bat, but certainly picking it. >> rob: pick it in the field if you're not doing it with the bat. belliard will be leading off next inning. there you see him spin, take at least the fastest guy off the base pads in felix pie. at least they reduce that number. >> jim p.: here's gregg zaun. ground ball towards the hole, the other way, this one gets through. gregg zaun has a three-hit game. >> jim p.: he's been around long enough to know, hey, that's how tony gwynn did it. two of those tonight. he tricked him early on. you're going pitch me away, that's where i'll hit it. he's had a pretty good night. >> jim h.: he's also able to help the orioles pitchers get out of some serious jams. >> rob: that veteran leadership behind the plate, doing his best to get the most out of pitchers. he's been a clinic at the plate. doesn't get a lot of playing

time. you've got the new rookie sensation wieters in there almost every day, and he contributes with three hits. >> jim h.: may be a coincidence, maybe not. over his last five games he's now 9 for 13. >> rob: that will keep you in the big leagues. here's andino. and he takes a strike. >> jim p.: it was kind of interesting, gregg zaun was talking yesterday, he said, because of my uncle, pat and rick dempsey, he said, i came to the big leagues probably or at least into professional ball at 18 knowing how to catch. it's the hitting problem that's always been the difficult thing. tonight that hasn't been a problem. >> jim h.: there's a base hit. belliard was able to freeze melvin mora momentarily so melvin has to be held at third by juan sam well, and the orioles have the bases loaded. >> jim p.: melvin's job is not

to get doubled up. if the ball gets through for a base hit, you know the bases are going to be loaded. >> jim h.: so mora goes to third, zaun at second, andino is on at first with one down. here's brian roberts who is without a doubt due. he's 0 for 4 tonight and 0 for his last 14. >> jim p.: how about winning 11- 1 and one of the best lead-off guys in baseball having what for him is an off night. that 0 for 4 last night. >> jim h.: tonight he was robbed by gonzalez in the fifth inning on an amazing diving grab. there's been some spectacular defense played tonight on both sides. no errors in this game.

high fly ball slicing foul down the left-field line, and that will be back in the crowd. >> rob: roberts said coming into interleague play tonight, .304 lifetime batting average with nine home runs. very respectable in interleague play. nationals concentrated on just one guy in the line-up. you might want to go down the line-up a little bit more. >> jim p.: that's a good idea. they only circled brian. >> jim h.: bases loaded, one down. fouled back, and a good cut. it is amazing how humbling this game is and how quickly it happened. brian found the stroke on the road trip, he came home 8 for 23 feeling really good about his swing, now he's 0 for 8 in

the series with a walk. >> rob: adam jones is 0 for 13, hitting .203 in june and he's hitting the heck out of the ball against us in the last couple of nights. even that willie harris ball that he robbed against the wall was another ball that was smoked. >> jim h.: ball and two strikes on roberts. and it's a little low. good eye and a good take. >> rob: peaks and valleys. >> jim p.: were you into biorhythms when you played? >> rob: there are people that would read that stuff for me. horoscopes. >> jim h.: but you were a reliever. the phone would ring and they'd go, it's your turn. and you'd jump you and put on the cape and go get 'em. >> jim h.: 3-2. >> jim p.: there's more of a rhythm to starting. >> rob: doing crossword

puzzles, reading books. >> jim p.: my biorhythms was earl weaver. that was the ups and downs. mickey rooney. put you out there every fourth day. >> jim h.: bases loaded, 3-2, one down. roberts skies it to left. not that deep. willingham setting up, mora will tag. here comes mora. here comes the throw. it is off the plate and mora scores. there's a sac fly rbi and a big insurance run for the orioles as roberts drives in mora. >> jim p.: not only an rbi but a moral victory. boy, is it great when they get a runner to third with less than two outs and you get the job done. really difficult for mcdougal, especially when the count goes to 3-2. >> rob: well, josh willingham had time to surround that ball. he does catch it flat-footed. not a lot on the throw into the catcher. we talked about with adam

jones, addie said when bob was in here, the hardest part of the catch is better the catch. you have to surround it. try oh get some momentum coming home. he had enough time. not that that really would have saved the game, but -- >> jim p.: melvin mora took a look at juan sam well, the -- samuel, the orioles bench coach, do i have the right read, am i going? juan said, yes, tag up and get going. >> jim h.: adam jones fouls it back. a 2 for 4 night, including an infield hit. after a three-hit game last night. so the orioles leader multihit games has added another. he now has 29 multihit efforts. >> jim p.: mcdougal indicating it's not about velocity. he's gone up to 98. >> jim h.: zaun the lead runner, andino is the trail runner at first.

ground ball towards second. right there is belliard, plays it in between hops, gets it to first and the inning is over. 

