garza. >> bob: look at that no more than 7 in 20 consecutive starts and the nats already have 7. here is guzman who has been on base twice. slaps it to center. fairly well hit but b. j. upton covers lots of ground here. this ballpark is actually deeper in the gaps, the deep gaps to straight away center. so that's the second out here. 9 0-0 here in st. pete, florida. right on the gulf, beautiful town. right here, top of the 4th inning. bob carpenter, rob dibble, byron kerr on masn 2 with you guys tonight. nats with 3 in the 1st and rays with a run in the

2nd and a run in the 3rd. nats have already done some running of their own but navarro gunned them down. that was during a guzman walk. anderson has one foot beyond the cut of the grass which indicates a pretty good lead. lodge look by garza. long look by garza.

and nick will take a fastball upstairs, 2-1. nick jan son one hit away from his 18th multi- hit of the year. came in tied with zimmerman at .316, second on the club to the .327 of guzman. just to show you what a designated hitter will do for you, there are only three teams in the national league that have 300 runs or more, the american league has seven. 2-2 target in.

nasty breaking ball. strikeout number 4 for matt garza tonight and he gets three consecutive scoreless innings now after his 1st inning problems. 3-2 gnats. oof! i hope he has that insurance. aflac! you really need it these days. how come? well if you're hurt and can't work it pays you cash... yeah to help with everyday bills like gas, the mortgage... ...and groceries. it's like insurance for daily living. so...what's it called? uhhhhh aflaaac!!!! oh yeah! that's it! aflac. we've got you under our wing. a-a-a-aflaaac!

. >> bob: nationals on top o the rays, 3-2. this is and interesting road trip because of the offense that the nationals have to take care of.

these guys have a lot of different ways they can go at you. >> yes, they do. and craig stammen is keeping them in check, 2 runs, 2 hits against the top offense in the american league. it's going to be a good challenge and a way to measure yourself. >> ben zobrist leads off, bottom of the 4th. so for the ray, it will be 5, 6 and 7 here in the bottom of the 4th. craig stammen three three innings tonight, 661 pitch, 38 strikes. >> the one good thing about being up here, joe west threw me out of two games in my

career. can he at throw me out anymore. >> bob: do we leave the lights a little on too long for joe's taste right there? >> rob: i guess so. we've got a job to do. he's got a job to do. >> bob: nationals get a huge dose of interleague play. yankee stadium tuesday, wednesday, thursday. the blue jays in for three, red sox in for three and then three at baltimore. i'm not sure i remember a stretch where we see the entire division. in that quick a time. >> rob: excellent job by craig stammen getting that number 1 hitter of the inning out of the way and he gets the number 2 guy, relaxes a little bit. you walk that leadoff guy or give up a leadoff single, so much more pressure bearing down on you as a young pitcher. >> bob: bases empty, two outs. after averaging 20 pitches an

inning for three, this would be a badly needed quick bottom of the 4th. the hitter's gabe gross. steam struck him out looking back in the 2nd. >> rob: stammen is lot more together like he was in his first big league start. his mechanics are together, hitting zones, his locations better than his last three starts. >> bob: he can take out of his last start the fact that he shut down the the mets for four innings after giving up the five runs early. the nats had to pinch hit for him. they never were in the game. but he did put four 0's on the board after those early struggles. he has given up two runs tonight, one of them unearned and a 2-0. gross had a good rip. 2 balls and a strike.

stammen only 25 years of age, 6'3", 200. he had a birthday march 9th, early spring training. that ball is hit to right. not very well. elijah dukes is right there and stammen gets that quick inning he and the nats were hoping for. top of the 5th coming up. ryan zimmerman, 1-for-2 tonight. it will be zimmerman with his great grandmotherwatching followed by that old guy dunn and the young guy dukes. try chili's new fire-grilled quesadillas, starting at $6.99. flame-grilled tortillas layered with chicken, bacon, cheese, and ranch.

