slide that hip open or shoulder, that thing lags behind, and you throw a lot of balls snoop that's a nasty breaking ball. 0-2. josh hit a soft liner to short on a foul ball and that line drive. he broke two bats in the seam plate appearance. willingham jacks one down the line! that's going to one-hop the wall! ryan zimmerman held at third, and the nats have second and third with win out for elijah dukes, as josh willingham continues his fantastic hitting. >> rob: well, we love josh

willingham being able to catch up to these inside pitches. in, turns on it, looking for 98, keeps the hands back on the breaking ball, but gonzalez has such a rifle for an arm. >> rob: >> bob: here is dukes. elijah 13 rbis his last nine games. gets jammed and pots it up left side. foul ball for garrett atkins. telling up to gonzalez with two outs. ubaldo jimenez only 25 years of age. 6'4", 200, holding off the weather for the note here at

nationals park at the 8:00 hour. bob carpenter, rob dibble, debbie taylor. masn on a t-shirt tuesday. up the middle. right into the glove of the pitcher. the that leave two, they've stranded five, burst they guest the ice fence going leading 2- 1. @@xx

 . >> rob:  stammen needs to k getting ahead. he's done well so far against a tough, deep offense. that's a sign of a kid getting more mature when you can exel against a good team like the rockies. >> bob: ball one to lead off the top of the 4th. this guy has. one of the best hitters in baseball.

>> rob: what that is is what we said before about fouler and gonzalez. once the recommendtation gets around this guy has home run potential every time he walks to the late in, they go to the world series, everybody knows your name now, tough to come back. >> ball pulled hard to the left side. he shows off short side arm and maybe this play. >> rob: tough to come back the next year and act like nobody knows you. now everybody does. you have the reputation, so you have to make adjustments to the adjustment, and now he's doing that in his third year. health helps a lot, too. when you're healthy, you can make those adjustments, take the bail the other way, et cetera. but last year, almost a disaster for tulowitzki.

>> bob: dunn making it look ridiculously easy. two outs. and that's a left-handed batter running out of that side is of the bat ore's box that ryan turned into a not close play at first base. >> rob: the more we get to see him, the more quality we know he is at third base. this is one of the toughest plays. it's a swingle bunt, tying in the grass. all you can to is bare hand it and flick it, and a perfect job by ryan zimmerman. >> bob: here is the rockies third baseman, garrett atkins. >> rob: we saw stammen, great job! and that will pump up your pitcher even more. that gives you confidence that he has great defense behind him. >> bob: third baseman will tell you when you make that play, the ball always ends up in the palm of your hand, not the fingertips, and it makes it that much harder to get a lot

on the throw. me has more time for this one. launches it to dunn. adam stays on the bag, and on three ground of balls, craig stammen gets the rockies in the top of the 4th inning. bottom of the order coming up. stammen getting ground balls, and his defense taking care of the rest. not too close; whatta ya' think i got that insurance? what insurance is that yogi? aflac. the one ya' really need to have if you don't have it. 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.

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 . >> bob:  nyjer reaching on breaking ball, and a slow roller for clint barmes. >> rob: and that hit by pitch set up the second at bat. >> bob: why brett favre? why come back? >> rob: they're giving you 12 million reasons why he's coming back. two games against his old team the packers. >> bob: george is, like, hey,

i've got time limits, why not you? jimenez has just been thrown a new baseball. the problem was jimenez already had within, and it deflected off hits glove and hit him right in the midsection. so i'm not sure what's going on between the pitcher and the umpire here. >> rob: jimenez is still smiling. >> bob: that's a fastball that whistles in, 94 on craig stammen, who doubled the first time up.

second out here in the fourth inning. >> rob: when you're sitting on 94, 95, 98, and then he drops 85 in there, kind of hard to pull the trigger if you don't see that every day, and obviously stammen doesn't get the at pats that is needed to sit back and wait on that curveball. >> bob: morgan, and he goes foul. seeking his third hit of the night. nyjer morgan now has 43 multi- hit games on the year, and he's

only two behind his teammate cristian guzman. éa,

 a little fly ball out to ri

field. phillies are throwing pedro martinez tonight, trailing 1-0. >> rob: throwing great breaking balls after he gets ahead, and then putting the bail in play. guy throws very hard, and then coming right back, getting some nice outs. iannetta throwing the bat into the stands. stammen having quite a night. >> bob: he's got a nice rhythm going. good work rate as we would call

it. there's the one-hotter to stammen. -- one-hopper to stammen. there's an off-speed breaking

ball. >> bob: to the opposing pitcher. >> rob: you throw one to mean, i won't challenge it. oh, that's filthy! >> bob: and another quick inning for stammen. halfway through the game, nats two, rockies one. young pitchers matching up well. 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 )

 >> it's going to cause a gr buzz in d.c., and like i said, hopefully he can come and help us as soon as possible. >> debbie: of course strasburg

will be heading to the florida instructionling league and then to the arizona fall league, but i think the guys if this clubhouse are really excited to meet him later this week. bob? >> bob: well, think now that he is signed, all is well, and rob, you and is i have talked about this before, players who have not signed and held out for more money and more money sometimes not as readily accepted by new teammates. that will hopefully not be a problem here now that stephen strasburg is signed, sealed, and soon to be delivered. >> only three that were not signed, and one of those is crowe. >> bob: uv believable. i believe it's professional suicide to hold out another year. >> bob: that's a clean catch by atkins. one out. >> rob: he was offered $4.5

million, held out five different times. did not sign five different times, harrison, and now works at cost co for $10.50 an hour. so, you know -- >> bob: a sad story. >> rob: it is a sad story because you were given an opportunity five different types and take the opportunity, did not, and once again, you pass on the opportunity, sometimes it never comes arounds again. >> bob: i guess my take on that would be he didn't want to play. he wanted the pay, but not to play. >> rob: zimmerman can dive a little bit from time to time, and that will keep you from getting full plate coverage, but most pitchers do not care, they'll come right back in.

>> bob: 3-0 again. >> rob: i'm thinking they might send ryan to the arizona farm league to work on that arm angle. tongue in cheek. >> bob: you know, if he tries to gets on the plane, they're going to have to use me as, of the shocks on the wheels. >> rob: come on. guy had a bad week or two of throwing the ball to first base, happens to the best of us. >> bob: yeah, and then everybody becomes a coach. >> rob: uh-huh. in my case, because i used to lob the ball to first, i spent a few extra hours and days on a

backfield throwing hard to first base. >> bob: 3-2 to zimmerman. one out here in the bottom of the 5th. on a breaking ball, ryan reaching. he spoils it and keeps himself alive. >> rob: that's why you see jimenez, and that's why you have to pitch inside. he's doing a great job against our guys, standing them straight up on their heels, and then going away with the breaking ball. pretty simple stuff. high ask tight, low and away, but zimmerman not being fearful of that dove over ask got it. >> bob: the bouncer, left side. cult off by garrett atkins and makes a fine play for the second out. okay, mr. facebook and twitter. >> rob: okay. it's 5th grade reading. get your face book on and party with your face book and twitter fans in the first ever fans and twitter night. you get a $20 ticket, game

voucher, and entryst entrance into the official pregame party at the scoreboard walk. buy on-line at nationals.com/twitter, and save $3 over the box office game night price. >> bob: and that word is spreading like wildfire as we speak. adam dunn, two strikeouts tonight, one swinging, one looking. >> rob: let me have that back, i'll twitter about it. so august 19th. is that tomorrow? >> bob: yes. you better be quick. here. adam will foul one off to the left. >> rob: my assistant will twitter that. get more people in there. >> bob: so is you told me you're well on your way to finishing your summer reading list that she assigned you? >> rob: yes, i actually brought the book with me

because i have some great quotes in there. roomed with gene michaels, played with steve stone at kent state. kind 0 reminds me of myself, because steve stone was like nobody liked him when they first met him. kind of the way people think about me. >> bob: and adam dunn, nothing but air against jimenez again. ubaldo jimenez striking out 5 tonight. adam dunn three types. to the 6th in a 2-1 game. acro. pa announcer: final boarding call... all passengers... each with an average speed of 590 mph... almost as fast as you. nothing's gonna hold you down.

