>> bob: 2-2. a little bit inside, right off the hands of willingham. he could not have done much with that. and the count goes full. this guy is all around the zone right now. >> rob: he is on the edge of this pitch track right here. i think he threw it through the box. remember, the camera is off center. >> bob: wow! >> rob: take the walk but where is the pitch? one on, one out. get your family fun pack ticket and make your plan for sunday. you can get a right field upper terrace ticket. get a hot dog, non-alcoholic drink. bring the family. kids run the bases after wards, and that goes for sunday against the braves. >> rob: i like the 5,000 kids here toi, running the bases, that could take a while.

>> bob: nice to have this ballpark with some noise i ti. is. >> bob: usually, we can hear the air conditioning blowing in the back of our booth. anderson, there is a decent approach, trying to stroke that ball the other way. nationals on the road are 9-28. they have to start winning some games in this division. 6-29. the games against the marlins, mets and phillies have just ruined their record. they have been okay against atlanta so far. swept in atlanta but at least beating the braves 2 of 3 at home and they are coming back this weekend. by the way, we were told that they did change that play by

zimmerman to one error. it was two and now it's back down to one. the nats' beleaguered defense will take all the good news they can right now. anderson hernandez waging a good bat will here, 2 balls, 2 strikes. >> rob: i count about nine roster changes with the washington nationals. i'm not sure if i'm right or wrong but i don't think that's it and that's the thing, you know. mike rizzo, frank kasten trying

to give manny acta any chance to win ball games. the guys that are not doing the job will be accepted dunn. elijah dukes, very talented young man but if you are not going to do the job son cyst at any timely, they'll get somebody else to do t not personal. this is business. this is your job. you have to show up to work every day. bring your a game, bring the right attitude. >> bob: andey lime ya dukes did get two hits out of three at-bats, but he is 11 for his last 65. josh willingham is not a fast base stealer and does not get much of a leadoff. hernandez is a contact hitter. but if something goes wrong, you are looking at a strike 'em out throw 'em out double play.

runner going. the ball is hit, gload goes to the bag. elijah dukes hitting just .196. he it have 10 outfield assists which led the major leagues at the time of his departure. so off to aaa, play every day, get some things straightened out and we may see him back before too much time. debbi taylor will probably get the busiest reporter in the major leagues award this week. she will check in a moment and have more on elijah dukes and the arrival of two ball players. they landed this morning and made their way to land shark stadium. they will turn right around and

fly home with the nats trying to get their housing straightened up. josh johnson, i would not call it laboring but after some of those borderline pitches to dunn and willingham, he has been missing by plenty to a few. now he will go ahead and walk nieves with the pitcher coming up next. they know that jordan zimmerman is 0-for-19. last night, craig stammen got his first two major league rbis. zimmerman has one despite not having a hit. maybe he can pick up number 2 here. here is the stub house schedule. official fan to fan marketplace of the washington nag nationals. braves in for 3 and then to colorado and houston. prior to the break, ross detwiler, kawakami.

scott olson-derek lowe and sunday. we'll see how scott olson can follow up what he did here monday night. >> rob: you know why hanson was brought up instead of tom glavine. tom glavine was let go, future hall of famer. >> bob: there is so much upside to a kid like that. upside meaning future. 1 ball, 1 strike to zimmerman. >> rob: you keep wondering, why do you send elijah dukes down, why garrett moch down, why alberto gonzalez? it's consistency. you want guys to make plays 8, 9 times out of 10 on the field. you want to contribute on a daily basis whether in the ryan- up or not. and pitching is more than about

just throwing strikes. it's being consistent. >> bob: look at this. here comes willingham. here comes hermida's throw. it's off the plate and jordan zimmerman puts the nationals on top, his first major league hit. >> rob: nice. >> bob: second major league rbi and they will throw the ball into the dugout. somebody should be asking for it. >> rob: 1-for-20. he is batting .050. >> rob: more importantly, helping himself, helping the ball club. nice swing, didn't try to do too much, just make contact and put it in play and jeremy hermida nowhere even close to a play at home plate. >> bob: nationals have the lead for the third time in this series. they have been ahead in every game. here is guzman.