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. >> bob: nationals baseball brought to you by southwest airline. book your next trip on southwest. brought to you by ge, imagination at work. st. petersburg is a beautiful town. not exactly a beautiful baseball park but a useful one with the roof and, no, i would not want to be outside in florida tonight. it was a sizzler today. 85th of the game by matt garza and he misses against ryan zimmerman.

you see this from outside and you can't really tell but the roof slants. how far is it going? far enough to be run down by b. j. upton. i guess they figure that nobody can hit the roof in the outfield so the roof slants down. it looks like the leaning dome of st. petersburg. presented by firestone, a tradition of innovation, interleague homeruns since 2002, adam dunn is right up there. and the 300 watch is in progress. adam dunn is five homeruns away. he has singled, driven in a run and walked tonight. adam dunn has now walked 89 times this year.

those are the major league leaders. well, a blogger to be nameless said that he is not a-did does not have a good batting eye. he is just picky. [ laughter ]. >> rob: i don't know what that means but the guy has a lifetime .380 onbase percentage. >> bob: uh-huh. picky is good. >> rob: picky's good when you're going to have 300 homeruns in five homeruns? >> rob: please. the guy, 40 homeruns three straight years. >> bob: mark it down. >> rob: six straight years, he will be ahead of babe ruth all time in that department. >> bob: and he's going to strike out 170 to 190 times. >> rob: oh, yeah. >> bob: you just live with that. >> bob: what are you going to do, turn adam dunn into a singles hitter? >> rob: pretty big singles guy that adam dunn. and he barely gets them out of

the infield. no, i want this guy swinging and trying to hit it as far as he can. >> bob: and he is smart enough to get a base hit when he needs to like he did in the 1st inning because the count was 0- 2. you can't be in homerun mode all the time. only jim thome walks more often than adam dunn. >> rob: he has 550-plus homeruns. he has own onbase percentage over .400. two of the best power guys in the game, great batter's eyes. maybe jim thome is picky, too. >> bob: you put adam dunn in the american league like thome was all those years, the way pitchers nibble, he would have even more walks. there is another one. he is on for the third time tonight. and that's walk number 3. celebrate father's day at the ballpark with us a week from sunday, nats-blue jays.

first 10,000 people or so receive a free gym back r bag and kids run on the bases. >> rob: i like how the fans are going "doookes". >> bob: isn't that nice? >> rob: that is so nice. >> bob: i would get on him, too, if he drove in two runs in the 1st inning, first time he swung the bat here since 2005. and throwing a runner out at home plate even though jesse west called him safe. so expect mat garza to keep throwing breaking ball. pitch count mounting, one out

in the fifth inning, 93. this ball club will make you work and work and work. that was pretty good on 0-2. nationals have outhit the rays 7-2. they have also had three walks. nobody who has walked, though, has scored. 2-2. here is the 3rd inning strikeout after a couple of 95 mile-per-hour heaters. watch this breaking ball and elijah just trims. that's not the kind of swing he normally takes.

>> bob: dukes just jammed, bouncer, longoria, turned by zobrist and that's a 5-4-3 double play. halfway through the ballgame, garza gathering himself, 3-2 nats. times may be tough today, but the things we all look forward to haven't changed. like owning a home.

watching our children grow. and retiring with confidence. so whatever you're looking forward to, m&t bank is here to help you get there. m&t bank. understanding what's important. . >> bob interesting inning. we have the grease cam all fired up. >> rob: you're going to see this play at the plate right here. ey lionel ya dukes, a great throw. he beats the runner by 10 feet. josh bard waiting for his prey and then joe west calls him safe because of a little dimsy doo move. josh bard still had the tag in there early enough. >> bob: do you think josh was a little too casual going after the runner there? >> rob: no. >> bob: because most runners

will call the umpire out when the ball beats them by that much. >> rob: most but joe west, he is the president of the umpires and he's going to call a close play like that and it's benefit of the doubt, 9 times out of 10, because that throw is there so early, that guy is out. not even a question. but he stayed there, watched the guy do a little bit of a move. we have done that before and we don't get the call. the score should be 3-1. >> bob: 69 pitches, 43 strikes for craig stammen through four innings tonight. >> rob:dioner navarro, then b. j. upton and carl crawford. he has only given up two hits. a navarro base hit and b. j.

upton one-out single in the third. the rays got their next run with their legs. high strike, 1-1. >> rob: there was a time, when you made an amazingly great play, great throw, whatever, there was a bang-bang play, the call went to the defensive player because of the greatness of the play. >> bob: ryan zimmerman looks that one all the way into his glove. and that is six in a row for craig stammen. great grandma zim. >> bob: there is the latey right in front of the sign. that's a patriotic-looking group over there. we always hear about uncle sam. who is the aunt? >> rob: is it 4th of july? >> bob: getting there. here is reid brignac.

