. >> bob: welcome back to land shark stadium in south florida. can you see the good news. the tarp is coming off the field. the guys are rolling it up. they have done a fine job. that was some storm that blew through here but like south florida goes, that's how the storms are. sometimes very brief. we think this game will be ready to be played some time in the next 10 or 15 minutes. we'll get it back before first pitch. for now, espn news will get you back in time for baseball. appears. >> he did it to randy johnson. what's he going to do to matt cain, off to a career year 9-2 this year. giants and cardinals, wednesday night baseball on the big network, 8:00 p.m. then sunday night, couple of hot ones, rays and rangers. check it out on espn. >> coming up on "espnews," a dream semis at wimbledon with

the andys lining up for their shot at king roger. they have only had a few hours to cope with an historic meltdown, but boston sends it stopper to the mound. here comes the raise, the current longest streak in baseball. they're eyeing a great eight. and injury and quality opponents have the mets sliding. trying to avoid their first six-game skid in four years. ♪ snet -- ♪ >> supposed to get it while the getting is good, so here is one you're not going to hear every day. kobe bryant, with the option to opt out of the final two years of his contract and force the lakers to pay him an enormous sum of money to keep him in los angeles has decided to not opt out. he declined that option so he

will be staying in l.a. and presumably playing out the rest of his contract. welcome into the studios here at "espnews" where we keep you current. i'm bram weinstein in ten minutes or so you might want to opt out from watching this segment as two hot-dog eating champions joins. 'eric karabel will get you set for the fantasy football draft, and yes, it's that time of year for tennis and roger to shine. wimbledon, nobody defeats the king. here he goes, eyeing pete sampras. taking on 6'10" ivo karlovic. this is what the tennis world comes up with to handle federer. how about federer with the backhand winner. double-break point and serves wide. and federer gets it up the line for the winner. the first time in the tournament that karlovic, who has a bomb, 

 . >> bob: this may be the fastest rain delay to action. everybody. they did a good job here. 1-0 to nick. >> rob: maybe he is not loose. sometimes they go in, rain condition. >> bob: if it is a short delay, would you be better off sitting outside than going in? >> rob: absolutely. going in there, you can get stiff really easily. >> bob: a note that was passed along with us by john devers,

our media relations guy. there is sean burnett getting all the time he needs. johnson, the nats in favor here. 3-1. johnson hits it a mile high. this ballpark has as little foul ground as any in baseball. jordan zimmerman, by the way,

100 pitches, 74 strikes in his 6 innings when he gave up two runs on six hits, walked one and struck out six. double play helped him in the bottom of the 6th as they double hanley ramirez off first. 3-2 to nick. and pinto misses away. runner was going. 2 on, nobody out. >> rob: speaking of pitching, national league pitcher of the month, john lannan is up for that, 3-0. the nationals have won four of the five starts. 37 innings, 28 hits allowed, only 3 homeruns, 11 walks and 13 strikeouts. hopefully john lannan could possibly win pitcher of the month for the month of june. >> bob: that would be nice.

best month the nationals pitchers have had in a a long, long time. we saw brian sanchez, right hander, former nat, throwing for the marlins. and a big spot here for ryan zimmerman. he is 0-for-3 today. he has been robbed of an extra base hit by chris coghlan in left. tying run's at second base, nobody out. at the very least, he has to advance these runners. and get the ball in the air. he does but it's not very deep. nobody is going anywhere on this one. a tale of two bull pens, rob dibble and it's not pretty. >> rob: not pretty, bob. last six meetings decided by three runs or less. we told you that the nationals bullpen leads the major league in blown leads that have led to

losses with 29. look at that just against the marlins, a 7 e.r.a., marlins below 2. it's as if they come to town, they quit being marlins and are more like piranhas. here is adam dunn, 1-for-3 with a double. >> well, this is land shark field -- stadium. >> bob: both runners doing some moving around. dunn takes a strike. some hitters don't like that. runner at second base, guzman dancing right right in adam dunn's line of sight. ram ramirez trying to keep him close. adam dunn fouls it away and quickly 0-2. 24 out of the last

