there is no guarantee that two out extra-base hit is going to score josh bard. he is really struggling with that groin injury. >> rob: do we even know that is a groin injury? how do we know he may not be that slow? >> bob: well, he looked very painful running in milwaukee the other day. >> bob: i think he is faster than that. a couple of hits. morgan is 2-3. guzman here at pnc park that is pittsburgh. and how about that view? and we sit up even higher than our high home camera. you should see it from up here. >> rob: spectacular. i'm bob, that is rob and debbi taylor is with us on masn two. we'll stay around for a night game here on monday. even guzman, the impatient hitter taking to start the at-

bat. he is 1-2, and christian is looking for his seven consecutive multi-hit games. >> rob: see what the pitch track has to say that is a good pitch. >> bob: now it is 0-2. guzman hitting close to .480 an hour over his last eight games. he is back over .300. and he hits one hard to the shortstop. a one-hopper. cedeno barely out at first. there was no play at second because plrgian was already there. cedeno saves the pirate ins the fourth.

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rebuilding. you need to dominate this team. this is maybe one of the worst teams you're going to face, maybe one of the worst pitchers. he has a career e.r.a. well around 7.00, and in his 10th start in the major leagues. you need to start taking it to this team and show some people you want to play some ball. >> bob: stammen against delwyn young, the bottom of the fourth is underway and a strike will even the count young led off second and it was stammen's best inning. he deflects that one, but it is into center field. the pirates have six base hits now. >> rob: this election has not been good tonight for craig stammen. we talked about him throwing strikes. you're throwing too much of the

plate tonight. knock these guys off the plate and show them you mean business might help them a bit. >> bob: it doesn't seem like anyone does that anymore. and not just our ball club, but a lot of pitchers stand out there and give up hits all night long. now, his pitch count is pretty low because of that quick second inning, he is only averaging about 12 pitches per inning, but the pirates are hitting him hard. that tailed inside under the hands of andy laroche who popped up to guzman the first time. last night inspect seven innings, john lannan only put three zeros on the board. stammen only put one zero up

tonight so far. and that's really what it is all about, keeping the other team from scoring on a consistent basis. the pirates have been pretty consistent in this series. there is is a pitch out and delwyn young staying at first base. the pirates haven't seen much of his running game yet. he is 2-2 in steals. i was surprised what a little guy he is when i saw him down by the batting cage. not big at all, but he has big speed. a solid 209 they list him. he's holding as laroche lits one to deep right center. nyjer morgan can't get it. the ball bangs off the wall. the pirates go again and a man goes all the way to third, andy laroche.

>> rob: what i see right now is a hungry young team alot of players that are finally going to get a chance to play at this level, and stammen is doing nothing to shut them down a great effort by nyjer morgan right there. >> bob: he knows the padding on that wall out there for playing -- from playing here so much. that was also a really good base running read by delwyn young. he was beyond second base when that happened. i think he thought that morgan was not going to catch it. he kept going scoring easily and then laroche all the way to third. andy laroche has 39 rbi's. he's had a pretty nice series so far. search hits for each team.

the nats have stranded six runners, lost one on a double play and the pirates are making use of theirs. they have only stranded one runner so far. now they have a plan at third and nobody out for brandon moss. broken bat. morgan. he can't get it. 5-2 pirates. and then the catcher gets cut off by the throw by the base runner and down to second base goes brandon moss and that will be the nationals' first error in a week. i'm not sure how nyjer morgan thought he could throw the runner out at home. >> rob: i'm not really sure either, bob, what the play was, but it is a broken bat single. nyjer morgan stops it. he comes up. he is going to throw laroche out at the plate. it is a bad throw. stammen not doing his job

backing up home plate. he gets by bard. he gets by the pitcher. >> bob: and the nationals' 95th error of the year. their first after a seven-game errorless streak and for nyjer morgan, his third error of the year, second as a nat. >> rob: well, if i am jim riggleman, i would not be happy about what i'm watching right now. >> bob: here he comes. he's making the change. craig stammen is only going to retire nine batters tonight. he will give up eight hits in just over three innings of work and the pirates lead 5-2. so when you said you bring fiber optic

all the way to the home, you meant... we bring fiber optic all the way to the home. um... which gives you more bandwidth than cable. so you can upload faster. so it's like comparing a horse and buggy to a sports car. am i the, uh, horse? (announcer) it's a whole new internet. makes uploading as easy as downloading. because your internet's not fast unless it's two-way fast.

 >> bob: craig stammen knock out early tnt and the pirates may make him responsible for one more run. ronny sedano is coming up. let's talk about hits back in the 1970s, pete rose, rod carew, one and two, number three on that list? >> rob: oliver. >> bob: how about that? that's a lot of hits for a 10- year period. that guy was a left-handed hitter with power, speed, good

outfielder. and a strike from clippard to ronny sedano, the number eight hitter with the pitcher on deck. a chopper. it is over the mound. that's a hit. first and third, nobody out. >> rob: that is too bad. he is going to have elbow surgery on monday. >> bob: here is vir gill

vasquez of the pirates who sacraficed the first time. he could be doing it again. he tried to push that bunt over the infield. he got the sweet spot on it. and you can hit a ball 20 feet or so doing that. >> rob: i have seen stranger things. >> bob: rich donnelly. he told me today that tony beasley will be away from the ball club for a several days. he has had two deaths in his family in the last couple of days, an he's back in virginia attending to the family business which was owned by one of the relatives he lost, and tony will be away from the ball club for a while. he's going to pop one up, and that's going to be a double play. gonzales to dunn and that's the risk you run if you pop it up on the infield. you leave your runner in no man's land and that wasn't a real great read by ronny cedeno. >> rob: no, it was not.

