>> it is the final week of interleague play and the washington nationals will face off against a familiar foe tonight. the 2009 brat l -- battle of the beltways wraps up in baltimore as the nats and o's once again renew their rivalry with local bragging rights on the line. a month ago the birds from charm city took 2 ---2-3 from the nationals at nats park and the men from d.c. are looking for pay back. tonight the star also be out at camden yards as zimmerman, dunn and guzman take on roberts, markakis and jones. right here on masn!

>> time for "nats xtra" pregame. tom davis along with the silver fox, ray knight. this will be take two, chapter two. the next three ballgames, the weekend series at camden yards, the nats against the orioles. our show is always brought to you by our good friends at the verizon wireless. the nats coming off a heck of a win against the boston red sox 9-3 while the orioles got racked pretty good down there in florida. they got swept by the marlins and yesterday got pounded pretty good 11-3. >> the orioles have done a little like us. they haven't scored runs over consistent periods of time, johnny. we exploded last night and we're going to go to the tape and show that. we were able to get four hits, four runs, a base on ball, just line drives all over the ballpark. willingham, the base hit.

zimmerman that got hit by a pitch by johnson, but he is in the lineup tonight and bards, a clutch base hit to right field and then arthur andersen hernandez ends up with a two- run single to left center field scoring two more runs. four big runs to give jordan zimmermann something to work with and we were never ahead as the offense was able to tack on in three other innings and get clutch base hits all night long and willie harris, the big home run after bard doubled in the seventh inning to put the ballgame away. >> you know the nationals 5-4, ray, and that run against the blue jays, the yankees, and the boston red sox, in fact, one time last week they had won four straight ballgames. might there be the turning point of the season for this club? >> i think it is a turning point because i believe these young pitchers believe they can pitch in the lig beg -- big leagues. and every time they go out and jordan zimmermann was nails. we have just gotten good pitching. martis strucked the other day. johnny, it is all about pitching.

i don't care how many runs you score, if you can pitch and play solid defense -- >> it is that simple. >> it is. we have amassed a good young starting staff and they're going to get better and better a decision to be made with olsen. he's coming back. she going to make us better. so no question about it. we're in every ballgame. it is a matter of if we hit. i believe we'll hit. i just don't know how much we're going to hit consistently because over the last 15 games, we have had 11 of those game where is we scored three runs or less. you're not going to win scoring three runs or less. convenient the best pitchers give up four runs. so we're just going to have to be a little better in situational hitting and be a little more selective at the plate. like last night. last night, we can do that. we can do that three or four times a week and break out and explode like that. >> the catching committee by committee which is jesus flores went down, has been shared by wil nieves and josh bard and all of a sudden bard was catching yesterday. he is going to catch again tonight. the reason being he is swinging a pretty good bat.

>> we have been working hard every day and i give him a lot of credit. he has been really challenging me to just not think so much about my mechanics and just get in good pitches to hit. i feel like it has freed my mind up a bit and i give him a lot of credit. he's -- you know, he is the best hitting coach i've had in my career and he works relentlessly with all of us and he really wears it on his sleeve when we don't do as well and he's doing everything that he can and, you know, it's great that we're able to produce some runs because he is working really hard. >> boy, how about josh bard this month of june, one of the hottest hitters in the national league. >> johnny, he could always hit he was a two-time all american at texas tech. he is one of the best hitters in all of the united states. he hit .285. he hit .338 in san diego two years in a row. if you combine the year in 2007, 2008, he had 42 doubles, 15 home runs and drove in 90

runs. she a guy that can swing the bat. they talked about him defensively. i looked something up. you know he has the fifth best earned run average for the catcher in all of baseball over the last 3,000 innings that he's caught? just 4.01 earned run average. so he must be putting down the right numbers. >> and he's a guy is that is happy to be with the nationals after what happened to him in spring training with the boston red sox. he finds himself out of a job and hooks on with the nationals and he is getting the job done. speaking of getting the job done, defensively nobody does it better at third than ryan zimmerman. let's go to debbi taylor. she had a chance to sit down with the third baseman. debi? >> thank you very much, johnny. ryan, let's talk about your recent doe nation to virginia. they made the college world series and how proud of you of the program that is being built down there? >> i think it is awesome, for them to take a next step and continue into omaha i think has been impressive to watch. me and a couple of the guys