 >> jim h.: lovely night at the ballpark. a nice shot of the moon. here is george sherrill who has been about as automatic as you can get going all the way back to early may. >> jim p.: they said you can't, he's given up one run in seven hits over his last 19 appearances. it was kind of when dave trembley because he was struggling against right-handed batters. lefties are 3 for 33, that's .091, that's never been a problem. but he change his windup. now all he has to do is lift up his leg, bring the arm up a little bit, better command. the one thing, rob, you don't get to see him as much as i do, but he's starting to throw some change-ups, so he's been around everything, cut fastball, curveball, now all of a sudden an occasional change-up. >> rob: so he's repeating delivery and he's more

consistent. >> jim p.: i think the velocity has gone from around 88, in spring training, the ball not coming out of his hand. and dave trembley said we may have to go to somebody else. >> rob: that will change new a hurry. >> jim p.: it's just trying to encourage him. >> rob: right. >> jim h.: gets ahead of belliard. kearns on deck. then alberto gonzalez here in the ninth inning for the nationals. jim johnson did a very good job in the 8th because the heart of the line-up came up at the time the nationals down by two. after allowing the lead-off single to zimmerman, he did not allow a run. in the ninth inning down by three, it's the lower third of the nationals line-up. >> jim p.: i still have oh get them out. >> jim h.: fouls it back. >> jim p.: kind of an interesting article in the washington post talking about they went up to ryan zimmerman with the passing of michael

jackson and he said, you know, it's kind of unamerican if you don't like michael jackson's music, and they asked ronnie belliard and he said, well, my mom bought mae red jacket just like michael jackson when i was a kid. i guess he used to wear it around. >> jim h.: popped up, center of the diamond, sherrill getting out of the way. here comes mora. to the left of the pitcher's mound he has it for the out. here's an update on the voting for the at&t player of the game. as voted on by the fans. nolan reimold with the three run home run leading with 57%, 26% for gregg zaun, matt albers 17%. tom and rick will have the results coming up on "nats xtra" post-game. >> jim p.: i think i'd split the vote tonight. if you're earl weaver, you love reimold, but how about the double play by albers turned this game around, gregg zaun

with three hits. >> rob: keeping guthrie from melting down. >> jim p.: especially in the first. got him out of the first inning with the double play to belliard. >> jim h.: the double play by albers also prevented the nationals from scoring which means guthrie is still the pitcher of record and the bullpen, they love to be able to hold the lead for the starter after he leads. >> jim p.: and the starter loves to have them hold them. >> jim h.: yes, he does. they're each nodding themselves yes in the different perspectives. >> rob: absolutely. it's your job. you want to save the game for him. >> jim p.: you don't like my rear end in come on, rob. >> rob: every time i go to the pub there in crystal city, i see you in a your underwear. >> jim p.: you've got to go to another pub. >> jim h.: breaking ball swing and a miss, he got him. what a pitch. not only good breaking, good dip, but it came in very off speed and two men down. >> jim p.: i think what happens

is when you change your windup, you're able to be more consistent. a curveball, such a feel pitch. starts it off the outside corner. the key to this at-bat is getting ahead of austin kearns. kearns has been in a slump, but he did get a big hit earlier in the ballgame for the nationals. >> jim h.: here is alberto gonzalez. >> rob: you can really see him close that front foot, kind of close up the hip. throws across his body. >> jim p.: every hitter i talk torques especially the lefties, they say deception. not always about the velocity. do you pick the ball up. i think also from what i've been able to observe, pitching is also location. and since he's made the little adjustment the location has been better. the finish on his pitches has been better. then he's addedded the change- up. >> jim h.: the fans have really

been into these games. they've been fantastic. >> rob: that will change when the red sox come into town. >> jim h.: pitch broken back ground ball to third, mora throws on the run, he gets it there and the orioles have won. back-to-back win this is this series. as sherrill earns the save. p - oh, it's on. - it's on. it's on. - 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.

