ear. we mentioned wins for bass, johnson, albers and hendrickson. no runs in his last seven appearances and george sherrill is is a perfect 11-11 in save opportunities. >> jim: kind of amazing, the bullpen has four of those wins. the starters only three. even though the starters have been pitching much better as of late. the bullpen gets some reinforcement today in the right arm of chris ray. let's head down stairs and welcome in amber. hello, amber. >> and alberto castillo was sent down to triple-a and in his place chris ray has been recalled to help the bullpen. the word is he is back on track. he looks good, finishes on his pitches, as well as he found some consistency with that arm slot. that's what he has been looking for. in eight games in triple-a, he dropped his e.r.a. to 2.25. he struck out 13 batters and walked only four. all reports are he is ready to go here today in miami. interestingly

sherrill, lefties are 3 for 29. everybody else has been a little bit of a struggle. >> gary: cora's up, bases loaded. orioles lead by one. mets threatening. the breaking ball will miss outside. on at third base, murphy who delivered a single. after the home run by sheffield. schneider followed with his own single at second. the walk to castillo who is on at first. bass worked only a third of an inning. gave up a home run, three hits. taken for a strike. the count goes to 2-1. >> jim: huff in at first. if there's a sharp ground ball, i imagine he'll come home with a one run lead. >> gary: orioles trying to protect it a bit here in the sixth inning. >> jim: a couple at-bats for cora with one hit against hendrickson lifetime. >> gary: nowhere to put him. and the count will go to 3-1 on cora. >> jim: there's also nobody up behind him in the bullpen. >> gary: cora's walked 15 times while striking out only 12 times. some 90-plus at-bats. got that one in, just challenged him with it. >> jim: there are times in a game, that

jimmie johnson and sherrill closed it out. he was outstanding, let's get more on the oriole right-hander. hello, amber. spring training, there were so many questions bullpen, the the guys bounce injuries in 2008. the bullpen has the team, the season. that doesn't get a lot of is johnson. he has made more appearances i reliever, and been one most effective, the last 10 appearances. from a period of may 17th he's pushed 13 2/3 one earned run. i caught with him and asked him what allowed him to get in the groove. we're all pretty our starting going to get us deeper in the game. it wasn't that scenario last you know. we knew we had to pick up five innings almost every day. go with in that mind set we only have maybe at four innings to pick up, but most it's three or two, and game every now and then, that takes a lot of pressure off us. many games, you need a mental break every now and then. watch the innings unfold, you get an you're going to pitch. take that mental day and re charge the battery. to do that. point in his career wa

gip johnson and george sherrill were the only two pitching in the gym on sunday. chris ray joined the team today. he worked on sunday for triple- a. that there is a strike out the knees. and johnson is an out away of getting this game to the 11th. 1-2 in the dirt. he wouldn't chase. >> buck: this is the decisive pitch in this at-bat. and johnson certainly has the upper hand. you can go back to the curve ball that he got uggla with or you can really pound the fastball down and away to ross. >> jim: he is also a home run threat batting seventh. the breaking ball fouled off. hanley ramirez now has 10 home runs. uggla has 13 -- excuse me, 14. he has one tonight and cody ross batting seventh has 12. high fly ball, left center field. luke scott was playing deep, but he hustles in and he has it for the out. and we are going to the 11th. so a three up, three down 10th for st an jim johnson. jim johnson. tuesday night in miami in a

other than george sherrill he's the only lefty in the bullpen. started out you had jamie walker who was not on the top of his game, the nationals found that out. dunn hit that grand slam off him. a pretty important cog other than your closer. >> bob: nick johnson, 0 for 7 in this series. it will be ryan zimmerman with two outs, bases empty hitting ahead of adam dunn. john lannan in a position to pitch pretty deep into this ballgame, through six he's had 84 pitches. manny acta hasn't been able to hand the ball from a starter to a closer only a time or two this year. >> jim p.: what was that stat yesterday that the nationals in this month had scored four or less runs, what, 18 times? so it's 19 out of 23 games. they're right at their limit. i don't mean that. i'm just saying, so any run. >> rob: you're just being honest. >> jim p.: i'm just looking at the numbers here. >> bob: in april the first half of may, they scored 7 or 8 a night and kept losing. >> jim p.: when the orioles came in, they were like fourth in the national league in runs scored.

