>> bob: the nationals never say die attitude has paid huge dividends recently. three straight come-from-behind wins including last night's sixth-run eighth inning that finished off the marlins. tonight, a chance for four in a row with the number one starter on the mound.   >> a great day for baseball 

 >> tom: hot day -- >> bob: hot day in town. hot ball club in townt town. it's the nalts-marlins. game two. day game tomorrow. more business to take care of against a florida team that the nationals finally were able to beat last night. bob carpenter, rob dibble. welcome to game two. part of that the big bat of adam dunn. this guy is up to 80 rbi's now. he's third in the league in hoarls and runs batted in. >> rob: when he gets hot, he can really carry a ball club. he has been doing a great job. you go back to the san diego series. he hit this huge grand slam. it was a blowout. this is what got things going with the grand slam. you can't pitch around him. then in mawm milwaukee with the roof open he hits it over that toyota tundra sign. that one was hit a ton. then, the game go ahead home run that he hit against the pirates send it to a victory there and last night things did not look good for the nationals. then, all of a sudden upset adam dunn and it's a totally

different ballgame. when you have guys, bob, that are game changers and guys that can change the momentum in the course of a ballgame, it's something special to watch. adam dunn is one of those guys. there's very few of them in the game. very few guys you have to all the try to pitch around in the lineup. >> bob: two game changers in the lineup. john lannan throwing for the nationals. here on wired wednesday we were planning on getting nyjer morgan, but evidently an alter ego showed up at the ballpark. >> yeah, we're wired up, johnny. wired up, big guy. here we go live on t-plus tv. let's get it, baby. not too close. what do you think? i got that insurance? that's why you need it. need what? aflac. well, if you get hurt and miss work it won't hurt to miss work... aflac?

and they give ya' cash which is as good as money. aflac. we've got you under our wing.

 >> bob: nationals baseball on moops brought to you in part by southwest airlines. book your next trip at southwest.com. and by jaguar, visit your local jaguar dealer for the new 510

horsepower jaguar xkr and xfr. national harbor and nationals baseball on a wednesday night in early august. it's the nats-marlins. here is the florida southwest.com lineup. they're hitting .258, eighth in the league, sixth in runs, seventh in home runs. chris coghlan hitting the ball well 7-14 last in the leadoff spot and john lannan throws him ball one to start the ballgame. so, we're underway right on time at 7:05. clear skies. just a little bit hazy. 85 degrees and a drive to center. nyjer morgan, no problem for the first out. it's been a hot one in towntoday. there have been a few respites of cloud cover throughout the day. warm and the ball should be carrying well. that's always interesting with a power hitting team like florida is in town. here is nick johnson.

4-10 as a marlin in three games. he also walks four times. he will single-handedly improve their on-base percentage. as a ball club, the marlins on- base percentage is just .330. the nationals is .346. nickel pull that ball. looks like -- nick will pull that ball. looks like it was way off- speed. two quick outs. >> rob: just drop the pnc scouting report on the people, bob. only two starts has he given up more than three runs in his last 10. one time in the last 10 has he gone less than six innings and 6-10 last starts the nationals have won a john lannan start. >> tom: it's all that matters. how -- >> bob: it's all that matters. how often you win when your guy starts the ballgame. hanley ramirez leading the league in hitting at .340.

starting the night 10 points ahead of sandoval, 16 ahead of david wright, 17 ahead of miguel temgd tejada. -- tejada. guzman is there, turns and fires. safe is ramirez. guzman got to the ball. couldn't get much on the throw. base hit, ramirez, with cantu coming up. guzman up the middle with ronnie belliard who earned his start tonight after his wonderful pinch-hit two-run dumb double last night. ryan zimmerman back on the diamond. that's always good for the nats across from adam dunn. willingham, morgan and dukes pretty much the every day outfield and secretary second consecutive start for -- second consecutive start for wil nieves. josh bard will start tomorrow in the day game after the night game. cantu goes up slugging and hits it foul. >> rob: i wanted to talk about the comment you made about nick johnson. i got -- spent time with howie ken derick today of the angels. he made that same comment about

bobby abreu. he has changed their lineup. they're hitting .290 as a ball club. he said that his patience at the plate has helped everybody else in the lineup become more patient. i think nick johnson will have a definite affect on that marlins luf lineup. >> bob: something about southern california. the dodgers are hitting about .280 and the angels right about .290. that's a real good lineup. they have speed. mike scioscia likes to play a national league-style of ball. one ball, two strikes to cantu hitting .285. john lannan coming off an outing in pittsburgh where he gave up five runs, nine hits going deep in the game seven innings. breaking ball got him. cantu gave up on it. fieldin culbreth took a good, long look and then punched out the batter. lannan gives up an infield hit and good start to his evening.

