strike. willingham a nice 360 comes up throwing. nice one hopper. just a little bit too slow. here's the catcher. and a bounding ball. zimmerman charges. chases the runner back. and the other thing i noticed on that play. belliard was on the move. he was heading to the bag in case they could get barmes wandering too far. that was well played. i know a wise baseball man said on every play, everybody on the field has someplace to be and ronnie belliard found his place. that was well-played by zimmerman, he loves to be aggressive on those. ryan told me last year any play in front of him i consider it do or die and i'm charging to play it aggressively. marquis goes up swinging and willingham will circle around this one for the second out. top of the order, gonzalez will

bat for the third time. >> for the third time in 3 innings. it's just about 8:00. the days are getting shorter. 9th of august. i'll be september and labor day before we know it. and i'll tell you, these 2 next weeks are big time test for the nationals. colorado, milwaukee, the cubs, the cardinals, and then on to san diego, and when the nats get home it will be september and a big time dose of national league east plus the dodgers thrown in. the nats will have to be very, very good to play for the next 3 weeks like they have for the last 3. home and home with florida and

philadelphia. and the mets in september. the dodgers are here to last home stand of the year which is unusual. and home and home with the braves as well. that is a broken bat. guzman behind it. soft throw. nowhere near in time to get gonzalez. barmes goes to third. corner situation for the rockies with 2 outs. >> bob: don baylor told me in cage downstairs, that's all they want carlos gonzalez to do. get the bat on the ball and the same for directed tear fowler coming up. they have struck out this year combined a total of 140 times. this is a lineup that has speed and power top to bottom. and they don't have to big bopper like an adam dunn. or a pujols or anybody like

that. they have a bunch guys that hit a line drive and at times they go out of the ballpark.   nice sinking fastball by rivera. 2 out. you want to try to get out of inning and keep the score when it. give your team an opportunity to win. putting fuel to fire, so to speak. it's a well-rounded team. they play defense well, pitch, bullpen is solid. they can put runs on you in a hurry, the team speed setting the table, these two young kids, a lot of pressure to get on base for helton, tulowitzki, hawpe and stewart. >> you ask jim tracy about this

team. he cannot stop talking about that clubhouse and what a bunch of quality young men. this was a team that was drafted, signed, developmented most homegrown players by the rockies. they have not gone out and made a lot of deals. they got the runner pick off. and now, they have to get the runner between home and third. s that fine. waiting for the throw is bard and the inning is over. the nationals kept very calm, rivera never panicked. he made one throw and got the ball from the third to home run down and the rockies run themselves out of inning. that will go 1-6-5 and then zimmerman to 2. inning over. each with an average speed of 590 mph...

almost as fast as you. nothing's gonna hold you down. grab your bag . it's on™west so our low fares stay low. ( ding ) book now at southwest.com. 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.  3-1 rockies. verizon presents wireless  wednesday and jim riggleman kind enough to join us. you had the see ballester twice, the first visit what were you trying to see or hear from him to keep him in the game. to be honest, i went out to say let's try to pick that guy off third. i was not feeling good about the way colin was throwing tonight. i didn't think he was in a

rhythm. not much i would say to straight him -- straighten him out. >> steve was asking him did he know something was wrong with colonel 99 he said he didn't have it in the bullpen too good. some days, you know how it is. sometime days you throw the game of your life. he was concerned with the way they threw in the bullpen. >> 1-1 to morgan. morgan lies down the bunt. it's too close to the pitcher. marquis pulls helton off the bag and tags morgan. jim, niger has shown bun one or twice every game. that was not well placed he's turned that into a good weapon for you. >> he has. the only one that's not added to his arsenal. guzman bunted in the 1st inning moving the runner over. if niger can get on this side of the diamond with a bun, the

pitcher has no chance. he's not gotten comfortable during the game. last couple months of the season something would you like the team to work on, the starting rotation getting into the 7th and 8ed inning. >> we have to get deeper in the game with the starter. the offense is with anyone. i feel great about the ballclub. the defense is, the reason i say, feel good about the pitchers they are eyes and ears. receptive to everything we talk about. a wonderful group. we have to get them deeper in the ball game. >> jim, thanks for your time. guzman hitting that hard. run down by fowler and we pressure visiting with us sir. >> bob: guzman put a jolt into that ball. we have a fast guy in center. they have a fast man in fowler. as you saw that ball was getting over his head.

fowler used his ability the catch up and make a heck of a play. you cannot teach speed. >> bob: zimmerman trippled down the left-field line in the first. each team has squandered an opportunity, especially the rockies, they have stranded 7 runners and lost one between third and home and a rundown. we've had guys going back a few years. juan pierre. tavares. some guys that can control the out field, it's a huge out field in colorado. nice to have speed. >> before them, the likes of young and burks. >> how far outside was that target. and marquis got zimmerman to bite on 0-2. the nats go quickly in the bottom of the 3rd. on to the middle innings. rockies 3, nats one. at pnc, it's doing what most benefits our customers.

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.

 a poe tammic national -- potomac fan. this place bigger and we have aflac trivia for you tonight. the nationals last to erbe a win against the rockies. been a

while.   >> bob: the nationals to ta out of 4 in a series in colorado that feature a day- night double hitter.   and a ball bunted. zimmerman on the run. look at that play. made to look simple when it was very complicated against a very fast base runner. >> rob: he is amazing. as good as it gets right there. your hand becomes the glove. you can not try to get a good grip on. that you throw it with your hand 18 perfect strike and a

fast fowler. they win gold gloves playing like that at 3rd base. scott was one of the best i've seen at that bare-handed play. >> bob: todd helton, 2 walks tonight. and he has 4 more walks than strikeouts this year. 60 over 56.   >> bob: i think odalis pere the necessary nat to beat the rockies. >> rob: i'm going with tim redding. >> it's been a while. >> i'm not looking at my score book from last year. you don't have one, i do.

>> it's a research route. >> [ chuckle ]   >> bob: sinking fastball. you see it cut through the comes back up and in. >> rob: like a cut fastball. >> bob: he will cut it, he will sink it. and occasionally he will throw the 4-seamer and right it. 20th next -- tulowitzki next. the rockies on top 3-1. very strange ball game so far. but strange in a good way that

the nationals are very much in it. it was funy, rob and i were taking it could be 7-1 and we chatted with jim riggleman before he came on live. he said the score could be 7 to one. they have the same feeling downstairs they need rivera to keep this close and take your chances to rest of the way. marquis effective after a tough 1st inning after that long layoff. he's only averaging 12 pitches per inning. >> bob: 3-2, one out. helton hanging tough.   that pitch count won't both saul. he can throw all day.

>> rob: he may have to. 35 pitches for rivera. >> d-1 for ballester. 24 strikes in an inning 1/3 in facing 12 men. >> rob: he didn't have it working. he probably did not have a good warm up and that's what jim riggleman told us. you have to go out and try to pitch through the lineup. >> 7 walks issued by the nats tonight. you can secure seats for 2010, place your deposit for season tickets. season ticket holders enjoy guaranteed seating. savings over single game, access to exclusive events and more. plan your deposit now. become a citizen of nats town. >> rob: i don't know how many times i've heard pitchers that throw perfect games go, i had

the worst warm up ever. i didn't think about it. i tried the get outs and other guys get blown out in 1st inning, can't get an out and say i had the best warm up i've had. i felt so strong. >> pitching is about 53 your role search we say that all the time about the starting rotation. you can't keep bringing the excuse they are too young. you're here shall you have probably been pitching 10, 15 years. there you go. total pitches, yikes!   >> rob: going out some nigh and the kid the knuckleballer for the dodgers out there and throw a decent game. no knuckleballs. first start in the big leagues.

and sunday night baseball.   ground ball, guzman, bellia and the nats turn the double play! they -- their 110th of the year. willingham, dukes some boppers coming up. nefits package aflac! it made a big splash with the employees yeaaaahhhh! find out more at aflac!... ...forbusiness.com (laughter)