they still have hendrickson and george sherrill. so jim johnson giving them two innings and chris ray an inning and 2/3 has helped at least preserve a few more arms. ground ball sharply hit to short. wigginton has it and gets it across and a three up, three down inning for brian bass and on we go. we head to the 12th and the top of the lineup is coming up. brian roberts, nick markakis and adam jones in this tie game. ? ♪ ♪ who's watching? ♪ tell me who's watching. (muffled music) ♪ who's watching... (announcer) it's right here. it's easy. ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ it's the money you could be saving with geico. >> jim: the american flag i downtown miami on this breezy night, at least it was earlier. right there in the middle of downtown atop of that tall building, and here is the a.l. east versus the n.l. east in the interleague there year, buck, 32-25, the american leaguers leading it. >> buck: they sure are. thigh have had a good run in interleague play against their national league rivals. they

once you get passed the seventh and shift gears to jim johnson and then george sherrill of course for the eighth. they have really kind of sorted out their roles down in that bullpen and it has become a very effective group of relievers. >> jim: melvin takes outside. good eye. the count to 3-1 on mora. no one on in the seventh inning. and it is outside, ball four and there is a two-out walk. so melvin is on. that is just the second walk by andrew miller who really, buck, has pitched very well at home this year for the marlins. he is 2-3 on the year. both wins have come here in miami. and his e.r.a., 3.52 at home. 6.10 on the road. >> buck: it is pretty interesting, a left-hander pitching in this ballpark because right-handers can reach the seats in right field fairly easily, but he keeps the ball down and away and utilizes the good fastball. >> jim: mora draws a throw. >> buck: we talk about nolan reimold and his patience and power and we're seeing a kind sigh now that is spreadity impressive. he has reached now in 21 of his last 44 plate appearances. he reached on an error the last t

castillo and they brought up chris ray leaving only two left-handers in the entire bullpen in george sherrill and mark hendrickson. do they need more than two left- hander ? >> no. i think they have just given up on that for now. at this point dave trembley will settle for any pitcher, lefty, righty, that can get three outs. if i think of the great relief pitchers, it is never somebody who can only get out lefties or righties. they could get out anyone. the hope is that chris ray can be that guy in the seventh inning and match-ups are overrated anyway. they're not going to worry about that any longer. mark hendrickson once in a while can be that guy. we saw it the other night when he came in. but they primarily see him as a long reliever as billion. you just go with anyone, left, right, whatever, just get three outs. >> i know that chris ray, as long as he has that sinker down and away. it is almost like a left-handed slider it moves so much. but another guy that is raising a lot of attention now, robert andino at shortstop. he is almost showing that he can be a regular on a lot of ball clubs

george sherrill. they have hunt valley on saturday and felix pie will be in york, pennsylvania, coming up on monday. -- for complete details including location and times for all orioles community appearances, visit oriolesreach.com. there's bench coach dave jauss on the orioles bench. we want to send along birthday wishes to his son, charlie, who is watching him tonight. happy birthday, charlie, from your dad, who is here in miami with the orioles. adam jones stays in the game in center field. he pinch-hit for pie. albers stays on for his second inning of work. he missed outside. 2-1 on jeremy hermida. 1-3 with a double. high pop-up. melvin mora with a play at third has it for the out and one down. you wonder who might play. there's dan meyer with lindstrom lind on the disabled list because of a sprained elbow. the word is he will not even throw a baseball for a month. >> buck: yeah, unfortunately, sometimes precursor to tommy john environmental a -- surgery is a forearm strain and they can't get got

i expect him to be one of the kind of guys that will push george sherrill for closer role again in the future. we have jim johnson out there, too. it's nice to have three guys out there who can do that same role. i think he's getting back to where he was. such a violent delivery before he had the operation. now everything seems to be smoothing out. still a little bit of that whippy action, but sometimes that can help you against right- hand hitters. >> with baez and johnson for the eighth, you don't think veal a role to get to the eighth and ninth. >> no doubt. i think dave trembley can use him any where he wants him. it's nice to have a guy can quality pitches that could be the closer. jim johnson, look what it does for his ballgame. he's virtually unhittable. you can tell hitters that the sinker is coming, they still can't think when they have that much movement. just a matter of chris ray getting a little bit more on top and driving the ball down in the strike zone, and i think he'll be back to where he was before he ever got hurt. >> interesting. interesting to say the least. the o