>> bob: so that was right after he visited with the third base coach. >> rob: he does exactly what the third base coach did not want him to do, which was hit the ball hard or bunt the ball hard. a head's up play. >> bob: the nats turn their second double play of the night. that's a mistake by the pirates while they have the lead. we'll see if it comes back to haunt them at some point. clippard now. andrew mccutchen. he is 2-2. he has gone big and little by homering and bunting for a hit. >> rob: be careful with the changeups to righties. >> bob: you don't like that pitch. >> rob: no, i don't like that pitch. it is not conducive to throwing to right-handed hitters. go down and in. and it will go out like that.

>> bob: your saw him make the adjust tom the off-speed pitch and he hit a rocket out there. the first career multihomer game for mccutchen. 7-2. six of those runs charged to craig stammen.

>> bob: let's see. i'm looking at the lineup. i don't see clement, target gal, oliver, all i see are base hits. >> rob: if you don't make quality, well located pitches, bob, these guys are still dangerous. it didn't get close to this level or at this level by not being the best player on their high school, college and every minor league team they play on. so they may not be high stockwise as major league players go, but they're still major league players. you've got to make your pitches. you can't help guys out by throwing off speed stuff that breaks back in towards their power zone. >> bob: 3-2 to milledge. he hit the ball extremely hard the last time to double in two runs. garrett jones is next.

milledge will pop it up to the right side. alberto gonzalez is under it. seven pirates bat, four of them score, and there was a double play. 7-2, pittsburgh. old! they are rollover minutes. they are as good as new. ya know not everyone gets to keep their unused minutes. and these days we can't afford to be wasteful. saving minutes... ...saves money. yea. (announcer) only at&t's family talk with rollover saves your family's unused minutes. and saving minutes saves money. for back to school, get the lg neon for $29.99 after mail-in rebate.

 >> a lot of long fly balls flying through that western pennsylvania air tonight. the pirates lead 7-2 as we go

to the fifth inning. get your red on. come on out early tuesday. you know you're a nats' fan t- shirt tuesday presented by tickets.com. for the first 10,000 through the gates, 888-632-nats. nationals.com. lots -- lots of nats fans have made the trip up to pittsburgh and zimmerman, dunn and willingham will be the hitters in the fifth inning. the pirates have been do the plate for eight innings in this series, and the nationals -- pardon me, 12 innings, and the nationals have only put five zeros on the board. against a ball club that 36 hours, everyone was saying who are some of these guys? finding out in a hurry who system of these youngsters are. zimmerman, 2-2 with a pair of

singles. the nationals have two runs. they have collected seven hits already. adam dunn has an rbi, but they have stranded six. fastball. a big breaking ball and zimmerman was waiting for it. that's extra ways bases for the left field wall and ryan zimmerman is 3-3. he's had hits in four of his last five at- bats here going back to the homer last night. >> rob: well, the zim-nay for came to play.

he just smashed that ball. >> bob: the nats may need a big fly from adam dunn to wake things up here. e has doubled in a run and walked, eight hits for washington now, and dunn flies one left side out of play. >> rob: there shouldn't be one of our guys a the back of the box. this guy can't even hit 90 on the gun. he has nothing to intimidate our hitters. he came in with a 7.00 e.r.a. career and he is on his last leg and he looks like cy young out there. >> bob: at times. the nats have had their lead- off man on three consecutive innings now.

zimmerman twice. adam dunn takes one in there. 88 on the strike. josh willingham, oh-fer one, and then elijah dukes here in the fifth inning. and a big slow breaking ball. adam dunn gone. the fourth time he has struck out in this series. willingham next.

>> bob: not many first pitch strikes by vasquez tonight. >> rob: they should be throwing each other -- telling each other in the dug-out just be patient. don't get yourself in trouble. with dukes on deck, 3-0 to willingham.

and four pitches not anywhere near the plate. the nats have two runners with one out here in the fifth inning. it will be walk number two issued by vir gill vasquez. so now the nats need an intelligent at-bat by elijah dukes. he was up in a situation like this the last time and on the first pitch he hit special a 6- 4-3 double play. the first pitch swings again against a pitcher who just walked a batter on four

pitches. it is lard to believe. two outs. >> bob: tonight's copyrighted telecast is presented by authority of the washington nationals and may not be reproduced or retransmitted in any form. any accounts or tripses of this game may not be deseminated without the express written consent by the washington nationals, or we'll send you down the river! here is josh bard. >> rob: stay positive. >> bob: i'm trying. there is a first pitch swing and bard hits it over the head of brandon moss. zimmerman scores, willingham is stopped at third, and it is a 7- 3 game. that is a long single by bard who is having a hard time

running these days. josh gets his 20th rbi of the year. >> rob: that's all right. we can get somebody do run for him. the ball is smoked, two outs, i'm sending the runner. 39 games under .500. that's just me. >> bob: here is alberto gonzalez. he threw that one away and a good play by doumit. he picked it cleanly.

>> ona pitch up. gonzales lines it, and they have him played perfectly. the nats settle for one after a lead-off double. it is 7-3. 

 >> bob: it is a beautiful n in pittsburgh. in the so on the scoreboard. the nats have nine hits, but they're down by four. >> rob: the pirates need a castle. >> bob: let's go back to 1990- pirates and reds. >> rob: that is one bad dude

right there! >> bob: nlcs. >> rob: you'll get nothing and like it! bye-bye! strikeout. >> bob: that is too filthy. >> rob: my one save during the series. >> bob: and you were named the most valuable player of that series, a four-game decision. >> rob: co-mvp. randy myers was the co-mvp with myself. but i took the trophy. >> bob: i like the 10-1 run to- walk ratio. >> rob: that was my two-week period in my career. never felt better. >> bob: you picked the right month for it. >> rob: absolutely. >> bob: better than may. hey, i had a great may! >> rob: you don't want anyone calling you mr. may unless your name is lee.