 >> bob: in a big league tonight. he stopped two times to twitter. the second time everyone passed him by. >> rob: oh, teddy. 3-1 rockies. bottom of the 4th, dunn could change that. now rob, i don't know if this is karma. i was told the last home stand i need to up great my phone equipment to twitter. i think my phone died today. to enable you to tweet and twitter. >> bob: did you do something to

my phone? >> rob: no. no. and if i did i wouldn't tell you. i'd blame it on joe [ chuckle ] >> bob: dunn walked his first time up and it was a race to the double play. that is outside for marquis. a pretty good pitch. marquis walked wunsch struck out 1, one, struck out one. i don't think marquis will mess with dunn too much. nibble after you get ahead. try to just nick the outside corner with some kind of back door slider, sinker.   9-1 in new york bottom of the 3rdthe braves over the mets. phillies are leading at home,

the bottom of the fifth, 2-1 over arizona. chase utley hit his 25th home run, that's against dan haren. he almost found a hole and the ball is dropped by helton tulowitzki decided to float the throw rather than plant and throw. we'll see how they score it. >> rob: way think it's a head. it's dangerous, he walked on this replay. a 67280-pound man, will come down to 1st base, tulowitzki throws it up in the air. helton is right in the way of dunn. dunn almost injured himself trying to get out of the way. that was an ugly play. >> bob: you had two managers holding their breath. it's a base hit for adam dunn.

josh willingham hit the daylights of the ball first time up. >> rob: i don't think they should be offended. tulowitzki on his cycle was pretty much handed the triple by their official scorer in colorado. soriano kicks the ball around in the corner and came around second and got into third.   the score invoking the commissioners in the best interest of baseball, for the home team. >> rob: absolutely. that's been going on a long time. >> bob: willingham respects the tying run. and josh hits a fair ball. runs over the top of it and he's thrown out with dunn going

to second. dukes will be next. marquis broke in with the believes in 2000. traded to st. louis with ray king and adam wayne write for j.k. drew. look at this. first 9 seasons all of those teams reached the postseason. dukes hard up the middle. they were playing him that way. with barmes. >> marquis has pitched in 2 division series, 3alcs and the world series.

he was 0-1 against boston. then he's still just 30 years of age. career record of 92 and 78. he will be flirting with 100 career wins early next year. anybody going to win 20 this year? >> rob: don't know. >> bob: wainwright has 14 to lead the league. marquis, santana shall carpenter with 14. becket and sabathia. ron valone heating up. the nats are working down to the number 9 spot in the batting order. if this inning gets there they will need someone to pinch hit. easy play. the nats have stranded 3 runners. on to the 5th inning. 3-1 rockies. 

 >> bob: thanks for taking t out from dinner to wave us to. 3-1 rockies. it's wired wednesday, pat listach is wired upton. following that boy. ain't going to learn.

no, he came on no what's wrong with that guy? you know, they've become used it to in the dugout, i'm sure they are very impressed when it happens. >> that kid did play 3rd base. >> tied with david wright right now. stealing percentage. so many chances. >> this is interests. with david wright out, the defending gold glove winner, who wins the gold glove at 3rd base this year. i hope they don't go by power numbers. >> they go by strikeouts he won't. zimmerman is in the mix. >> he has to be. >> bob: and that ball is hit well down the line and foul. just a few feet short of that 336 mark. we talked about this before. there have been times when the gold glove was decided by the bat, not glove and the arm.

and the other thing that comes into play, seems like once you win one, somebody has to take it away from you. your immediately the front run tear following year. >> jock beckett may not win 20 games, but the red sox have won 18 of his 24 starts this year. >> there's your quality start. >> i talk about it all the time. john lester, number 2 in the rotation, of his 24 starts the red sox have won 14. not quite the beckett numbers but good for a young guy. >> that ball ripped foul by hawpe who's walked twice tonight. this guy is another building block of this colorado club. he's been around for a while. the rockies drafted him 10 years ago. he was this the minors for half of that time. he's a texas kid and rivera strikes him out and the saul is

doing a good job of settling this ball game down. >> got a double play ball last inging that saved him a bunch of pitches. we've been fooled by him before, as have hitters. >> keep fooling them. keep tricking them. give your team an opportunity to win this ball game and impress your manager and pitching coach and broadcasting crew. >> stewart 0 for 2. >> bob: stewart a 10th rounder. >> he was in the minor leagues more than 4 years. he committed to usc to play baseball when the rockies made him their number one guy. >> rob: as big as he was i

thought you would say he committed to usc to play football. >> he could have. >> a big kid. >> bob: a big 3rd baseman. a lot like ryan zimmerman. he's from la quinta, california. >> big man right there. i have a crick in my neck. >> he's fooling you. he's daring you to bunt. and a ground ball right side. belliard ranks over. 2 outs. >> and that will bring up clint barmes with the bases empty in the 5th inning. nationals park it's a nice night for baseball. 85 at game time. knocking on wood here, it's amazing we've dodged some of the crazy weather that's moved through the area these last two

days, a nice night. the capital game let -- dome lit up. rockies 3-1. rivera is putting himself. a position to be the mvp if the nats win this game. >> rob: absolutely. i'll dump champagne on his head. >> bob: and that ball jacked down the line, and it will be inside the pole. and barmes hit his second home run of this series. 3 of his last 4 homer double home run and now it's 4-1. >> rob: that took away his mvp award. >> bob: every time the nats feel like they are getting back at the rockies someone hits a home run. barmes last night, and a 3-2 game.

saul misses on location he does not have the stuff or the velocity to throw it by anyone. >> rob: that was a breaking ball that hung in the zone. >> bob: here's iannetta. >> rob: barmes to center field. hanging curveball the left field. he's not miss hug pitches, when he gets the pitch he can hit he crushes it. >> 20ed home run. >> it is. good year. not bad for a guy that plays great defense. he entered this year with 31 home runs. ron valone is back up again. that's amazing by barmes. 20 of his 50 career home runs, in less than 5 months of this season.   and rivera throws it by iannetta who's 0 for 2.

>> he looks 6'32"20. others listed at 6-foot, 225. >> taller on my screen than in person. lost his bat. john smoltz with the cardinals today. a chance to talk to him. how are they going the use him. >> rob: he will possibly start on sunday. he will join the team tomorrow, throw a side session, he said that when i asked him, were you 100% or where you wanted to be. he said he was close. >> the red sox are paying him. >> rob: yes. making that $5 million salary and it will be prorated by the cardinal, for the minimum. >> rivera one blemish in nearly 4 inning of relief.

the barmes homer. halfway through ball game the rockies have have a 3-run lead. it's... no, not yet. it back that way. it's on. ( ding ) book now at southwest.com. thing's busted. 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: a beautiful evening the numbers needed to scoreboard. the rocky on top 4-1. in celebration of signing the number one pick, they are offering 1000, one dollars tickets to friday's game. get threat friday at noon while they last. limit 2 per person. therable a -- will be a press contention. all fans with tickets are encouraged the check out the

newest citizen of nats town. we will carry that live friday at 2:00 p.m. 75 enstraussberg will meet his new family and we're looking forward to meeting him. josh bard, first pitch swinging. helton and the bottom of the fifth underway. padilla will bat for rivera. saul rivera will pitch 3 2/3 innings and give up one run. rockies got 3 hits against him. he struck out 3, walked 2, and a double play ball. 

 and padilla as a major leag hitter, one for 7. getting back the smoltz, he did say he may get a couple starts he's willing to do what it takes. >> bob: he's smelling postseason. >> rob: yeah, he wants to get himself right. and he said if he didn't feel he couldn't contribute he wouldn't come back. get a couple starts but they are in a position with their lead in the central to get him right. you know the cardinals have a history of putting guys like wainwright. morris. to get them right. >> >> bob: padilla grounds out. the nationals will be in st. louis a week from friday.