i guess zimmerman figured, okay, craig stammen, anything you can do, i can do just as well. they both have two rbis. >> rob: more importantly, bob, two-out hit. >> bob: that's a good way to start the month after it was not a good top of the 1st with a runner at third and one out and nick johnson swung at a ball that may have been out of the strike zone. >> bob: willie harris down the line but foul. just foul. just enough hook on it to go foul by about a yard. >> rob: 0-for-19. only 8 were strikeouts. he was putting the ball in

play, making contact, and had rbis. >> bob: willie now batting .320 over his last 9 games. he has raised his batting average by 30 points over the last two weeks. two walks in this inning big. second time this week the opposition has walked a man down in the order. the nats have made them way. it was a bases loaded situation in baltimore and this time the pitcher hitting. cristian guzman is 0-for-14, is next. hopefully this inning. >> rob: you hope that july

will be kinder to manny acta and the nats than june. >> bob: 9-17 june. >> rob: 5-16 may? >> bob: 80--20. it's sort of improved by a couple of games every month. didn't get up to that 60-70-win total by the end of the year if possible. 2-2, willie hanging tough and that's ball 3, low and inside i ti. very humid and now josh johnson is flirting with 50 pitches in just the 2nd inning of the ballgame. >> bob: and he only threw 13

in the 1st. 3-2, zimmerman goes off at first and that's a walk. load the bases for cristian guzman. loathing them up in the -- leading -- loading them up here in the top of the 2nd. >> bob: a lot of foot traffic. this is wil nieves who was walked intention fullly ahead of jordan zimmerman. then zimmerman who got the big hit and then willie harris walks. first ballgame underway today. next one will be tampa bay at toronto, in about 25 minutes. in the national league east, the mets are in walk against pelfrey who is 5-3. they are back of the phillies now.

and atlanta faces cole hamels after that extra inning walkoff inning against the phillies by church for braves. cristian guzman likes hitting in the daytime, batting .384. >> rob: with the lights on? that's nice. although the nats. >> -- i have not seen the sun here >> it's been cloudy and overcast. look at this, ichiro and adam jones from the american league, liking the day games. >> rob: magglio ordonez with the big average. >> bob: cristian guzman 0-2.

he has to make contact somehow. 0-for-9 in this soaris and 0- for-his last 13. no contact. the nationals get three walks and settle for one run. fios guy! where ya headed? ah, just installed fios in the whole building. now everyone has the fastest upload speeds. and we're giving them a mini netbook. well, i'm sticking with cable. so's ted. (voice) no i'm not! he's just goofing. (voice) no i'm not! (sighing) ted has betrayed me. (announcer) switch to verizon fios tv, phone and internet today and get an ultra-sleek compaq mini netbook. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities

 . >> bob: on to the bott the 2nd. sounds from the nats, rob dibble singing sponge bob square pants along with the kids here. >> rob: i love sponge bob. >> bob: you are just a kid. >> rob: i love sponge bob. it's fun. >> bob: a lot of kid here. >> rob: this is the way the game should be. >> bob: my daughter is a camp counselor for eight weeks this summer. they are the ones that have fun. there is one of the girls watching the kids. no rattlesnake or falling into the lake. >> rob: no alligators here. >> bob: just watching

baseball. that's the kind of camp you would go to, go to the everglades summer camp. >> rob: having been in spring training and playing golf there there are alligators everywhere. i went to florida southern in lakeland. the nickname was the moccasin. >> bob: willie harris is like that. he is everywhere. easy play for willie. and ross gload is gone. jordan zimmerman should have retired four in a row but they bought phone got bonifacio caught running. >> rob: how about that wake-up call for morgan and burr sunset. >> bob: they were in

pittsburgh last night. unless jordan zimmerman -- knock on wood -- goes the hold way or gives the ball right to macdougal, he expected to see sean burnett pitch today. if not, get him in there friday. his last aexperience for the pirates was on sunday. there is nyjer and then sean in the background. >> rob: pretty sweet ride out there. these guys in pittsburgh have a lot of money? >> bob: i'm sure mike wallace took care of that or rob mcdonned. >> rob: i know in my days, i was lucky to have some guy take me to the ballpark. >> bob: i can see dibble coming to the ballpark in a rickshaw. there is jeremy hermida.

wait until that guy straps on and gets on. the nats have a team total of .227 and will -- 227 and willie harris has 20 of those. there may be a day or two where willie harris will bat second behind nyjer morgan. how fun will that be? nick johnson and ryan zimmerman would be licking their chops. >> rob: wisconsin cheese at the knees. this guy tried to exorcise some demons. >> reporter: deep short. guzman gets hinged it, can he get enough on the throw? no. and jeremy hermida gets an infield hit. >> rob: he gets an infield hit. before the game, he took a half dozen of his bats and lit them on fire and he gets himself an infield single. ball players are very

superstitious. my room nate norm charlton after a bad spring training gave up about eight run-ins one day, went in, got his glove, hat, uniforms, spike, threw some lighter fluid on it and lit it on fire. >> bob: at the plant city stadium? >> rob: at the plant city stadium. had a little bonfire. >> bob: i'm sure the fire marshal was happy with that. >> rob: the fire marshal was not there. it was plant city. >> bob: who was around? >> >> rob: maybe a cow, a strawberry farmer. >> bob: marlins have their first base hit. zimmerman goats in front door there. he had the hitter not real comfortable. the target was away and that was a front door slider low and in. almost looked more like a

cutter. and a flyball to right. pretty well hit but josh willingham is there. he has it and the marlins are gone in the bottom of the 2nd. on a zimmerman -- jordan zimmerman hit, 1-0. what is it to lead? at pnc, it's doing what most benefits our customers. whether that's building more certified green buildings than anyone on earth. creating online banking tools for the next generation. or making a 10 year, $100 million investment in kids. it's how we've always done business. and will for a very long time to come. pnc. leading the way. coors banquet has been brewed in one place...

