rosales at first, bruce, taveras and gomes in the reds outfield. cincinnati 31-27 coming into the ballgame today. 17-13 on the road. >> rob: play very well on the road. not playing so well at home. >> johnny: gonzalez with a lead off first and ryan zimmerman. >> rob: they should be taking advantage of great american ballpark. they are not playing so well. they are not generating the same offense. you miss one big hammer in the middle of the line-up and it gives the other teams an opportunity to pitch to you. >> johnny: zimmerman looking for his first base hit off micah owings. he has faced him six times. ryan in the series 3-9. top of the nats order with guzman and gonzalez and zimmerman, all three batting over.300. you toss adam dunn behind that and elijah dukes, it is a pretty good five somsome to look at. >> rob: -- five some to look at. count is 1-1 to zimmerman. 75 hits and 16 doubles, 41 runs scored. chopper left field. that could be in there but a nice diving grab by jonny gomes. and there's two down. home depot covers the bases today. you c

y taveras hauls it in. top of the 7th and now it is a one run game.  >> johnny: 2-1. get your red on and buy yourself a grand slam flex plan today. hello. you can enjoy ultimate flexibility. pick your plan and your games and get a free game. it is just that easy. for more information on the all new grand slam flex plans call 202-675-6287 or go to nationals.com/grand slam. owings,, he is in line to get the win unless the nationals come back and take this lead. 5 1/3 innings, 4 hits, one run, four walks and four strikeouts as you look at julian tavarez. he is the second nationals pitcher this afternoon. following lannan to the mound. >> rob: 12 starts for owings and still only 4 times he has gown 6 plus innings. >> johnny: finish in line to get a win, too. leading off the cincinnati 7th, adam rosales. the 1st baseman. he is a 1-2 afternoon. singled and struck out swinging. >> rob: that is a lot of work for 5 1/3 innings. 102 pitches like you said. 4 walks, 4ks.

willy taveras tried to make a diving grab. guzman pops it up. there's two down. nick johnson will come up for the third time. he's 0-2. june 11th is kids day. they get in for a dollar a ticket with a purchase of one full priced adult ticket. they're available at the box office only. children must be present for purchase. for information call 202675nats. two down in the bottom of the 5 5th. 2-0 cincinnati lead. they try to take the series with this win tonight. one game coming up tomorrow and a rare thursday afternoon encounter. >> rob: 59 pitches. 38 strikes. only one bad pitch to bruce, the home run. that's the difference in the ballgame. >> johnny: washington out hitting cincinnati 4-2. two hitters so far. johnson 0-2. .320. >> rob: we could use a double here from nick. >> johnny: out field play, johnson straight away. 1-1. aaron harang has racked up over 1000 strikeouts against the nationals career wise, against the franchise. he's only faced them one time here in montreal back in 03. he lost the ballgame. 5 inning, 9 hits six years ago. 1-1 to johnson. >> rob

. >> johnny: and he will start with willy taveras to start the 8th. delivers a strike. 2-5-0 for cincinnati, 1-5-0 for the nationals. >> rob: once again, steve mccatty and rick eckstein, control what you can control. if you can get three outs, get six outs, do that and hold your head up. it is just a question right now of some well pitched innings by the cincinnati reds pitchers. it has been a well fought series by the nationals. >> johnny: dead ball just foul down the 3rd base line. when you look at tavarez's resume, he was born in the dominican republic. started off with cleveland. went the san francisco, colorado, the cubs, pittsburgh, the cardinals, the red sox, the braves, milwaukee and he is still pitching. and still pitching effectively. grounded to second. alberto gonzalez an to first and there's one away -- on to first and there's one away in the 8th. follow the nats with our i touch. it features video aye lights and live -- highlights and audio broadcasts. visit nationals.com on your iphone on the ipod touch to purchase. a lot of nationals f

willy taveras will step in. lannan delivers inside for ball one. >> rob: the thing about our clubhouse leaders, it wasn't just that. we all hung out together. it wasn't clicky at all. i'm not saying it is here. they are just a lot younger in the clubhouse. but if there was a barbecue, the whole team went. even the coaches and trainers. if we were going to have an adult beverage, 20 out of 25 guys went. some guys, they took too much of the game home. they would go home with a bat and sit there in front of a mirror and swing all night if they had an 0-4. nothing wrong with that. they are just trying to better themselves that way. it was a family. and i have said that for 2 months. when they become a family, they will know it. and look out because the other teams are going to be in big trouble. >> johnny: it is all part of the growing process. high fly behind short. guzman drifting back. it is going to be a one, two, three inning for john lannan and cristian guzman leads off as we go to the bottom of the third. 1-n