>> rob: lee may was pretty good fo the reds way back when. >> bob: ter watching th >>rob: do, too. thank you. the guys in the truck always know how to make me feel better. rally monkey! >> bob: 1-2 to jones who is 1-2 tonight. and he almost had an extra-base hit to right center, but elijah dukes made a great playtokeep two-rthird inning from being much bigger. tyler clippard can put a zero up on the board here. the nat also go back to work with then the top of the order against vasquez in the sixth. he may not be but it will be time for the nats to get some damage done. ob: we guilty a guy. >> b:kes weback and grabs it on the track. he got a good jump.

>> rob: tell that is not a castle building. i was lost day walkg trying find the ballpark and i saw that building. >> bob: i hope you didn't walk towards it because it about a mile away. >> rob: i did. >> bob: you have heard of pittsburgh plate glass. it is 'ppg building. pnc, ppg, ryan doumit is two tonight. >> rob: i was going to be stupid and u. pnc.

>> bob: 1-2. the dog days of august are here, by the way. >> rob: you can't ask for directions and say i'm looking for the yellow bridge that goes do -- oh, there are about 37 yellow bridges. >> bob: tell them you're looking for the roberto clemente bridge. there's only one of those. that ball hit down the line and foul. >> rob: i think they were kind of freaked out, with tattooed guy, and he was dragging a bag behind him. >> bob: ask us about the nats at masnsports.com. we'd love to hear your e-mails. and you might get on the air. with your e-mail, we'll talk about it and we appreciate it. that is a good pitch. a breaking ball. that's a swing, says rob drake

down at third base. two outs. >> rob: if you can stump the broadcasters, maybe we'll give you a free t-shirt. >> bob: that shouldn't be too hard. yes, he did. >> bob: here is delwyn young. >> rob: i played with his dad. i'm sure his friends call him d.y. dell win was a heck of a player. , his dad. his dad was a hell of an outfielder. he could run, hit, throw. that is a good fastball there.

>> bob: jammed him well. >> rob: there he is coming inside of the fastball. that's what we talked about with stammen. he can knock guys down or even hit him. he throws on the inside part of the plate. >> bob: and clippard with a high fastball. well, if some offense happens out of this, there will be a momentum shift in pittsburgh. the top of the sixth coming up. 

 >> bob: well, it was anothe promising start for teddy. teddy seems to run faster in pittsburgh than he does in d.c. >> rob: what happened? >> bob: it is -- like some relationships, this one would not end well. >> rob: poor teddy. >> bob: now, that was funny. >> bob: that is the most dangerous thing i have seen with a handbag since ruth buzzy. and for the pirates, ramon vasquez will play second base and bat ninth, is a pitcher vasquez departs and the second baseman vazquez in the ballgame on a double switch and jeff karstens takes over. anderson hernandez will pitch

for clippard leading off the top of the sixth. >> bob: i think the pirates saw all they wanted to see of vasquez. they got him out of there after 75 pitches giving up three runs on nine hits. mow the nat also have to do it against the pirates' bullpen. but there is a long way to go in this game. and hernandez fouls one back on the count. >> rob: the worst case scenario you tie the ballgame. you have 12 outs to get four runs. that's your goal here. you stretch out one, maybe two. and get yourself back in this game.

>> bob: karstens's 27th appearance. he has made 10 starts, a 4.40 e.r.a., and a breaking ball by anderson stays with to foul off. it seems like they only blow those whistles when the nats are hitting. how do they know? hernandez, heading to the scoreboard. it will bounce off the scoreboard and he will head to second base. a lead-off double pinch hitting here in the sixth. >> rob: a nice way to start.

>> rob: karstens is known as a good power pitcher. he is going to try to throw something off speed which maybe isn't his repertoire which is maybe he is out in the bullpen. hanging, the changeup and anderson crushed it. >> bob: his ninth double of the year, his 12th extra-base hit and here is nyjer morgan who is 2-3. a base hit up the middle and the last time up to left field. he shows bunt. the pitch is way up. >> rob: nyjer morgan, he came up to me. he was upset. he didn't do well last night. he is back with a vengeance. >> bob: so he is hitting .310 where he is 2-3 tonight. as a national, he is batting around .400 again.

he bunts that one. if it hit as ground, it is probably a hit. it is. >> rob: good. i think jones got a glove on that. >> bob: and nyjer morgan is 3-4 as he takes a little chip shot that checked up nicely. >> rob: h this is a beautiful bunt here. if it gets down, bob said. pops it up and he deadens it up. watch karstens' throw. it hits his glove and gets him right in the ankle. he limps back to first base. >> bob: and the complexion of this game with the hitters the nats have coming up could change in a heart beat. down by four, guzman, zimmerman, and dunn. and those batters have five hits tonight. here is christian who is 1-3. you don't want to ground ball out somebody here. >> rob: and you don't want to

get picked off. >> bob: nyjer morgan since coming to the nats, 14-18 in stolen bases, both teams pretty good with runners in scoring position, especially the pirates, but the nats a chance to add on to that here. a long look. the runner holds. guzman and fair ball! left field side. morgan to third. guzman, a double. it is 7-4. anderson hernandez in the dug

out already and the nats have three consecutive hits against jeff karstens here in the sixth inning. guzman, by the way, his seventh consecutive multi-hit game. >> rob: a great at-bat here. he takes the hard fastball and just smacks it down the left- field line. i loe when they don't try to do too much. with the lead-off double by anderson hernandez, huge. the bunt, the double. and now you have three, four, five, zim, dunn and the hammer. >> bob: let's see where they start with the geico highlights tonight. how about at the end of the alphabet. zimmerman jammed in a base hit in the first and rob, his next two times up he hits the ball extremely hard. >> rob: the second one. he sent that one all the way to

