easy. , when i'm at home and getting records that dibble is talking about my alligator arms when we go out for a meal. >> bob: upton was late for it. the count is 1-2. these teams have met once in interleague play since the expos became the nationals. the nats took 2 of 3 against the rays at stadium three years ago. that's a defensive swing. and here is an interesting little piece of trivia for you. tampa, across the bay, was th spring training home of the washington nationals way back from 1920 to9 feat world series championship team of92. so this area knows a litt about washington history. that's in the bird, 2-2. >> rob: i know this area quite

well. this is where i had about four spring trainings, three at the major league level. >> bob: i kn you just love plan city i. it's plan city, strawberry capital of the world. but tampa, now, the winter home of thdyork yankees. >> bob: used to play at al lopez field, didn't you? >> rob: al lopez field and played the florida state league. extended through spring training, group 5 here. >> bob: stammen does not want to walk the leadoff man after getting three gift runs. and he gets an out. >> rob: he walked the leadoff hitter in his last start. the fifth start of his career, don't give up. if you give up a hit on one of your best pitches, come right

back with it. see what matt garza did. >> bob: facing the stolen base king in major league baseball right now. carl crawford has 35 of them in 38 attempts. he is hitting .325, making him even more dangerous. crawford, number 7 in the league. this guy has been in the big leagues now for 7-plus years. after the rays drafted him in the second round in 1999. >> rob: you yo rocco baldelli went up to the boston red sox. but carl crawford and rocco baldelli had never been in the big leagues. lou piniella named them as his opening day starters to take pressure off of them. >> bob: bouncer up the middle. anderson hernandez knew he had to hurry. he played it perfectly. looks like he is wearing some turf shoes tonight and the first two have been retired on a strikeout and grounder. nationals defense, defensively,

adam dunn is the dh. so that is a big plus for stammen, retiring two of the fastest players in baseball and here is evan longoria, second in the american league with 34 extra base hits. only mark teixeira has more with 36. raul ibanez is the major league leader with the phillies with 38. you think sits sense bank park is not jumping tonight. jon lester, joe blanton, red sox and phillies, last two defending world champions. all good breaking ball. >> rob: you can make a great argument against strasburg and what his agent is saying. this a kid who came out of nowhere, six games into the major league last year, they gave him a long-term contract,

goes out and wins rookie of the year. talk about impact player. >> bob: stammen is there to grab it, longoria signed a 17 million-dollar six -- 70 million-dollar six-year deal. od through safety-colored glasses. doing what it takes to make home a little better. that's why we lowered over a thousand prices. and carry powerful tools from dewalt, milwaukee, ridgid, and more. so you spend less, but drill, saw, and nail... more. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now, save $20 on a ryobi 18v starter kit with drill and circular saw for just $89. on a ryobi 18v starter kit welcome to chili's. something new is on the grill. try chili's new fire-grilled quesadillas, starting at just $6.99. like our bacon-ranch chicken quesadilla, flame-grilled tortillas layered with all white meat chicken,

applewood smoked bacon, jack cheese, and ranch dressing. they're crispy on the outside, melted to perfection on the inside. you've never tasted quesadillas like this before. new fire-grilled quesadillas, starting at just $6.99. only at chili's. . >> bob: nice 1st inning fo craig stammen, 18 pitches, 12 strikes. now, tomorrow, there is an unusual situation here. they're going to throw the

first pitch 6:08 which is the rays' perogative. home teams can start the game whenever they want to but because of the nationals broadcast window, we cannot join you until 7:05. rob and i will be here. you can update yourself at masn sports.com. live game blogs prior to us joining you live at 7:05. rob and i are going to sit here, watch the ballgame for an hour, have a hot dog and we'll join you live at 7:05 tomorrow night. hopefully the nats will have a first inning and maybe a second inning like they are having. josh bard with a leadoff hit. and washington's first eight batters resulting in five hits. >> rob: talking about longoria, they said, this kid

