toronto tie in here. >> rob: going to say vernon wells. >> bob: no, vernon wells hasn't done that. oa a minute. now wait a minute. he did. it is vernon wells. >> rob: so vernon is one of them. >> bob: griffey do you think? only problem is vernon wells has only had 100 rbi season since. >> rob: vern, hey, vern. >> bob: bouncer by the mound. hernandez to get it drops it. in his haste to make the exchange probably his sixth error of the year. first two outs. >> rob: knits there. he had overbay here by a few steps. plenty of time. overbay wasn't even really sprinting down the line. the x-mo will show you everything as it rolls down the

glove. >> bob: the nats had gone two games without an error. they made one in the ballgame tuesday night. an error by zimmerman on a throw that cost the nats a run in a 5-3 loss. that's their first error in nearly three full games. >> rob: first pitched ball right there first time tonight by zimmermann. >> bob: you hope that doesn't cost jordan zimmermann an extra 10 or 12 pitches here. count's even 1-1 on the foul ball by the catcher rod barajas. >> rob: as i said before, when they're making great plays behind you now, if they make an error, it's time for you to pick them up. 

>> bob: and a pitcher three career at-bats brian tallet next. be nice to retire this man and let the inexperienced hitter leadoff in the fifth. >> rob: it's a great 88-mile- per-hour slider here on the 2-1 pitch by northrop grumman on the pitch track. >> bob: that was a late breaker, rob. that really looked like a fastball for a while, didn't it? >> rob: yep. oh, man. >> bob: runner will be moving on a 3-2 pitch with two outs. don't throw one down the middle. this one -- this one can hit it out of the ballpark. throw a quality pitch here. he walked him. that's not the worst thing in the world. >> rob: no, not with the inexperienced-hitting pitcher coming up. still, steve mccatty is wondering as most of us are where that 2-2 pitch was.

boi. >> bob: nice night at nationals park. cloudy but not overcast. it's a nice night at the park. toot struck out looking first time up. he's way off the plate. he actually makes contact. guzman to first and the blue jays one of the best hitting teams in the league shutdown through four. hey, there's a shutout streak going here. 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! i've never been all that great with my money. probably because i've never had much. but now that i'm making more, it's time to be a little smarter about how i manage it..

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>> bob: welcome back to the ballpark. as we go to the bottom of the fourth inning, nats-blue jays are scoreless and jordan zimmermann pitching very well at this point. rob, a lot of pitches in the first three innings, but settled down a little bit there and the error didn't cost him too much. >> rob: no, with the pitcher a couple of hitters behind barajas, the hitter behind barajas beings he worked barajas pretty well. almost struck him out. still, 15-16 hitters faced. first-pitch strikes working ahead. he is throwing a lot of pitches because he's working a lot of breaking balls. to keep this one uft best offensive teams in the american league off balance for four straight innings, great job by jordan zimmermann tonight. jordan zimmermann right now it's a little humid. try to stay cool right now. maybe get two more, possibly three more innings. be that bridge to your bullpen and continue this nice streak by the young starters. >> bob: four scoreless innings on only three hits, three walks, two strikeouts and let's see if the nats can get the

bats busy. maybe tonight is the night for leadoff hits. over the entire road trip, the nationals scored in every game by this time with the exception of tuesday night and they got the three-run homer by anderson hernandez, by then there has been no offense late in ballgames. maybe the nats can do a turn around on that tonight. >> rob: maybe they think this is the first inning and they're going to start their offensive climb to the top. >> bob: dukes gets jammed and fouls one over into the blue jays dugout. >> rob: yeah, that has been straipg. it's like the second or third time through the or. we get to the pitcher and then the fourth time, shutdown mode. >> bob: yeah. >> rob: def-con four. >> bob: i don't remember the last time the nats scored a run against an opponent's bullpen. it had to be at least an earned run on the last home stand. after the fifth inning,nationals only scored one unearned run after the

fifth inning. that's history. maybe tonight is a different story. dukes broke his bat. out is the shortstop marco scutaro man. >> rob: man, bat companies are making a lot of coin this year. >> bob: good changeup pitchers, rob, it's so hard to center the ball against them. >> rob: you hate lot off the end of the bat and that will shatter bats. making this guy like like -- look like cy young talent. >> bob: 43 pitches, 25 strikes in his first three innings josh bard is next. >> rob: to joba chamber lane's credit, he gave a lot of credit to the pitching staff and the

hitting staff. he said they were very patient. made him throw a lot of pitches. he recognized how well the team did last night. a classy kid. there's rick eckstein. >> bob: nationals are down, if you will, to number eight in the league in batting average at .257. they were hitting in the .270 range for quite a while. manny acta's ball club, second or third in the league in runs for a while now down to number 10. lately, the pitching has rescued that and josh bard has a four-pitch walk. both hitters that tallet walked tonight have been on four pitches. celebrate father's day at nationals park.