the wall. ryan zimmerman is the tying run all of a sudden. but the one thing you want, job a, morgan home from third. job b., guzman sometime this inning home from second, or will he get to third? and a breaking ball that ryan can't reach. great speed out there. zimmerman won't have to hit it too deep to get a sac fly. >> rob: no. hopefully he'll set them up. hopefully he'll come back and throw another curve ball. >> bob: ryan has hits in four of his five at-bats in this series and he is now hitting .291. front door breaking ball. well, he couldn't have been thinking breaking ball because that pitch was a home run waiting to happen. >> rob: wow. >> bob: watch this hanger. >> rob: this can't be a strike. >> bob: it looked like it

backed up a little bit on him. >> rob: yeah, but that's not in the strike zone. >> bob: 0-2. he got the call. ryan gets jammed, right field, and caught by moss. morgan can't score. well after getting behind 0-2. zimmerman was fighting for survival there. now how will they work adam dunn? you don't think they'll walk him when they're ahead by a couple. >> rob: i would. >> bob: really? >> rob: yeah. the way they're ripping the ball off of karstens, other than that jam shot. bishop and he is a left-handed batter. >> rob: moss throw as nice throw to home plate. >> bob: he has eight assist this is year. >> rob: doumit didn't handle the ball very well. i think he was so worried about

nyjer morgan's feet. >> bob: there is a strike to dunn on a breaking ball. this inning has to happen for the nats right here. >> rob: he struck out the last time on some big breaking balls. you need to be patient right here. >> bob: willingham has been hit by a pitch and walked tonight. he is oh-fer one. >> rob: and he will come up with the bases loaded. stammen, the night he hit the grand slam. >> bob: adam dunn has to find a way to make contact here. less than stellar, 13-29.

with two strikes. his strength. >> rob: he just needs to make contact. a line drive scores two. you're on second. >> bob: he is going to see nothing but junk until he proves he can hit it. and the pirates have struck out adam dunn five times in this series. >> rob: they must have had a good scout scouting him in milwaukee. that's what he saw there, struck out a bunch. those are very solid breaking balls. >> bob: twice already tonight the nats have settled for two- rub and one-run innings. you'd hate to see them settle for one here. willingham takes one right down

the middle. >> rob: a break right there. >> bob: the nationals have outhit the pirates 12-10. the top of the sixth, pittsburgh seven and washington four. breaking ball, low 2-1.

>> bob: breaking ball, caught by the man they just brought in to replace the second baseman who was 5 '9". does delwyn young catch that ball? i'm not sure, but vasquez did, and the nats only get one run out of all that.

 >> bob: night falling in pittsburgh, and lots of base hits falling in as well. 22 of them, and a big night for andrew mccutchen, a two home run, two rbi, three run-score night. ryan zimmerman, 3-4. craig stammen, not a stellar effort, and he's in line for his sixth loss of the year, unless the nats can get him off the hook. and he'll try to put another zero up on the board to take on laroche, moss and cedeno in the bottom of the sixth. that is an interesting move by john russell early in the game to pull off the double switch and his second baseman makes

the play of the night on what would have been a two-run hit by willingham. >> bob: the game box score for the pirates. kensing goes 2-0 on laroche, 1- 2 with an rbi triple. it was the key hit that opened up that four-run fourth inning for the pirates. >> bob: interesting that his brother is back in atlanta. and the laroche boys can hit. adam is a lefty and andy is a right-hander and they're both

good line drive hitters. he's 2-3. brandon moss, the hitter, 1-2 with an rbi. >> rob: nick doubled in that game in florida. he was thrown out trying to stretch it. >> bob: he was? i saw where he was oh-fer one, had been on base once early in the game. they have him batting in the number two hole tonight and the marlins are trailing the cubs 5- 3, bottom of the fifth. >> rob: he knocked in sanchez, an rbi double.

>> bob: the braves beat the dodgers this afternoon. and they have a chance tonight if florida loses to be back within a game of the marlins for second. and the phillies are at san francisco later tonight behind joe blanton. >> rob: by the way, cliff lee, the first win with the phillies last night. they beat the giants. >> bob: lincecum for san francisco tonight. that's a swing and a foul. the count is 1-# on brandon moss. -- 1-2 on brandon moss. a.j. burnett starts for the yankees

today and they lost 14-4. they were in chicago. >> rob: cliff lee last night, nine innings pitched, and he pitched a complete game, a couple of walks, six pun-outs. that is a nice debut after getting traded. did you get to see it? >> bob: i saw a little out of that, yeah. a ring will get him over it. if that happens. >> rob: if that happens. that will be nice.

>> bob: that's trouble. adam dunn can't get it. laroche going to third. dukes almost got it. the ball hit so slowly, but elijah made it close at third almost getting his 11th assist of the year. he's still in the top three in the league in assists, even though he has been away for a month. adam really no chance for that one. >> rob: a nice throw. one hop. boom. a nice tag. 12 hits for the pirates now. nobody out in the sixth. and the nats are having a hard time putting any zeros on the board when they're pitching. ronny cedeno is 2-2 in the number eight spot. he gets jammed.

gonzales, they score a run. they'll take it. and now it is 8-4. friday nights are miller light party nights in nats town. $20 gets you a scoreboard pavilion seat and a free drink at the bar, soda, water or beer, $22 for premium games. come early for the pre-game live music and fireworks afterwards every friday night. >> bob: they're in a good mood. i would be smiling through that beak myself, the parrot. here is the ninth hitter, ramon vazquez. they brat limb in for defense and it paid off immediately for the pirates when he made the leaping catch. he is a 32-year-old infielder

from puerto rico. he has been with seattle, san diego, boston, and texas for the last two years. the pirates signed him as a free agent back in december. he hit .290 for the rangers last year with 40 rbi's in part- time duty. the pirates have scored in four innings tonight and andrew mccutchen looking dangerous on deck.

