understanding what's important.  it's the finale in the battle of the beltways as the orioles and the nationals get together one more time. last night, defensive excellence on both sides. alberto gonzalez and melvin mora. the birds have won the first two games today, going for the sweep. nats fans say no way. birds fans say bring it on on masn. >> on a sunday afternoon at orioles park at camden yards, it is the finale of interleague baseball, the final game of the three game series in the battle of the beltways as the orioles once again welcome in the washington nationals. hi, everybody. jim hunter with jim palmer, bob carpenter, rob dibble coming up. the orioles looking for a three

game sweep. what's encourage inning the two wins, two different styles of games and still two victories. >> and two closely contested ballgames. the game on friday night, they get 16 hits, they win 11-2 but they get 8 runs in the sixth inning. last night they're down early, 3-1, they get the big home run, they get two more home runs. today i don't know how many home runs you can hit off john lannan because he's been very special for the nationals. >> nationals go back into n.l. east competition following the game. >> of course it's on to florida for the nationals, the orioles know all about playing down there. ryan zimmerman bats cleanup for the first time since october 1st of 2006. >> i think it's a nice switch. you've got willie harris and cristian guzman at the top, now you have nick johnson in the three hole, then adam dunn. but anything to get ryan zimmerman going. if you can get ryan zimmerman going, then maybe adam dunn

gets going, that's, the middle of our line-up has been really hurting lately. we've got to start scoring more than three runs a ballgame. when your team e.r.a. is 5, you can't be scoring 3 runs a game. >> no doubt who is the ace of this staff, it's john lannan. >> he's got a big heart. he is going to attack the strike zone, he's going to come right after this orioles line- up and that's exactly what you have to do. you can't let them get comfortable in there. hopefully john lannan will do better than the first two games. >> for a change john lannan is older than his opposing starter in terms of major league experience. the nats and orioles battling today at camden yards. 

 >> jim h.: hazy day at orioles park at camden yards, but a

lovely day for baseball as the birds and nats conclude the interleague series as the orioles playing very well in the first two games, look to complete a three-game sweep. starting line-up for the nationals today. willie harris leading off in center field, cristian guzman back at shortstop. guzman brings a 10-game hitting streak into today's game, nick johnson bats third, adam dunn will dh. >> jim p.: take a look at our pnc scouting report on david hernandez. he's got big league stuff. he can throw 92 to 95. they call his fastball the invisible heater because it just seems that hitters don't usually pick it up. stay out of the middle of the plate. that's when he gets in trouble. fastball coming in, has to be in and out, really back to the future because he's one of the future stars of this orioles staff. he's dominated at the minor

league level, strikeout guy. another opportunity because koji uehara has for the second time this year has gone back on the disabled list. >> jim h.: david hernandez has what has been described to me, jim, as a swing and a miss fastball. tell me about that. >> jim p.: you know, dave schmidt talked to me in spring training about it, he said it's deception. scottie mcgregor had it. fernandez throws it a lot harder. it's the ability in most cases to get guys to not pick up the ball for whatever the reason is. >> jim h.: next pitch is off the plate. 1-1. willie harris starting in center field and batting lead- off. one thing willie brings to this team is a lot of speed. he's hit in 6 of his last 8. he

went too far. foul tip actually. >> rob: he brings the versatility of a ty wigginton. he is a switch hitter, he can do a little bit about everything. that's willie harris. excuse me, he's a total left- hander, but he'll play any position on the field. >> jim h.: out of georgia, which also produced hall of famer jackie robinson. his number retired in every major league city by every franchise by the commissioner. a ball and two strikes on willie harris. hernandez, 24 years old. this is outside, 2-2. he's out of sacramento, california, and a 16 round pick in 2005. >> rob: i like the fact we have three contact guys right at the top of the order. you have willie, cristian, johnson. >> jim h.: fouls it back. >> jim p.: willie, we saw it last night, where he took a 1-2