on the 4th of july this year, the nationals will be home against the atlanta brave. >> rob: the home of the brave. >> bob: jo that will be a day game. that will be cool that day, 1:05. >> rob: remember homer the brave, the mascot, he fired the cannon shots. >> bob: i remember before him, chief nakahoma. >> rob: that's right, chief nakahoma. >> bob: he had the tent right there in fulton stadium. i'm pretty sure that's offensive now. >> rob: yes, it is. >> bob: third walk by craig stammen. here is a look at what the rays have done over the years as far as the draft. their current roster is full of guys they scouted, signed, developed and got to the major league. >> rob: and they dave up a first rounder in dellmont young

for matt garza. so, remember, they used their draft wisely. >> bob: so brain santiago, upton and crawford, three consecutive draft choices, may be batting here in the 5th inning. upton singled, steal two bases last time up. and, of course, we have not talked much about the man who engineered the amazing season last year. he was 524 years of age then, manager joe maddon. he is now in his 30th year in professional baseball, 16th in the major league. he managed the angels before this. manager of the year last year. and he really only managed the angels part of three different years when different managers

were dismissed. as a player, he was a catcher who never got above a ball. and a lot of great baseball guys don't. >> rob: well, jim hickey, the pitching coach, he was the mastermind in houston for all those great pitching years that got them to the world series. dave martinez was on my team in cincinnati for many years, actually a former montreal expo that was a pain in my neck when he was hitting. excellent centerfielder, good hitter. they have some guys and then don zimmer. >> bob: he is still a senior baseball advisor to this ball club in his 64th year, 51st in the major league. so this is not just a bunch of people running around without a plan down here. the tampa bay rays can win the american league pennant playing in the same division with boston, the yankees, toronto. >> rob: by the way.

>> bob: there is not a. >> rob: the same year, the toronto blue jays are the best pitching staff. they won 86, 84 games. they have the best pitching staff in the american league league. a ridiculously tough division. >> bob: they have done it with draft and trades. ground ball to zimmerman, he brings the glove up, makes a dan dandy play -- makes a dandy play. 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 pick zim up. it all comes back, the excitement. >> bob: and reaching, maybe the pitch of the night for craig stammen. the rays have stranded three runners. stammen holding the best offense in baseball in terms of runs scored to two runs in five. at the beach. you salt-wash everything and let it breeze dry. knit, delicate, permanent press... the ocean doesn't care. so grab your bag.

. >> bob: the curly w road, decked out in blue. since we are talking about draft pick, the two number 1 overall picks turnedly on the rays' roster. >> rob: david price and last year's first round pick was beckham? >> bob: we are talking about overall number 1 picks. >> rob: yes, overall number 1 pickses. that's why it ways number 1 overall picks. >> bob: 98th pitch of the game by matt garza, fouled away by josh willingham. inning number 6 underway. well, the rays, as i mentioned, never had a winning season

until they won 100 games last year, never had more than 71. i think nats fans can take a lot of hope from what we are talking about here tonight with the fact that you can struggle but if you draft well, and have a plan, and stick to it and have good scouts, you can succeed at the major league level. and, again, if these guys can win the american league east, any team in baseball can win any division. because nobody else has to deal with the yankees and the red sox, no other division. 1-1 to josh who has struck out and flied out. that is in there, 1-1. >> rob: he just pumped the ball in there. >> bob: 93 miles per hour. >>ob: over and over like a machine. he gave up 3 runs in the 1st inning and nothing since then. >> bob: craig stammen, though, up to the ta. >> bob: that's.

>> rob: that's where you really measure yourself against the best. i think that's one of the best 25 or younger in the league. stammen is also 25. >> bob: 2-2. now, you know, all these things we are talking about, with the young team that has to go through the growing pains and lose for a while before you win, we understand that you folks sitting at home are saying, wait a minute you are asking me to pay major league prices for this right now. we know that. it's a very difficult process for fans, product casters, everybody to go through to get to that point whbecome a winning team. i bet you everybody in tampa, st. petersburg would tell you now that what they had here last year made the wait worthwhile, not to say they weren't really tough years. they won