>> bob: all right, dad, you junior and mom got to get some runs here. the nats will be batting in a little while. 5-0 top of the 4th. what lesson has j.d. martin learned about the major leagues in his first three innings? >> rob: something we've been watching about a lot of these young players. they hit too much of the plate and they're getting too much in the hitter's zone. for martin to be successful at any level, he has to stay on the edges and get below the knees and get the ground balls when he needs them. when you start throwing your cutter in in the middle of the plate zone and start throwing breaking balls in succession or a couple or three times to one guy that has a slow bat, in the lineup you'll get burned at this level. certain guys are looking for a pitcher like a rookie, j.d. martin to do back-to-back things and show what they have, and that's what the mets have done. this is not a very good major league lineup.

when they are having a field day likehhey are right now, eight hits through three  innings, it's showing lothon thin th j.d. martin, i guess obviously, didn't show the cleveland indians and that's why they let him go. >> bob: martin was 8-3 with a 2.66 era at say fuse. 16 games, 15 starts. a 6.3 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio. facing brian schneider, the former nat. the count goes 2-2 with livan hernandez on deck in the 4th. hasn't walked anybody. walk strikeout. five runs on eight hits. >> rob: and belliard ball came up on him. ronny, great hands. [ cheers and applause ] . >> rob: he really got the ball back under control in a hurry. >> bob: that was not an easy play. >> rob: well, and the key to success at this level, too, bob is keeping the hitters off balance. d everything he throws is

almost the same speed, and he hasn't really shown the change- up. i don't know if he is holding at back. but that's a great play by belliard. great recovery, i should say. but there's so many different things about the minor leagues and big leagues. there's a lot of patience at the major league level. guys will take pitches and wait for one they're looking for that their advance scouts have seen from this gminor leagues. down ithe minor the reason they're st there, they have trouble hitting certain pitches. so they are swinging at everything. they don't have a plan. they are free swingers. that's why they are still down on the farm. >> bob: 0-2 to livan. bounced one back to the pitcher first time up. >> rob: obviously j.d. had an arm injury, so that kind of set his progress back a little bit. bottom line is, at this level, it doesn't matter what speed you throw. it's where you locate those pitches. >> bob: right.

hernandez hits it well. but nyjer morgan is there. [ cheers and applause ] back in '05 and '06, he only threw a combined 24 ball games in those two years, because of the injury issues. last year at akron, 11-3 and eight starts, 31 appearances. they promoted him to buffalo, and four games one start for the indians a 1.80. but they let him go to the nats signed him as a minor league free agent in november on the 24th. angel pagan ground ball. nick job johnson a back hand catch. nicely done by the man they call slick. martin puts another zero on the board. it made a big splash with the employees yeaaaahhhh! find out more at aflac!... ...forbusiness.com (laughter)

 >> bob: geico president's r 40th anniversary of the lunar landing. and evidently teddy thought he was going astronaut on us. the problem is he took only one or two small steps for man kind. >> rob: should have taken one giant leap for man kind. >> bob: does he have any idea where he is going? . >> rob: i don't think so. i don't remember the astronauts having tin foil on their helmets, do you? >> bob: in some of those cheesy movies they did. you know where the rocket you can see the strings holding the rocket as it goes across the strene.

>> rob: absolutely. those are -- across the screen? >> rob: absolutely. those are fabulous. yeah, the one with leslie kneel son, and there's some kind of monster but you couldn't see him, and he went to the forbidden planet. this big monster's like you know, walking through their force field and stuff. dr. morbius, while he was sleeping. it was his like dream, that was the monster. >> bob: how much free time do you have? >> rob: a lot. a lot of free time. [ laughter ] . >> bob: oh, adam dunn, you guys give me a single, i'll take a single. last time up with a man on base the mets didn't shift. this time they did. adam takes the easy base hit.

cristian guzman stepping in, debbi, and a rather unusual spot for him. >> reporter: i talked to him before the game. he told me he feels more comfortable hitting higher in the batting order and the numbers seem to support that. when he is hitting first he hits 307. in the 2nd spot he is hitting .379 and in the 6th pot hitting 143. jim riggleman told me before the game, we talked about those numbers and he said you know what? maybe tomorrow nick hits lower in the batting order to get some rbi's down there. >> bob: the offense has been pretty stagnant lately. looks like number 2 is his spot. the nats aren't using him there. that was a hard hit ball. murphy boxed it down. kept it out of right field. dunn goes to second, one out. austin kearns will be next.