and one place only: golden, colorado. it's followed one tradition: use the best high-country barley... and only rocky mountain water. and it's been brewed under one motto: never compromise. now maybe this means we're a little set in our ways. but we know a few guys who will drink to that. coors. the banquet beer.  .  >> debbi: we are back at lan shark stadium, nationals with a 1-0 lead. nyjer morgan got up at 4 0-0, got up here at 11 3-0. he says

he is so excited being here. >> it's something new. the talent is here. mr. rizzo, he wanted me bad. it feels good somebody wanting you bad. being in my situation, a third rounder, i'm happy to be here and having myself opening up eyes and coming to an organization that really wants me. that's real special. >> debbi: i asked him, too, what kind of player he is. he says i'm energetic and play hard. mike rizzo was very emphatic about bringing in high character guys. he says that's vital in building a championship and both these guys joining the nationals today from pittsburgh are high character guys, great make-up. >> bob: thank you, we'll hear about sean burnett later. mr. rizzo. when someone calls the gm mr.. >> rob: i like him already. >> bob: nick johnson will dump

one down. >> rob: nick at-bat. >> bob: he was 1-for-his last 26. >> rob: he'll take it. >> bob: the other thing, how about nyjer morgan, i'm a 33rd rounder and i'm not supposed to be here. he was drafted out of walla walla college out of washington. he stole 190 bases in four years in the minor leagues. stole 44 at aaa indianapolis last year. some time with the pirate, only 58 games, he stole 9 bases during that time. this guy has swiped 53 bags last year. ryan zimmerman bats now. struck out swinging first time up on a 2-2 slider away. the nats need keep on pecking away and get more runs. they found out in this house of

horrors, they never have a big enough lead. it's a new month. still a lot of turning of the page in baseball, don't you? >> rob: when charlie mccarthy changed that play when hanley ramirez hit the ball to ryan zimmerman. it is a hit with a error allowing that single to score. ryan zimmerman gets an error taken off the docket. >> bob: hanley ramirez lining out today is 6-of-09 in the series, not 5

out of 9. that ball was sharply hit and it was a nasty chance for zimmerman. so that will give the marlins 10 hits last night instead of 9. 3-2 to ryan. he checks one to left. and a diving catch by chris coghlan. ryan zimmerman hit the ball so hard it had back spin on it and trade long enough in the air for coghlan to track it down. this is. >> rob: this is what they call a big league play. a shot going away from coghlan.

he drives, catches it. he misses it, that's at least a double. >> bob: this is one of those ballparks where left fielders can cheat in and play in. but out in the gap, only about 340 because there is no curvature to the ball, just goes straight out. when it gets out there to the 434 mark, it is as deep as anywhere in baseball but it is very cozy in straight away left. adam dunn checks one to right. and that's up against the 345 mark. nick johnson to third and adam dunn has his third extra base hit in the last o0gams. doubée ad a homer last night. he set the nats up with willingham to score again. some good swings in this inning. >> rob: adam dunn is starting to feel it very nicely at the plate. that ball up and in.

he just smokes it right down the line. it sits fair. >> stay fair, stay fair, stay fair. let's go. let's go, t's go. >> rob: one guy with a little clap. >> bob: yeah, poe applau. there is josh wlingho walked the first time. josh faces josh, his former teammate. and the nats with a great opportunity to go up by 2 or 3 here. -shington with four  >> baseball players are second shift employees. they are not used to this  timeee.  playing.

it's hard to unyind after fnsig the gam at 10 or 11. we didn't expect the bullpen to be working very hard with josh johnson pitching. >> rob: no, he is pushing 70 pitches. he has almost a 4 1/2 e.r.a. against the washington nationals. he has not had a lot of fun against the washington batting order. 4-1 at home but not against the nats. >> bob:  th naslost the games after kearns hit a grand slam. nobody will rwa@ it's into the bullpen area. josh johnson, a strikeout pitcher. on the year, three strikeouts

today, 97 total. but he has walked three. joe robbie stadium and pro player and now land sharkstadium. then i learned last night that this land shark naming deal is temporary. they have it up in lights but nothing appears to be personality. somebody told me they signed an 8-month contract. is that crazy? 2-2 to willingham. and josh will go out of play right side. we arrive at the 1 0-0 hour. first game in progress in major league baseball today and the nats with a run in the 2nd on a jordan zimmerman hit, his first major league hit, leading 1-0. bob