rine villone for the nats.   and keening walk as .235 hitter. two on and one out here in the

sixth. andrew mccutchen. as popular as nyjer morgan was and still is here, this is a young man that may be just as popular as quickly. he is only 22. five home runs and 28 batted in with two long balls tonight. >> rob: and for some of our younger pitchers, something you should want to learn is if they get beat by these young guys by your third pitch, make them beat your best pitch, and until he does, you don't give him

anything else. >> bob: like clippard with the changeup? >> rob: exactly. you pound the guy with fastballs when you throw in the low 90s. you don't even go to a breaking ball. you say, hey, show me if you can hit this. and that's how you earn respect at this level and you get a reputation. you're so nervous about this guy at his age, what about when a real good hitter gets up there? some veteran all-star guy, albert pujols. >> bob: and mccutchen is going deep for the third time. three home runs, six rbi's and the rout is on.

eight year -- eight years ago, the pirate hit three homers in a game and that was a power guy, aramis ramirez. >> rob: this is sun believable. >> bob: somebody threw a hat out there. so in one game andrew mccutchen doubles his career home run

total. he may be the next hanley ramirez. >> rob: i can't believe that. i know how you feel. >> bob: here is milledge. and he'll pop it up into right center for elijah dukes. milledge, 1-4. two outs and garrett jones will be next. and just beyond the 9:00 hour, it has gotten much darker for the nationals. myriad opportunities wasted offensively. four runs, but 10 runners stranded, and now the pitching staff being hammered by the pirates and jim riggleman is about to make a double switch. four more runs in the sixth on logan kensing.

( shouting ) anybody want a beer? yeah. ( thud ) are you insured? do you know when your beer is perfectly cold? or do you risk drinking a warm one? if you have the coors light cold-activated bottle, you're covered. because every bottle turns blue when your beer is as cold as the rockies. it's cold insurance, only from coors light. ( cheering, splash ) cold beer: that's our policy. frost-brewed coors light. the world's most refreshing beer. i just gave you some at the restaurant. yea i know. i threw them out. they were old so... old! they are rollover minutes.

they are as good as new. ya know not everyone gets to keep their unused minutes. and these days we can't afford to be wasteful. saving minutes... ...saves money. yea. (announcer) only at&t's family talk with rollover saves your family's unused minutes. and saving minutes saves money. for back to school, get the lg neon for $29.99 after mail-in rebate.  >> bob: nationals baseball brought to you by southwest airlines, book your next trip on southwest.com, and by pnc bank, pnc, leading the way. the lights are shining bright in pittsburgh tonight. and for the nationals fans who came over here, they have seen some offense, but they have seen the pitching staff battered. willie harris plays left.

batting fifth, josh willingham out and pitching rob villone. so logan kensing goes 2/3 of an inning and gives up four runs on three hits. his e.r.a. was on its way down. not anymore. and they had to g out and do some additional clean-up in the outfield. probably a few more hats then on the field. as far as i know, there is no hat trick in baseball. that is a hockey term. but some folks, i guess some penquin fans ho had stored up some caps over the summer. >> rob: the stanley cup champs in town here and the super bowl champs in town here. you're talking seven super bowl titles here in town. >> bob: that pitch is up and in to garrett jones who is 1-3. >> rob: sadly, this lineup,

three or fourth on most depth charges, one of the reasons they're all traded. >> bob: the pitch that villone can't reach. recently as one half inning ago, the nationals had the ties run at the plate with nobody out. now they're down by seven. if you have pitching or if you don't have pitching, you have nothing to work with.

and that ball down the left field slice, beyond the reach of willie harris and garrett jones will have a double. >> rob: is this organization trying to better itself? i went over the triple-a roster yesterday, and they had 28

pitchers. most of them are up here in the big leagues. there has been a huge turn over of talent here. they're doing the best that they can >> bob: but ---winning two games in milwaukee, there was a great feeling about this road trip. you're looking at two more there and four in pittsburgh with all heck breaking loose here. nyjer morgan is under that one out in left center. he'll catch it off the bat of ryan doe plight and that will do it for the sixth inning. the pirates, 11-4. so when you said you bring fiber optic all the way to the home, you meant... we bring fiber optic all the way to the home. um...

which gives you more bandwidth than cable. so you can upload faster. so it's like comparing a horse and buggy to a sports car. am i the, uh, horse? (announcer) it's a whole new internet. makes uploading as easy as downloading. because your internet's not fast unless it's two-way fast.

 >> bob: our coors light fre cam brought to you by frost brewed coarse light, the most refreshing beer. and ramon vasquez, the play of the night. >> rob: yes. he gets way up there. great vertical leap. the coarse light freeze cam shows you just how high that young man can go to rob josh willingham of a sure single at least. >> bob: and i'm sure somebody in the ballpark wondered who freddy sanchez have made that play? how about this kid, 4-4, three homers, six rbi's. i'm not sure if the nats have pitched inside on him yet and he is wearing them out. mccutchen and milledge have

driven in six of their 11 runs tonight. and eight of their runs in this series. elijah dukes' first pitch swinging, strike one. the seventh inning underway. elijah is oh-fer two with a sac fly. cars sense is rejuvenated. three hits, three outs and now he is 0-2 to his seventh hitter. he has fanned two of the last

three and josh bard is coming up. nats' extra coming up after the game. byron kerr with ray and a very short night for craig stammen. 44 pitches in three-plus innings. comments from jim riggleman after the game and a preview of colin balester and paul maholm tomorrow. josh bard has swung at the first time three out of four times tonight. two outs. >> bob: it is a beautiful view until the scoreboard comes into the shot. >> rob: good one. then it looks more like a

steelers' game. >> bob: 0-2 in a hurry. alberto gonzalez has hit the ball in the air three times tonight. he has to reach for an 0-2 pitch. cedeno throws him out and he's four for his last 43. time to stretch in pittsburgh. r triple-basted baby back ribs.