and taveras up for the third time. you see what kind of support john has had this year. >> rob: maybe he has to buy a few more dinners for his teammates. zito must never really pick up the check. [laughter]. >> johnny: you can't get a better outing than john against the mets. that is the last win the nationals had. >> rob: this is another well-pitched ballgame by the starter. you have to add some runs up there. you can't win if you don't score. >> johnny: elijah dukes drifting back. >> rob: these guys with the 8 e.r.a.s have been sticking it to us. >> johnny: two down in the 5th inning. brandon phillips will step in. .273. 6 stolen bases. rbi 43. 1-2 in this ballgame. >> rob: owings coming in against the nats, four games started with a 3.8 e.r.a. he has done quite well. 0-1. >> johnny: nats in day games this year, they have won four and last 12 at home. 2-6. they came back last night with two in the bottom of the 9th after the rain delay. let's get some runs before we get to the 9th inning. 89 on the gun for lannan's p

willy taveras is next for the reds. then comes brandon phillips. >> johnny: he's ahead 1-2. lowest era since may 21st. that's a pretty good number. >> rob: that weakness we had has now turned into a strength. now we're having trouble getting runs. you know what, the hitters did it now it's time for the pitchers to go on a role. the hitters will catch back up. >> johnny: hairston retired a ground ball to guzman. >> rob: our over all run average is a run er than the closest competitor. we need to get that downder four. if our starters ke going a t mo >> johnny: the ball came right to his glove. the umpire racing out to$ retrieve what's left of the bat. there's two quick outs. he grounds out to hanrahan. >> rob: so surprising that the modern day bat turned into hards of wood. all the bats are just for some reason, i know they're very top heavy. a lot of guys in my day used to shave the middle of the bat to try to harden the end where you're rubbing on the sink in the bathroom to have the bat last as long as possible. i've never seen the explosion and strength of the hitters thr

i think that's about all willy taveras has. macdougal in his 9thyear in the major leagues. phillips grounded to right, grounded to second. >> rob: he's still -- >> johnny: leaves the ball club in that category. phillips 0-1. nix is next. hernandez after him. >> rob: 17 homers in 06; 30 homers 07. >> johnny: macdougal delivers, a swing and a foul. mike had terrific years with kansas city. 68 games he pitched in 2003. came back a couple of years later, did the same thing. 54 with the white sox two years ago. he racked up 144 innings with kansas city in omaha before he got to the big leagues. 1-2. fouled off the plate at his foot. left hander getting ready in the nationals bullpen. this ballgame began four hours five minutes ago. >> rob: the first 8 1/2 innings took 2 1/2 hours. >> johnny: this is the 10th time in all the home games there's been rain which has forced delays in nationals games games. i don't think any team in baseball has had this much problems with weather. >> rob: still holding on to the conspiracy, bad karma. >> johnny: 2-2 to brandon phillips. nobody on and

. >> rob: taveras may not be hitting well this season, but he can run it down in the outfield. >> johnny: hanrahan getting back up in the nationals bullpen. we may have seen the last of shairon martis tonight. he's been absolutely masterful on the mound except for the pitch against jay bruce in the 2 2nd. >> rob: he's had great stuff all night, changing speed. he's been outstanding. >> johnny: willie harris getting set to bench hit. >> rob: 18 first pitch strikes, one of the best outings thrown in a long time. >> rob: fouls off to the left. he had a complete game against the cardinals may 2nd. he gave up one run and five hits in that ballgame, didn't walk anybody. tonight he's allowed only three base hits. he's got them 2-0. >> rob: one was a home run to bruce, one was a double. pretty nice night for shairon. >> rob: 2-1 pitch to josh bard. the count goes to 2-2. josh from syracuse, went to spring training with the sox. he thought he had made the ball club and put himself out of the job. he was signed as a free agent march 21st. that's late isn't it? >> rob: it is. most teams already hav

as for taveras and sage rosenfels, the current quarterbacks candidates, they've slugged their shoulders and said they can only control how they play. >> thanks, pedro. up next, usain bolt and his first action on the tracks. see how he did in the rain in toronto. game 7 of the stanley cup final. our hockey crew is already there. what will be the x-factor? >> if you win it, it's the greatest summer of your life. >> scored! >> game 7, it's a one-game, winner takes the trophy home. >> i'll meet you in the school yard, baby. for all the marbles on friday night in detroit. >> what to watch for friday night. 8:00 eastern time is game 7 of the stanley cup finals. the red wings return to the joe to try to win back-to-back cups. the home team has won all six games in the series so far. with more from detroit, here's steve levy, barry melrose, and matthew barnaby. >> friday night, joe louis arena will host its first ever game 7 of the stanley cup final. in fak, the red wings organization hasn't participated in such an event anywhere since 1964. and that didn't end up so well for detroit. over in h

. >> johnny: a shot to center field and taveras has a bead on that one. 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.