possible on that friday we could see john smoltz. who the nats have beaten once this year. >> bob: the only game of the boston series the nats were able to salvage. the nats only run scored. marquis is getting outs quickly. most on the ground. he's only given up dunn's infield hit since bard's clean single back in the second.   >> 11 ground ball outs.   >> bob: outside, 2-1.   the cubs are six back of st

lou miss the the central. milwaukee 9 back. high in the air. deep to right, and that ball is up against the wall, that is a guaranteed triple! in some ballparks that's a home run. >> rob: that ball came back to the inner half, down and in on i alefty is not where you want to throw the pitch. brad hawpe made it close throwing the ball almost from the wall to 3rd base on a hop. he's showing it off. >> bob: morgan tied for 6 in the league with 7 triples this year. and a 2 out rbi for guzman to

pick up.   >> rob: like to get the hom run, run back from last inning on rivera by barmes. stay close. >> bob: guzman takes a fastball low. 17 rbi's in 22 games. all of that came before his one for 20. hit the ball hard last time up. lined out hard to center. guzman since the beginning of the cincinnati series last thursday. one base hit. good average in situations like this. >> bob: and he rips one to right. that ball is on the ground. the nats are on the board, it's

a 4-2 game and zimmerman will represent the tying run. guzman with a badly needed base hit and rbi number 42. >> rob: guzman had a big hit last night. kept the rally going and 2 out, huge base hit, brings up the 3 and possibly the 4th hitter in our lineup and that's a great job by the two table setters.   >> bob: fastball inside to ryan. i think it's obvious the rockies scouting report is to pounds him off the plate inside with fastballs. they walked him once, but he never got extended. marquis misses away. last time they got ahead of

ryan 0-2 and threw a breaking ball off the plate away. >> rob: third time through pretty good. like jimenez last night. .234 batting average. and there's a lot of ws in those numbers. >> rob: it's concentration and focus. you know you're running out of gas. running out of stuff. can't afford one mistake.   fastball, 2-2.    >> rob: we have not seen hi reach back often but he reached back right there, pulled out a couple more miles an hour, on

his 86th pitch. excuse me. 66th pitch.   >> bob: is that right. >> he got it. 49 going into this inning. after getting 2 outs, the morgan triple, the guzman base hit extending him.   >> bob: and zimmerman to ri center. if it goes to the wall guzman will score. he's around third. here he comes. and this is a one-run game! [cheering] >> bob: a 2 rbi night for ryan zimmerman and he's reached 80 on the year!

that boy is good. >> bob: ryan zimmerman takes this pitch away, up in the zone, smokes it into right center field. if it can get by hawpe it's a run. it does. goes to the wall, guzman will score easily. now it's up to hawpe. the big hawpe. tying run at second base for adam dunn who's walked and singled. tied up. >> fastball a little bit up. and the top of the order delivering after 2 outs here in the 5th inning. 

 [ cheering and applause ] >> bob: and dunn with that superior batting eye takes another borderline pitch, 2-1. >> rob: i give our hitters credit. marquis has good stuff. a lot of the movement on his pitches. they have made him work. especially in this inning. really nice approaches tonight at the plate. >> bob: and dunn goes left side. that ball corralled by stewart and dunn beats it out. it's his second infield hit of the night. stewart did save a run. and the nats have 4 hits in a row.  

>> rob: you have to be kidd me on that play. and a visit from the pitching coach. a long way to go for stewart here. stewart made an unbelievable diving play. putting the shift on dunn. he gets on his behind and throws it to 1st base and almost gets dunn. >> bob: adam dunn a few behind morgan in infield hits this year. even though he has 2 tonight. >> rob: it was amazing he caught it. he saved the run by making the stop and threw a strike from his butt. watch this. broken bat. he dives. no time, throws it. and he got the throw. >> you are kidding! unbelievable. >> bob: some guys would have thrown that 20 feet up the line. here's josh willingham with a

tying run at third. 2 out here in the fifth. josh is 0 for 2 with a couple ground balls. and after my conversation with him today, i take it he's not fond of sinker ball pitchers. he said last night after one sinker he looked at the scoreboard and it said 98. that's when he gave us that wow that we saw. marquis doesn't throw as hard. and he's over matched josh twice tonight. the nats will pick up a couple on 4 hits. they've left 5. it's a new ball game, it's 4-3 into the 6th. 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.

 >> bob: the nationals have tightened up the score, 4-3 rockies. the freeze cam plays like this tonight, josh willingham, foul territory kept this a tight game. check it out on the freeze cam. the heel of the glove rolls through, the snow cone, the hammer squeezes it tight. >> bob: the nats have done something significant here, after colin ballester got 4 outs it's the 6th inning and because of rivera they are only employing their second reliever of the night and ron valone is

on to face jason marquis. valone his 44th appearance. 35 inning, inform ron -- innings for ron. >> and a first pitch strike.   i bet that willingham could crush a beer can with 2 fingers. the hammer. >> bob: man! that is self-preservation right there. and exploded marquis bat. right at him. ball. it's not the special kind of wood the every day players

get. >> they get better stuff? >> way better stuff. you think marquis gets the same wood that pujols get? come on. >> i don't know. like the tree that fell off the truck. that's what the pitchers get. it's like they grew a sapelling from birth for pujols. >> he has his own orard. this is albert's row. this is joe power's -- mao erase row. i get your point. >> minor leaguers got pressed wood that wouldn't break but it was not wood. some kind of plastic wood. >> bob: marquis hanging tough. >> rob: they could save money. and the ball didn't jump off that bat. and the minor leaguers don't

get the great stuff either. >> bob: what if you're a number one draft choice? >> rob: you get good stuff. >> bob: okay. and if you do like i did when i got to the major leagues you give your extra stuff back to minor leaguers. they took it back. i used to get a lot of glove companies to give me free gloves and give them to minor leaguers, because they don't have enough. the breaking ball. had marquis out of his stance and ron valone gets a strikeout. who was the last nationals pitcher to bolt the rockies? the nats have not beaten this ballclub since august 7th of last year. look it's score book bob is right. >> if you buy one you would

know this. kidding. august 8 of '08 the nats beat the rockies after jason bergman beat him with 7 innings in the first game. >> how far back do your books go that you have on hand. to my opening day of 2006, my first game with the nats. i have others that go back to the 80s, when walter johnson pitched. >> no that's phil wood. phil is the only one that's seen walter. [ chuckle ] johnny holiday saw ty cobb. i heard johnny once halt ty cobb to a fight. >> [ chuckle ] and he didn't have ray knight at his side. >> ray is not the guy you want to fight. gold glove champ. >> there's bergman. >> rob: now i might slap ray and run away.

i don't think ray can catch me. >> bob: i've seen you on the treadmill. i'm sure you can take him in that regard. >> bob: gonzalez one for 2 with a walk and a infield hilt. it's inside 2-1. that could be heard up here. that may have gotten hand and bat. >> it hit gonzalez deflected off bard and smoked the umpire. i just got josh off the arm and the head. why you wear protection kids. >> one on and one out. foul tear hitter -- fowler the

hitter. fowler has walked and scored, driven in a run with a triple. but thanks to rivera was stranded in the second. he was at 3rd base with one out. 4-3 rockies. this is a real important inning with the nats having just scored. >> rob: agreed. bergman up in the bullpen. get some outs and get the offense back up on the field.   fowler only had 26 major le at-bats coming into this year. he spent last year at tulsa where he hit .335. the rockies have an interesting thing they do. a lot go from double-a to major

lesion. because colorado springs their triple-a is a hard place to gauge how good a hitter is because the ball carries just like it does in denver, and sometimes it's deceptive. they tend to have their really good prospects at double-a and the others filling out the organization at the triple-a ballclub. if you want to test a pitcher send him to colorado springs. see how good he is. that's a guard change-up. 2-2. >> rob: if you're talented, a lot of times now, whenever you're playing you may jump from double-a to big a. they know. they have you slotted. great change-up. >> bob: to dodgers used to talk about that. their triple-a was albuquerque and hard to judge hitters.

their power because the ball carried to well. some would make it to dodgers stadium and the power was not there. >> rob: wow. >> bob: that was a good pitch aye that surprised the umpire. watch this on the inner half. yep. >> bob: a piece of ball caught the edge. will the rockies start the run we're gonzalez? you would think so many he's stolen 8 bases in 9 attempts this year. gonzales the runner, foul tear hitter and drive to center for the nats hit right at morgan for the second out out. we're going cover the bases with sean tomorrow. that will be interesting. part of morgan deal. he was born in florida, a long time spring training home of

blue jays. welling ton florida high school. there's a lot of good division i and major league players in different sports have gone to we'll be ton -- we'll beton. you will learn more tomorrow night. todd helton walks number 59, 60 and 61 here tonight.   2-0 from valone.    gonzalez, 8 of 9 this year,

with the left-hander looking at him he's not come close to trying to steal yet. he was running on a 3-2 pitch. and that's a little bit outside. and that side of the plate the zone is small at the moment.   dangerous hitter. tulowitzki on deck. good fastball. and by the way, the phillies have gone bombs away on arizona. utley homered earlier. howard's 31st. werth 26. it's 7-1 philadelphia. >> buchholtz is getting the better of halladay. 5-1. >> and the braves are really

spanking the mets tonight. 7-2 -- 11-2 in the 6thinning at citi field. >> that will be a good wild card coming down the stretch. >> fastball outer black. 3-2. throws a breaking ball. what do you think? >> i would. >> lefty, lefty match up. a runner moving. how about that. he threw a straight one and valone, who probably should have had it, deflecting it up the middle. first and third and belliard will run the ball in. >> rob: don't mess around. gonzales has wheels. >> bob: remember what willingham did to the reds on sunday. >> rob: this may have been hit slower than valone thought. he deflects it. i don't know, guzman may have had a play on that ball.

