debbi taylor here. this ballpark will be named land shark stadium only until the end of the dolphins' regular season. evidently, you can now rent a stadium name for a year at a time. 2-2. willingham pops it up. uggla has the angle. runners will have to stay. two outs. we have been telling you for weeks about the grand slam flex plan still in effect. you can pick four games and get one free.

202-675-nats or nationals.com/grandslam. anderson hernandez now, two outs, second and third. bon fast yo has to play shallow at third. anderson bunts and drags the ball. the nats have wasted two good scoring opportunities today. they strapped two, have left six already against josh johnson. ?

 . >> bob: we'll be back to florida. the nats lead 1-0. could be more. they stranded 6 base runners already. jordan zimmerman looking very good today, pounding that strike zone, keeping the pitch count down. >> rob: and he told you he was going to throw nothing but strikes. very economical so far in the 1st inning. josh johnson, on the other side, up over 70 philadelphia phillies, came in today with a 4.2 e r a against the nationals in 2009. this is one of those teams he seems to have a problem with in this particular season and that's a good thing for the washington nationals. even though he is fantastic against the rest of the league, so far, nationals are having their way with josh johnson. jordan zimmerman wants again, attacking the strike zone, get can ahead. first-pitch strike. >> bob: catcher john baker

takes another. that was close on 0-2. makeer did some hitting in the number 2 hole against the nationals with right handed washington pitcher when we were here for the first series of the season. he is batting .240, batting 8th. platooning for the most part with ronnie paulino who hits right handed. johnson, by the way, 72 pitches in three innings. let's see if that pays some dividends down the road for the nats. that's perfect on the outside corner. a strikeout per inning. baker didn't like the call but baker has been sitting behind the plate watching some of the other pitches get called on or just off the outside corner. >> rob: and jordan zimmerman, he has given one run.

he feels really easy. that's what we call easy gap. >> bob: if you can't feel loose today, you must be the tin man. >> rob: we came in the press books today at about 9:15 a.m. the windows were just sweating with moisture. running down the window because it was so humid. >> bob: josh johnson 3-for-31 this year. he hit a homerun. he is an odd sort, right handed pitcher, left handed hitter. >> rob: last time we faced josh johnson, back in april on the 18th, he shut us down opening day, 6 1/3. next time, 6 innings, 6 runs, a couple of walks, threw 1012 pitches in 6 innings.

three 102 in 6 innings. >> bob: and the bullpen let that one get away. through three innings, josh johnson has thrown 72 pitches already. >> bob: hit a homerun against milwaukee's dave busch earlier this year on june 4th. first time a marlins pitcher had homered since dontrelle willis two years ago. seems like a lifetime ago done toll, doesn't it? >> >> rob: yes. >> bob: here is the coors light camera. chris coghlan, right after he caught it getting parallel to the ground.

nicely done. cost the nationals a couple of runs. dunn would follow with a double. there he is batting with two outs, bases empty, a strikeout victim him first his first timeout. with nobody on base, he is hitting .226. with somebody on base, he is hitting .346. sounds rather like a 3 for 4 guy. 1 ball, 2 strikes. coghlan, the newest marlin. we had not seen him before this series. we have not seen the marlins since early in april. he is from palm harbor, florida, and an oal miss rebel

from the sec. he has not done a whole lot of leading off until he got up here with the marlins. bonifacio slumping recently, they have not had the kind of batting average or on base percentage they were looking for in a leadoff guy. hanley ramirez, of course, you don't lead him off anymore. right by the pitcher's glove and up the middle as zimmerman got a lot of played with a 1-2 breaking ball. and that's hit number 2 for the fish. >> rob: coghlan does a nice job staying on the ball here. it's supposed to be down and away, does not come back over the plate. he just throws the bat head on it. jordan knows he had a lot of the plate. see nieves going away from that. >> bob: and you want the inning to end right here.

bonifacio reached on a throwing error by ryan zimmerman. there is a breaking ball. he is hitting only .222 left handed. that was his problem with the bats. people were knocking the bat out of his hand left handed. right handed, he has a little more mop and moves the field around a lot better. as a leadoff guy, you can't afford that because there are so many more right handed pitchers. coghlan has stolen 4 bases in 5 attempts. eddy fox, the coach over there, had his stop watch going.