pitch off of jeremy guthrie who looked like early on at least the first two batters, had pretty good stuff. guzman singled, then jeremy guthrie walked in a couple of runs. >> jim h.: breaking ball outside. >> rob: i always felt when you get a guy like harris who can steal bases six out of seven, you really have to play him away and pitch him that way. it's all right to throw breaking balls when you're 0-2. >> jim h.: he'll go to the bag unassisted. that ball was plastered by aubrey huff and he was able to get it in the heal of the glove. one away. salazar takes mora's place. outfield, reimold, jones, markakis. very good outfield for the orioles. thing about the orioles defense last night, they win 6-3, but they did turn four double

plays. you will not have the same guys out there that were able to do that for you last night. there's a change-up. he's got a pretty good breaking ball. i asked gregg zaun who caught him, he said fastball, good velocity, very deceptive sometimes. it's straight. but it's a good breaking ball. he threw his change-up a lot. >> jim h.: line drive, that is slicing foul down the left- field line. >> rob: it's funny to hear you say you turned four double plays. from my perspective the nationals hit into four double plays. that's why i love combining forces, because you're seeing a different perspective with your ball club, i'm seeing a different one from mine and things we need to do to better ourselves and turn the corner here and go in a different direction. >> jim p.: manny acta said we could have scored eight or nine runs last night. i think the approach was maybe -- that was a 3-2 pitch, but

the 2-0 pitch that if he'd hit to the right side they definitely would have got the tying run in. >> jim h.: lined to left. reimold is there. has it for the out. so david hernandez and nolan reimold, two players each drafted in 2005, now with the big league club combining on that play and two men out. >> jim p.: i once pitched a playoff game in cincinnati where tom glavine who is on his way to the hall of fame, threw six double play balls in a 1-0 victory. he kept the ball at the middle of the plate, turned it over. added a little bit, subtracted. >> rob: that's the thing we've been talking about is not falling into this frame of mind where you're lulled by the pitcher into hitting his pitch. they get ahead and then they throw off speed stuff down and away. you try to pull it. you hit it on the ground, and in certain situations, instead of trying to strike out two

guys, you throw one pitch, you get a double play, you get out of the inning quicker. >> jim h.: it's a called strike. well, the pitcher who has really had a positive overall effect on this pitching staff is brad bergesen. brad bergesen is exactly the pitcher you just described. two pitches, hit a ground ball to short, next guy. he does not care in the least about strikeouts. i think it's had a positive effect on the entire staff. fly ball to jones. our 737s fly to over 65 cities across the country every day. woman over p.a.: this is your final boarding call. all passengers... each with an average speed of 590 miles per hour. almost as fast as you. nothing's gonna hold you down. starting august 16th, fly southwest airlines from bwi airport to boston logan for just $49 one-way. bags fly free on southwest so our low fares stay low.

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grab your bag. it's on.  >> jim h.: the gates are open at orioles park, no score. starting line-up for the orioles, birds come in having won the first two games in the series. adam jones in the lead-off spot with brian roberts off, and ty wigginton batting second. markakis up, and reimold with scott dh'ing. >> rob: give you the pnc scouting report on john lannan. john lannan has beaten the mets and the yankees in his last four starts, do not hang that change-up to this team, they will hit it out of the ballpark. jam them in if you can and make them move their feet. last night they were way too comfortable, night before even more. not doing a great job of getting these guys uncomfortable in the box. >> jim h.: this pitching match-

up today is a testament to good scouting. john lannan is an 11th round draft pick in 2005, out of ciena college in new york. his mound opponent today a 16th round pick by the orioles in 2005, david hernandez. so an 11th rounder and a 16th rounder scaring off in a big league game. >> rob: the nationals have won three of those last four starts. that's his job, get a win for the team, or put them in a situation where they have a chance to win. >> jim p.: at 93, that was the first fastball. >> rob: that's a little bit abnormal for him. he's going to be 89 to 92, maybe 91. >> jim h.: change-up is high, ball three. so what he's always done against the orioles, just command the ball very well. he's been able to make the right-handed hitters have to cover the right-hand corner with that change-up. when you establish there as many great lefties have, to be