>> bob: now this is dangerous with tulowitzki and so dangerous that jim riggleman may want the ball. bergman has been ready for a while.   by the way, todd helton has been on base every time and adam dunn has been on base every time tonight. they are spending too much time together over there. >> bard calls back the middle infielders. and this will be a good test for ron valone against a dangerous right-hander. the situation here is maybe, don't throw anything over the plate that he can drive, because there's a left-hander on deck. so it's tulowitzki and hawpe, and this approach to this hitter will be inning to watch. >> you keep the runner close at

home. keep the force in order. hoping for a gunned ball. don't want this be a huge inning in the that were the case. >> he might throw 4 right out there. maybe showing something off the plate. inside. >> bob: tulowitzki one for 3 with a big hit for the rockies a 2-run double with nobody out in the first. they had the bases loaded with nobody out. scored 2. second and third exnobody out and didn't score any more. >> bob: a change-up. 2-0.   the nationals played the  rockies last year tulowitzki was the number 5 hitter and

hawpe was the clean up man. now jim tracy goes left, right, left with helton, tulowitzki and hawpe. we would not expect the nats to throw one. he was taking than was belt high.   i'm sure jim tracy would ha him wanting to swing, but he took it. hawpe is on deck. he's walked twice.   and there's the ball 4 pitc expected. bases loaded 2 out. it will be lefty lefty with

valone and hawpe. so a hit batter and infield hit and a walk making this a long inning.   ladies night tomorrow night. that's a happy hour for the girls at 4:30. special deals available. nationals.com. and then, principal fielder, ryan brawn and the brewers will be here for the weekend a 4 game series through monday afternoon. 

 reaching out of play. 0-2. now adam laroche and matt diaz have homer -- homers and the braves lead the mets 14-2. the marlins under way in houston. they are in the 3rd inning 3-2 houston. there's the base bunch, gonzalez at third hilt by a pitch. helton the infield hit off valone and the walk to

tulowitzki. the count is 0-2 to brad hawpe. that's a good breaking ball. too bad he didn't bounce it fair. hawpe hitting below .260 again left-handers this year. that's why riggleman wanted lefty lefty here. .there 21 versus right-handers. most of his power off righties. 13 homers versus 4 lefty lefty. and the 0-2 pitch again. swing and a miss! and for the third time tonight, the rockies have stranded the bases loaded. 10 in the game, it's a 4-3 contest into the bottom of the 6th. @x@0@p@0@6p)@)@)p,

 everybody having fun tonight  trying to squeeze a couple more evenings of fun out of what's left of summer here. quite a ball game, 4-3. the nats coming up. the bullpen and except for one swing when river heir gave it the home run. bottom line,

bullpen doing the job. it's time for offense to bail out ballester. >> dukes 0 for 2 with a couple ground balls. up and in. ball 2.   marquis up to 73 pitches through 5. he averaged only 12 pitches per inning his first 4, the nats made him work long and hard with the 4-2 out hit. dukes got under. that gonzalez in left field for the first out.   >> bob: scioscia is up. >> bergman, and clippard had to pitch last night. score that ball game was 4-3 as

well. here's belliard. bard to follow. there's that good sinker. marquis starts that thing about thigh high and gets 8 cross. that's tough. there's the exnet, joe biemel. and a ground ball left side. cut off by stewart. i told joe you look good if black. he said i'm not sure about the purple trim though. >> there's our butty -- buddy joe. the telecast presented by authority of the washington national may not be reproduced or retransmitted in any form, the acts entrance corruptions may not be disseminated without written consent of washington gnashes. there's the newest

nat. mike morris on deck. if bard could extend this like he did in the second. here a guy that can hack. he's put up good offensive numbers everywhere he's been. >> rob: the issue is the one through 4 hitters are leading the national league in hitting since the saul tar -- all-star break. one through 4 hits.there 82. the rest of the batting order needs to pick it up a notch. >> going to be nights where the top of the order does not hit. you need the bottom guys to contribute. tonight one of those nights you need runs from the bottom. starting tonight, duke 0 for 3. belliard 0 for 3, bard, josh

broke an 0 for 14 with a base hit. he's one for 2.   and this duke's time to pro he's an erie day player -- shall everyday player. bard hits that and the nats go in order. it's the bullpen against marquis and the rockies in a 4- 3 game. (announcer) take your time to find the right time a clinically proven, low-dose tablet for erectile dysfunction you take every day so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. don't drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache.

to avoid long term injury seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. (announcer) 36-hour cialis. or cialis for daily use. ask your doctor about cialis today, so when the moment is right, you can be ready.

 >> bob: everybody enjoying evening of national's baseball and looking passionate about coming back. here's the game sum each morgan scored a couple runs and that's the job of a leadoff man. he's stolen a base. ryan zimmerman 2 rbi. he's up to 80 and rivera, is they bullpen savior. we'll find out later. the rockies lead it. top of 7th and valone is still pitching. he has stewart the nats have scioscia -- sosa ready. >> you have to get a shout out theeting gear family at the game --etinger family. we want to give our best to you and your family.

we love feedback. and a great friend of mine celebrating a birthday. cindy walls. >> they used to be your neighbors in california. i used to work with john walls. >> that's right. still run all the time. they are really healthy. >> they are really healthy is true. 1-1 to stewart. i hate runners. >> i do too. all they do is run. >> that's we we stand around and pump iron. you don't have to go anywhere. pump ire, more iron. >> >> bob: funny after we left pittsburgh and you were obsessed with pirates for 4 days shall i saw a tee shirt that set to err is human to

argh is pirate. >> bob: low and away, 2-2. >> rob: met some of arlington's finest last night. went out the dinner after the game. >> bob: yes you did. >> bob: that was a breaking ball, stewart was late for it. the count remains 2-2 leading off the top of the 7th.   >> bob: the rockies 4, the 3. colorado won 6 straight over washington going back the last year, and 3 straight in this ballpark. joy ran valone trying to get inside on stewart. >> bob: he was with the rockies

back in '01.   valone not missing by much. walks the left-handed batter. that's been valone's deal. as many walks or more than strikeouts and the leadoff man is aboard here in the 7th. now this is a dangerous match up, and jim riggleman will make a double switch. looks like gonzalez is going to come out and replace belliard, he will bat 9th on the double switch and the new pitcher, sosa who's been warming up will be in the number 7 spot. condition have a left-hander pitch to barmes is way he's hitting. sosa getting the aassignment. so, how does the iphone make traveling easier?

well, if you'd like your own personal tour of paris, there's an app for that.

or, you'd like to figure out the metro, there's an app for that. or you'd like to send a postcard home, there's an app for that too, because there's an app for just about anything. only on the iphone.  just so you don't think it' all kids at the ballpark tonight. we are in top of the 7th inning and the nats will wrap it up with the rockies tomorrow night. jason hamm ill started against the nats on july 7th. the nats have 10 hits and 4 runs the rockies win. mock for the nats, and he has been a winner in two of his last 3 starts and the nationals have won all 3 of those games. we'll start you off with johnny

and ray at 6:30. nats extra. so gonzales plays 2nd base and bats 9th. he will lead off. sosa faces barmes, iannetta, and possibly marquis. marquis has thrown 82 pitches he should be good to go for a while. barmes with a double, homer in 3 trips. 3 for 7 in this series with 2 solo home runs. >> bob: the rockies and the phillies are the only team in the national league scores over 6 run runs this year. and that's right at an average of 5 runs a game. 