not a whole lot against right handers. we'll wait and see how the trade turns out but i think when it is all said and done, the max nationals will willingham and olson will get by a wide margin the better of that deal. and the 0-2. just a little bit up. scott olson had a funny line when bonifacio was caught stealing earlier. he said, don't worry, you are still fast. you are out but you are fast. up the middle. now ramirez will bat.

coghlan to third. and i don't care if first base is occupied or not and knowing bonifacio, he will probably try to steal second base here, forgetting who is batting. hanley ramirez cannot get anything good to hit in this at- bat, do you agree? >> rob: i agree. if you challenge him, challenge him up and in with fastballs or down away with very good sliders but you try to pitch around him. you have ross gload right behind him. >> bob: yeah, give me ross gload any time instead of hanley ramirez. i don't know if he is left handed or not. third base camera guy must be stealing signs. he knew that zimmerman was going to make that move.

6-of-9. he went right after him and that ball slicing foul. >> rob: you remember zimmerman's start against the red sox. when he got in a jam, he blew them away and he needs to do the exact same thing here with the florida marlins. if you're going to get beat, get beat with your hard stuff. don't go with the breaking ball. >> bob: up and in, good pitch. and hanley ramirez is not standing in the batter's box

even at 0-2, thinking about walking or anything like that. he is there to hit and driving in runs. let's see if zimmerman can do something to take advantage of his aggressiveness. >> rob: but right here, he will cut down on the swing and possibly push it through the right side like he did last night. that's what you want to try to avoid many even if he threw an even high fastball above the let 'er here, and if he doesn't, then you go away with the down and away breaking ball. >> bob: if bonifacio wants to steal second base, go ahead. at least try. some managers consider 0-2 is pretty good time to go. that's up and in.

>> rob: very nice. the danger is not on first base or third base. of the danger is standing in front of you. >> reporter: exactly. >> rob: hanley ramirez can make this a 3-run homerun. don't even worry about the guy. you have two outs, two strikes. the guy you want is standing in front of you. >> bob: jo his nine-game rbi streak is the longest for a national league shortstop and, my goodness, this goes back 69 years to vaughn of the tigers of 1940. september of 1940, a nine-game rbi streak. that's pretty impressive. that was a hard slider that ramirez got a piece of.

>> rob: and he got a piece of wil nieves. everybody got a piece of that one. >> bob: rapuano behind wil nieves on a hot, muggy day. you see the cloud cover is providing some relief. and the 1-2 target away. bonifacio running and there is the base hit to right field. bonifacio is going to try to score. he will. i don't care if he went out and got a good pitch. you cannot let hanley ramirez continue to drive in these runs. now, ross gload walks in and you are behind. >> rob: this is a slider and the slider has been up in the zone today. coghlan hit one for a base hit

and there you see him going the other way. he did not try to pull that ball or try to hit a homerun with it. he may have been thinking, i'm going to try to get him to hit a ground ball out right here. you need a strikeout with ramirez or nothing. >> bob: you are not going to strike him out with that pitch. >> rob: no. >> bob: you will strike him out with fastballs up and in. >> rob: and i'm sure that's what steve mccatty said. you don't throw strikes with that pitch. that's an out-pitch. >> bob: 13th career start. >> rob: that wing catcher we have him, that guy's just on fire. >> i know shairon martis, some of the other younger pitchers say it's their duty to shake off the pitch if they don't want to throw it. >> rob: it's not their duty.

you are the pitcher. you don't like it, you don't throw it. step off the rubber, get back on and say i'm not throwing the pitch. you have to have conviction, bob. it has nothing to do with the catcher. he is not calling the game. he is just putting down suggestions. it's your game. that's why the pitchers get the wins and the losses. it has nothing to do with wil once it leaves your hand. >> bob: managers, they won't walk anybody with first base occupied. i'm sure manny didn't want to see a slider sitting on the outside part of the plate. ramirez only has about 19 to 20% of his hits this year to right field but he has hit two

of them over there and drove in four runs in this series. there is the hitter you wanted to get with no runs having scored. a little too late and ramirez does it again. @úpp÷÷ññ