able to get a lead off him. >> rob: he does not walk a lot of guys. look at his april, may and june. may e.r.a. coming down, not getting a lot of run support. look at the innings pitched go number june, over 7 innings to start now, that's your job one as a major league starter, get into the 7th or 8th inning and be the bridge to the bullpen. here's the last pitch. he may be flying open a little bit or overthrowing because when you're not winning a lot of ballgames, he's the ace of the staff, he's got over 50 career starts, nobody is even close to that behind him, maybe he's a little bit pumped up today to try to be the closer or stopper and stop this losing streak. >> he is a veteran. the rookies have started the 19 of the last 23 games for the nationals. >> jim h.: right field. dukes will move in on the ball. he has it for the out.

one down. >> rob: here's your defense. willie harris in center, elijah dukes a lot more speed in right field today, josh willingham getting the start in left field. hernandez is over there at second now, nick johnson back at first base, guzman at short. a lot of speed out there. zimmerman at third base over there. getting the start today, john lannan, from new york. >> jim h.: born on long island. went to college at ciena which is up near albany. >> rob: had a chance to talk to his high school baseball coach when he was up in new york. he's a leader, he's got a big heart. i love watching this kid pitch. doesn't have the best stuff, but he's got the best approach. >> jim p.: but 88 to 93, that should get a lot of guys out if you can command your stuff. we all know he's got a good

change-up. >> jim h.: looking at his numbers from last year, he went 9 and 15 and an e.r.a. of 3.91 and not seeing him all the time, the first wonder is how the heck can you go 9 and 15 with that impressive an e.r.a. markakis lifts it to left field. it hung up there just long enough for him and two men down. so markakis is retired and two away. he's not out of it yet, because here comes a red-hot hitter aubrey huff. >> jim p.: of course last year nobody in the american league with more extra-base hits. you can see the numbers right there, six rbi's, a home run, good numbers against the nats. also he's handled the lefties pretty well. >> jim h.: aubrey huff takes the strike on the curveball. now 10 home runs on the year.

adam jones has 12 to -- excuse me, luke scott has 14, adam jones has 12. >> jim p.: how they try oh get him out. is a lot of slow stuff. but against the yankees, he hit a couple of three run home runs on curveballs. so it's not like he can't hit these pitches. it's just he's such a good fastball hitter. >> rob: if you're going to change speeds, you better keep it down in the zone. especially with reimold, markakis, huff, adam jones. they get their arms extended, they're going to hit it out of the ballpark. >> jim p.: another thing is, we talk about it so often, is that most left-handed hitters leave the ball down. aubrey's a great high ball hitter. especially the fastball. >> jim h.: lannan has allowed 12 home runs over his 15 starts. as jim mentioned in the open, the orioles last night found that home run stroke with three home runs in the game.

>> rob: he's given up three home runs, is they've been solos. he's not walking guys, he's not giving up the three run home runs, he's just giving up solos. you can give up 35 home runs a year, just try to make them solos. >> jim h.: big sweeping curveball and lannan gets out of it.   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.

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 >> jim h.: no score, one base runner through one. there's david hernandez back with the team. koji uehara officially now on the disabled list and david back. this is his fourth appearance. gets ahead of ryan zimmerman, 0- 1. he was looking fastball and he swung through it. >> jim p.: that's that well located fastball. it was out of the middle of the plate with a little bit of giddyup on it. >> jim h.: david hernandez has always been a strikeout pitcher coming up through the minor leagues. popped foul, wide of first. huff hoping for a play but it stays in the stands. that's a strike for 0-2. he had