 the nats and the rocks play their 120th game of the week year tonight.   >> bob: sosa has a great arm. tends to fall in love with the breaking ball too much. has been his undoing a couple times. >> bob: and a pop-up. he had the right-hander reaching. ryan zimmerman takes charge. we told you about johnny and ray joining you before the game tomorrow night. they'll be with us after the game tonight. nats extra. ballester struggles, saul impresses and let's see if the

nats can win. post game thoughts from jim riggleman and hammill and mock. ray's thoughts on that match up tomorrow night. there's the catcher. chrissy aneta -- crisp ianet ale 

 455 walks, part don't me, strike out. and 324 walks. jesus and guys like that. that can be an undoing of a guy with a great arm. you have to trust your stuff. you have to believe in what you possess that known can hit you. talk about it a lot.   >> bob: some of the best pitchers in the history of this game. tom glavine and greg maddux, they didn't have to overpower you.

they hit their spots and made you hit the pitches they wanted you to hit. to get ground balance to get fly balls. blyleven. palmer. gaylord perry.   16, 187 at the ballpark tonight. for game 2 of the colorado series.   nibbling with the slider. the count is 2-2. between

valone and sosa, deliberate working styles. that's the game coming to a screeching halt. there you go. we worked together long enough. you know my bad joke. >> i knew those right away [ chuckle ] >> bob: no joke on this one. bard there to grab it and a big second out. marquis will be a gentleman and hand the catch over his mask and step in to hit. we thought marquis might stay in the ball game. the rockies have had bullpen issue. their bullpen era is half a run bear game -- better than half the starters. >> marquis one for 3 about a

double and a run scored. and that one gets knight changes directions. mike mcgowan out the help him out. right off the side of the head. brian knight is not -- does not wear the full headgear. he wears the old style face mask. >> mike has him moving his eyes around. do you think mike asked what night of the week it is. where are you? >> who are the teams? it is day or night. how many fingers am i holding up. >> brian knight is the junior member of the crew, and dana,

the long time crew chief who's in his 26th year came in to check on his young guy. glad brian is okay. owe-1 to marquis. and he will slap it out of play. strike 2. marquis makes like greg bingio -- biggio, that's your throwing elbow, your moneymaker. >> rob: it is your moneymaker. >> bob: and a good one for the rockies this year. a lot of people probably thought it was an expensive pick up for the rockies to get

marquis from the cubs. >> traded for chris guy 180 a right-hander on january 6. i don't think he's still with the cubs. >> you have to have experienced pitchers in coors field. the rockies have a core of young position player but it's not the same or the pitchers. >> by thes have to have guts. >> he has a sinker. >> which is good up there. >> and that ball hit the left. back up willingham a bit. and the nats bullpen continues to keep this thing close. 7th inning stretch time. gonzalez to lead off in a 4-3 game. 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 )

 and members of the national player development think highly of him. detwiler reported his first win friday after 6 scoreless inning of 5 hit baseball and 7 triple- a starts including tonight. he's pitched 34 1/3 inning, struck out 31 and walked 12. >> bob: thank you. names to keep an eye on. it's an organization of opportunity. if you pitch well you will look at the capital dome in short order. marquis coming out for his 7th

inning of work. if he makes it through the frame the rockies would have gotten 15 innings from their first 2 starters in this series. gonzalez, guzman, zimmerman in the bottom of the 7th. gonzales showed signs of life with base hits his last 2 times up last night and before that he lineout hard to the pitcher. >> rob: the rockies came in with a one-game lead in the wild card. >> bob: and the nats get a break and the tying run is on base. >> rob: only 4 1/2 back of the dodgers, so they are playing these games like it's a playoff. >> bob: yeah. >> rob: type game. every win is huge. last 42 games of the season. the swing and bunt here. until stewart comes one a play that's a base hit. that will do it for marquis.

>> that's not knocking a guy out. >> rob: the phantom punch. >> bob: the nats dribble him out of ball game. gonzalez has base hits in 3 consecutive at-bats. marquis 6 plus. 9 hits. one strikeout and walked one and could be the winner. if you're like a lot of people, you have high blood pressure... and you have high cholesterol. you've taken steps to try 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. tell your doctor about any heart problems... and all other medications you are taking... or if you experience muscle pain or weakness, as they may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. how close are you to where you want to be? ask your doctor if caduet can help you go... for both your goals.  >> bob: coming up on the 2 get your red on watch the nats

take to brewers at 7:05. come out early, the first 15,000 fans will receive a free frank howard bobblehead. part 2 of the collectors set. to purchase tickets visit nationals.com or stop by the nationals park box office. >> bob: bobble, bobble. it will be fun. that saturday night. here's morales, this kid is only 23. and he was the starter at colorado springs last year and in 5 games for the rockies. doing a left-handed job for them out of bullpen right now. with a 2.74 era in 19 games and a better than 2-1 strike out to walk ratio. >> bob: what are the odds of frank howard being here. >> bob: good question.

anyone know where he search see if i can get ahold of gene michael. >> morgan lays down a sacrifice bunt. almost. had the reach for the throw. >> rob: morales almost threw that away. that would have been very helpful. a little bit more time but he rushed the throw and almost through it away. >> bob: check this out. a nice bunt, deadened. morales will come anyone spin and throw, you have to right yourself, pick up your target. nice play by helton. >> bob: now the nats have 2 shots with the tying run at second base. guzman batting right-handed. not as many ab there's this year but he's been very good with a batting average of.there

23. 32 for 99. he has one rbi tonight. good speed with gonzalez. great arm in right field and a good one in center with fowler who has 5 assists.   >> bob: guzman hits it to r field. gonzalez won't be able to tag, we think. >> rob: i don't know. >> will launch one to third and alberto is at 3rd base with 2 outs. it will be up to zimmerman who's driven in 2 tonight. and we'll see if jim tracy stays with the left-handed pitcher. 

 guzman late on that fastbal but getting enough of it to move hawpe back. gonzo, everything he's got, hawpe makes a play of it. that's why you slide 2. >> going to walk zimmerman here and pitch to dunn. that's a percentage play. swim is swinging a hot --ville is swinging a hot bat. >> dunn had a perfect night with a walk and 2 ground ball hits. you have a guy way triple and double standing in front of you. >> bob: it will be inning to see the defense the rockies will play. there will be a runner at third, a runner at first. the last time dunn batted the only man on the right side of the infield was stewart who

staved a run. so let's see where tulowitzki plays.   we need to make a correctio tickets for the friday with steven strasburg. the tickets went on sale today. you don't have to wait until friday.   >> bob: adam dunn is coming after they huddle here.   so the tickets did go on sa today. and while the inventory lasts you can get one of those 1000

of them, one dollars tickets for friday's game as we celebrate the arrival of steven strasburg in the nation's capitol. >> 2 on 2 out for dunn. and the tying run 90 neat away. tulowitzki is to left field side of second base. he's playing up the middle. there's the defense. they don't want to give up the lead by dunn stroking a ground ball to the opposite side of infield. they want to make him earn it here. >> bob: you got a kid that throws 93. a good breaking ball. you don't want to give it away where you will try to pitch dunn. that's why you see the normal or almost normal configuration on defense. if i'm going to get beat i'm going to get beat away.

>> bob: 1-1 to dunn. way outside and a big time slide by chris iannetta. >> that's too far out. >> that's a favor it. >> it would have been a tied ball game. >> you would expect morales to be over amped facing dunn right now. >> and he blows a fastball by him and the count is even, 2-2.   >> bob: alberto gonzalez led this inning off with an infield hit. 2 outs later. adam dunn hangs tough with the lead runner zimmerman at first

and the count remains 2-2. >> bob: if the inning continues there's hammer waiting.   95. by the way in the next half inning we'll give you an update to status of those tickets. evidently the one dollar tickets on line have sold out. there will be more available on friday. 2 on, 2 out in a one-run game. bottom of the 7th. and a big slow breaking ball

way outside. this will get zimmerman moving at first. todd helton will play behind him now. which you need to do against a left hander like dunn.   and he will take a fastball that strikes him out! adam dunn's 135k of the year. the nationals strand 2. they have left 7. 18 runners stranded in this game tonight. 