that were there and feel like we had a part in that and we enjoyed our time there and it is just nice to be able to give back to people who got me where i am today. >> speaking of where you are today here at camden yards, the orioles park, do you enjoy being part of this beltway series? >> it is fun. i think, you know, everyone else make as bigger deal out of it than we do. we enjoy playing every day, but for the fans and all of the people around this area, i think it is a good time and it is a growing rivalry, and as both of our teams continue to grow up and get older, i think it is going to get better and better each year. >> over your career you're hitting .296 against the orioles. why so successful? >> i can't tell you. i don't know. i enjoy playing here. i think it is a cool park and fen obviously i enjoy playing at home. it is nice to be able to be a part of this rivalry and i think it makes it fun. >> ryan, baseball is such a game of streaks. you lad the 30-game hit streak and then recently you had an oh- fer 17 slump. since then you're hitting .333.

do you just have to try to find a consistency there? >> yeah, i think -- that is the hardest part and this year being the first year, i kind of got off to a good start. it is nice because you're going to have the oh-fer 15s. you're going to go through one, sometimes two streaks a year. it happens to everyone. if you're up at .320 and .330, it makes ate lot easier to handle. the ultimate goal is obviously to be consistent and' go through any of those, but this game makes it kind of tough not to do that. >> working with rick eckstein or shortening the body movement, does that help you see pitches better? that's what manny said. >> yeah, it wasn't really anything mechanical. i hit some balls hard during that stretch that were caught and it is just kind of bad luck at the same time. maybe, you know, you get out a few times and in the case of trying to do -- try to do too much every new and then. other than that you don't really change too much, just ride it out and keep working hard. >> finally this team has play sod well?

interleague, especially the yankee series and even the red sox. what do you hope to do this weekend against the orioles? >> i think, you know, we're a young team that has just gotten better as the years have gone on. we're kind of hitting our stride. this is the best we have played all year and it just so happens to be in the interleague. hopefully we can continue to do what we have been doing and pitch well and play good defense and get our timely hits and continue to do it for the rest of the year and not just in interleague. >> thank you very much. ryan zimmerman. let's go back to studio. johnny and ray? >> thank you very much. a pretty simple solution. get some hits and good pitching and see if you can win some ballgames. speaking of, that we'll take a look at the lineup force the nationals and the o's when we come back! ♪

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feel tomorrow. >> percentage chance you'll play tomorrow? >> i'll play. i'll be in there? and he is going to be in the lineup a little shot to the leg from john smoltz that is not going to keep him out of the game. here is the lineup. christian guzman leads off. he'll be at short. johnson with the .310 average. and ryan zimmerman at third. dunn will be in the clean-up spot tnt as the d.h. willingham at left, elijah dukes at right. josh bard will catch and followed by willie harris and anderson hernandez. nick johnson, .419 on-base percentage this year. seven knot the national league. team batting average for washington, .259, tied for sixth in the national league. for the orioles, left fielder nolan reimold, his first career home run came off of mariano rivera for the yankees back on may 20th. he is among the american league leader force the triple counsel. the o's lineup tonight, brian roberts leads off at second.

jones will be in center field, nick markakis, after four hits yesterday against the marlins, he'll be in right and then huff, reimold in left field, luke scott the d.l., -- d.h., mora and andino will be playing at shortstop. the team batting average for the o's is .270, and that is tied for sixth best in the american league. welcome back back. johnny holliday along with ray knight. it is nats' extra pre-game on masn brought to you by our friends at verizon wireless. we haven't had this in some time. going back for the chin music, and, of course, when you have the chin music, you have to have the director. and tonight, cynthia hit it. absolutely wonderful. subject number one, mr. fox. >> josh bard, does he surprise you the way he has been playing behind the plate? and in the batter's box? >> not at all, johnny. i saw him play in san diego and he can swing the bat. outstanding fastball hitter. he pulls the ball. he's got a great idea at the