27, the marlins. yep. >> rob: the marlins have beaten the nationals 24 out of the last 27 meetings. >> bob: it's not been easy for the last three years watching this. i tried to warn you. >> rob: with the graphic? >> bob: we're going to have to start putting some kind of rating on these games. >> rob: by the way, whoever puts microphone around home plate and by there, you can hear the catcher sliding across the diamond. that's a pretty good job by our crew. very nicely done. 1 ball, 2 strikes to dunn. 2-2. this is becoming one of

those at-bats where the pitches are around the plate. adam dunn knows what's a ball and what's a strike but, sometimes, he doesn't get the call and rob and i would love to see him wail at something that he sees close enough to reach. not easy against a lefty like this. 3-2. >> rob: tried to throw him a change-up right there which is a dangerous pitch so he tried to locate it down and on the ground. he is lloyd mcclendon a one- pitch guy. he is like a one-pitch guy. you think somebody would try to give him a slider, a cutter, he has a nice 3/4 delivery. >> bob: 3-2. adam dunn walks. oh, was that close! look like a breaking ball that just missed the outside corner. maybe adam dunn is even for the

day because he was called out on a pitch similar to this location back in the 2nd. >> rob: well, i think this is some kind of cut fastball or something he tries to take off for a change-up. just low and missing. remember, adam's strike zone is a little bit different than most players. he is huge, 6'6". as you said, he got running up early in the ball giambi and umpires are very honorable people who pride themselves on being fair. >> bob: and right now, as we look at our base running bunch, guzman with a base hit, johnson and dunn with walks. it is time for josh willingham to put an end to this nationals frustration with men on base. they have stranded 9 runners today. no need to swing there. ball 1.

>> rob: you can be very, very selective here. get your pitch, make sure you can drive it. get a good chance to take the lead. >> bob: willingham, right center. that's going to be on the ground and score a couple of guzman comes in. johnson is in. dunn to third. and the ex-marlin has hurt his teammates with a two-run single. the nats are on top 3-2. >> rob: problem with getting behind hitters -- it happens to other bull pens, too -- not much as ours lately -- but pointo had to come from behind, jammed josh but he was strong enough to drive it into deep centerfield. that will be enough for mr. pointo. >> bob: freddie gonzalez will make the double switch here, maybe with the right fielder

and pointo. the nats finally get to him and here comes mr. brian sanchez. maybe other people are content to sit around and wait. wait for something to happen. for business to pick up. but for you, it's time to kick it in gear. time to get going. time to get tough. take control. you're not gonna run and hide. because backing down's not your style. grab your bag. it's on. ( ding )

 . >> is there rain? what time is it going to start raining today? know that ain't going to happen. we have only been sitting an hour half waiting for rain delay. >> we almost made it.

>> bob: scott olson knows how the weather works down here in south florida. he lives here. and right over toward the water is where his place is. a little bit inland, renyel pointo, finally, the nats get to him. he had frustrated the nats. rob dibble was wondering how scott olson how he was feeling after throwing real well monday my, debbi tay taylor. >> debbi: he said he feels great and steve mccatty says that everything is on track. >> bob: that's the best news of all, coming from that. >> rob: thanks,, debbi. thanks for the coffee.

that's the best news. >> bob: here is anderson hernandez against brian san chess san -- sanches. he is 1-1, with a 1.62 e.r.a. >> bob: now, keep in mind that the nats only have one out. you might get another run there. >> rob: a little flooding here in the bullpen. >> bob: you might be better off like villone standing on the outside. out of play off the bat of anderson hernandez. 0-for-3 with three ground balls today. >> rob: just because the game is going on, the grounds crew

is always working, here they are, removing the water from the bullpen. that's a rubber substance there with all the rain. >> bob: they always have something to do after the rain delay is over. and the pitch out. they thought willingham might be going. they even thought with hernandez there could be a suicide squeeze going on. i'd say more likely willingham running, though, than adam run. >> rob: no, we don't run on pitchouts. >> bob: they know that willingham swiped third base in baltimore the other way. >> rob: closing in on rickey hinder son's record. >> bob: 2-1. this is the pitch where something could happen in terms of a runner on the move and a contact hitter in the batter's box. because they are holding willingham, lots of hitting room, nearly 80 feet of it on

the right side of the infield. sanches preoccupied with josh willingham who just drove in his 17th and 18th runs of the year. josh is having a nice series now, 5 out of 8. he has been on base eight types in these three games. eight times in these three games. strike 2. wil nieves is up next and then the pitcher's spot. it would be nice to get at least to the pitcher's spot. it will be nice to determine how the rest of thisgoes.