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because there's an app for just about anything. only on the iphone.  here is our aflac trivia. four players with at least a and 570 plug ising personal. >> rob: i want to say todd helton is one of them. >> bob: would i didn't think that helton would be one. i'm going to go, just because helton's numbers are down a little bit this year, there were four guys behind him, lou

gehrig, albert pujols, ruth and ted williams. i'll go with those four just -- i'm suspect that helton might have fallen off the list, but hopefully not. i hope i'm wrong. úxc@

>> rob: manny ramirez isn't up there? hmm. >> bob: you would think manny would be in that book, but i think it involved 3,000 plate appearances. does manny have that? >> rob: yes. >> bob: there's a fly to left center. nyjer morgan will gesecond time let's see how he did.

todd helton is 0 for 2 tonight. alastor short and a fly ball to center. >> rob: all right, manny ramirez is a little shy on the average. life time .314. .411, and .593. >> bob: okay.

>> rob: there's a drive to right, and dukes will have to play it on a hop. and it's first and second. one out for the rockies here. stammen's pitch count is not the problem. >> rob: it's the third trip through the line-up problem, where they're hitting well over .300 against them. in fact, .357 opponents batting average. the third trip through the line- up. >> bob: and the second time through tonight, rob, they were 0 for 8 with a walk, but obviously the nationals are well aware of that number, and after one base hit, they have somebody warming up in a seemingly not that dangerous situation, which has now become dangerous. tulowitzki now.

sometimes you have to goatee the line-up one time with just maybe your fastball, or maybe your curveball. >> bob: and then, of course, and we don't talk about this maybe enough, there's the fatigue factor. i've never heard a batter say i'm third hitting for the third time, bought lot of pitchers are tired after facing you for are the third time.

and the hitters are mad as whatever and don't want to take it anymore. >> rob: i'm mad as heck and i'm not going to take it anymore. >> bob: that's what they say in these middle innings. a breaking pitch, low and away, 2-1. >> rob: you toronto want to load the bases one one out, tonight want to load the bases period. ball gets away. the runners move up. the double-play possibility now lost. >> rob: he was doing so well, and then all of a sudden in

this inning, remember begins to nibble. riggleman not happy. >> rob: two-run lead in serious jeopardy here. walked him and the bases are loaded. evidently he he not be facing brad hawpe. jim riggleman has already put up the left hand for ron jalone. so stammen pitches one out into the 6th inning. rockies have the bases loaded in a one-run game. across the country every day.

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 . >> bob: villone more walks than strikeouts this year. hawpe goes up swinging. bouncing ball that will tie the game. nothing alberto gonzalez can do except lob it to first, and the rockies and tied it at 2 here in the 6th. >> rob: well, and that's going to do it for ron villone. right-handed hitter with garrett coming in. i think you can see a lot of tony la russa's managerring instincts after what riggleman

does. loves those match-ups. what's nice about the iphone, is if you run into a friend and you want to share a photo with a flick, there's an app for that. if you want to share contact info with a bump, there's an app for that. or if you just want to share some downtime, well, there's an app for that too. because there's an app for just about anything. only on the iphone.

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about the bullpen? one pitch by villone, one pitch by bergman getting two outs. the nats are out of the inning, and it's a tie game now in the middle of the 6th. . downloads okay but the uploads take forever. uh, actually that's not your computer. that's cable with fios uploading is as easy as downloading. it's fast both ways. (sighing) you can just leave that. really? yeah i'll take care of it. (announcer) is your internet two-way fast? only verizon fios has the fastest uploads period.

 . >> bob: josh willingham ge jammed pops one up for todd helton. that's how the bomb of the 6th gets underway. elijah dukes is next.

there is atkins cutting off another one, high throw, and todd helton stays on the bag. >> rob: another thing about helton he plays gold glove defense at first base, always has. atkins has been cutting off a lot of balls that would normally be hitting between third and short. quickly 0-2. jimenez 25 years of age has some arm.

>> rob: is his last outing, he went 8 innings. getting stronger as he goes along. .237 the batting average the third time through. that's what you want to see from your starters. has a lot of strikeout, be a lot of walks. >> bob: he's on a four-game winning streak, and gonzalez hits one beautifully out over second base! many a hitting coach has told a struggling batter when things aren't going well, try to hit it over the second baseman's head. and rick eckstein has to like that swing from a hitter who has been struggling. >> rob: well, he had been

hitting a lot of fly balls. hits a line drive right here, even though he gets jammed, i like the effort and the idea, trying to hit it back up the box. >> bob: and in wil nieves can keep the inning going, a pinch hitter will be coming up. >> rob: gotten 'zo. last at bat, he lined out. >> bob: and this will not extend the inning. it's 2-2, rockies and the nats.

úúxx  . >> bob: our game summary. brad hawpe, his 17th of the year. jimenez has stopped the nats on two runs and just six hits in six quality innings. craig stammen one out into the 6th, but he's been charged with both runs, and he'll get a no decision tonight. so it's jason bergman who got atkins to pop up on one pitch with barmes takes a ball. he's need out twice. that ball hooking, well foul.  

 come on, guys, that be made. quite a game in philadelphia tonight, and now they're delayed by rain. 1-0 diamondbacks. a home run by the arizona shortstop true in that game. stephen went down here, but they're delayed, and having a shutout in new york. bergmann gets that ball away

from barmes, and that's two to straight for jason bergmann since coming on. >> rob: come on, that was a listen draw ron stat right there. that's a blue by you. looking for another breaking ball. not gonna get it. pudge rodriquez was sent back to texas today from houston. he's back to, it all began. -- he's back to where it all began. clifford and the left-hander burnette, mets bullpen well- rested. that's a great breaking ball by

bergmann. i was told once if you left east texas, by the time you got to el paso, you were half way to the west coast. look it up on a map, it's true. >> rob: what's a map? >> bob: it's a paper thing that you have to figure out how to refold after you look at it. but everything is on-line now, so who needs maps. >> rob: there you go. it's on our iphone. gps. >> bob: jason bergmann and chris iannetta after the broken bat, he's back in. rockies are chasing the giants and their trailing 5-3 at cincinnati. there's that homer bailey tim already incecum match-up europe telling us about, and you've turned -- you were telling us about, and you've turned out to

be right. bailey is leading listen is a couple. -- lincecun.    pitch are's spot next jimenez is standing on deck. and the catcher, iannetta, hanging tough. this kid has a lot of power. chris iannetta. he's knocked in 49 runs. i saw him during batting practice. he almost hit a paul to the top of the blue seats. way out over the bullpen. that's a ball that bounced right out if front of wil nieves.

3-2. i.d. is from providence, rhode island. -- iannetta is from providence, rhode island. a three-time all state catcher there. missing. pretty good battle by iannetta, and now he's given his pitcher the opportunity to bunt a runner to second base. third walk issued by the nats tonight. >> rob: you just watch that, pat corrales coming over. they're setting up the defense. talking to his possible pinch hitting choices. >> bob: city that was a stab to of a bunt for a foul. jimenez has seven sacrifice bunts, 18 in his career. so in a still relatively young major league career, he's been

an adept sacrifice guy. >> rob: had to keep that bat out in front of the plate. oh, that was a strike. come on! wil nieves popped up in front of the umpire, and that took the strike away. >> bob: and the tough thing about this is, rob, he popped up, but there was no one to throw to, because dunn was charging and there was no second baseman fear the bad. >> >> northrop grumman. right there. pitcher hitting, normally would be a strike. good breaking ball. >> bob: but if he lays down a bunt here on a two-strike count, that will be bad for the that ins who got a strike taken away from them. carlos gonzalez on deck. >> rob: right here, buzzed the tower about 94 miles an hour, get this ball up so he can't bunt it. >> bob: but he goes low and away. >> rob: yeah, breaking ball.