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 >> with more on the return elijah dukes to the nats, here is debbi taylor. >> elijah dukes is going do get his playing time, have an opportunity to show the nats he belongs in the big leagues, and here is what jim riggleman would like the see out of his right fielder. >> elijah has a little track record of here of being productive and so we'd just like to build on that and get his career going, you know. it's time for elijah to take that next step in his career and i believe he has the tools to do it. >> jim said, too, that he had good reports from the syracuse manager and also from the hitting coach down there. bob? >> bob: well, elijah went down july 1, hit .279 down there in 20 games with three home runs and 10 batted in. and an on-base average of .388.

that means he wasn't swinging at everything. he was taking walks when given. this is steve pierce bat fling the number five spot for the pitcher jeff karstens. karstens somehow gets through two innings give giving up only one run after the first three men hit safely against him, and two of them were extra bases. he settled down to retire six in a row. and he went right through the middle of the nats' lineup with the tying run in the batter's box that will be the key juncture of the ballgame when the nats settle for one run in the sixth and logan kensing gave up four in the bottom of the inning. a changeup by rob villone to struck him out. -- rob villone to strike him out.

>> bob: randy laroche, two runs, a triple and a single. he was slumping when the nats came to town, and he is 3-7 many this series with two runs batted in.

and villone jams him. he fouls it straight back. one out in the bottom of the

seventh. and 2-2 to laroche. and a swing and a foul tip. bard holds on two outs and a pair of strikeouts here for rob villone. you can follow the nats on your iphone and your ipod touch. it's called mlb.com at bat twine featuring play by play, video highlights and live audio. visit nationals.com on your iphone or your ipod touch to purchase. bases empty, two outs and moss

is 2-3. that is a busted bat and a fly ball to guzman. a good inning for rob villone, and a one, two, three. top of the eight, willie harris leads off and then the top of the order. ♪

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 >> bob: the pirates are try to beat the nats for the fifth time in six time this is year. if that doesn't change, we'll see if colin balester can stop it coming off one of the best starts in his career in milwaukee when he gave up only two runs in six innings an pitched with great poise. paul maholm has been batted around lately. he is 6-5 with a 4.70 e.r.a. evidently the kind of pitcher we don't like to face. we'll get you going at 1:00. byron and ray with nats' extra. >> rob: so true.

i was nervous when i looked at vir gill vasquez. >> bob: here is donny vale. he's their only left-hander in the bullpen. >> bob: they took him from the cubs in the rule fifth draft. donny veal is a rookie. and he's out of se aira vista, arizona. -- see aira vista, arizona. he is not related to former pirate bob veal, but he is the cousin of bob. bob veal, v.-e.-a.-l.-e. on the

become of his jersey. morgan and guzman to follow. 11-4 pirates outhitting the nationals 14-12. >> rob: nyjer morgan having a good night, 3-4. >> bob: yes, he is. >> rob: set the tone for

tomorrow's ballgame. >> bob: nyjer morgan is batting .402 as a nat now and a 3-2 to willie harris. and he walks leading off the eighth. top of the order. >> rob: veal had 12 walks coming in tonight. that is 13. >> bob: they obviously have a left-handed void in their bullpen since the departure of sean burnett. some of the people i talked to here in pittsburgh, they understand the morgan move because mccutchen was on the way and he's pretty good. >> rob: think ear both arbitration eligible. >> bob: well, at some point you have to spend some money to keep a ball club together and ask your fans to pay major league prices to watch that ball club. >> rob: obviously they knew sean burnett was guaranteed arbitration and nyjer morgan is

a super two possibility of arbitration. >> bob: evidently veal is okay by a visit from the assistant trainer. and the manager john russell and the top of the order now, nyjer morgan. 3-4 and 120 hits on the year now.

whispers of discontent in the stadium. not conversation just yet, with a seven-run lead. that is not going to make them feel very good. 3-0. a walk is as good as hit for the nats who need base runners, ts of them.  wow. >> rob: make you think about it for a little bit. you start thinking about throwing a strike. that's going to do it for him. >> bob: evan meek has been

throwing, the right-hander, in the pirates' bullpen and he is heading in. so don -- donny veal faces two batters and doesn't come close to retiring either of them. guzman is coming up next. at samuel adams,

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way, and by mcdonald's. feeling thrusty? try our refreshing 32-ounce sweet tea. i'm loving it! at participating mcdonald's. a beautiful shot of the golden triangle with the fountain. the allegheny is running alongside pnc park and so here is evan meek to face christian guzman who set a national record. he has seven consecutiv- hit games. guzman, 2-4 tonight.

upstairs.  2-0. and there it is. a new nats' record. seven consecutive games driving in a run. jesus there are ease had the previous mark. july 30th to august 6 of last year. and i remember a viewer who called in the franchise cord, u games, august 5 of 1998 and a 2-1 to christian. the strike zone is generous here. 

up his front foot. 2-2 with nobody out, and a little tapper. fair ball. very well played by ryan doe plight. harris to third, morgan to second with one out.

very well played by ryan doumit. harris to third, morgan to second with one out. >> rob: a great shot of a swinging bunt. it goes foul, comes fair. doumit make as great play and moves the runners up. scratch a couple of runs right here. the middle of the order is coming up. >> bob: you have to score two before you can score seven and here is a guy you'd want up there, although the last time up, ryan zimmerman, second and third and nobody out in the sixth and popped up to right field. the key to that was he was victimized by called strikes on both sides of the plate, and there were two of those before he knew it. remember how surprised he was by that back-up breaking ball for strike two? and then he had to get defensive and just swing because the ball was close.