 . >> bob: nationals pace ball on masn brought to you in part by southwest airlines. a frustrating bottom of the 3rd for the nationals.

slideer, change-up slider, three runs and now -- two runs, pardon me, on three hits. and now the nats are behind. >> rob: change-up has not been that great today. breaking ball has not been that great but the blazing fastball seems to be able to go through the line-up three and four times with just that fastball located. >> bob: he just threw 32 pitches after retiring the number 8 hitter and the pitcher to start the inning. that was really something that sets up badly for the rest of the day. >> rob: johnson was up to 72 pitches and he was only at 25. now he is up to 57. so, neither one of these pitchers is long for this game. >> bob: it just galls you when

hitters like bonifacio and coghlan. >> rob: it makes my skin crawl. if they do not hit you with a 90-plus mile-per-hour fastball, you don't give them respect by throwing them other stuff. you blow them away and tell them to take a seat. >> bob: uggla covers it. ryan zimmerman -- or, rather, jordan zimmerman's last at-bat and scott olson watching. >> great. yes. he finally did it.

>> bob: first major league hit and hen rbi attached to it. nats led 1-0 at that point and zimmerman bats now, one out here in the 4th. josh johnson with a nasty pitch. johnson was sort of nibbling back then, fell behind 2-0 to nieves, intentionally walked him and jordan made the marlins pay. >> rob: you can see that. he has to be a little bit longer towards the plate. >> bob: 2-2. >> rob: what i'm talking about is you have to land before you run over towards first base. it's all about the follow through. >> bob: and a bouncer over the mound. hanley ramirez coming in. he is going to be safe.

and jordan zimmerman is 2-for-2 and hopefully not gassed on a day like this. >> rob: that could take a lot out of you running up and down first base like this. now he gets an infield single. hanley ramirez, even with his great athleticism, cannot get a hustling young pitcher. >> bob: willie harris steps n if willie hits a gap somewhere, he might catch the guy in front of him. tailing away. ball 1. if the nats to get johnson up to 90 pitches or more through this inning, the other thing is that it's not like they have done much with the marlins bullpen either. but job 1 is to get the starter

out of there and then you take your chances. his last seven starts, he has averaged 107 pitches, a high of 119 in toronto in neutral conditions of the roger centre. i would imagine it was not as muggy on that day in toronto as it is here. long day for the pitching coach, too. >> rob: when i talk about rushing, it means you have to finish your pitch mechanically, which is follow through, let the ball georgia and then fall towards first base. when you are trying to get out there and get the most on your pitches, he is opening up that front hip and it's hard for that arm to catch up. now, he is thinking about it. check out the delivery right

here. fly open and go forwards first base. your first movement has to be towards home plate with the pitch and then you fall off the mound. >> bob: 3-1, then he gets a borderline call. >> rob: you see him on every pitch. you want to be going here and just see him ball that way. and that is the problem that josh is having right now. he is 0-for-9. >> bob: that's a generous strike zone. >> rob: absolutely, especially when he is walking guys and the pitch count is up, closing in on 90s. >> all right. willie harris knows now. he walked him. two on, one out. willie harris on base for the third time. this is going to do it for josh

johnson, bob. >> bob: wow! they see something that they don't like. saturday, first 20,000 fans receive a mini u.s. flag. sunday, the fifth family fun day. post game, run the bases. with one out in the 4th inning. josh son is out and the marlins are into the bullpen. ú÷÷

 . >> bob: josh johnson, and frustrated in his dugout. guzman against baden hop. and first pitch out. some of his at-bats leave you shaking your head. >> rob: like this one. you want to see his pitches. >> reporter: cristian guzman is

now 0-for-his last 16. nick johnson needs to deliver a two-out hit. he blooped one into right field. 1-for-2 and is 2 for his last 27. but a big spot for nick to put the nationals back on top. they are underway with tampa bay at toronto. zimmerman at third and harris at second. that a.l. east is interesting. tampa bay is now only four how the. nick johnson will hate two- hopper right to dan uggla. nats need to win a ballgame in this ballpark. they are not helping themselves right now. 2-1 score.