>> bob: he just pitched to bunt, right? >> rob: well, not necessarily. but easier than a high fastball. i like the high fastball, because you possibly get the pop-up. >> bob: ground ball. now it could be a double-play! bergmann fire this ball to guzman! so the rockies took off the bunt, and it cost them two outs. time to stretch at nationals park in our nation's capital. bergmann outstanding out of the bullpen. they'll pinch hit for him coming up. 2-2. ♪ ♪ 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)

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 >> johnny and ray are at th ballpark tonight, and here is

what they have on the menu unless something happens on nats xtra. the nats strong defensively again. nice double-play a moment ago. and a preview of marquise and balester tomorrow. harris with a base hit. >> rob: you will see on this replay coming up in a little bit, looking for 95 miles an hour. you have to keep your hands back, kid. you see him keep the hands back, adjust to the breaking ball, and just put it in there. stays back, puts the ball in there for a base hit. beautiful job of hitting. telling todd helton,, that's how you do it, todd, keep the hands bent, but it in play. >> bob: this is a man who could sacrifice bunt and beat

it out for a hit. nyjer morgan lays one down. and the sacrifice is perfect. sue morgan has two base hits, a stolen base, an rbi, and now a sacrifice. >> rob: couldn't draw it up any better. lead-off guy gets a base hit, next guy comes up, contact guy, great bunt. chris iannetta will pop out of there quick as a catcher, quickly firing it down first base. calls off the pitcher right there. barmes covering. >> bob: rockies infield discussing what they're going to do with cristian guzman here. great speed at second in willy harris.

that is franklin morales onof their two left-handers. guzman trying to give the that this lead here in the 7th inning. he is 0 for 3, 0 for his last 16. we did not see this coming, the way he was swinging the bat. >> rob: no. and you know when the he struggles, because more than anybody, he rarely goes $outsi his own zone, expands it, and swings at bad pitches. >> bob: been doing a lot of thatfor the st few days. maybe the day off refreshes him a bit. >> rob: cincinnati, went after a lot of bad balls. we don't see cristian do that often. >> bob: rick eckstein studying his hitting charts and summary of these guys. >> rob: might even be able to

look at morales and say if dun >> bob: guzman can break out . of it with a line drive at any time. that's a breaking ball, way inside, and the count is 1-1. >> bob: fastball a beauty on the inner half. this is some talent, ubaldo jimenez. he's gone the distance in his career four times. one of those this year.

pitch counts mean nothing to him. he's at 97. giants have tied that game in cincinnati 5-5. they're a game back of the rockies in the wildcard race. 2-2 game here bottom of the 7th. guzman with a chopper to the right side. that will be easy for clint barmes. willie harris to third with two outs. >> rob: good hustle by guzman making a play of it. big hop to barmes.

>> bob: brian got his 78th rbi in a pinch hitting roll on sunday. hitless tonight. 0 for 2 with a walk. he did swing at the first pitch first time to up tonight, and the first pitch here will be number 100 for jimenez. >> rob: well, and ubaldo has done a great job tonight coming into this inning, 21st pitch strike. we see lot of our guys swinging at the first pitch. institute that's nine fastballs in a row he has thrown to zimmerman. he walked him on four. got way behind 3-0. and he's really working ryan up and in tonight. that ball is scorched, and it's coralled by barmes, who makes a

very good play. nationals came close, they've stranded 7. it's in the 8th inning and remains 2-2. s ome airlines charge your bag $15 dollars 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 )

 . >> bob: we've seen jim wriggleman go sidewaysle with this bullpen tonight. there was a one batter once

pitch, and then of course bergmann the same thing. >> rob: to get into a pitching war right now with the nationals, probably not what jim tracy would have really loved to have done, but he has ubaldo jimenez, a very strong 26-year-old young man, may even throw him out there another inning, so it will l be interesting to see how they manage, since they're in the chase for a playoff spot. >> bob: and they have a very good closer in houston street if it gets to the 9th inning and colorado might have the lead. a breaking ball, and that's over, and out. wow!

carlos gonzalez, his 7th of the year. that ball took about four seconds to bounce off the back wall of the ball pen, and is personnette greeted rudely. >> rob: a lot of left-handed hitters, when facing a left- handed reliever, looking breaking ball first pitch. burnette will come with a breaking ball, first pitch. carlos gonzalez greets him with a bye-bye off the back wall of the bullpen. my bout as badly located as a lefty to lefty breaking ball con be. >> rob: that was quite rude of mr. gonzalez. not very friendly when you come to someone else's house. >> bob: burnette giving up his third home run as a nationals reliever.

he'll have to come forward for this one. that's the first out, as fouler is retired. 5-5, giants at cincinnati in the 6th. marlins have tied their game at houston 2-2, and they're in the 4th ining, and those are the top three teams in the wildcard race, colorado, san francisco, and florida. >> rob: every one of those teams, including the cubs, and the cubs have closer problems right now, but those first four teams all have solid pitching staffs, solid bullpens. >> bob: and with the left- hander coming up, todd helton, steve mccaddy is going to pay at visit. but what a great job jim tracy has done, 47-25 as the new rockies manager. he didn't have much to work with in his days at pittsburgh. he had managed, of course, the dodgers.

he was the rockies bench coach when the he was hired may 29th after clint hurtle was fired after an 18-28 start. >> rob: very steady. both managers tonight. riggleman a very steady personality. jim tracy, very steady personality. not saying hurdal and acta weren't, but as i said before earlier if the game, manager needs to set the tone day to day, week to week. things start going poorly for you, jim riggleman pulled the troops together and said listen we're not going to play like that out on a major league baseball field. think it was that four-airer game one game, and jim tracy the same way. >> bob: i think that was jim riggleman's second game, the night the cubs were here, it was ugly, and he got after these guys. helton singled the last time up, 1 for 3. but you couldn't

get more polar opposite than hurdal and tracey. hurdle was always out front, very visible, very outspoken. jim tracy prefers the shadows, and the light to shine on his players. 3-1. 3-2 to helton. he'll tack the walk with one out. -- he'll take the walk with one out.  

 now sean burnett is  he will give up a home run and a walk in one-third of an inning, and that could turn out to be the difference in the game. here comes tyler clifford. and lower both your numbers. but how close are you to your goals? there may be more you can do. only caduet combines two proven medicines... in a single pill to significantly lower... high blood pressure and high cholesterol. in a clinical study of patients... with slightly elevated blood pressure and cholesterol, caduet helped 48% reach both goals in just 4 weeks. caduet is one of many treatment options, in addition to diet and exercise... that you can discuss with your doctor. caduet is not for everyone. it's not for people with liver problems... and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. to check for liver problems, you need simple blood tests.

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 . >> bob: clippard in to fac tulowitzki. clippard's 19th appearance, 2.5era. better than 2 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio.

that's high and tight. the count is even, 1-1. todd helton not a base-running threat, and that's a high strike. 1-2. couple of first basemen with big-time pop right there. and a swing and a foul, slammed off the catcher. brad hawpe the left-hander is

next. nobody warming in the bullpen. this is clippard's inning to get finished. and very, very close, but a little bit outside. and that's going to get him! tulowitzki jumped back, the ball jumped right over home plate! two outs. jo i think he was looking for something soft, again, he just got a change-up, and gets 91 miles an hour on the energy half. he might have thought it was a

little low. that's a great pitch by clippard. >> bob: gone he was. here is brad hamilton. he has two of the three colorado rbis tonight. adam dunn will play behind the runner now, and hamilton goes down the line, but it's hooking and does go foul. hit it down around the end of the bat, and it got foul before it could get any deeper.

>> rob: fastball comes back in there. >> bob: atkins, power-hitting third baseman next. that's a good pitch on the inner half. 1-2 with two outs. clippard get this strikeout on a pitch up and away! he fans a couple. rockies get a homer from gonzalez and lead by 1, but adam dunn is coming up, josh willingham coming up, in a one- run game. ♪

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 . >> rob:  here is jimenez an that fastball, sawing off willingham. out to to short. right back against duke. same thing, 97, 98 miles an hour does not feel very good against your hand. that time was a hit. cars light freeze cam. >> bob: jimenez throwing one outstanding ball game. he has given the nats only two hits since the third inning. a 8th inning single by alberto gonzalez, and a pinch hit single leading off the 7th by willie harris. all year long their starters have been much better than their relievers. their starter's era, 4.39, and going down as we speak. >> rob: well, betten court warming up right now. >> bob: and their bullpen,

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 fastball swinging up an in. right now clippard striking out everybody in sight.

>> bob: they've take an 3-1 lead after the rain has stopped up there against arizona. there's houston street. ubaldo jimenez has thrown 108 pitches in 8 innings. i'm sure he would be good to go again, if they would let him. rob, over the years, when you've got a good closer, even if your starter is throwing well, has it become almost automatic to go ahead and bring in the closer? >> rob: yeah, and it's a bad formula. more and more you're seeing it back fire. closers are worn out, because they're up almost every game. and it used to be that you wanted a startedder like jimenez to go through the line-

up four times when he has stuff like he has tonight. you don't want to change the momentum. couple of hits off stet. ll game nationals way. 2-2. >> bob: that ball hit well ad,n corun. xs this year. it's now a 4-2 game.  