plate. very disciplined. over that career there he played for cleveland, drafted cleveland, boston, san diego and now with the nationals. he has the ability, johnny, to see things. he works really hard, maybe the hardest worker. he is in the cage ever day. he came out of college as the best hitter in america, and he's come here and f -- and finally getting a chance. the tough thing about josh, it has always been you don't do quite enough and then he had great years in san diego and people always look at him as a back-up guy. i don't think he is that type of player. i think he has to play every day, get 450 at-bats, and he's going to put up numbers. i think he'll hit 35 doubles, 15 home runs and he's showing us that he can swing that bat and hitting in the clutch. he's not afraid to hit with runners in scoring position. >> when you speak about hitting, hitting in the clutch, one guy that's kind of fallen off the radar screen somewhat, you know he can hit because he has hit in the past, and that's

ronnie belliard. the question to you, silver fox, what is his role as you head for the final three months of this season? >> i'm not sure. i think gonzales probably has taken over that role of middle infielder. he ha certainly swinging the bat. he is a little better runner, defensively. but ronnie belliard is a heck of a player. he is a guy that hit .290, .287 for this ball club and has done a tremendous job. the only problem is he is in a situation where he is not going to get to play much. like any hitter, the toughest thing to do is to come off the bench. if you're not getting enough at- bats to stay sharp and he is not. this year instead of staying in that mode where he is trying to hit the ball to right center field, every time he seems to pinch hit, he is trying to hit a three-run home run, but that is the tendency because you're so fired up. he just needs to play, but i don't know if he is going to get a chance to play here. >> when you're talking about playing, i don't think anyone in this ball club is playing as well on an overall extended period of time that is christian guzman. he's had seven of his last

eight games, multi-hit games. he has only played 57 games this year and look at what he has done for this ball club. >> over the last 1,003 at-bats, he is hitting impressively. he was injured in 2007, 2008, .316 and now he is shipping .325. johnny, he drive as baseball. he is a man who is going to hit 40 doubles, 10, 12 triples possibly because he runs well. but every night he hits the ball hard, consistently. and he has been -- you can talk about the zimmermans, you can talk about flynn, the johnsons, he has been our most consistent consistent hitter contactwise over the last three years and amongst the best hitters in all of baseball over that same period. >> when you look at guzman, .326 batting average, best among shortstops in all of major league baseball, and, as ray mentioned, this guy is maybe the catalyst for being the most consistent on this

ball club. we're going to take a break, silver fox. we have a lot more to come what a day for the kids today because manny acta had a very special day with the youngsters at boys town in d.c. we'll talk about that and show you that in a minute! ?

>> when scott olson comes back, the nationals are going to have a decision to make probably between ross detwilerer and stammen to decide which pitch tore send down to syracuse and it will be interesting to see what they do here because detwilerer was the guy that wasn't really on anyone's radar to make this team. he was the first-round pick in 2007, and he had a pretty disasterous spring training and nobody really expect him to be here. the plan was to deep him at syracuse and let him develop, but he has pitched well enough here to keep him full-time and

stammen has been in the minors full-time and was not really on anyone's radar to be here but kind of came in the back door a little bit and also has pitched well. it will be interesting to see what the nationals do in terms of -- they've had these two guys on the big league roster and they're going to be sending one counsel down. they're going to have things to work on and have to stay on the team's radar and perform well enough to get back up here in september. so when olson comes back up, which will probably be mono, that decision is going to be worth watching. back to you guys. >> thank you very much, the hot corner segment here from the washington timeses.

a look at the upcoming schedule for the nationals. they have two more ballgames tonight in baltimore at camden yards against the o's. that will be tomorrow night at 6:30 at masn two and on sunday, and then the marlins serious down in florida on monday, tuesday and wednesday. and our air time is going to be 6:30 on monday and tuesday. and then 11:30 a.m. on wednesday. this was a very, very special day for a bunch of kids at boys town in washington, d.c. special, you ask, because manny acta was there and manny was talking about, to the youngsters, life is a lot like baseball. >> life is about choices. the quarterback, you run the ball or do you pass the ball? basketball, either you shoot or pass. baseball, you either bunt or you let the guy hit. choices. everywhere you go. excuses are not valid. it doesn't matter where you're growing up, who you're growing up around. no. if you grew up with somebody, and they're taking the wrong turn, you don't have to follow them. you can still be buddies and you can still be friends. you don't have to follow them. it is a choice you have to make. if you think intensive is expensive, check out ignorance. that's a lot more expensive being ignorant than the education because there's a higher price to pay by being