three hits tonight, looking for rbi number 68, maybe more. >> bob: and he gets under that one. he hits it high and far to left center, and it is at the track. it is caught by mccutchen, two runners will move up, and it is now 11-5. what do you think? a millimeter or two on the bat and that is a three-run homer. >> rob: yeah, he got under that just a little bit. the breaking ball, in the a lot of velocity. the swing, head down he wanted three, not one. >> bob: here is adam dunn, 1-3, an rbi double, a walk and two

strikeouts. they throw him a get-ahead fastball and now we'll see if he sees another one the rest of the at-bat. austin kearns is on deck while jim riggleman and ryan zimmerman have an interesting conversation. that is a swing, says rob drake. dunn strike t -- strikes out again. the inning is over. the nats settle for one again. it is 11-5.

stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. (announcer) 36-hour cialis. or cialis for daily use. ask your doctor about cialis today, so when the moment is right, you can be ready.  >> bob: the bottom of the eighth coming up tpirates all over the nats 11-5 together. the potomac nationals would like you to invite you to party. it is another kids' eat free sunday tomorrow. the players will sign autographs before the game. the kids get free meals, run the bases, play catch. i guess they're doing

everything but playing the game. potomacnationals.com or 703-590- 2911. zimmerman take as hit away from ronny cedeno. man, we could hear that thing smack into the glove up here. >> rob: that got him in the palm. >> bob: that is a left palm that is really sore now. >> rob: yes. he is not happy now. great play. that is just the reaction here. wow. you don't have time to think about it. it gets him right in the palm. and he is just sucking it up right now. it hurts. >> bob: don't rub it. keep the fingers moving. >> rob: he is one of those strange birds that doesn't even wear a batting glove inside the glove. >> bob: villone is trying to retire his sixth consecutive batter, ramon vasquez, whose

bat has not touched the ball, but he has had a significant influence on the game. josh willingham, ending the sixth inning. if he doesn't make that play it is a one-run game. andrew mccutchen, we know he can't do one thing, he can't get the cycle of home runs tonight no way to hit a grand slam, although they'll have another man on base. that ball hits vasquez. -- vazquez. home run number three in the sixth inning is our ford drive of the game. he has three home runs doubling his major league total, six rbi's, and a standing ovation for his fifth at-bat. we the -- by the way nbetween all of the homers he bunted for a single.

he'll have to supply all of the power if villone drive as changeup. >> bob: hard hit ball, shortstop, guzman, gonzales and dunn. a 6-4-3, and we go to the ninth inning. well, they're clapping because he gets the game one step closer to being over. u

. >> bob: back to pittsburgh for the the of the ninth inning, and the nationals are down by six trailing 11-5, and a defining moment in this game came with two outs, two on, top of the sixth, and josh willingham unlucky. he hit the cover off the ball and ramon vazquez who had just come in as a defensive replacement on a double switch took a two-run hit away. if that ball touches the

outfield grass, at that time it is a one-run game. >> rob: yes. and then the pirates would come right back, storm right back and score four runs in the bottom half of that inning. >> bob: by the way, rob, it is austin kearns leading off here in the top of the ninth, pinch hitting for the pitcher villone, and you and i are about to bid adieu to our four- day good luck charm, jose morales, the baseball card that we had hoped had started good things. the nats won four in a row after it anonymously showed up in the booth last saturday and now this is is about to be four in a row and you and i made an executive committee decision that jose would stay with us a as long as the nats were over .500 with him. >> rob: you being the president

and i'm the sergeant this arms. i hope he is playing. >> bob: that comment was a little uncalled for! but what are you going to do? >> rob: sorry, jose. >> bob: a great run while it lasted. >> rob: we'll come up with a new one. >> bob: kearns will draw a lead- off walk here in the ninth. probably some wise guy out there will start mailing some more object cure cards. >> rob: there's fine. >> bob: we enjoyed a .289 hitter for as long as you can. by the way, he was one of baseball's best pinch hitters back then. >> rob: joe kerrigan reading the riot act right now. what in tar-nation are you doing? six runs up throwing breaking balls? >> bob: yeah. i'm out of here.

here is dukes. >> rob: mcclutchen had his third home run and clippard, you want to establish your best pitch around the league and until guys can prove that they can hit that, you don't need to go to number two, number three, start getting beat by those pitches, and they can beat your best pitch. >> bob: by -- >> bob: by the way, with the three long balls tonight, the nationals have given up 100 home runs this year. >> rob: he doubled his pleasure. >> bob: how about that, from three to six career home runs in six innings. dukes, rips one off to the right side. and the count is even 1-1 on the nationals' right fielder, who in his return to the ball club has gone oh-fer three, had

a sacrafice fly back in the first. the nationals led 2-0, and then they led 2-1. the pirates led 3- 2 and haven't looked back. dukes' top hand came off the bat. one ball and two strikes. >> bob: 2-2 to elijah. that's a breaking ball afront door one that stays up and in. and evidently -- >> rob: joe kerrigan. >> bob: either he didn't say quit throwing breaking balls or he's not listening. time given. >> bob: colin balester, paul

maholm tomorrow. 3-2 to dukes. he walks. well, the only way you can chew him out now is do it from the dug-out and send an infielder in there and here comes ronny cedeno as josh bard will come up. now, josh -- >> rob: what's wrong with you? walking everybody, what's wrong with you? >> bob: now, rob, you have to be more positive than this. we live in a sensitive era. don't hurt his feelings. josh bard has swung at the first pitch three out of four times tonight. he wouldn't do it after two walks, would he? >> rob: he is thinking about getting up. >> bob: it is not larryly a save situation yet. and bard does take a pitch. >> rob: we used to always say, a good set-up guy will get you

into a blow-out. and a breaking ball in there. i guess all he needed to see was a left-handed batter. jesse chavez, and he's pitched almost five innings against the nats this year without giving up anything. bard strikes out. an interesting at-bat for josh, after swinging aggressively in the count almost every time up earlier, the second strikeout for evan meek. and it is up to alberto gonzalez with one out here and then willie harris. that is to keep the evening alive.