but it's almost as if, as soon as nyjer morgan showed up, the nationals totally abandoned the idea of batting guzman up in the order, when clearly, the number 2 spot is where -- well, maybe he should be. the manager has to put that lineup out there every day. nyjer morgan came into this game batting .367 as a nat. 22-62 now, so that's gone down a little bit. but to me, morgan and guzman back to back is pretty intriguing. now, cristian guzman and jim riggleman acknowledges this, is not the most patient hitter, if you have a base stealer in front of him. but if he is getting base hits,

so what? i wouldn't be surprised to see the nats give that a try at some point. austin kearns jacks one to left. [ cheers and applause ] . >> bob: great swing, a one- hopper to reed, first and third, one out. and a chance for willie harris to get washington on the board. that's the best swing austin has had in a while. >> rob: well, it's a little cutter, actually a sinker in on the hands of kearns. the bat head out quickly on that one. right now, willie harris, you got to make it pay right here. try to get a double. stay out of the double play. peck away. have some fun. old time baseball. >> bob: nats have four hits.

and the count is even 1-1 to willie harris, who walked first time up. willie's driven in 17 this year. 30 strikeouts in 166 at bats. so he makes contact about 80% of the time. chub 2-1. but not livan's true change-up. when he really throws it it's in the high 60s.

>> he'll drop that curve ball in there 65. the thing is you have to be patient with livan because he is going to try to pick off the corners. you have to pick the one you want to drive. >> bob: willie harris pops it up. two outs. and the sound of that indicates the bat might have broken, and livan hernandez of all people gets a hitter to break his bat. >> rob: schmider is probably telling his pitcher listen. you have a really good hitter and the pitcher on deck. don't make a mistake right here and hurt yourself. >> bob: bard with a left field line double first time. >> rob: livan not liking where

luis castillo was playing. >> bob: castillo took about 15 steps into a pole position. [ cheers and applause ] . >> bob: oh, right field corner. home to score is dunn. >> rob: come on! run! >> bob: you got to send him! francoeur has a good arm! safe! [ cheers and applause ] . >> bob: and the nats get a two- run double from josh bard! >> rob: that was interesting, murphy was playing right up on the line and josh bard still got it by him. i don't know. whenever you tell your second baseman to move the other way, i think it told josh bard exactly where they were coming. he didn't waste any time. he ripped it down the right field line. tell you what. that is great hitting by josh bard. >> bob: and they're calling back j.d. martin here. he is going to be done for the

night. the thing he did do is but zero's on the board in the 3rd and the 4th. and so, martin will sit out, having given up five runs on ate hits in 4 -- on eight hits in four innings of his major league debut and the nats will call on tyler clippard after alberto gonzalez hits for the pitcher. jim riggleman could have done this one of two ways, rob. he could have left martin in for another inning or two. >> rob: why? >> bob: but you're battling back trying to win a game. >> rob: we're in a different zone than most teams that are just trying to get through five innings. you have to try to win every ball game. you are also testing a lot of these players, seeing who will be one of your guys that you keep. some of you may trade. you have two weeks to the deadline. i thought he may have pinch hit for martin in the last inning or two innings ago when he had

the bases loaded two outs and the pitcher up. >> bob: alberto gonzalez has been pinch hitter extraordinary this year. 5-8 with 4 rbi's. >> rob: on a team that is almost 40 games under 500. i'm right there with jim riggleman. >> bob: a comebacker and the nats pick up two runs on three hits. they finally get some runs against hernandez. we want to pay for. on top of it all, we're still trying to put away some money for the future. with the wish list, we can save up for anything we want. and still have enough to cover the day-t0-day. plus, the savings engine helps our money grow. and that's something we need and want. introducing the virtual wallet from pnc, a high definition, online view of your money. pnc. leading the way.

 >> bob: nationals baseball brought to you by acura. acura, advance. there's some interesting baseball artwork for you here at nationals park. scouts keeping track of things, fans keeping score and we go to the top of the 5th inning. tyler clippard takes over for j.d. martin, who goes 4 innings, 5 runs, 8 hypothetics. didn't walk non -- 8 hits. didn't walk anyway. got a double play. one strikeout and a bit of a baptism by fire on his welcome to the big leagues after eight full professional seasons. >> rob: maybe if it was better times here in washington, he stays in the game for five, but you're trying to win every one of these last 70 games. >> bob: it will be appearance

for tyler clippard number 9. 2 i 79 era. nearly 10 innings. nine strikeouts, five walks. 2 >> rob: going to be johnny holstad every day. >> bob: i thought that guy's name was harvey. >> rob: johnny. >> bob: and logan kenzie is back, after converting 12 of 13 for syracuse. i say there's a good chance we'll see him tonight. >> rob: if we are going to win tonight, need some help from the bullpen. got to throw some donuts up there, gentlemen. >> bob: they don't look very happy to me. down 5-2 in the top of the 5th inning.

chipper jones garret anderson have homered, 3-2 braves in the fourth over the giants. marlins later at san diego, nats will see the padres here this weekend. that's right in there, 3-2. luis castillo, 1-1, sacrifice, he had an rbi hit. he seems to be the thorn in the nats' side this year in this lineup. that one will tail right back to adam dunn. one out. we have trivia tonight. cue the duck. >> afflac. >> bob: two catchers caught the most games with the nats franchise. would that be gary carter and

brian schmider? >> rob: gary carter would be one. i don't know about brian schneider. do you think he is number two? that's too easy because he's here. >> bob: nick johnson having a good night at first. let me check my brian schneider notes and just see how long he was with this organization for. eight years. five years in montreal, and then three here. i'm trying to think who the other long-tenured catchers were. i know michael barrett was an expo for a while but i don't remember him being around nearly that long. you are right about one thing, rob. carter, schneider appears way too obvious.