 >> bob: lots of folks hangi out in nats down. on to the eighth. top of the order. sosa pitching. the rockies continue to lead 4- 3. let's clarify everything for the 1000, $1 tickets. the one that went on sale for friday online today are sold out. any of you who've been online have found that out. but, on friday, the day of the game, there will be 1000 more

of those $1 tickets released at noon at the nationals box office. you can get a $1 ticket for the friday game and stick around and come into the festivities at 2:00 when steven straussberg is -- straussberg is officially introduced. >> gonzalez, one for 2 tonight. with a base hit, a walk and hit by a pitch. he jacks this to right center. i don't think it's coming back. and the rockies lead 5-3. gonzalez has homered for a career high 4th consecutive game. his eighth of the year and the

rockies have a 2-run lead after the nationals did not take advantage of the their opportunity. he was scouted by our own mike rizzo. a sinking fastball down an way or change-up and he unloads on it.   >> bob: another talented young  man with a lot of speed.  2   more homers for rockies and 142 on the year. second in the league only to the phillies.   1-2.  

 so they have hit 5 home run this series, and the home team is zero.   that's the great hitting co former manager of rockies, don baylor. he was the manager in the mid- 90. i remember going the play him when he was managing. if it was not going well for his pitcher he would pinch hit for the starting pitcher in the third for 4th inning knows he had the offense the score lots of runs. he had an amazing offensive ballclub. >> that's a good change autopsy way for the strikeout -- change- up away for the strikeout

strikeout.   >> bob: strikeout fowler. strikes outweigh too much f young man. needs to put the ball on the ground. >> that's his 107th strikeout. that cannot happen. when you're a young player that can fly. >> that's your number one priority. put the ball to carpet or into play. just make contact. his .395 on base average is skyrockets again. >> rob: the first home run that rivera gave up not so bad.

he had been in there a long time. sosa, that home run hurt. he's a veteran pitcher against a rookie hitter. let the kid get full extension on that pitch. >> bob: on the heels of stranding 2 runners and your clean up hitter taking a fastball the strikeout. that's a tough day for that inning to end. there's times when adam dunn expands his zone and goes after the fastball, that time he didn't.   todd helton is on base for

fifth time tonight. that bring in tulowitzki. who leads the rockies in double plays grounded into with 18, including one tonight.   another breaking ball. that's what you call throwing an out pitch to first out, right. >> absolutely.   >> rob: it looked worse than was, it was an 85 miles an hour

change-up. >> bob: this is a change-up right here. overthrows it.   and he gets a high strike c >> rob: one breaking ball in the 3rd and 3 evacuate change- up -- straight change-up to a righty. >> bob: what are you changing off of? >> rob: you're a power pitcher, you throw nothing but breaking

ball. it's perplexing. >> bob: that ball at the shortstop. guzman to gonzalez, the nats turn their second 6-4-3 on tulowitzki tonight. in the bottom. eighth, willingham, dukes and the pitcher's spot. it's a 2-run game. i've never been all that great with my money. probably because i've never had much. but now that i'm making more, it's time to be a little smarter about how i manage it.. with the calendar, i can schedule all my payments. and when funds are low, danger days help me stay out of the red. i can also transfer money with just a click and a drag.

so maybe i'm better with money than i thought. introducing the virtual wallet from pnc, a high-definition, online view of your money. pnc. leading the way.

 >> bob: the bottom of eight inning. at&t the makers fastest 3g network. your world delivers. >> bob: rob has referenced beaten court in this series. they have been looking for arms in their bullpen like joe biemel, and this former cleveland indian, who they got for minor league right-hander on july 23. beaten court is -- a couple

years ago he was one of the best set-up guys in the game. last year may have tired. seemed to have gotten his stuff back this year. the stock rose high enough to trade him. there's willingham. and the nats are down to that part of the order now. they have one base hit and one pinch hit from 5 through 9 tonight. he had a double

against him ins -- jimenez and joe biemel is throwing again.   >> bob: that might be if th nats pinch-hit harris for the pitcher later in this inning. and willingham will play to hawpe in right. the nats are down to their final 5 outs. in fact i think they are sure that willie harris would be the pinch-hitter, there's a right- hander out there, the only other available player is mike morris just up from the minor leagues because nieves would not bat in a situation like that. so beaten court gets one out.

takes on dukes here.   >> bob: and a good colorado pitching staff. 6thbet in the -- best in the league has shut down the highest flying offense in baseball in these two games. dukes gets jammed and pops that up. barmes for the second out.   >> bob: here comes willie harris. with nobody on base, and a 2- run lead, maybe tracy doesn't make the move to biemel here. harris is being announced. biemel probably would have come in had one of those two men reached base. although at times, joe is better against righties than

lefties. >> a big sweeper of a curveball down and in on righties. lefties will flip that into right field. >> harris batting for sosa here. willy is a pinch hitter. 4 for 20 on the year.   >> bob: and willy .224 batt average is a testament to how tough it is to keep your numbers up when you're not getting many at-bat. >> rob: good numbers again the rock. >> bob: you were right with that. it's tough not to be an everyday player. he got consistent playing time. started to get the average up there. and then willy took over. dunn out there. morgan and dukes came back.

dunn went to first. you're out field was set, everybody is swinging the bat well. need consistency at this level. especially with hitting. it's timing, keeping that mental edge. hard to come off the bench and be a pinch hitter or one or twice a week player.   and willy late for that. the nat goes in order in the eighth. 9th inning coming up. rockies lead it by 3. ♪ ♪ i always feel like (announcer) it's right here, it's easy... ♪ somebody's watching me. ...it's the money you could be saving with geico.

♪ who's watching? ♪ tell me who's watching. (muffled music) (announcer) it's right here, it's easy... ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ it's the money you could be saving with geico.

 >> bob: it's been a bit of frustrating night. the nats have not been able to get back evening with the rockies. one installment from 3rd base coach, pat listach. he's out too. what's up nats town. anywhere on the ground. pat listach. what up baby? oh, don't know where the ball

went. how about niger morgan, we don't have him wired. >> he becomes the star of the show, one way or another. what's up nats town. have to love that. needs work. >> cliff lee, 9 inning pitches no runs 4-0 with the phillies. >> wow. he's allowed 3 earned runs now. >> he got run support. 8 runs on 13 hits into didn't need it. just needed one. >> wow. >> see what the marlins are doing. they are trailing in the 6th at houston, 4-3. quinterro with a houston home run and the marlins have to win that. they are only 5 back of the phillies right now, pending their outcome. they are in 2 races. 

 and the rockies, lead the giants who are getting a gem of a ball game from barry zito at cincinnati against arroyo. 1-0 giants in the top of the 9th. rockies are one game ahead of san francisco and 2 ahead of the marlins in the wild card. mcdougal has brad hawpe tardy right there. >> rob: see how 96 moves with mcdougal. thinks right away. brad hawpe thinking, this guy had to get work against me?   >> bob: not be the forgotte houston street is lurking

again. we've been down that street before. >> the nats almost got to him last night. he has 30 saves now. look at that swing. after looking bad, hawpe dumps one down the left field sign and a deed off double here in the 9th. it's not like the rockies are pounding the nats into submission but the timing their hits is perfect. >> very timely, especially the home runs that came off the bullpen. one off rivera, one off sosa and hawpe throws one down the left-field line. they are very professional hitters. they are very, very confident. >> bob: and they are not a lot of big, long-term veteran guys. i think you could say though,

that playoff and world series experience really grew up some of the guys in a hurry. >> rob: don baylor is an excellent influence. they feel they have the advantage. everybody in this game. that mental edge. >> bob: the rockies won 90 games two years ago, went 20 and 8 in september including 14 of their last 15, they beat arizona in the one game playoff. and then they kept on winning. phillies, arizona, and as they went to world series to be swept by the red sox, they had won 21 out of 22 games. nobody does that in september and october. it was their 1st inning season in -- winning season in 7 years. these kids matured in a hurry through that persons

experience? they didn't know any better. >> bob: there's a ground ball pulled to the right side by stewart. dunn will do it himself. hawpe over to third with one out.   last year the rockies fell and only won 74 games, 10 games behind the dodgers, 8 behind arizona. atlanta and florida were both fighting for that wild card berth. they have 10 more games again each other -- each other. a lot of great pitching. >> barmes, zimmerman comes home. 5-2-5 on that run down. it was a contact play. but honestly when you're trying to get a third shine one that's not a good baserunning play. >> i know that it's a tough

angle therefore, that ball was right at a man standing 10 feet away from bait runner. > it should 18 one way lead, station to station. you've to freeze. hawpe starts leaning toward home. took a couple steps. you have to knows who playing 3rd base and that guy is hot with the glove as well as the bat. the rockies made a couple baserunning mistakes between third and home tonight. the other ended up between third and home, it was a baserunning mistake by a runner breaking too quickly off 1st base. >> 2 out, a runner on first. mcdougal trying to get the last out to keep this a 2-run game into the bottom of the 9th. the nats due ups are bard, gonzalez, and then morgan. 