 . >> bob: left-handed hitting sethsmith.  another home grown rocky. he was taken in the second round in '04. out of hillcrest christian high

school in jackson, mississippi. >> rob: the thing about the rockies hitters, too, they've made good adjustments when they've had to. stammen struggled his third time through the batting order, and after three straight strikeouts to clippard, barmes just sat on that fastball, and he killed it. jimenez pitched to contact all night with that great stuff of his, striking out 5. clippard now with the bases empty.

home run hitter carlos gonzalez, whose plast right now stands as the game winner unless the that ins do something about it in the bottom of the 9th. bottom three if the order due up, by the way. and now a walk. >> rob: well, if his last 8 outings, clippard has allowed a home run four different times. and as i've said before, he continues to throw right- handers change-ups, and when you're battling, your change- up, curveball and a fastball, it's very difficult as a reliever to get two pitches that you could perfectly throw if the strike zone, and when you're working on three, makes

it that much harder. said this to garrett mock when he came up earlier this year, i said put that changeium on the shelf for a while and just work fastball, breaking ball, because it's very hard, you look at carlos marmol, he has such freight stuff in chicago, but he's got almost a walk an inning, like 56 innings pitched this year, 52 walks. >> bob: is it hard for a starter to take one of this three pitches and put it away? >> rob: i think so, because they want to pitch, and then they get dead per at, they'll go to that breaking ball and then to that third pitch, and tonight when clippard didn't have a breaking ball and/or a change-up, he's had to go with just one pitch. >> bob: the strikeouts looked good for a while, but then he got tagged big time by clint barmes for that home run. 1-1. >> rob: you have to know as a reliever, eve if you were to go three innings, you're only going to face the line-up one

time. you face one hitter, and if you face each hitter with one pitch, eventually they're going to smell that out on you, make the adjustments and hurt you. >> bob: he jammed him pretty well there, adam dunn takes care of it. houston street on the way, and the nats need two to tie. 

 getting set to bring yo nats xtra post-game. that there's outs away, have to get something going. the home run ball has cost this team dearly. >> we weren't able to really catch up. we got 7 hits, but didn't hit the ball firmly or crisply. >> nats need two to tie, and three to win it. let's go back upstairs to bob and to rob. >> bob: thank you, gentlemen. bottom of the order for the nationals in the bottom of the 9th, and taking on one of the

better relivers in baseball, and rob, huston street already tremendous career success. 125 saves, and he's only 26 years of age. >> rob: well, he's very consistent. goes out there, throws a lot of strikes. doesn't waste time. doesn't try to strike out the world. reminds me of a very young trevor hoffman with better stuff. trevor hurt his arm, developed a change-up. i think huston street very motivated after the trade from the athletics to the rockies. a lot of people thought he could not close. they were wrong. >> bob: first up will be alberto gonzalez. josh bard then will hit for wil nieves, then the nats will probably use ronny belliard in

the number 9 spot. the other two guys have very little big league experience in the new that mike morris and jorge padilla. so here is depose. one for three on the night, but he's hit two line drives. and a base hit by alberto gonzalez, who has a two-hit game for the first time in a while. show something signs of life after a couple of key hits in the series at cincinnati. >> rob: well, and he lined the

bail back to the pitcher, got a a base hit in another at bat, and so now he's confident, gets a breaking ball and shoots it through third and short. like you said, sometimes just takes a couple of hits or a paul hit off your bat to get company going. >> bob: and now ronnie belliard will hit for wil nieves, not josh bard, but appears bard will hit in the number. 9 hole. so the fact that the lead-off guy got on changed everything for riggleman, and he wents to go to belliard who can hit the bah out of the balance park. >> rob: yeah, and he's had a lot of clutch hits of late. he's on fire. maybe can get some guys in scoring position for bard. >> bob: ronnie belliard is 14 for his last 35.

that's a breaking ball that misses. borderline fastball called for a strike. and is belliard chops one left side. they won't be able to get two, but they get the lead runner, gonzalez, on a 5-4. josh bard, the nats only remaining licensed batter will pinch hit now in the pitchers spot. >> rob: well, i've said to you many times, hitters will let you know what you feature, how

good you are. career patting average against huston street, .212. wow. this year, 35 hits in 48 innings pitched coming in. now it's 36 hits. >> bob: nats down by two. josh bard, 2 for 8 as a pinch hitter this year. catchers don't pinch hit much. they usually start and stay in the whole game. he had a good rip.

1-1 to the nats pinch hitter. change-up. and i'll tell you, huston street evidently has earned himself quite a strike zone. he got a call away to belliard, got a call away here to bard. nyjer morgan on deck. >> rob: well, he's earned the reputation probably around with the umpires that he is a strike thrower. >> bob: and a 1-2 ball, pops it up to right fold for brad huston. >> rob: nice change-up. >> bob: and the rockies are one out away now from going 13 games over .500. here is our ford drive of the game. a first pitch from burnett in the top of the 8th, and carlos gonzalez banged it off the back wall of the bullpen. his 7th home run of the year.

that blast is the difference in this game. and then the rockies tacked on another on the barmes homer. the nats are down to their final out with nyjer morgan who has two hits and a sacrifice. >> rob: well, if you're nyjer morgan right here, bob, do or die, have to keep the inning alive, any way you can get on base. whether you have to drop down a bunt, flare it up, take one in the buttocks, anyone way you can keep the inning going to get guzman up there. >> bob: and morgan will single to left field! a three-hit night for nyjer morgan! and now the tying runs are on base, and cristian guzman will be the batter! and the fans are chanting guz. he's 0 for 4. >> rob: right man right place

right here. breaking ball jams him, but sometimes it doesn't work when you're closing. tulowitzki just can't get extend enough to get that, and the inning is still alive. now you're cristian and you can get a breaking ball, you try to pull this down the line for a double. that would score nyjer and tie the score. >> bob: helton holding the line. guzman 0 for his last 17. fastball, yes, on the outside corner. >> bob: that ball is out and low. pitch track, well below our square.

>> bob: and guzman looking bad on a breaking ball. 1-2. >> rob: well, looks like a change-up, turned it over.

call that sneaky quick with the 93 mile an hour fastball. >> bob: guzman, right field line, one run will score, morgan to third. they have to hold him, and now it's 4-3 with ryan zimmerman coming up.

no the nats are making things very interesting here, and the tying run is at third base with two outs. that paul is hit to left, and

it's going to hang up, and the rockies win the game. huston street gets his 30th save of the year. well, the nats never go down with a fight rob dibble, and tonight their 8-game home winning streak comes to an end. >> rob: well, a very good team in the colorado rocky. they gave them everything they could handle, but jimenez was just too much. >> bob: rockies 4, nationals 3. join us tomorrow, game with of the series. we'll get you going. nats xtra at 8:30. visit masnsports.com for all of the latest news on the nats. this has ban presentation of masn. stay tuned. nats xtra coming up right now, and from the booth. so long for just a while.  

 welcome, ever nats xtra post-game, brought to you by verizon. the nats made it close tonight. zimmerman comes to the plate. first pitch swinging, though, flies to left field, and the nats fall to the rockies, even though they outhit colorado 1510-6. great to have you with us tonight, and those three pitches, those three home runs cost this ball club the ball game. >> well, this is the a power hitting ball game, johnny, up and down the line-up. and they did tonight. none of those balls were cheap. the ball that hawpe hit, we're behind home plate, and it was a ball down on the 2-0 pitch, and drive it to center field, and nyjer got a good bead earn it,

but just carried enough to get out of the ballpark, but ubaldo jimenez of all the guys that i've seen this year, blazing fastball, a hundred miles an hour. 86 wasty lowest -- 96 was the lowest i saw him throw, a breaking ball that just yacked. we foo that coming in. >> bob: he has now 21 consecutive games at least 6 innings or more. that's impressive. >> bob: you're not kidding. one pitch served up, that was in the 8th inning. it was a 2-2 fame in theth, and one swing of the bat from gonzalez, and all of a sudden colorado got the lead. >> rob: yes, and the long ball defined the night. actually, i thought it was a fastball up, but after we checked and saw the speed on the pitch, it was a 78 mile an hour hanging breaking ball. first pitch, ball just sat right there on the table, and you throw them that slow, that