alberto is oh-fer four tonight. he can't let it get to two strikes the way he's going. he's got to swing and that is a nasty breaking ball, 0-2. that is is a wild pitch and the runners will move up. kearns at

third and dukes at second. they both walked, and gonzales now with one out. willie harris came in double switched. he has walked and scored already tonight. >> rob: i like those caps in the game. >> bob: gonzalez will chop one foul a breaking ball inside. chavez and their closer matt capps. >> rob: those are the two

happiest guys in town now. >> bob: if the nats got the bases loaded, they'd still need one more runner to have the tying run in the on-deck circle, which is the -- kind of farfetched criterion for a save. >> rob: it almost looks like doumit and meek are arguing. doumit is going, listen, joe said don't do that, so i'm not going to go against joe. >> bob: that's right. you're in hot water. don't get us both in there. and gonzalez gets one up the middle, stabbed by cedeno. a run scores. two outs. it is 11-6.

pretty good range by ronny cedeno. the veteran shortstop. it is willie harris now with two outs. >> rob: it had all kinds of spin on it. a nice kick. willie harris hits the first pitch, and the pirates have beaten the nationals again. two hours and 46 minutes for a decisive 11-6 win. and the young bucs are having some fun at the expense of the nats. úúxx

>> flats extra coming up. the pirates win, and this is

the andrew mccutchen show starring andrew mccutchen. >> you can see why he is so highly touted. he hits three home runs abunt single, four runs, six rbi's. >> it wasn't the night for craig stammen. we'll talk about that. also, lots of missed opportunities, so many men left on base. bob carpenter and rob dibble coming up next and then it is nats' extra. stay right there. >> thank you, byron and ray. yeah, too many men stranded. how about 12 of them by the frustrated nats tonight. they drop it to the pirates 11- " for rob dibble and debbi taylor, bob carpenter. join us sunday on masn 2. we'll get you going at 1:00 with nats' treax. -- extra. visit masn.com for all of the latest news on the nats. this has been a production of masn. stay tuned. nats' extra coming up and from the booth, so long for just a while!

>> welcome to nats' extra, byron kerr and ray knight with you on a friday night presented by verizon fios. this game is little more offense than yesterday. 11-6 for pittsburgh, ray. not a flight for craig stammen to remember. and andrew mccutchen certainly did everything for the pittsburgh offense. >> well, the offense was on fire tonight, 14 hits and another big hit by milledge. six rbi's, three home runs and laroche hit as big triple. and offensively we did have 12 hits, but we just weren't able to put hits together. several times ayou'll see later in the show, we left runners in scoring positionment we were i think 4-15 with runners in scoring pos. >> not a bad start. we got the first two runs early on and then the pirates started chipping away. they got the lead 3-2 and had a huge fourth inning. >> yes, they did. young started off. he got a base hit, and then

laroche tripled to center field. nyjer morgan almost makes this play. there is just not a lot of room there. moss singles the shallow center field as he hit the ball off the end of the bat. just like i said, morgan is trying to make a great play. he makes a little ill-advised throw as the ball gets into the runner and goes back to the fence for an error. and this kid is just jumping all over that high changeup. the second home run of the night as he went down the line his first at-bat for a solo home run and a two-run home run later and then a three-run home run. >> he couldn't get the grand slam for the home run cycle, if you will. what a night for mccutchen, ray. you see vasquez getting his first win after five straight losses. craig stammen, another difficult evening. we'll talk about him tonight. there are the numbers for zimmerman. he is continuing to hit the ball well, 3-4, and morgan anice start. you see mccutchen hit the home run early. i don't think the guy has the power, but he proved.

he just started spraying it all over the floor. >> the first ball got in on him a little bit and he hit the ball right down that line and he almost made the play, but it went into just into the first row. the next ball was a scalded rocket, boy, just a line drive. and he has the real quick hands and gets through the ball quickly. it is the first time that i have really seen him. i have seen him on tape. but he has a very, very fast bat and a little bit like hanley ramirez. he is not as big a swinger as hanley ramirez, but i believe he will end up being a number three hitter. he has a lot of pop. he laid down a bunt in his second at-bat. little did he know he gave away a home run possibly. but that is his game, power and speed. >> as an eighth grader, .507 batting average. >> do you remember what yours was in eighth grade? >> it wasn't .507. >> he played a little football in high school. you can see why they were willing to give up nyjer morgan

to get andrew mccutchen up in center field and just let him do what he wanted to do. >> i thought nate mclouth was one of the best players in the league. he was a gold glove last year and they traded him early in the season because they had mccutchen coming. i wasn't sure that nyjer morgan wasn't going to win that job but then they traded morgan. they had two quality center fielders there ahead of mccutchen, an he just came on so quickly they wanted to see what they had because somewhere along the line they decided we're going to clean house trading seven of the eight starters that hay had totally revamping the ball club. they're excited right now. they feel like something is happening. they're getting a chance to play. there is nothing like the exyou shall brans of youth to get you going. these guys are excited about getting a chance to play in the big leagues. >> we're going to talk about the center fielders all night as we head back to pnc park. nyjer morgan and andrew

mccutchen. it was certainly mccutchen winning out tonight. >> well, and one is the reason the other is a nat. one is seven years younger than the other. mccutchen is only 22 years of age. we don't know what great thins are in store for him, but our guy, not bad himself, and he is right now the top ten in the national league in hits. >> mccutchen is the reason we got nyjer morgan. morgan is is a little older, but we love him just the same. he make as lot of stuff happen. he was upset about his oh-fer last night and comes right back in a big way and gets things going, does what he does and gets one up the middle soft, gets one the other way hard. he lays down a perfect bunt to keep an inning going. when you're nyjer morgan and your game is speed, you've got to do that. this guy was the reason why we were able to get nyjer morgan. mccutchen with three home runs, a lead-off home run, and then a hanging changeup, and he hit as line shot out to the ballpark, and then just strength versus he