 chris iannetta 044 tonight foe-4 tonight. and a ground ball in the top of 9th. we welcome you who joined us after the baltimore and tampa bay game. the nats go to the bottom of the 8th9th down 5-3 to the colorado rockies 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.  set to bring i nats extra postgame. the same sense yarrio last night. needed a couple runs down by 2 again. a different way to get there. home runs coming later tonight.

but, terrible outing by ballester. not able to throw near the strike zone. we walked 9 pipe and that's not getting it done. toss in the home runs from the rockies. they have a lead. let's see if the nats can tie it up in the 9th. >> bob: thank you. houston street will get the call. the nats almost got to him last night. he gave up 3 hits in the 9th inning but only one run. because they were all singles. then he got zimmerman on a broken bat flair the left to end the ball game. so he continues to pay dividends after that deal that brought him over from oakland as part of the matt holliday transaction. >> bob: his second career 30

save season. josh bard, gonzalez and morgan, here in the bottom of the 9th. and by the way. houston street only one blown save all year. he's 30 for 31. the nationals came close to doing last night what hardly anybody else has been able to do. get to houston street. >> he has 22 in a row since june eighth. s that coincided with the rockies hot streak. they have the best record in major league baseball, 48 and 25 since the firing of clint hurdle in may. josh bard one for 3. gonzalez one for one, morgan two for three. the do up bottom 9. rockies are trying to win their 67th game of the year, and go to 14 games over .500. the giants in hot pursuit

leading 1-0 bottom of the 9th at cincinnati. josh bard first pitch swinging. gets a good piece of it and that ball continues to fly, it's a home run and it's a 5-4 game. josh bard's third home run of the year, the nats score for the second straight night against houston street, and for josh bard, only his 31st career home run [cheering] >> that guarantees guzman will bat in this inning. you see where they want the pitch. it comes back across the plate, looks like a sinker, supposed to be thrown right at the hip, comes across, bard all over it. another sinker down and in. >> here -- here's alberto

gonzales. he has hits in 3 consecutive at- bats in this series.   that's a nasty knee-high fastball. >> the same type of sinker he was trying to throw bard. bard jumped all over it. looks like he knew it was coming.   nobody out, one-run game. and gonzalez left side. tulowitzki on the run. plays it perfectly for the first out. stewart made a fly

on dunn be saved a run. tulowitzki has eaten up every ball that's come their way. they save a lot of runs on that side of infield. when they went to world series they had the number one rated defense in the league. number one defense all time. best in major league hits. 65 errors in 162 games. >> 0-1 to morgan. 2 for 3 with the sacrifice. a stolen base and 2 runs scored. he's behind 0-2. that home run got street's attention.   >> 4-3 rockies last night w the nats got a run in the 9th. it's 5-4 tonight.   morgan 0-2 and he had to sw

it was close enough. it will be up to guzman with 2 out. i wouldn't be surprised to see guzman swinging early in the count when he getting ugo-2 you are -- you 0-2 you are swinging at his pitch. >> street doesn't throw a lot of sliders or breaking balls. he throws a lot of strikes and a hard sinker. not a lot of closers going with the sinker. guzman one for 3 with a sacrifice. that ball outside. he didn't bite on it.   dropping down to a lefty sh him the pitch, very deceptive. 

 i thought he might swing at first strike he see. he saw what happened to gonzalez and morgan when they got to 0-2.   guzman and the rockies pick again. they win the ball game as they continue to play outstanding defense behind their pitchers. 4-3 last night. 5-4 tonight. >> rob: a hard sinker baller last night. another tonight. and then they get it to street and get the victory by one run. >> josh bard's homer in the

bottom of the 9th. the nats only run. the next 3 batters had the door shut on them in a hurry. the rockies will be in a position to try to sweep tomorrow behind jason hammill. for rob dribble and debbie taylor. bob carpenter. the rockies win by one run, 5- 4. join us tomorrow. visit masn sports.com for all the news on the nats. the has been a presentation of masn. nats extra coming up. jimmy and ray at the ballpark. so long for just a while. 

 welcome to nats extra postg 16187 fans. you come down to bottom. 9th with an opportunity and couldn't get across the tying run. >> you're not going to win big ball games when you face houston street with 2 runs down. last night we had a rally and tonight the home run. he pitch as cording to the situation. only blown one save all year. we're playing these guys well. we didn't pitch well tonight and we were fortunate to be in the ball game. they could have busted the game wide open. minimum damage after 5 walks only the double by tulowitzki and we score a run to make it 2- 1. rivera came in and hold us close. 4-1. we made it 4-3 with big hits by zimmerman.

not able to capitalize on leaving 6 runners on in a time where marquis is throwing the ball well. he doesn't have 14 runs for noting. >> he's an all-star pitcher. >> defining moment just like last night. the ball sails out of park, not for the nationals in the 9th, but for the rockies as barmes took it deep in the fifth. >> a sinkel up. right inside the foul pole. swinging the bat well. barmes and gonzalez. last night hit the home run. hits it again tonight. off sosa in the 8th inning. we talked a lot about the offense and their ability to score runs. we open the show tonight about the offense and don baylor. they will score runs in butches. they got -- bunches. >> there's the line score. 5-9-0 for colorado, 4-10-1 for what want for a second consecutive night the nats out

hit the rockies and lose, morgan in the lead off spot 2 for 4 with a triple, scores a couple runs, zimmerman two for one night. we'll show you another sensational play at 3rd base and gonzalez of colorado gets a home run in a 4th consecutive ball game and the rockies go to 47 and 21 since the fourth of june, that's the best record in the national league. >> they played great defense, the top of the lineup a great hitter in the middle of the lineup. helton 11 home runs but at 70 rbi. the young guys in the bottom part of the lineup. they are able to drive runs in. they all give you quality at bats and iannetta does a great job catching and they have 4 guys with 10 wins. they have the package. >> we have an all-star 3rd baseman night after night.

let's go to bob and rob talking about ryan zimmerman. >> another night at the office for ryan zimmerman. makes all the play, makes clutch hits and the rockies walk him they don't want the face him to get to dunn. >> once again, our all-star 3rd baseman doing it on the offensive side and the defensive side. tough to stop. made a great play to shut down the colorado rockies. ryan zimmerman tremendous night for him. a triple. double, he's going to drive in morgan. nice job. he hustles around second. gonzalez struggling with the ball. bare-handed just like ray knight used to documents he comes up with it. throwing. then -- used to do. he getting hawpe throwing. with a double. the bottom line is tonight you know they walked him in a situation to get to dunn.

dunn took the called third strike with a man on third. sometimes you rather have the clean up hitter swinging, trying to hit a fastball from a lefty. the bottom line, you said it the defining moment was the home run. the bullpen did a great job. your starter does not get out of second, 3rd inning. they can't go 5, 6, 7 innings. showing the quality of jimenez. marquis, that's why the team will probably go to the playoff and the nationals may be 40 games under 500 for the season. not the bullpen defense or offense but the starting rotation. >> in the series the nats starters two combining for 62 third inning. when you look at colorado, milwaukee, chicago, saturday lewis and september it will be a struggle to win against a difficult schedule. >> thank you. they are back with you tonight.