high in the strike zone, somebody is going to do some damage. >> bob: and there's the line score tonight. rockies with four runs, only six hits, but three went out of the ballpark. three home runs, no errors, and washington 3-10-0, scoring that run in the 9th inning to make it a 4-3 ball game. the solo shot, number 17 for him came in the second inning. gonzalez went deep in the 8th. for the rocks, jimenez two earned runs, walked only one. struck out 5, and threw 108 pitches. let's go back up stairs to bob and rob. ray and i were just talking about it, about this kid ubaldo is pretty darn tough, and coming into the game, and again tonight, showed why he's an all- stair pitcher. >> bob: well, johnny, this young man seasonal 25 years of age. he has everything you've looking for, size, 6'4", 200 pounds, and power, throws in the high 90s. >> rob: e, and that, some

really good pitching, especially in a pennant drive, and jimenez has been outstanding. and that's why you would go after a guy like stephen strasburg. he's big, strong, throws hard. jimenez tonight 8 innings strong. 26 starts this season, 14 of them he's gone 7 innings or better and three of the last four for this colorado rockies team, he's gone 8 innings. they've won all three of those ball games. so the value of pitching has gone up over the years. anybody that can go 7 innings is very, very valuable. you heard stan kasten during the broadcast talk about the pope tick were of a strasburg. right there you saw the value. 25-year-old jimenez going out there, basically a very good- hitting ball club. 8 innings strong was the difference tonight. >> rob: guys, colorado's starting pumping is much better than their bullpen, except for huston street, but they have a

ball club with a bunch of guys who are going to hit between 15 and 25 home runs this year. they don't have an adam dunn, but they have a lot of guys who can hit the ball out of the ball clark when the they get playing time. >> you are correct as always, mr. carpenter. and we will see bob and rob tomorrow night in game two here. also the rocky have the second most runs scored bee n the league behind philadelphia. >> rob: well, they can hit. tulowitzkiin' tulowitzki has get hot, hawpe is a tough hitter, and helton anchorth that line-up. he is a guy who is just very tough. work this pitchers, and knows as much about hitting as anybody in the league. they have don baylor over there, former masn guy. they have four pitchers that have more than 10 wins, starting pitchers.

so a lot of people done realize how good good they are with starting pumping. >> bob: and the guy going tomorrow night is an all-staff pitcher, as well. >> rob: yeah, jason marquise. >> bob: stammen tonight limit this rockies to only four base hits. did a good job ray in the 5 and a third he was out out there on the hill. >> rob: through the ball exactly well. kept the ball down. we're going to go show you exactly what happened as he was able to retire the first four hitters, but then a 2-0 pitch running away, sitting there off of home plate. that ball was on the outside corner of the plate, down just below the knees, and he hit that paul out of the ballpark. it was a very, very good pitch. then in the third inning, he started striking out, i.d. on a real good breaking ball -- iannetta on a real good breaking ball. and then gonzalez grounds into

a feeders choice. almost turning this thing. our defense has gotten so much tighter. story line, ground ball, tulowitzki to the whole. nice play again there by guzman. sweet play. nice play. backing up, getting a long hop, going and getting this ball here. making a great play. six innings, dexer fowler   s one to left field. then after a child pitch, tulowitzki walked. here is the wild pitch. just showing that as tulowitzki walked, because that's what happens so often with runners and scoring position. stammen removed. great job by jim riggleman as he brings in the left-hander villone to get an out, and they tied the game there. but a good outing. just 5 and a third innings, only 80 pitches. >> bob: and you see the numbers there for stammen, now let's go to jim riggleman

talking to the media. >> we stuck 7 or 8 hits out there against him. we had our chances, we got on. you know, we had a couple of opportunities, and had some great at bats against him, but on a night when the wind was kind of blowing out, we couldn't get many balls ill rate ised on him, and take advantage of something maybe going out of the ballpark. >> when willie got on in the 7th, was that one or your best opportunities of the night? >> yeah, but, again, he was throwing so well that, you know, it was going to be tough. you know, got him over to second, and then guzy grounded out, and zim had a good at bat, but we didn't get him in there, but a lot of good at bats throughout the ball game, and then last inning, you know, huston street has not blown any saves hardly, and we had some great at bats right there. zimmerman was right any that ball at the end.

he really tracked that ball well out of huston's hand, and just kind of got the head of the bat out to there a little too far, but that was a good at bat. all of the at bats leading up to that, nyjer ander, just really -- guzman, of course, getting our third run, just some really good at bats that it was really a great competitive ball game against, as i said to or club, everything face thousand just about is either going to be in the playoffs or compete for the playoffs. so that intensity that other team is playing against, we matched them pin. for pin of all night. >> how was stammen? >> stammen did a good job. he was getting a lot of ground balls, and the -- in the 6th, they started getting a fuel balls in the air, and the way the wind was blowing out, decided to get him out of there when hawpe was up, but he gave us a good chance to win the ball game, that's what you want

your starter to do. he got relatively deep in the game, and as i said, just a real good ball game. >> been a little up and down as the season goes on, and it seems like it goes through stretches maybe three good starts, three bad starts. on the up swing now. is that something you want to see more consistence there? >> yeah, i'm thinking the atlanta game, he -- he really kind of town himself about the last three innings of that atlanta game, you know, and i believe he gave us six innings that night, but was kind of struggling a little bit, and then just, you know, threw caution to the wind a little bit, and let it fly, and threw a real-good three innings, and then came back tonight and did the same thing. challenged hitters, good ball club, good-hitting ball club, and, you know, hopefully he's on that up swing again. >> what do you make of the

rockies line-up? >> well, it's a good line-up. you know, they have a lot of what you just kind of of say ballplayers, you know? real pros. a lot of gamers over there, that, as i said, i was very proud of our guys to match the intensity that colorado is playing with. they're getting after it, you know, they're sniffing the playoffs, and, you know, we're not playing for that, bit we are playing to win the game, playing with pride, and for pride, and i just -- i feel like they've got a good ball club, but i file like we match up real food with them. >> nominalsed the wind blowing out in the latter innings. was that a problem for your relievers? >> well, i thought it was early. the first home run, i thought that ball was not going out, and you start looking at the flags again, you realize that, you know, it's got a chance, and it, you know, went out.

barmes's ball was hit very well, but i felt most nights that ball would have been up against the wall for a double, maybe. boz's ball was hit so sharp, it was going to defy the win, you know, it was low. wind wasn't really going to be a factor, because it was hit more on the line to that part of the park, it's not as deep, so i just felt those were great at bats by their guys, bit i was hoping they would be doubles rather than homers, of course. >> the rockies now have a 7- game winning streak over the nationals this season. ray and i will come back. there are some national fans. even though the score was 4-3, they had a good time at the ballpark toronto. we'll continue with more after this. computer problems?

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 >> a couple of big mays. gonzalez, the grounder from carlos gonzalez. grounds into a fielder's choice. that's win of a couple of good plays tonight in this ball game defensively. >> he is showing his quick hands, the able to react to the ball, and those soft quick feet, and nice soft hands. freight play the. >> bob: comes up in the 9th inning. gets a base hit to keep things going. >> well, police trying to keep his job. belliard swings the bat well. belliard is a better offensive player right now with much more pop, but gonzalez keeps battling getting good at bats out there. >> we can't talk amight defense on any show without talking about ryan zimmerman, and once again tonight on our masn highlight reel with some more great plays by the nats all star third baseman. >> he can flat out kick it

here. you can see this ball is hit line shot. stunt look like it's that tough of a play, but this is. a slow-roller, working there, corkscrewing, makes the play there barehanded. stammen going back. ball with a top spin over the top. then a ball that gets in the light there. you see him duck his head. a nice throw. he hasn't made a bad the now in over a month. and she the best defensive third baseman in this league. >> you can continue to say it, if you like. >> i'm going to, if you don't mind. >> i don't mind at all. how about an offense tonight? the nationals had a nice little to cool back and take a lead. >> yeah, not a lot of oh phones, but then the 9th inning, there was a a rally. elijah hits a ball that get ways in on him. no chance for tulowitzki as he's there, easily safe at

first. gonzalez fielders choice. nieves gets hit by a pitch. 59 miles an hour. stammen, we couldn't get around him, and then get a pitcher to hit one right inside there, again cork crew screwing to the corner. we're able to tie the ball game up. and then a nice sweet stroke to left field by nyjer who had three hits tonight, driving in nieves, actually, and then in the 9th inning, we come with a base hit, just pout of the reach of a diving atkins.   ing over shortstop. looked like we're going to get something going. line drive into the corner, but could not score that run. and then this ball squared pretty well to left field, just right at the left fielder, so a chance at a valuant effort, good ball game, well played, defensively well pitched. federal reserve the bullpen solid. burnett hanging a breaking ball, but playing one of the top five teams in the national league right here, and we're able to stack up well against them, pitch well against them,