 >> jim h.: we invite you to join us again tomorrow for more of the beltway series action. john lannan will be on the mown as the order look for the sweep, nats look for a win. game telecast at 1:30 on masn hd, masn, masn 2, and dc 50. jim hunter saying so long from

orioles park at camden yards. tonight's telecast, a masn presentation. hi, everybody. time for "nats xtra" post-game here on masn. johnny holliday along with ray knight. the nationals had a 2-0 lead, the nationals had a 3-1 lead. the orioles win it 6-3. five of the runs tonight scored by baltimore coming on the long ball. >> and most of those fastballs right down the middle. one breaking ball. martis, he wasn't sharp tonight. he threw 98 pitches, 57 strikes. that's just 55% strikes. and that has really been the negative that i've seen on him. it takes him a long time to put a hitter away. he's got a nice repertoire of pitches with the fastball, slider, occasional curveball, or more of a service type

pitch. it takes him a lot of pitches to get hitters out. if he makes one mistake, tonight with reimold fastball right there, to zaun fastball right there. we had a two-run lead but that's not a lot. that's a small ballpark. you hit the ball in the air, you've got a chance to leave the yard. >> the o's take the first two games of this weekend series, defining moments of the game tonight came when the nationals had the bases loaded and could not take advantage of it and push any runs across. >> i think anyone that's watched the nationals play realize this has become a much too familiar scenario. >> you're the best. double play there. belliard hits a hard ground ball to third. mora throws home, then austin kearns who had gotten a big hit for us earlier tries to pull that slider. when austin kearns going good, he lines that ball between first and second. he tries to pull the breaking ball down and away.

ground ball to the shortstop, result, turn it over. their third double play. >> ray, the line score 6-10-0 for baltimore, the nationals 3- 8-0. guthrie gets the win, he's now 6-7, sherrill gets the save, his 16th. martis takes the loss. guzman went two for four with a run scored and austin kearns, his first rbi since way back against the dodgers. he goes 1 for 4. reimold with a 1 for 3 night, then zaun had a home run, that's his third. baltimore wins by a score of 6- 3. they'll rap up the -- wrap up the series tomorrow, back at camden yards. so you close the door on this one and just look for tomorrow. >> you have to do that. we've had enough losses this year that we ought to be able to know how to close the door and try to come back and get them tomorrow. again, we saw the offense and we're going to show you

martis's night. as he worked hard early. first inning after roberts fouled out, jones singles up the middle. then huff walks on four straight pitches and reimold walks on a pitch up. how much he struggled early with pitches, and a nice change- up. when he throws that change-up where he wants to, they're not going to do much with it. then zaun, fastball down the middle, a little bit in. jerked it right down that foul line and was able to put a run on the board to make it 2-1. then fastballs away. change-ups. he started throwing the ball exceptionally well, not a whole lot happening there. line drive to left field in that inning. that was just the storyline as he was going through the middle part of the game. the line drive great play by alberto gonzalez off the bat of roberts. a little base hit that kind of started things rolling. tough play, i don't think you're going to make that play on adam jones anyway. now you've got two outs. you have a runner on first base. where is our infielders on this play. we've got one guy playing over

there behind first base. that's not rank pull. you have to have the guy over there. josh willingham looking for that home run by reimold. couldn't find it. it was two rows deep. >> martis's numbers tonight, he throws 98 -- 98 pitches, throws five innings, gives up the six hits, the four earned runs, three ground outs and 8 flyouts. what is the difference with them now than when he started out like a house afire. he did does have five of the nationals wins but he doesn't seem to be in that groove like he was earlier this season. >> in his mind, he doesn't know what pitch to use to put hitters away. he's got a good fastball, he has a good slider and he has a good change-up. he'll get one and two, but so many times it ends up being 3- 2, 2-2. picks here, picks there as opposed to getting a guy 1-2 and making up your mind what pitch you're going to go with

and go with that pitch. try to get an out on a 1-2 pitch so you use only 3 and 4 pitches in that at-bat. he hasn't struck out very many people so that indicates he's not going to miss a lot of bats. that tells you his late movement doesn't surprise anybody. his change-up is his most effective strikeout pitch, but after a while people will start just spitting on the change-up because he throws a lot of those changesups down fading out as you saw him swing, aubrey huff swing at a bad ball. he's not consistent. to me he's the most inconsistent of those starters. because he'll go out there, and he gave you the nine inning start back seven starts ago. since then it's almost been every other start, he's had a tough time. >> can't get past the fifth or sixth inning. you like his change-up as his best pitch now? >> you saw two home runs hit