get a long-term deal. if you think that strasburg can catapult, if he is that kind of breed of cat that scott boras continues to tell us about, by all accounts, he should be getting what evan longoria can get. i don't think he is that good. >> bob: could be a double play ball off the bat of hernandez and he baez it. anderson with great speed from that left side of the box. brings did nothing wrong there on the fielder's choice. >> rob: we saw the takeout yesterday by gonzalez helping us to win the ballgame. right now, great hustle down the line. >> bob: one more exclamation point on the longoria story, they signed themh tim to 17.5 six-year deal which could be

world -- that 17.5, that's an area that many feel that the nationals and scott boras may end up in, at least in that neighborhood between 15 and 20 million for stephen strasburg, not 40 or 50. >> i don't know how you can equate a guy who throws once every five days to a kid that plays a gold glove third base and wins rookie of the year and did what he did for his ball club last year and say, my guy's better than that. he is a pitcher. >> bob: agreed. >> rob: you can't compare an everyday guy to a pitcher and can't athat one out of -- can't say that one out of every five day player is better than an everyday player. >> bob: you can, you are an agents. you can spin it anywhere you want. cristian guzman man up. i like the approach so far, rob. there has not been one out made

in the air yet. there have been two strikeouts but the other two outs have been hit on the ground so the nationals are hitting line drives and ground balls in a ballpark where you are tempted to hit the ball in the air because it carries very well in here. >> rob: well, the scouting report would be that this guy throws very hard. let him use his speed and power against him and let's make contact. >> bob: runner going, pitch up and in and out at second base easily is anderson hernandez. nice throw by die oner navarro. it was no contest. >> rob: you're going to watch dioner navarro here. as soon as the guy takes off, he is on his feet. nice tag by the shortstop. looks like he avoided the tag. >> bob: you don't mind seeing this because manny has the lead to work with.

with the dh, he has two leadoff guys, in essence, back-to-back in dwuz and hernd. why not start the runner and maybe add on to that lead and at least take a step towards getting garza out of this game. >> rob: well, the potent offense of the rays and you also have a very young craig stammen against the very very best offense notice american league. to me, three runs that's not enough. you have to get as many runs as you can. >> bob: 1, 2, 3, 452, 6 hits after he gave up five on sunday. that ballgame tomorrow night, joord zimmerman will be pitching for the nats. guzman will take a walk.

he has six walks already this year. how about that nick johnson, a walkoff homer at rfk. >> that's when they were the rfk. >> you see some of the guys in that picture, damien jackson, marlon byrd, seems like a lifetime ago ago, doesn't it, fans? that someone a little bit inside to nick who has hit five homers this year. if the rays have a kangaroo court, matt garza should be convicted for walking cristian

guzman. that's almost impossible to do. >> rob: he still is a young guy, with adrenaline. he still has a lot left in that tank even though he had a 30- plus 1st inning. >> bob: let's see if the nats can make him do some more work here. this has not been a quick inning either here. he has 16 pitches. >> rob: 46 pitches already. >> bob: garza, as rob mentioned, is a big kid, 6'5", 214. 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

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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, this year, rob, they are not sneaking up on everybody. does something like that make a difference? did they really surprise people last year? >> rob: they surprised people enough to have the yankees go out and spend about a half billion dollars to upgrade their all-star team. you have a.j. burnette and cc sabathia and teixeira and that's still not

enough. >> bob: by the way, last year was the first winning season in the history of this ball club. the only time they had not finished last was in 2004 when they won 70 games and finished fourth. stammen gets a strike to start his 2nd inning. >> rob: you look at the new york yankees, they have not beaten the red sox this year. >> bob: yes, 7-0. >> rob: it does not really matter in this division. american league east is the toughest division in baseball. rays had to win 97 games last year. amazing transition. now everybody is waking up to the fact that they are good. >> bob:icanderson hernandez has to range to his left, and nick johnson stayed on the bag. and joe matdon is not happy. great range by anderson