and almost pulled it out in the 9th. >> bob: ratzmann saidfromm 9th. -- >> and you're playing to make a difference in some of these pennant races. >> that's right. , we you get to late august, you're talking about a lot of money and one of these world series rings here. i don't show it much, but it's the pride of 20 years in professional league or major league baseball. you play for with and this is the time of year you start feeling it. everybody and plays hard, even harder than they play during the season. everybody bears down. so to win paul games now, you have took really good ball club, because they're given every effort to try to put things away. >> for this month of us a, the nationals are 11-5 now. >> rob: yeah, they're still playing good. they're playing really well. not even the same team as when

wriggleman took over. this ball club has gotten so much more solid. we're going to look at what's happening here with everything as we're playing real well. >> bullpen tonight could not hold a 2-2 tie. they did come in and do some nice work with villone and bergmann in that 8th inning. >> bergmann through through ball game. villone did a great job getting the out. he was able to get -- watch out he gets rid of this ball and gets to the second base real quick and turns that thing. found a roll in this ball club and is doing heck of a job. >> nats extra post-game with some comments from craig as is when we come back on nats xtra post-game here on masn as colorado win this first of three 4-3. across the country every day. pa announcer: final boarding call... all passengers... each with an average speed of 590 mph...

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 >> you know, it was going g until the 6th inning, and i'm going to kick myself for not being able to get through that in, just the way i attacked some of the hitter, but that's the way it was. that was a good part of their lineup, just needed to make a little bit better pitches, but that's the way it is. >> the walk to tulowitzki, was that the nail in the coffin for you? >> yeah, i pitched him not how i wanted to. it was after he hit that one foul really hard, i went away from my game plan against him, where i went with some offspeed pitches where i should have went right at him and got the double-play. >> ray, still a learning experience for a young guy like craig stammen, isn't it? >> he's a mature young man, though. of the guys we have here, he

shows more composure. there have been several times that he gave unfor our five runs early, and he comes back, he's able to pitch through adversity. i like him. >> well, the nationals is and rockies will continue this series here again tomorrow night at nationals park. we hope you'll have a chance to be with us. and there you see the schedule coming up. that will be 7:00 wednesday. masn 2, also thursday masn 2. and tomorrow night one of our guests will be don baylor, the hitting couch of the rockies,, and formerly a guy that stepped in when ray took a couple of days off. we'll be back in a minute. and lower both your numbers. but how close are you to your goals? there may be more you can do. only caduet combines two proven medicines... in a single pill to significantly lower... high blood pressure and high cholesterol. in a clinical study of patients... with slightly elevated blood pressure and cholesterol, caduet helped 48% reach both goals in just 4 weeks. caduet is one of many treatment options, in addition to diet and exercise...

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 >> >> fans filing out of the stadium, good crowd on hand tonight in this 4-3 win for the rockies. let's take a laboratory the farm report tonight, as far as

the nats farm clubs are concerned. syracuse edging buffalo 1-0. estrada goes 8 tonight. >> golly, those boys are pitching down there. >> other scores. potomac with a lead over winston-salem. carr goes 7 innings in that ball game. in case you've within in hibernation for the past 24 hours,, you that stephen strasburg, the number one pick in the draft, and the nationals came to terps just before midnight last night, a nice teal worth about 15.6 something over four years. >> yeah, johnny, franchise player, nolan ryan type. go doing change this franchise, i believe. i think the change is already -- we're feeling it, like the seasons are beginning to change. it's starting to cooling off tonight after a hot day, but the changes in the think pitching staff, the way the

attitude is playing, riggleman, rizzo, kasten. i can tell a difference in this ball club. finally relaxation and putting together over a month quality ball games. this kid is special. just hope he stays healthy. there's to question he is going to be successful in the big leagues. >> and when we talk about time's pitching match-ups, once again, the nationals, you thought this kid tonight was tough, jimenez, they have another guy that's just as tough in marquise. >> that's correct. he has 17 quality starts this year. he's been over 7 innings in 16 of those. he has a breaking ball, more of a breaking ball pitcher, sinker ball,, a lot of ground balls. in 157 innings, just 78 strikeouts. balester, a 29 mile an hour fastball. his last two outings has been rough. 10 runs in his last nine

outings, but a guy that's on the rise, and hopefully he'll be one of those guys that continues to get better as he goes out there on the mound and gets more experience. >> and balester getting his 6th start tomorrow night. marquise an all stair right handed for the colorado rockies, and he is 4-3 in his last 8 starts, so again, fans coming out to the game tomorrow night, expect to have a good pitching match-up. >> it's going to be a good pitching match-up. marquise has just been so doggone reliable this year. he's a guy that has averaged 13 wins over the last five years, so he's a quality starter. >> take away the three pitches tonight to hawpe, gonzalez, and barmes, and this could have been a different ball game, but it wasn't, so colorado has now faced the nationals 7 times, and they have won through last 7 ball games here in this ballpark. thanks for joining us be, everybody, on or nats xtra post- fame. we'll see you tomorrow night here on masn. let's hear it for nickelback!

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nationals: tied at two. top eighth. carlos gonzalez, the top feed to right. and sets it up, rockies taking the 3-2 lead.

and they go on to lead. jimenez pitched eight strong innings, he's 5-0 with a 2.49era with seven starts since the all-star break. the giants have just taken the lead, 7-5 in the top of the tenth. ryan garko doing the damage. had a double that brought home two runs. the giants have scored the fifth fewest runs in the majors. our top story, brett favre now a viking. the vikings will pay favre $12 million this year, and $13 million next season. the contract is straight salary, no performance bonuses. his reaction from his former team in green bay. i'm happy for him wish him the best of luck. we're here, we're grinding, we're doing what they need to

do. no matter who they ever for quarterback, the bears have for quarterback, detroit or whatever. >> the ability for him to come back and do that means he obviously feels like he can do it. i think it's a testament from a player's standpoint that this is 17, 18, how much years? 19. he's a good quarterback. we all know that. he's a hall of famer. but i don't think it's going to change who is going to be on top of the division. that's our goal. we're not going backwards for either one. >> would i like to hit him? hell yeah i'd like to hit him. all these practices out here? i want to get a nice little shot on you, brett. i said it. put it on the bulletin board. the vikings opened with two games on the road. first against a team with quarterback questions of its own in the browns, they debut at home in week three against the niners before a huge monday night showdown with the pack in week four. all eyes will be on favre when he heads back to green bay in week eight. and late in the season, the

vikes are in chicago for a monday night. >> today at philadelphia eagles practice, quarterback michael vick was under center, running the scout team offense. and running back ryan westbrook was in the back field. just how much could their roles depart from that scen they're he yo come regular season? sal paolantonio tells us how vick's arrival, and that of mccoy might change or diminish westbrook's contribution on the field this coming season. >> these are pivotal days for brian westbrook who is battling back from ankle surgery. and if the eagles run michael vick in the wildcat offense? he'll most likely wind up in the back field with westbrook, who could get fewer opportunities to touch the football. can this work? >> i don't know where he's going to fit as a pat or in this offense. coach reid does his job to figure that out. >> the eagles drafted mccoy in the second round, to eventually replace westbrook who turns 30 next month.