nats-jays, 1:35. first 10,000 fans 18 and up receive that great-looking gym bag free. it's presented by geico. free pregame autographs and after the game kids run the bases this sunday. willie harris. willie bounced out to the second baseman first time up. willie struggling with the bat. it hasn't affected his defense that's for sure. not like him to be 2-30. that ball gets by lyle overbay. bard heading for third. harris digging for second. alex rios digs it out and pat listach does need to hold him and he's still going to hold as the ball rolls across the

infield. i mean, alex rios is a good right fielder with a good arm. it's hard to anticipate he's going to throw a ball to deflect off the glove of the cutoff man. >> rob: willie harris gets a pitch he likes. puts tonight right side of the infield pass a really good fielding lyle overbay. then, alex rios has trouble finding the handle. comes up. quickly throws it by his cutoff guy. you saw josh though. you see him running properly as bob told you many times run hard until that coach stops you. >> i wonder if cito gaston is thinking about an intentional walk here. >> rob: to bring the pitcher up. i -- >> bob: they're going to do it. in this league, you do that. so, jordan zimmermann will have a chance for his first major league rbi with the bases

loaded, one out. cito gaston has in postseason play managed in a number of national league ballparks because when he was in his heyday, first time around with the blue jays, they dom nailted the american league east winning divisions in '85, '89, '91, '93. their win on the jerry walker walkoff homer the last time they've been in postseason play. it's been a lost yankees and red sox and one dose of tampa bay since then. there they are. josh bard at third. harris at second with a double. anderson hernandez at first. infield obviously in and we'll see if jordan zimmermann can make some kind of contact here and get himself and his team the go-ahead run. >> rob: well, some kind of good contact. you don't want to night a

double play right here and kill the rally. >> bob: ball one. falling behind in the count might help that. >> rob: maybe try to slap one between first and second. there's a huge gap between hill and overbay. >> bob: overbay is playing well off the line because of that. right side, zimmermann is really going to have to hurry. he is safe! >> rob: great job. >> bob: gets the rbi and the nationals take the lead! good hustle by the rookie pitcher. he hit it softly enough. >> rob: well, maybe hitting it to the right side is what the doctor ordered right here. he does hit a two-hopper to hill. hill makes a great flip over to scutaro, but that's just great hustle by a young jordan zimmermann out of the box gets himself an rbi and his team the lead. >> bob: he showed some athletic

ability right there. >> rob: yep. he was a football player. he had some wheels when he was playing college football. >> bob: here is guzman who couldn't make it a big inning. first and third, two outs. he's 0-2 with a pair of easy fly balls. he continues to swing at the first pitch. rod barajas the catcher not very good at-bats by guzman who was hot for two games in new york. nats, 1-0. ne: no problem. you know, maybe other people are content to sit around and wait. wait for something to happen. for business to pick up. but for you, it's time to kick it in gear. time to get going. time to get tough. take control. you're not gonna run and hide. because backing down's not your style. grab your bag. it's on. ( ding )

>> bob: they have their surfer's gear. george just collapses. teddy's going to knock out tom and go after honest abe. abe has the life raft. you know, i think abe should be disqualified because that life raft is not fully blown up. all right. 1-0, nationals, top of the fifth inning. jordan zimmermann on the mound tonight. rob, outstanding. 77 pitches, 51 strikes. first-pitch strikes to 17-18 hitters. >> rob: he has great mechanics. we've talked about that a lot. he has kind of a quick delivery. the mechanics are impeccable. his command has been outstanding all night. >> bob: let's hope that -- >> rob: 77 pitches, 51 forstrikes. as you said, 17-18 first-pitch

strikes. now he could be a little gassed after sprinting down first base. a little humid tonight. let's see how he fares in this fifth inning. >> bob: top of the fifth inning, marco scutaro. first-pitch breaking ball up. scutaro lined out to the second baseman hernandez last time up. zimmermann stays right with that one. -- zimmerman stays right with that one. tricky, little hop. aflac trivia talking about center fielders with lots of rbi's, 100 rbi seasons in theirs first two seasons. we know vernon wells of toronto is one of them. >> rob: junior, willie mays. >> bob: ken griffey, jr., jr., how did we miss those? the great yankee clipper and al simons. we were too contemporary in our

thinking. >> rob: one of the things that was really cool about yankee stadium, they pay a lot of respect to the former players. it's all over the stadium. >> bob: yeah. >> rob: the retired numbers and statues and julien just really cool things. >> bob: fly ball right center. elijah dukes is there. vils vernon wells who is 2-2 will step in. wells on a distinctive list of center fielders with 100 rbi's seasons. in his rookie season 2002, he hit 23 homers, drove in 100. next year, he really put it altogether going to his first all-star game hitting .317, 33 homers, 117 batted in. vernon wells is from shreveport, louisiana, originally. his dad, vern orrin, was a wide receiver ironically in the