off of him tonight on fastballs. they're just deciding they're not going to swing at the change-up, because when he throws a change-up the way he wants to, it's so effective with the late movement, they're not going to hit it anyway. so they're looking for a ball a little more up in the strike zone. when they see the change-up or they recognize it, they try to lay off of it. his change-up can only be effective if he establishes the fastball, and establishes the inside part of the plate, so then the outside part and down on top of the plate is more effective. >> so the nats and the orioles wrap up this weekend series, the battle of the beltways segment two coming up tomorrow. after that the nats will fly down to florida to begin a series against the marlins on monday and tuesday evenings on masn 2 beginning at 6:30 with our "nats xtra" pregame. then a wednesday afternoon affair at 11:30 in the morning.

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johnny holliday along with ray knight. welcome back, everybody, "nats xtra" post-game here on masn. 6-3 the orioles knocking off the nats tonight at camden yards. nats bats were cooking a little bit in that first inning to give shairon martis a little 2- 0 lead. >> we came out smoking. you're setting up a situation where you might score five or six runs. guzman singles to center field. wright here, line drive has guthrie throwing that sinker down. zimmerman walks. walks dunn-for-an rbi. you've already got one in, bases loaded, nobody out, you've got to get a good ball to hit. this man does.

josh bard walks. two runs scored, both of them via rbi walks. then we didn't do anything after that. it's the fourth inning. willie hits his second double of the ballgame. kearns singles to left on the first big base hit he's had in a long time. and that put us up. at that point 3-1, but that's it other than the missed opportunities which we're going to show you in a moment. >> was happy to see austin kearns get his 16th rbi of the season. willie harris a base hit tonight, a single, a run. ryan zimmerman not enough hits tonight, only 8 for the nats. we have talked about opportunities. the nationals had plenty of chances to get some runs tonight. we've seen this storyline before. bases loaded, nobody out, and they just can't get the runs

across. got to drive manny acta nuts. >> it's driving a lot of us nuts. manny is the one getting paid to have to deal with all this stuff. yeah, we're getting in situations every night, where we're getting runners on second and third. then a walk. now the bases are loaded. you've got oh get a good ball to hit. that's a fastball middle in up, you're going to hit that ball on the ground unless you pull it foul or rake it foul. slider away. that's not what you want to do. you've got to get a ball that you can handle and drive in the outfield. that pitch for austin kearns is a ball up and out over the plate. you see the spin of a breaking ball, you take it. you're going to hit that ball on the ground, especially if it's going hard away from you. or you go up to the plate, runners on, bases loaded. you see that the second baseman is back. you know this guy is going to throw you sliders. you move a little bit up on the plate, sit on that slider, but you sit on it thinking about driving it to right center field or to the right-field line. that way you're going to take

the roll over out of your swing, drive the ball, drive in a run just by a sacrifice fly. oftentimes you hit a double into the right center field gap. entirely too many times we're pulling breaking balls, rolling over them and you just got to have a clue. i wasn't the best hitter in the world, but i know one thing, i had a plan when i went up there with runners in scoring position. any good rbi guy, they do. they're looking for a spot, they're looking for a location. they do not swing until they get a ball in that area. when they get a ball in that area, they usually do some damage with it. >> too many guys going for the fences maybe? >> i know in some situations we've got guys swinging too hard, but with bases loaded, you just make contact. but you don't want to make ground ball contact and you certainly know that the two pitches that are going to get you are the sinker down and in and the slider moving down and away from you. you can move up in the box.

it's easier to put the pressure on the pitcher. he's the one in the hole. my father told me when i was in little league at 9 years old, ray, it doesn't matter if the score is 10-0, and you go to the plate or if it's 1-0, he still has to throw the ball over that 17 inches. know the pitch you want to hit, look for that pitch, be aggressive to that area, let your eyes tell you know no. don't do all this thinking. your eyes tell you new york city you hit that thing. you can't have your mind going to, i got to get a hit. no. you look for a good ball and then you drive it when you get it. >> enough said. when you get the bases loaded, you've got to get something out of there. >> you do. you got to make contact. you got, the pressures on the infield. they're playing back. anything in the air. you got to think about hitting the ball in the air. if you've got the infield back and you've got a runner on