hernandez, hit off the mound. a great strong throw to first. nick is on the bag. he is an excellent first baseman. maybe that's the area play but what are you going to do? we had so many go against us. >> bob: he was on there for a split second and joe maddon is none too happy about it. i always have to laugh when i see george hendrick in the face of an umpire. when he was playing, his nickname was silent george. he never said a word to anybody, especially the media. he just didn't have time for such nonsense. four in a row for stammen to start the game. here is the second baseman ben zobrist. >> rob: i used to love to watch him. wasn't he the original, he used

to pull his pants all the way down to the ground. he was a trend setter. >> bob: and what great hitter. >> rob: i was just kidding. >> reporter: when he was on that team that won the '822 world series, he was the only player on that team that had double figures in homeruns. and legend had it that, after they won game 7 against milwaukee, without taking off his uniform, he was in his car and halfway to california by the time they poured the last bottle of champagne [ laughter ]. silent george, 1-2 now. and it's over but low from stammen to zobrist. this guy has become an interesting player at the age of 28. a .222 coming in, he is hitting .316 with 35 rbis. >> rob: darryl porter had 12. >> bob: he was the world series m.v.p. >> rob: george hendrick had 22.

that was lot like our worrell series win. we didn't have more than 22 homerun hitters. a future hall of famer in barry larkin. when you are a solid family unit, you can do a lot of amazing things. >> bob: stammen with his 7th walk of the year. he has only struck out 9. the former phillie, pat burrell, has returned tonight from the dh to torment the nationals. >> rob: he has been on the disabled list for a while. >> bob: he had been out 21 games with a neck strain. the last time he played was at fenway park, may may 10th. he is one of those phillies who had done damage against our ball club but not the damage that utley and howard do. he is not a very good defensive player at all.

they will dh him more often than not because he is not going to play left field with carl crawford in here. with the phillies, over nine years, he hit .257. there is the homerun total of .252, 844 rbis. >> rob: quite similar to adam dunn numbers, especially homeruns and rbis. onbase percentage close to adam. >> bob: he was 6-for-17 with a four-game hitting streak at the time his neck strain sat him down. pat burrell is now 32 years of age. he had eight consecutive 0- homerun seasons with the phils. he is a double play guy with you can get a ground ball. that's going a long way. is it fair or foul? and it goes hooking well foul

before entering deep in the seeds. >> rob: that's what i'm talking about. that was a good pitch on the inner half and the open thing for you to do is to hit it foul. watch this. this is going to be a running fastball on. inner half, come right back with it. you have to tell yourself there a reason why he can only hit that foul. you made good location with it. >> bob: 1-2, a little bit low. there has been a little bit of talk here over the years why the foul poles are not higher at tropicana field. a lot of fouls go sailing over the pole and then they have that phony little yellow thing hanging from the see ranks. they have had disputed homeruns this year. it's confusing forum pies. >> rob: the b ring has a foul pole hanging on it, too. >> bob: yes.

whoever designed this place never attended a baseball game. 2-2, runner goes. pitch is low. throw is lit, right on the bag and -- throw is late, right on the bag. and that's his 8th steal of the year and the rays now have 97 stolen bases. >> rob: right here, quick delivery, josh bard in that squat position, throw as perfect strike to hernandez. >> bob: this team has stolen 97 bases and been caught only 18 times. runner in scoring position, one out. with the runner looking in, bard and stammen for the first time going to a different set of signs.