canadian football league. >> rob: you're making that stuff up. >> bob: you can't make that stuff up. >> rob: his dad played in the canadian football league? >> bob: a lot of good americans have played -- >> rob: i'm not saying that. his dad played in canada and he plays for the blue jays? i think you made that up. >> bob: that's one of those when the sownt effects go duh- duh-duh. 3-1. [ laughter ] >> rob: nice breaking ball. nice 3-1 pitch. >> bob: yeah, wells thought he was all over a fastball. then it hit the bottom of his bat. >> rob: he's had a couple of fastball hits tonight. he may not get a fastball here. let's check out the delivery on the x-mo. bringing all that torque towards home. that's a slider. >> bob: that's serious jammage

right there. jordan zimmermann has it and -- ryan zimmerman has it and stoim zimmermann has pitched halfway through this game beautifully. . 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 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: nationals baseball masn brought to you by southwest airlines. book your next trip at southwest.com. and by firestone, a tradition of innovation. friday night at nationals park, and the nats lead 1-0 on the zimmermann, yeah, jordan zimmermann rbi. the ripken all-stars, valley league all-stars. the mid-atlantic classic july 15 less than four weeks away up in waldorf. catch the stars of tomorrow or see it all live on masn hd at 7:05. home run derby if you attend at 5:30. admission free. they'll take your donation. ripkensrcollegebaseball.org or call 410-588-9900. all right.

the nats are ahead. you can be a little happier than that. >> rob: she doesn't look happy. it's hot. i want to go home in the air conditioning. >> 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 pitched him wellin that series. >> rob: tallet didn't like his last interleague start against the marlins as nick hits a single to left field. >> bob: that was an interesting swing, rob. he inside-outed that ball to left field. >> rob: which normally he takes way outside pitch and smacks it over there. he went inside out as he got 3 1/3, 10 hits, eight earned runs, bob, on the 14th of june against the marlins. so, pitching much better against this national league team tonight. you scenic, as bob said, inside part of the bat. >> bob: just for reference, nats held alex rodriguez, 0-10, three walks, two strikeouts in that series. >> rob: yeah, he's down around .200. i think he's about .212. really meaning it looks like that hip is not 100%. had that laib allan ray tear fixed in spring training. you know what? a lot of what you do after surgery is rehabilitation.

you start to feel great. all of a sudden, you get back. it's not baseball shape. you're in great physical shape, but five at-bats and going out there and grinding it out every night, your poddy takes a beating out there and he may be starting to feel the effects now. >> bob: the one time he did hit the wall -- ball really well, willie harris saved the day and made the amazing play last night. adam dunn waiting. we'll see if the middle of the order can do what they did last night. guzman, johnson -- pardon me, guzman, zimmerman and dunn were on base 10 times last night including their first nine at- bats. >> rob: we have the leadoff guy on right now. we need to do something here. get one, maybe two runs right here and start helping jordan zimmermann out a little bit. >> bob: by the way, you might have noticed the umpires hitting behind home plate. we understand they came down from canada. look at those guys.

that's funny. >> rob: i wonder how their strike zone is. >> bob: i hope it's bigger than these guys. 3-1. evidently, you can clear customs while wearing a black outfit and a mask. >> rob: oh, geez. >> bob: if you can't trust an umpire, who can you trust? that's prit pretty original, guys. have to admit. 3-1 to zim. he's pumping. that ball is well hit left center. vernon wells runs it down. >> rob: yeah, they have a vern orrin out -- vernon out there. he can run them down. >> bob: he's really good. >> rob: yes, he is. >> bob: vernon wells won three straight gold gloves 2004, 2005, 2006. >> rob: here it is real speedsmack off the bat. watch vernon wells get a great jump and easily neighboring sure doubleoff. you my man.

thanks, vernon. >> bob: he caught that ball before he got there because of the jump. >> rob: yeah, right off the crack of the bat. if it's off the end of the bat, you have no chance. he timed that perfect. >> bob: here is adam dunn. rolen playing up the middle in case they get a ground ball up the bag. that's not a ground ball, but it's way foul. all right. look who ends up with it. it's beach bash night. she could have worn that outfit to the beach and got a baseball. nice. adam dunn, 1-2 with a base hit up the middle. cubs, by the way, won that game against cleveland 8-7, so another one for the national

league today. cubs scored a run in the 10th to win it. derek lee hit two homers today. adam dunn off the end of the bat. scott rolen drifting over for it. he'll catch a foul ball after running about 100 feet for that, two outs. nats were supposed to see roy halladay tonight, and, rob, are you glad they didn't? >> rob: i did want to see roy pitch, but not against our team. look at that. 10 wins, 103 innings pitched. he can rack up complete games. one of the best pitchers in the major leagues right there. 10-1 in 14 starts. he's got a bad groin. >> bob: his career record is 141 and 67 -- 141-67. >> rob: he's ridiculous. >> bob: there's elijah

dukes. he'll pull it hard on the ground to scott rolen. that's it. leadoff man aboard. that's it for the nats stranding nick johnson. they've left seven runners. top of the sixth, 1-0, nats. - 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.

>> bob: well, he's a little early for father's day, but things are going pretty well. nats lead the blue jays 1-0 through five. we go bat -- go back