so there's no shortage of pressure on the team's premier offensive player to prove he's still got it. >> it's about productivity, not your age. if you're productive when you're 30, 31 or 25, your productivit productivity's about nine. i plan on being a productive running back this year. >> how productive is a major question mark. four of the offensive linemen are out with injuries, and vick and westbrook will not make the trip to indianapolis for thursday's preseason game. with the eagles, sal paolantonio, espn. >> wide receiver brandon marshall participated in practice tuesday afternoon. a day after he and his agent reiterated their desire for the team to sign marshall to a new contractor trade him. with two misdemeanor battery charges in court on friday. in other nfl news, she's sitting on out much of the preseason to

be happy for the rest of the regular season. brady quinn plays 17 snaps in the preseason opener, to five for derek anderson. and the buccaneers pronounce that safety jackson have been suspended for violating the substance abuse policy. >> former harrah's employee has found the motion to dismiss a lawsuit against ben roethlisberger accused of raping another worker. david cornell said one to two hours after mcknelty alleges roethlisberger assaulted her. she was online sending light hearted emails and engaging in benign chatter with her online boyfriend. it also shows that two days after the alleged assault, she wrote she was looking forward to having dinner with roethlisberger and other celebrities at the american century golf championship in

lake tahoe. >> still to come, adrian peterson is the top fantasy player. what impact favre will have on some other vikings players. >> also, greg paulus will be under center for the orange, under center for the orange, what he said hiswassup man. keys. keys. stacy, keys. girl. um. billy. hi, boy. saddle. hermes wassup, little buddy, wing-tipped sandals. let's go. nobody flying tonight. hold it there big guy. yeah the warp drive hand it over your culture is primitive, yet so funky. (announcer) there are captains in every crew. calling all captains drink responsibly. have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

the o's. the rays are four cards behind

wildcard leading upton. loses one. his eighth of the season. had nine homers all of last season. he's a double short of the cycle as the o's end up losing to the rays, 5-4. gabe gross hit a two-run shot in the fourth. his first homer in 19 games. >> from a fantasy perspective, vikes, kindof the interesting. peterson was already going first in most drafts, this doesn't change that. but favre becomes a top 20 fantasy back-up type for me. i don't know how healthy the arm is. he led the nfl in receptions last year. of course, they got a running back for two. that said, there is some upside. vikings tied for 11 in touchdown passes, they throw more than you might think. the guy that gets the biggest boost, bernard barian. almost 7 scores last year. with inconsistent quarterback play. thanks to better nard, the top 20 wide receiver.

vegas is is wasting no time. minnesota's odds to win the conference championships and pro football championships essentially doubled after news broke of favre's return. >> brett favre not the only quarterback used today. former duke basketball star, greg paulus is now the starter of syracuse's football team. he won the job after transferring and getting a ncaa waiver to play football as a graduate student. paulus on learning the new system. >> i think it's going to take a little bit of time. i'm trying to learn as much as i can, ever since i got here, learning the offense, and connecting with the drops and the foot work. trying to get a gauge of the defenses and disguises that they might have out there. i'm trying to get used to the speed on a consistent basis. and the more experience and reps that i'm able to see and experience, i think that will be better off in the long run.

his coach said i really thought he'd use his leadership skills and maturity, for the starting spot. we'll be with him on every play going forward. i hope he has a sensational year. still to come, he's back, brett favre practices with his new team today. which quarterback might be out of luck. of luck. to i'm racing cross country in this small sidecar, but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis, and wherever i go, i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t.

now a viking. what led to his decision. of what his former teammates are saying about it. plus, a couple of aces dealing tonight. why neither look the part. espnews, starts now. >> what's up? welcome into espnews. glad you could join us. helping you stay current with the latest news, scores and highlights. will selva alongside michelle lafountain. one time famously, michael jordan had said i'm back. brett favre taking it to a whole different level. >> he says it every year. he's said it again. brett favre coming out of retirement.

he's back in the n.f.c. to play with the minnesota vikings. favre passed his physical. came out to practice in a number four vikings jersey. >> 39 years old, your arm may not feel like it did at 21. but the pieces are in place here that you don't have to do as much. and i totally agree with that. but three weeks ago, i guess, what has changed, really, one of the reasons i said no, i don't know if it's come out yet, but i found out after the surgery that i still have a tear in my rotatetor cuff, and it was different. i was to say reluctant once again, it would be an understatement. i just kept thinking that i didn't want to go through what i went through last year.

i was on my way out to the college yesterday. i was on my way to the high school to help out with the kids, and we had a good conversation. i hadn't talked to him in three weeks. he said, you know, just give it another shot. see if you want to take that chance. and between three weekes ago when i said no and the phone conversation yesterday, i had talked to dr. andrews and was, you know, reassured that that wouldn't be an issue. of although i thought it's on over and done with. so it kind of gave me another chance yesterday. and i felt like if they were willing to take that chance, i was, too. we all know there are no guarantee hes, but this wouldn't be an issue. once again, you never know.

my arm has felt good if yo enour me to feel i can make the throws i make. everyone i've talked to, former players, coaches, just people in general have said if you were to go back, this is a perfect fit. it really is. as a player, regardless of the sport, you've got to feel like you can make the difference. and i truly feel like i can. i don't think i have to prove anything anymore. i really don't. in fact, i know i don't. my expectations are high. and this team is a good football team. and i didn't come in here -- i'm not going to sit here and make predictions. but i didn't come in here to lose. i don't think any guy in that locker room is. i think we can be as good as we want to be. >> if favre is coming back to

break records, he doesn't have much options. he owns most all of the records. but there are a few that he hasn't laid claim to yet, including passer ratings, yards per game, and completion percentage. plus, one more that he probably doesn't hope to, john elway's record 516 times sacks. let's listen to brett's new minnesota teammates. >> you know, for me personally, i would say this wasn't what i was hoping for. i tried to get traded here, got traded here. when the team needs me this year, i'm going to be ready. i'm going to play playoff caliber football for this team if the team needs me. i'll keep working. i know he's a starter. he's a teammate, and i'm on this team, he's on this team. at the end of the day, we'll try to do the best we can as possible, and i'll be more than happy to help him. >> it's not a good feeling, but you've got to take it for what it's worth, and try to get better. how do you think he completes

this organization? >> i really don't know. i'm taking it day neverland by day, and trying to get better. >> tavaris is working really hard, but that's the beast of the business, man. i'm pretty sure they're going to take it like professionals and take it with a grain of salt. >> i think the vikings have been relentless with him. telling him this is your offense, and you can do this. and i think i don't know how much, but some of it is to stick it to the packers. they kind of ran me out of town. that is i'm sure his mind set. and i'm going to tell show them. there are some things driving here that are not necessarily all, you know, just hey, i want to just play football. brett favre is a competitor. this is what he's done his entire life. he's reached a higher status and where it's hard to pass it on to the tom brady's, and peyton mannings of the world. i believe solely and truly if brett favre is coming back, he's 100% sure that his body will be

able to sustain the season. and he'll benefit from being in that dome for at least eight regular season games. and it will be a lot of less tear and wear on his body. he's hoping because he's going to be able to play in the dome this year. i believe there's been a great deal of dishonesty involved. as far as being professional, tell people. you've got families that are going to be affected. they told sage that he was going to have the opportunity to compete for the job. but all along, they don't have any information. they don't know what's going on. and actually, they thought a lot like us, that the brett favre book had been closed, and the vikings had moved on. let's take you next level, favre's teammates just want to win. and the new quarterbacks helped him do just that. they'll have better odds across the board.

favre boosts their playoff chances. >> ed werder joins us now from minnesota to talk about brett favre, and what was his team like at vikings camp and at the news conference today. >> michelle, this all began with brad childress for unexplained reasons, calling brett favre in hatesberg, mississippi, last night and asking him if he was willing to play for the vikings. he was unwilling to make the commitmentment he made three weeks ago. so the owner flew down to hatties berg, met favre, his wife deanna. they flew up here, met at the airport in st. paul by coach brad childress who drove a white escalade down the highway with favre receiving text messages about the helicopter following him. saying it looks like the oj chase all over again. and while there were just two beat writers here at the vikings camp two days ago, today it was mayhem.