to ride in the bottom of the plane in the dark. no peanuts or nothin'. and then if your bag wants to bring one of its little bag friends for company, they charge another $25. that's just plain mean. why do they hate your bags? at southwest airlines, bags fly free. grab your bag. it's on! ( ding ) 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. 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: good, quick, first inning for lamb lannan. not good for the vendors. good for the nats though. durch adam dunn hit the nationals 100th home run of the year last night. he is wearing out pitching stats in this ballpark. adam can reach any part this have park from the left field pole to the right field side. this is rick vandenhurk, a

6'5", 219, 24-year-old right- hander who is actually from the netherlands. rob has interesting tid bits on his to tell you about tonight. he's literally been all over the globe. here is nyjer morgan who pulls one at the second baseman, dan uggla. >> rob: let's break him down a little further. rick vandenhurk is from the netherlands. 10 letters in that last name. he's from ibendolen the.netter labsment his father runs a baseball academy. he was a catcher when he first got here. marlins internafnl head of scouting suggested he should become a pitcher. >> bob: he jams guzman with a fastball. pop-up left field. chris coghlan, two quick outs. marlins defensively are number

11 in the league. they've only made 67 errors this year. emilio bonifacio gets the call in center field. he's made 15 errors. it didn't work out very well for him at third base. cody ross, right field. cantu at third base and nick johnson at first. those two guys are pretty permanent thru thr now that nick has joined in ball club. cantu has played some first base when the nats have faced them. here is ryan zimmerman back in the lineup hitting .294 over his last 11 games, ryan is hitting .414. he's on another one of those hot streaks of his. he's up in the top 10 in rbi's in the league with those 70. that's offside, 2-0. >> rob: well, vandenhurk is only the fifth player since 1900 to play in major league baseball that is originally

from the netherlands. the marlins broadcasters were telling me he was a nibbler. he tried to nibble the outside, inside. did not want to attack the strike zone until the wbc this year he met the pitching coach of the.netter lance, burt blyleven and blyleven has turned this kid around. >> bob: burt blyleven is a broadcaster for the twins. >> rob: should be in the hall of fame. 242 complete games, 60 shutouts. i know that because for the last decade i've been saying he belongs in the hall of fame. >> tom: 2-2 to zimmerman. fastball up. ryan fouls it off. he was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning at pittsburgh by charlie morton on -- morton on monday night. bang. he had that left shoulder he have hef -- heavily taped and

ice in the trainers room after the game. guess what he did his next at- bat he? hit a two-run homer. this ball is high in the air and deep to right into the corner. it is gone! zimmerman into the bullpen and the nationals lead 1-0! he joins wil nieves as the only right-handed batters who have hit a ball into that bullpen in this park. that's number 22 for ryan. >> rob: well, this is just hard heat. zimmerman takes the other way. sometimes it pays off to be late and strong. he keeps the head down, drives through it. we said he's been diving in quite nicely . that's why he got hit by mort mort -- charlie morton. look at that. hot streak. >> bob: adam dunn high in the air! see you later!

  they were barely done with  set of fireworks and they had to shoot off another. look out. willingham's coming. >> rob: that's being green right there. you saved the wick that lights the first round and light the second round with the same one. this is just a hit off the fastball. there's no part of the park he can't reach with a baseball and bat in his hand. >> bob: 22 for zimmerman. 29 for dunn. look out. here comes josh. he doesn't get a first-pitch fastball, does he? >> rob: no. >> bob: willingham has hit 17. the nats have now hit 102. the same total the marlins have given up this year. >> rob: did you say zimmerman's

last at-bat in pittsburgh he hit a home run? >> bob: well, the one after the hit batter. after that, he walked and scored. wait a minute. i'm looking at the wrong game. monday night. >> rob: he didn't play last night. >> bob: and josh willingham hits one a mile that goes foul. yeah, zimmerman was pinch-hit for -- actually, pinch-run. >> rob: really, his last two official at-bats he's gotten. >> bob: yeah, hit by a pitch, walk, homer. that's being hot. >> rob: yep. >> bob: that's the first time dunn and zimmerman have gone back to back. willingham is called out on a fastball under his hands. the nats do some long distance damage. in the bottom of the first in the lead 2-0. ers. whether that's building more certified green buildings than anyone on earth.