ignorant. >> ray, don't you wish that every single person watching our show tonight could visit with manny acta like you and i do around the batting cage, have a chance to sit down, go one-on-one with this gentleman and get the real feeling of what manny acta is all about? >> no question about it. i have been in baseball 40 years, and this guy is the most consistent, fair man that i have been around as a manager. tremendous character, great integrity, and, you know, i am so glad that stan gave him the positive deal, the backing, and, you know, some people say, well, that is is a sure sign of being gone, but i don't think so. manny has just weathered a tremendous amount of adversity and has never changed. i've got tremendous respect for him, and i'm glad to call him my friend. >> and when you "talk back" about stan kasten, there were reports about a week or so ago about this is going to be his last weekend and so phot as manager with the nationals. stan kasten came out and had this comment yesterday. in manny's case, i happen to be

a big fan of his. i have always from the beginning supported manny. i can't predict whether he'll work here, but i think he will. i think he is going to serve as a long-term manager here that is my hope. that was his comments taken from the national press club speech that the president of the nationals gave just a couple of days ago. >> he mentioned bobby cox. bobby cox has been with the atlanta braves now for 20 years, and this is a man looking for stability. stan kasten is looking for stability. when you start making changes with your manager, we've changed pitching coaches, all of the coaches last year, the one thing stable thing that i have seen in this ball club, not the one alot of stability, but -- is manny acta. you make a statement, and it creates stability for the organization. >> i don't know how he has done what he has done, but he has done wit smoke and mirrors. it is time for the stay in the game -- brought to you we our friends at just for men hair color. take a look at tyler cliffford. he comes in out of the bullpen

last night a24-year-old reliever acquired by the nats from the yankees in 2007. his career with the nats is 1- 1, 5.11 e.r.a., zero career holds, but eight great saves and he is from syracuse. we come back in the moment. stay in the game, incidentally from just for men hair color. - it's on. - it is totally on. jimmy, it's on. it's on. oh, yeah, it's on. pilot: affirmative, it's on.

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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. >> nats' extra pre-game brought to you in part by corona and corona light. relax and do so responsibly. the two ball clubs take the field tonight a couple of guys know each other quite well. did you know that willie harris and brian roberts were teammates at bowie back in 2001. >> it was fun, man. we had a good time playing. i think he was batting first and tim raines jr. was batting second and i was batting third and that was three guys who could run a little bit back then when we were 21, 22 years old. it was good time. he was playing short evident.

i played second and we had a lot of fun. i wish they had kept it that way for a while. obviously they moved him to second base and he is doing a great job there and i'm proud of him. >> we definitely had a bond there. there were so many of us. a lot of us ended up at the same spots. willie harris and i had a great time. i loved playing with him. he is a fun guy to be around. he enjoys being on the field. i always felt like he was a big league player. >> always a good time when you face guys you came up in the minor leagues with. >> you form bonds, and then you always watch them. when you're watching a professional game or even a college game, if you don't know anyone, you don't have last interest. when you know someone, it whets your interest and that's the way it is. those friendships are things that -- friendships that last forever. >> that's why i admire watching you tonight, brother. you're so professional. >> speaking of professional, fox, detwilerer will try to get his first major league win for the nationals.

>> he is actually throwing the ball extremely well. he has only had two bad outings back in may and june back-to- back. he has only averaged five hits. i love his arm. i love the way he comes at people, his tenacity, the breaking ball and the changeup. i don't see any reason -- i'm going to predict that he is going to be here. i just don't see him sending him out. bergesen, they're really excited. he had a tremendous year last year in double-a winning 15 games. they're talking about him rookie of the year pitcher. good slider. i haven't seen him in person yet, but i know rick dempsey really likes him and the way he keeps the ball down. >> this guy hasn't lost a game since way back, may 19. >> that is a while. >> a pretty tough pitcher. >> yes, and the earned run average is decent. he throws the ball, a lot of movement. he throws strikes and his defense works really well behind him. >> so a good pitching match-up tonight. we thank you for watching us here. for ray knight, i'm johnny holliday.

stick around, bob carp per -- carpenter and rob dibble coming up next, the nats and the orioles another ms camden yards! two beers! you got it! are you insured? do you know when your beer is perfectly cold? or do you risk drinking a warm one? if you have the new coors light cold-activated can,

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