fans running in the streets. police were brought in for crowd control. his press conference obviously heavily attended. >> what's changed for brett favre? three weeks ago he announced he was retiring. >> it was three weeks ago he ruled this as a dead issue. not something that he would revisit. he wasn't anymore impressed with the play of his quarterback, jackson. and sage rosenfels against the colts. so he contacted favre. he told us, favre didn't work out as hard after he told the vikes no three weeks ago. but it did give him time to test that rotatetor cuff tear that was diagnosed by dr. james andrews when he fixed the partially torn buy accepts ten don in may. 6: >> that is a concern. the quarterback has to make it through an entire 16-game season. but favrean feels escapable of

doing that. showed good velocity throwing the football today. >> he feels he's capable, but how is favre physically? >> that's the question. i mean, i know that he had told me before that he'd rather not play, as badly as he wanted to be part of the vikings, he'd rather not play than endure what he did the final five weeks with the last season with thebl shoulder problems. he said 75% of the throws in practice would send sering pain down his shoulder and neck and into his arm. he was very concerned about that the the surgery has alleviated that. the question is what kind of workload can he have? will this biceps ten don have an effect on him like the rotatetor cuff did? >> and favre has joined the enemy, so to speak. how did he respond to questions regarding revenge against the packers? >> he admitted last year when he left the packers and was traded to the jets that he was partly

motivated by his gm ted thompson. he realized that was the wrong reason to come back. he thinks he's the missing piece of the vikings super bowl puzz puzzle. >> thank you, as always. >> coming up on espnews, you'll hear reaction from former packers teammates. now that he's come back again and chosen the vikings. >> brett favre taking on -- the red sox taking on blut jays. rickey romero, deep to right center. on oh, la la. red sox up 5-3. 18th of the year for ortiz. top 8, red sox up, run around there for victor martinez who singles down the left field line. alex gonzalez forced to put the

red sox up 10-7. bottom of the ninth. the bluejays, some danger. but, jonathan papelbon popped it up foul, got the last out, and the red sox get the 10-9 win. they avoid a nice loss in their last ten road games. josh beckett had the third shortest outing this season for him. in the ninth game with three home hers allowed since joining the red sox in 06. so he still has 14 wins. and here's some info about beckett, even if the bluejays weren't the best team, the days of consistently knocking it around in his career, and the 15 long balls he's given up, two of them, that was the most against any team. they allowed three home runs tonight, the first time all season. >> mark will on the hill for the mariners, taking on the tigers. 3-2, bases loaded for miguel

cabrera. a single to center brings in santiago and plas copolanco as well. cabrera, 3 for 4 with those two rbis, and detroit would get the win. porsello returned last tuesday. the rookie went 5 and #/3. gave up one hit, one run, struck out 8. but it was a no decision for him. ichiro got his 34th career hit. >> atlanta's alive in the nl east hunt. trailing philadelphia by five and a half games and is three behind colorado for the wildcard lead. runners on the corner for sheffield. he brings home a couple of runs, cuts the lead to two. later in the inning, tied up at 4. luis castillo shoots the loy pitch to the same exact spot. two runs are in.

and 8-4 mets. allowed eight runs in an inning for the fourth time in his career. atlanta sees their five-game win streak come to an end. >> texas has won three straight in five of 6. right now, they have taken a 6-5 lead in the top of the 7th on the twins. ian kinsler, three home runs, six r.b.i., since coming off the disabled list. josh hamilton hitting .460 with 1 rbis in his last 18 games. >> bj upton and the rays have behind the wildcard. trying to narrow the gap. but it is all up to upton, who clears the fence. number 8 of the season for him. one home run shy of his total from last year. david price improves to 6-1. in his last nine games.

giants and reds have just gone final. top 10, ryan garbage he owe, with two men on. that's trouble for the reds. can you think of you panda is in. another run is in. 7-5. giants on top. then 8-5, bottom 10. joey vato grounds out to ishiskawa, and that's it. san francisco's won back-to-back games. garko finishing 2 for 5 with four ribs. he had four r.b.i. combined in 17 games with the giants entering tuesday. >> we will continue to cover brett favre's second comeback to the nfl. up ahead, brett favre's old teammates, the packers react to him being a viking. not sure how much his role will change with the eagles, but michael vick'

>> cubs padres top of the third. erik lee 2 for 2 so far. got his 24th homer of the season. a's and yankees, just taken a 2-1 lead. kurt suzuki got a solo homer off c.c. sabathia to get it all started. something going on in that one. tonight, is john smoltz interested in going to st. louis and the interest is mutual. hmm. >> pedro martinez making his

first start in phillie. taking on the diamondbacks. leadoff batter of the game. steven drew gone. 11th home run of the season for him. third career leadoff home run. then the rains came in philadelphia. brought out in the bottom of the third inning after three innings of work for martinez. jamie moyer brought in. and moyer strikes out. john garland getting his 100th career loss. he has seven r.b.i. in his last eight games. >> sean better thanet would come in in relief for the nationals with the score tied at 2 against the rockies. top 8, facing carlos gonzalez, and the shot, deep to right field. sets it up for gonzalez. taking a 3-2 lead on their way to the win.

4-3 the final. colorado puts an end to the three-game win streak. rockies have won two straight. they lead the nl wildcard by one game over san francisco who also won tonight. >> top story in the nfl, brett favre is now a viking. vikes will pay favre 12 million this year, and 16 million next season. the contract is straight salary, no performance bonuses. reaction from his former team in green bay. >> i'm happy, wishing him the best of luck, but, you know, we're here, we're grinding, doing what we need to do, no matter who they have for quarterback. who the bears have quarterback. the ability to come back and decide he wants to do that means he's obviously feels like he can do that. so i think it's a testament from a player standpoint that this is 17, 18, how many years? >> 19. wow. he's a good quarterback. we all know that. he's a hall of famer, but i

don't think it will change who is going to be on top of the division. that's our goal, and we're not going back for anyone. >> would i like to hit him? hell yeah. i want to get a nice little shot on you, brett. i said it, put it on the bulletin board. >> the vikings open with two games on the road. first against the team with quarterback questions of its o own. all eyes will be on favre in week eight. and late in the season, the vikes are in chicago for a monday nighter. >> today at philadelphia eagles practice, quarterback michael vick was under center running the scout team offense, and running back ryan westbrook was in the back field. just how much could their roles depart from that scenario come the regular season? sal paolantonio tells us how vick's arrival, and that of mccoy might change or dim

initial vick's contribution on the field this season? >> these are pivotal days for brian westbrook who is battling back for ankle surgery. he will most likely lineup in the back field with westbrook who could get fewer opportunities to touch the football. >> i don't know where he's going to fit in as a player. i don't know where he's going to fit in in this offense, but coach reed, that's his job to find it out and figure it out. and he's going to do the best to make some plays happen. >> the eagles drafted mccoy in the second round to eventually replace westbrook who turns 30 next month. so there is no shortage of pressure on the team's premier offensive player to prove he's still got it. >> it's about productivity, not about your age. if you're productive whether you're 30 #-rbgs 31 or 25, productivity's the bottom line. i plan on going out there and being a productive running back this year.

how productive is a major question mark. four of the five offensive linemen out with injuries, and vick and westbrook will not make the trip to indianapolis for thursday's preseason game. with the eagles, sal paolantonio, espn. >> still to come, adrian peterson is a top fantasy player. what impact brett favre will wha( music, words in reverse ) what could you win? we won a trip! a beaches resorts vacation with scrabble at subway! play the game millions have won. everything from prius cars... to $100,000 jackpots, trips and live nation vip access. play scrabble at subway... where winners eat. ♪ stacy, keys. girl. um.

billy. hi, boy. saddle. hermes wassup, little buddy, wing-tipped sandals. let's go. nobody flying tonight. hold it there big guy. yeah the warp drive hand it over your culture is primitive, yet so funky. (announcer) there are captains in every crew. calling all captains drink responsibly. radio. radio. radio. radio. radio. radio. radio. radio. radio. radio. radio. radio. radio.

>> from a fantasy perspective, brett favre of the vikes kind o. radi interesting. peterson was already going first in most drafts. this doesn't change that . favre's a top 20 fantasy back-up type for me. i don't know how healthy the arm is for him. he led the nfl in receptions. they got a running back or two. for better bernard barian, almost 1,000 yards in seven scores last year with inconsistent quarterback play. thanks to brett favre, top 20 wide receiver. we go from fantasy to reality, it will be a few weeks. he wins both the conference championship, and pro football championship essentially doubles after news broke of favre's return. >> to more baseball, jorge cantu, taking on the astros,

tied at two. cantu takes it, marlins win 6-2. had ten hits for the 14th consecutive game. second to the out, eric aybar, with the inning ending double-play, angels go on to win. >> brett favre, former duke basketball star, greg paulus, now the starter of syracuse's football team. getting the waiver to play football. i think that it's going to take time to learn the offense. connected to foot work, to get a gauge of what's going on out there. what i'm trying to do now is get

speed on a consistent basis. and the more experience and reps i think it's going to be better off in the long run. >> with anish shroff, known as coach, plenty of west coast baseball. favre back with the vikings back with more on that. >> which minnesota quarterback might be out of luck with favre in the fold? that's coming up with anish and coach. imoch) hops are the soul of samuel adams. (bob cannon) hops add a spicy, citrus flavor to sam adams. (jim koch) the best hops have en grown on family farms like stanglmair's for centuries. it has unique conditions of soil, moisture and sunlight. (bob cannon) boston lager-- the proof is in the taste.