jets, and all the quarterbacks of the vikings roster, that is sage rosenfels, john david booty and taveras jackson. it's no surprise favre comes out with the better numbers. you don't sound that excited read being this. >> just another day in paradise. >> well, the ncaa has placed alabama's football program and 1550 of the school's athletic teams on three years probation for major violations due to free use of textbooks. the football team had 201 student-athletes in the 16 sports who were involved in the infraction. >> i think the university of alabama did a great job demonstrating institution al integrity in the way this was handled internally. and i'll be happy for the players we have in the program. the future vision of the program that this is not going to affect their future there, nor the players that we're recruiting. those are probably the three things that i feel, you know, right now. >> >> the ncaa used words like impermissible benefits to explain the situation. it should be point out that the athletes who received the free textbooks themselves did not acquire other textbooks in

bottom seven, bases juiced, julian taveras gets derek jeter to ground to short. cristian guzman, nice glove work. jeter was 0-1. top eighth, 3-0 nats, one on with no outs, austin kearns to left center. brett gardner. nice grab. but he hits the wall hard. down on the ground for several moments. writhing in pain. he would be carted off. the nationals go on to win it 3-0. joba chamberlain ends up taking the loss. his nine decisions are the fewest for any pitcher in his first 25 starts in mlb history. this was the first homerless game at the new yankee stadium. the yankees have lost back-to-back games against the nats, 18-46, with the win the nationals become the worst team to defeat the yankees in a series in new york and the third worst team ever to defeat the yankees in any series. thursday was a shutout win for the nats. washington has the second worst record of any team to shut out the yankees. >> the phillies have put left fielder raul ibanez on the d.l. with a groin injury. in his first season in philadelphia, the 37-year-old ibanez began the day second in the

bottom seven, bases loaded, willy taveras gets derek jeter to ground to short, cristian guzman, nice play. jeter 0-1, still dealing with the sore left ankle. top eighth, 3-0 nats, austin kearns to left center. brett gardner makes the catch but hits the wall hard. manager joe girardi comes out. gardner is carted off. the nationals win 3-0. the nats are the second worst team to shut out the yankees and the worst to win a series from the yankees in new york. here are notable rain delays that compare to the yankees' 5:26 delay. >> the phillies have put left fielder raul ibanez on the d.l. with a groin injury. in his first season in philadelphia, the 37-year-old ibanez began the day second in the national league with 22 home runs and 59 r.b.i.'s. john mabry jr. will take his place on the roster. blue jays going for a three-game sweep of the phils, 7-7 game, pinch-hitter rod barajas coming through in the pinch -- the former philly burning his old team with a solo home run to straightaway center and the jays win by the final of 8-7. jays finish off the sweep, the phils are a major league be

comes away, after bugging gonzales which you talked about, throws a sinke away, walks, strikes out taveras and gives the hit to right field after the two walks and, again, that was just a veteran hitter going the other way, and then he comes back, the last batter hits the ball right back at him, hernandez, he knockouts it down, makes a play. but big deal. three runs is nothing. that's a quality start. 6 innings, three earned runs, 5 hits, three walks, six strikeouts, a quality outing for a young left-handed pitcher who is developing gicly in the big leagues. >> ross detwiler, what did manny acta think? we have the latest from the manager. >> the tying run and our big guns up but we just couldn't get it done today. >> how much did that fir inning set the tone for the night when you had four guys on base and couldn't score. >> the game was still tie so, you know, that would have been nice if we would have gotten something going there obviously taking the lead would have been huge but i mean we're still after that, the game was zero zero, so all we have to do is get something offensively and

willy taveras. ramon hernandez, gone sal guess zalez, rosales and micah owings, the pitcher. and guzman top of the order trying to get the bats going. alberto gon salzales, ryan zimmerman at third, dukes in center, willing ham is the left fielder, kearns in right, nieves will call balls and strikes with john lannan, the pitcher. >> welcome back to the nats xtra pregame show. >> ray: ryan's going to be there. he's creeping up. he's got almost 800,000 votes right now and he continues to swing the bat well and i have always said it, i have said it since i have been here, he is the best defensive 3rd baseman barring nobody. barring none. >> byron: he has down a great job. adam dunn as well. when you look at the standings right now, david wright at the top of the list from the mets. almost a million votes and david wright with new york, chipper jones, pedro feliz and bill hall. >> you can vote at least 25 times per your ip address to get the guys to st. louis for the middle of july and the a-star game. now it is time for the stay in the game hold of the day brought to you by just

taveras jackson played well last season. sage rosenfels played 6 games and neither flynn or john day of the booty have-- john david booty have taken 1 snap. brett favre had more passing yards than the current vikings quarterbacks did last season. >> the only day to compare to winning the super bowl is the day when the super bowl winner grabs ahold of their super bowl ring. last night the steelers who beat the arizona cardinals were awarded their much deservedbling. >> last night the orlando magic not only won the first finals game in franchise history but made history by shooting a reader 63% from the field. kobe bryant with 31 points but only 10 in the 2nd half. >> i don't think it's too difficult to win on the road to be honest with you. you have a team that executes very well. i don't think the road is a factor. so, home court to me is not that big of a deal. >> we are not at all fearful about anything. but we do think that they would get confidence off their bench coming with their also players. alston and pietrus hurt u