2-2. be a hernandez, without swinging the bat will strike out. not happy with ed rapuano. and that's a big second out in this game. >> rob: a bit low but it's kind of close so you might want to be swinging. ed rapuano seeing the big

clouds moving in, trying to move along the game. >> bob: it will take a big hit by wil nieves. willingham at first base, this is an ideal situation against a right handed pitcher and all that room to the right for wil nieves. >> bob: he pulls that ball, high in the air to left field. can it make it to the scoreboard? no. a matter of feet. wil nieves has come close twice in this series. the nats get two runs on the willingham base hit. 7th inning stretch time. washington leads 3-2. 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.

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 .  >> debbi: welcome back to miami as the nats have a new pitcher against the marlins. sean burnett's debut for the nats. he was asked what his emotions were like. >> you know, i wish i knew the emotions. i was drafted by the pirates. that's all i know is them. aisle keep my emotions in check here. baseball is baseball no matter what jersey you are wearing. >> bob: sean told me that he throws strikes, keeps the ball on the ground and is very effective against left handers. >> bob: i would say so.

they are patting .189 against him this year. e.r.a. very good, too. strikeout-walk ratio not that great but nowhere near giving up a hit per inning so he has been able topitch around that. on the double switch, ronnie belliard is batting 9th and playing second base. here we go to the bottom of the 7th. ross, baker and carroll. cody ross, 0-for-2, flyball to left, flyball to center. a little herky jerky feature to that delivery, rob. >> rob: i like it. we saw him when we played pittsburgh. he has excellent control and

command. and he's going to go out there and throw some strikes, get some people out. nice change-up. >> bob: he is a local kid from wellington high school here, not very far from where we sit. and the pirates made him their first-round selection in '99. university of miami offered him a scholarship, but he bypass that had to sign with the pirates. he bypassed that to sign with the pirates. 2 balls, 2 strikes. jordan zimmerman was still in the game throughout that inning and the rain delay so he is the pitching of record for the

nats, a 3-2 ballgame, bottom of the 7th. throws a strike and it's foul and they are scrambling in the bullpen. >> rob: the change-up is his best pitch but he can still throw high 80, low 90. >> bob: high in the air to left center. and disappears over the scoreboard. sean burnett greeted with a game-tying homerun. that's a flyball out in most ballparks but not here.

>> rob 3-2 pitch right here up in the zone, looks like a change-up. we'll find out maybe after the ballgame but you know what happens after it left his hand. >> bob: and a strike to john baker. the ballgame back even at 3. jordan zimmerman's win possibility erased. renyel pointo is off the hook. >> rob: hopefully that's the one and only he will give u i about 30 to 40 inning inside of him right now.

he will try to get out of this inning. guzman is out to grab that little blooper off the bat of bak. first out here. >> rob: very good breaking ball 0-2, down and away, snaps the back. >> bob: and the hitter wl be bret carroll who came in at the top of the 7th inning oa  double switch to play right field and bat 9th. .290 average, occasional power. >> he has been quiet this series. >> reporter: bret carroll, a tennessee boy from knoxville

who played at tennessee state. one of the heaviest dose of eye black that you have seen in a day game. must have seen that ball very well. >> rob: his 14th of the season. gets a littshoulder pinch from mr. rbi, hanley ramirez. >> o:i thinkan  saying, yo ha a lon  go, on, to catch me. >> bob: jog cau back the with dan uggla. another long count, 3-2. it was a full count when cody ross

homered. julian tavarez getting loose. he had a rough outing here monday night, walking three. nick johnson having a look. >> rob: i have fun fact for you. the new marlins ballpark will have 551 toilet fixtures, 217 in the men's bathroom. >> bob: that's a relief. >> rob: ladies, all about you, 324 ladies' relief. a lot of toilets, ladies. >> bob: you can tell by the structure of the stadium, when they close the roof, it will be completely enclosed, unlike seattle where it is still open on the side. willingham at the ball and josh makes the play as he continues to figure out right field and i wonder if he hurt his back when he hit the wall. he