>> rob: we know carter. carter caught for about 1500 games. >> bob: a lot of his -- >> rob: but he did go to the dodgers and was with the mets for a time, too. >> bob: yeah. i'm pretty sure it's not robert fick. >> rob: not robert fick. no way. >> bob: i said that in jest. >> rob: right about 5:00. >> bob: 0-2 to david wright. and some high heat. [ cheers and applause ] . >> bob: strikes him out and suddenly the nats pitchers have become untouchable. mets haven't had a hit since the 3rd. - 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.

♪ i always feel like (announcer) it's right here, it's easy... ♪ somebody's watching me. ...it's the money you could be saving with geico. ♪ who's watching? ♪ tell me who's watching. (muffled music) (announcer) it's right here, it's easy... ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ it's the money you could be saving with geico.  >> bob: must be time for th flex cam here at the ballpark. they don't dare shoot the booth on this deal. put those guys to shame. bottom of the 5th coming up.

top of the order. let's talk about two catchers, most games caught with -- >> rob: what about barry foot. >> bob: montreal, wash washington franchise. barry foot? >> rob: oh, i'm on the wrong side. >> bob: aaron lester. there's brian schneider, at wrigley field. gone. and of course, gary carter hated to appear on camera, so we have no video of him. [ laughter ] . >> rob: the kid. >> bob: did anybody love the camera more than gary carter? >> rob: s no. >> -- >> rob: no, sir. >> bob: what a character. what a good catcher. all right. here is nyjer morgan. he's flied out to left. bounced back to the pitcher.

the nats need him on. i think against livan he can get to second pretty easily if he gets that first 90 feet. change-up outside, 1-1. is jacque boccovella a catcher? >> rob: out to short. >> bob: got rid of it in a hurry. good thing he did. morgan 0-3 tonight. next up belliard and johnson. in the washington. ronny is 1-2 tonight. right field corner cam there. and belliard needs a base hit to get out of the 100 category. he's at 198.

>> rob: still on the interstate, >> new sunny ronny is 6 for the last 13 over five starts that's a good take. livan turned that ball over. that was a foul ball off the shin waiting to happen. 2-1. mets lead the season series 7-2. they've won 2-3 here. the mets were here, didn't make their first appearance in this ballpark until the first weekend of june. nats had already been to new york twice, plus we went up to play the yankees. low throw, good dig by murphy and two outs here in the 5th inning. watch the nats and the cardinals, the may 3 rain-out game has been rescheduled for thursday at 7:05. all original tickets from that

game will be valid for entry at all gates this thursday. get your tickets by visiting the nats park box office, 888- 632-nats or online at nationals.com. get your tickets today and get your red on. nick johnson 0-2. ground ball and an error. and a called strikeout. and livan working quickly. when hernandez gets that first batter of an inning, livan starts smelling blood and he wants to get off the field in a hurry. a little bit in, 2-1. >> rob: he is still fun to watch. >> bob: he is a pitcher. >> rob: a pitcher, he doesn't have exceptional stuff but he does have a lot of pitches here

on the pitch track. he can drop a breaking ball in there at 79. >> bob: he got robbed on that call. >> rob: shows he can change speed at will with any pitch. whether it be straight, crooked, change-up. >> bob: nothing is ever the same speed or the same eye level. >> rob: or even the same arm angle. i used to love el duque, orlando hernandez. he just did so many things. and he even admitted that he wasn't -- baseball wasn't his best sport, but when his brother was killed in an accident, he got hit in the head with a machette in a sugar cane field, they couldn't get him to the hospital, that's when he said baseball is my ticket out of cuba. but he was so much fun to watch. >> bob: one, two, three go the nats in the bottom of the 5th inning. mets 5, washington 2. s to ma. we decide to turn in early.

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 >> rob: coors light freeze brought to you by frost-brewed coors light the world's most refreshing beer. nyjer morgan on the throw to the plate. josh bard on the almost tag of alex cora. alex gets around the tag. beautiful slide. right here, we freeze it on the freeze cam. and that coors light freeze cam goes to alex cora's slide. >> bob: that was good. that was