614 strikeouts in 530 innings in the minor league. >> rob: very impressive. >> jim p.: i struck out 14 back on the 22nd of may. on the year, 3-2 with a very low earned run average. not a lot of run support down at triple-a norfolk. >> rob: the one thing i do like, 18 walks. not just a power pitcher. >> jim p.: i watch his windup. he's one of these guys that fans on the first base side. pretty good balance. >> jim h.: high fly ball, right center field, chasing jones back but he has a play. adam has it for the out. let's welcome in amber. >> the orioles minor league catching coordinator has been up with the club. i was talking with him about matt wieters. he said overall he's very impressed of the way matt has been handling all aspects of the major leagues. but the one area he wants to

see improvement on is matt throwing out runners on the base pads. right now 12 runners have attempted to steal, he's only thrown out one, don said he thinks it's because he's rushing a little bit. up here he feels like the ball exchange is too quick, he's not getting a good grip on the ball and he's noticed his footwork is off. he wants to see those changes, but he's pretty confident that matt will get back to the guy he was throwing runners out in the minor leagues. >> jim h.: thank you very much. that's a good point, because what wieters has gone through now, uh-oh, i'm in the big leagues, so everything that comes at me is new. he has to feel as if he belongs and remember it's the same game. >> jim p.: well, it is. earl weaver used to always say, just go through the execution. but don made a very good point this morning, they came out and worked on his throwing yesterday, as don, he walks with the best of them, on-base

percentage, takes the walk, he said there's a tendency, it's kind of like when youowe getting hit as a pitcher, you stop throwing strikes. y rom rs are better, everything is better athis level. base runners are ju go ahead, s >> rob: i talked to gregzaun erday about wieters, he was telling me, he said, he's most impressed by how he's handled everything else. i mean the top er and k, 's e.r.a. before i woy about the guys stealing bases, because a lot of times you steal bases off the pitchers. % your pitchers aren'g the ball to home plate in under 1.2 seconds then wieters has no

chance, neither would if i sit there yesterday where we did the throwing stopwatch, he hurries. i don't want him to hurry. i want him to work on being a little bit quicker with his release, but not to do it consca again, the when we talk about matt wieters, he's got a great ara closer for georgia tech. >> jim h.: the breaking ball catches willingham, two men down. first strikeout for david hernandez. >> jim p.: what do you think, fastball hitter and they're able to get ahead of him. it's a back door hook, but he gives up on it. ds up in the middle of the plate. it's got good h and itmust ol willingh s that was iide. >> rob: you saw where he wsu

that was where the pitch was supposed to be. the natch comes in the back door to a left-handed hitter chutely throws him. >> jim p.: i think the one thing, you can see it already, the good curveball, but wieters is presenting a much better target. something maybe was a struggle a week ago and he's conscious of it. just so many things going on when you come to the big leagues as a catcher. >> rob: we're talking about learning the hitters, the opposition, you got to learn the pitchers at this level, you've got to learn the pitchers you're hitting off of. you've got 15 things going on to be a rookie catcher at the major league level now. >> jim p.: and then the expectations. >> rob: right. >> jim p.: that kind of exacerbates all the things you're going through. >> rob: that's what i liked about what zaun said. that the kid's handling all the ancillary stuff with all the interviews, you've got more press. he's going to have to say, hey,

listen, i'll do all that other stuff later. i've got to concentrate on my job right now. >> jim h.: he's down on strikes. back-to-back k's for hernandez. ♪ ♪ ♪

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for all the details, online orioles.com. nolan reimold, here he is leading off in the second against john lannan. each team has had a base runner via a walk. >> rob: i like what wil nieves is doing right off the bat. he's pounding on the dirt saying put this ball down low. >> jim p.: there's your fastball in. i think you really have to command both sides of the plate. let's give lannan some credit. anybody who throws 87 to 93. >> rob: no, he's not a soft tosser. but we have zimmerman, detwiler can rush it up there at 95. he's not afraid to attack any hitter. >> jim p.: that's going get a