creating online banking tools for the next generation. or making a 10 year, $100 million investment in kids. it's how we've always done business. and will for a very long time to come. pnc. leading the way. geico's been saving people money and who doesn't want value for their dollar? been true since the day i made my first dollar. where is that dollar? i got it out to show you...

uhh... was it rather old and wrinkly? yeah, you saw it? umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.  coach, we're miked up, baby. >> you are? >> yeah, we're miked up. we got -- no, no, no, t-plus keeps it real d-rated. >> what's up, baby? >> what's up, guys? i always got my own tv show tonight. oh, t-plus, he can't come in there. ahh. they can't come in plus land without getting it caught, baby. one down. one down. >> bob: well, nobody is going to catch this one. dan uggla leading off the top of the second on the first pitch. >> rob: could be one of those -- >> bob: i told you the ball is

going to carry tonight. it is hawes hot. it is mul muggy. >> rob: and wind is blowing out just a tad. >> bob: and dan uggla with the 20th of the year. uggla, the slugler. the slugger. john lannan gives up his seventh home run of the year. >> rob: well, it's a hanging breaking ball or cut fastball and it comes back into the zone. that guy knows what to do with a ball like that. what did he walk four times last night? i'm not walking four times tonight. >> bob: he had never done that before. well, not in the major leagues anyway. cody ross is next. he hit his 18th of the year last night. this is a guy that might surprise me more than any of the marlins. uggla and ross are not big, tall guys, but uggla is much more put together than cody ross, but he is strong. >> rob: uggla is a fire high

drient. this is a good-hitting kid. >> bob: 5'6", 194. right now fieldin culbreth the home plate umpire likes the inside corner. he gave it to vandenhurk on willingham and he just gave it to lannan again on cody ross. 1-2, the count. >> rob: you thought zim was hot, he's got four homers in the last five. >> bob: guzman takes a while to plant but gets the job done on a long throw. that's about 120-foot throw from the outfield grass for the first out. >> rob: ball is hit very hard deep in the hole towards third base. he stops, sets and throws. got a nice target to throw x- mo. >> bob: i would imagine on a bang-bang play like that when you just get a split second to eye your target, it's great to see somebody 6'7" standing over there. >> rob: probably it's like

derek in chicago. it's nice to pick him up quickly. you're not look around for him. -- looking around for him. now we won that ballgame. one of the funnier moments belliard not being able to reach far enough to catch the ball when he was playing first base. >> bob: no funny at the time. >> rob: wasn't funny at the time. now you look back and say, ok, he's a second baseman trying to get the ball at first base. >> bob: here is ronny paulino a- former teammate of nyjer morgan's in pittsburgh. he's hitting .263. 5-9 last. lannan misses with a changeup. 3-1. >> rob: this is a pretty good looking player. i like this paulino. it's a shame that pittsburgh has off-loaded a lot of talent, but their loss is the marlins game. >> bob: yeah, hard to believe this is his third year in florida already. he goes the other way. hard hit. corraled by ronnie belliard and

two down. pitchers aren't fooling anybody so far in this game. get your family fun pack tickets. diamondbacks will be here on sunday. a $14 upper right field terrace particular or $25 lower field reserved ticket on either side of the ballpark. with each one of those, you get a hot dog, drink and chips. minimum two tickets per purchase. giferdz kids get to runt base after the game. we'll do it again this sunday when arizona is here. here is emilio bonifacio batting .248. now, from the right side, he's been very good all year at .3 subpoena, but -- 3.17, but only2.19 left-handed -- . # 219 left-handed. you would think he would get hits on the ground to hit much, much may higher than that. >> rob: i'd say the same thing to him i'd say to nyjer morgan. you put more balls on the ground depending on your speed.

this guy obviously thinks he's a home run threat or a big slasher threat. he's putting more balls on the ground from the left side, you have a lot more infield singles. >> bob: two balls and a strike. >> rob: probably get more action in the field, get more games played. >> bob: the 15 errors haven't helped him. he's pretty much being pla and to right now i guess a left- handed pitcher. ross plays center. hermida plays right. a lefty like tonight, bonifacio gets a shot in center field. they don't want to walk him a little tapper. that was an alert play by wil nieves because that ball could have spun back fair. 3-2. if you're the batter, you better not be standing there watching a spinning ball