steve mccaddy. you have been watching us as a coach for over a year and a half. can you tell us the difference? >> rob: of course, the numbers show the difference but i would say this this pitching staff has become accountable for their performances. not that randy thinks that they were not being held accountable but steve mccaddy challenges them to challenge themselves. challenge them with the best stuff and don't get beat with your third or fourth pitch. more often than not, it's been working. >> bob: in 24 innings, stammen has 9 k's and 8 walks. he is one pitch away from being out of this inning as gabe gross steps n he is on a five- game hitting streak. >> rob: he is not cutting it loose and manny acta is going to go out there and probably do

exactly what steve would have done. you have to be convicted in what you are throwing. if it's a fastball, throw it the best you can. if it's a change-up or curve ball, throw it like it's the last pitch you're ever going to throw. we talked about frankie rodriguez of the mets. he loves to pitch. what i mean by that, every pitch he throw, he throws it like it's the last one you will ever see leave his hand and that's exactly what manny acta says. be convicted. pick up josh. if you want to throw it, throw it. if not, step off. i told these guy, he said f you don't like what you're going to throw, step off, get back on and throw what you want to throw but throw it with everything that you have in you. i think he simplifies things. take the ball and throw it like you have never thrown it before. >> bob: gabe gross was all over that one. he was taking a healthy cut. >> rob: i told it for the last

two months. throw it like your job depends on it. you get people out, you're going to stay here. the good pre-game report, talking about what steve mccaddy says, there should not be any role out in the bullpen. the role is, get the job done. they were not getting the job done in the first 40 games. >> bob: 1-1 to gross. .274 hitter. trying to get that ground ball here. he misses, 2-1. abu ghraib gross came over mid-season from milwaukee last year. out of play, left side>> rob: very good location. got it in on his hand. you can't get extended when you do that. one thing with craig, he is working too hard.

instead of trying to throw perfect pitches, visualize a ground ball here, double play. visualize popping a guy up, be a little bit more economical. already up to 37 pitches, bottom of the 2nd inning. >> bob: here a guy hitting well with runners in scoring position but not with power. and a 2-2. got him looking with a fastball. that was on the up and in quadrant of the strike zone and a big one for stammen, his second k. >> rob: craig stammen here, he nails the inside part of the plate on the 2-1 pitch and then 2-2 comes right back on the northrup grumman pitch track. a two-seam fastball on the inner side. >> bob: now dioner navarro who

is only hitting .202 at the plate. >> rob: he was one of the best young catchers in the league. >> bob: signed by the yankees from venezuela. he came here via a trade. >> rob: dodgers gave up on him too much. >> bob: zimmerman can't get there. >> rob: i think the dodgers prefer russell martin's offense better than they like navarro's defense. >> bob: they are not a great defensive club but they have speed in the outfield. they'll take away some hits.

1-1 to navarro. right now, he is not catching up with stammen's stuff away. >> rob: to answer that question you asked about the ray, i mean the yankees knew how talented the rays are. they start this season, first time, i think, in like 100 years or 97 years, 0-8 against the red sox. now, everybody is panicking. you still have a ridiculously priced all-star team in new york and this one of the lowest payrolls in baseball. >> bob: yes. >> rob: nice running fastball. >> bob: ass mentioned, the red sox are in fail ya. blue jays hosting florida this weekend. then the orioles are hosting

atlanta. 2-2 pitch. out of play again. the rays have been able to get the bat on the ball, making this a long inning for stammen who threw 18 pitches 1st inning and now 25 here. they still don't have a hit. two walks around a steal in this inning. and the catch e dioner navarro. the count is 2-2. slapped left field line but slicing foul. you would trough see the nats keep tampa bay off the board here with matt garza having thrown 47 pitches in the first two innings.

>> rob: tampa bay, by the way, still has the red sox number. they are 6-4 against the red sox this season. 10-8 against the red sox last year when they won the division. >> bob: 2-2 again. that's the base hit to right. elijah dukes has a great arm. heads home on the fly and that runner is safe. he got in under the tag. the other runners are hung up now and a bad mistake by the hitter navarro. and manny acta cannot believe that zobrist was safe at home. the rays get a run but the inning is over. @ geico's been saving people money on car insurance for over 70 years. and who doesn't want value for their dollar? been true since the day i made my first dollar. where is that dollar? i got it out to show you... uhh... was it rather old and wrinkly?