and as they mentioned you are going up against a good ballclub. they are a game ahead in the wild card, and only 4 1/2 games behind the dodgers in the nl west a team that's loaded. >> one of the 5 best teams in the national league. and when you lead all of baseball in wins from the time that they fired the manager, they don't have to prove they are a great ballclub. they proven that. year before last had a tough time. they have the package. we talk about games defining moment being the home runs. and we talked about it. the 9 walks, and you cannot night after night have a team go 7 innings in the bullpen. we know it. sometimes we have a tendency to go with the home runs that makes up the difference at the end of the game. there's no question the early start and the lack of getting deep in the game kills you. >> offense for the nationals they get a run on the board in

the 1st inning thanks to morgan. he's done everything for this club. a line drive base hit. then just promptly steals 2nd base as guzman shows a bunt. catcher drops the ball. zimmerman down the 3rd base line. running as hard as he can. watch this head first slide into third for a triple. in the 5th inning morgan triples to right center field. on a ball off the wall. i thought it would get out of there. the wind blowing out it would have. he get there easily. he didn't have to slide. and then the base hit, guzman scored the run. how about there's the double. we didn't see the swing, zimmerman doubled to right from field. scores guzman the first. bard 9th inning off street. their great closer goes deep

over the scoreboard in right center field and wearable the tack on that run. and one run short, but all of it happened early. as the manager it's not necessary to last 8 or 9th inning. it's how the game develops thousand bullpen sets up. you have to use your pinch hitters early. it puts pressure on a manager when he that's go out to bullpen and use three or four guys most nights. we have guys throwing well. no question bit. ballester has not got 10 job done. >> he's struggling. the month of august this ballclub 11 and 6 despite the back to back losses to the rockies tonight. we're going to take a break. we'll continue with more. we'll be back after this. computer problems?

thing's busted. 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.

there's no way to hide it. if you drive drunk, we will find you. cops everywhere are stepping up enforcement... and cracking down like never before. sir, have you been drinking tonight? sir, have you been drinking this evening? sir, have you been drinking tonight? make no mistake. you will get caught and you will be arrested. over the limit. under arrest.

 let's send you downstai jim riggleman meeting with the media. it is one of those days. he didn't throw strikes. if you don't throw strikes you won't win. >> was there anything wrong mechanically. >> like i said before, if a pitcher is doing something mechanically wrong that won't and something, he has to be out of whack for me to pick up on it. i deal with as far as why they are not doing well that's him and steve. >> worried about the bullpen. >> yeah. you didn't want to have that.

those guys will take the ball. ronnie and sosa and riviera, he did a great job. they all did a great job tonight. mcdougal, we didn't mind throwing him an inning. not a save situation. he had not pitched in a couple days. but we don't want to have to put him in there. we put him in there so we would have 3 fresh arms tomorrow. >> jim, two part question. to talk about the fact that your bullpen was able to do that and keep it there for the most part. the other end when you do have a chance to get inform marquis, he didn't have his best stuff. that makes ballester's outing harder to take, i would think. i thought marquis threw good. whether it's his best stuff. he threw a good game against us in colorado too. he's getting better at this point in his career. he threw good tonight.

we hit balls hard. he only had seems like 60 pitches and 5 innings and we put together a nice rally, and niger hit a ball well. and you know, we got a break on gonzalez's ball down the 3rd base line. we put together a nice rally on him. and just couldn't finish it off. and you know, they beat us. as i said. we're lucky we weren't down 5 or 6 early. our guys kept fighting back. i've said it before. you know, it sounds whatever, i love working with this group here. they get after it. they are playing hard. they are playing clean basketball and fun to -- baseball. they are fun to manage. though enjoy playing this competition that will be

playoff bound. and they are meeting them head on. we're coming up short. >> gonzales hit the home run for the second straight night. how frustrates is that when you go to 9th inning and get a run and end up one short. theys a player that's very highly touted a couple years ago and has been involved in trades. he's one of those guys that people have been looking at for a few years saying, this guy has to be in it. he's bounced around. and just seems like here in the last couple weeks he's hit a bunch of homers and showing people why everyone thought highly of him. that was, instead of going into it with a one run deficit you're down a couple. he's done it a couple nights in a row. you saw his arm out there. he made a nice throw. he's going to be a heck of a

player. >> thank you. that's the manager meeting with the met yam jim 17-16 with the ballclub. they have won 3 of 5 and 11 of their last 16 ball games. nice to have you with us. nats extra postgame. johnny holiday and ray knight. our final score, 5-4, another one run loss for the ballclub. you say has ballester had a rougher outing than tonight. last year, against the phillies he made one.2/3 innings against philadelphia in september and struggles. tonight he was all over the place. we're going to tell you what we're talking about. base-on ball. base-on ball. stolen base. base-on ball. tulowitzki doubled. the wall gets in on him. this is what happened when you stack them up. someone will drive in a bunch of people as he drove in 2 runs.

walks hawpe for fifth walk, and you know, just a weird situation. marquis the pitcher doubles. interesting thing about this, we're going let this run off the double. 2 walks, base scored. the pitcher doubles he scores. that's 3 runs. that's a defining moment. what a great play by willingham. we'll see that later. off the ball in right field for a triple. nothing you could do. the kid can run. then, another breaking ball, that's the end of his night. he walks 5 people, throwing, 36 pitches his 1st inning, 51 pitches total. and just a horrid night. the numbers nor pretty. when you walk the 3 guys in the 1st inning it will be a long or short night as it was. one inning, one 1/3. 5 walks and a strikeout. for ballester. on the brighter side of things. if you look at the nationals

bullpen. riviera was outstanding. one of his better outings. >> we mentioned the 2 home runs. he threw well. he can pitch. last year he got everybody out, he's got a good slider. >> reporter: sinker and he went out and battled for 3 inns and did something that not a lot of people were able to do. you get 30 inns in the -- 3 inning in the middle of the ball game. he's the best in the business. another sweet double play, 6-4- 3 no chance as rivera pitched well. 5th inning hawpe strikes out swinging on a slider, a 4, 5- inch slider and home run to left field, barmes, ball right inside the line. sink sinker down and in. that ball is in there you get an upper cut it will go.

punch out iannetta. a little bit like rivera is a cut. he threw 47 pitches, 2 1/3 more innings than the starter and i'm glad he's back up here. he's a quality guy and he can pitch. >> talked about zimmerman. reminds us of a young fox at third. >> i had a better arm than he did. >> have you told him that face- to-face. >> i'll tell him face-to-face. he what better range and hand and did everything else better. >> you want to see a veteran play. we have plays defensively to show you. one of best. willingham knows where he is in loaf field. going full tilt. there's a lot of things going. on first to third. never worked. one, 6, 5, 2, out. first to third i've never seen him do anything. here is it.

that's not an easy play. i probably wouldn't made. that he throws better on the run than i did. i used the take a crow hop in colorado takes the series. one more game tomorrow night. back-to-back one run losses for nationals tonight. it's 5-4. we'll take a break, we'll continue with more right here on masn of or nats extra postgame brought to you by verizon as the stadium is darker and more quiet in washington, d.c. 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.

you have high blood pressure... and you have high cholesterol. you've taken steps to try 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. tell your doctor about any heart problems... and all other medications you are taking... or if you experience muscle pain or weakness, as they may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. how close are you to where you want to be? ask your doctor if caduet can help you go... for both your goals.  saturday is picnic in par tickets are on sale now. get yours. plenty 67 activities. throw a pitch in the bullpen. visit the dugout. run the bases get player autograph. tickets are going fast. get them today or first thing tomorrow. saturday afternoon 1:00 to

4:00. well today was wired wednesday with pat listach. let's eavesdrop. >> how you doing. how are you today. i got the mic the whole day. into i'm going the stand by knew the rosin bag has to go behind the mound. anywhere on the ground, the only play we're not going on is back to the pitcher. exactly. one out. >> listach giving zimmerman all the information he need hoss hoping to get him home. shall we use the exmow. >> -- that corner the concrete wall, the base there running out of room makes a great play. short hop, comes get its it. check the runner all the bay whack. fakes the play. there's nobody that does this better. i am not trying to dis anybody.

a double play. we're turning them now. defense looks good. looks really good opposed to early in the year. offense capable enough. bullpen cable enough. have to get the starting pitching down. >> a nice double play. we'll take a break. when we continue, more of nats xtra postgame when niger speaks everyone listens. as we go to break. plenty fore games in the home stand. the rockies and nats tomorrow, and milwaukee for a weekend series beginning friday night. 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.

grab your bag . it's on™west so our low fares stay low. ( ding ) book now at southwest.com.

 verizon rios, and the faste internate. 5-4 the final at nationals park. colorado wins another one run affair. they won last night by one. johnny holiday and ray knight.

one guy that's not happy that's the nationals niger morgan. >> definitely, it sucks, it's one of the things sometimes when your boys don't have it the bullpen picked them up like they are supposed to. we're supposed to pick them up offensively. we hit the balls hard right to the guys. you mow, part of the game, we have to come back tomorrow and get ready to face the next starter. >> the hits the stolen base, 2 runs score. >> doing anything trying to get on base. do what i can go to manufacture runs. >> do you think when josh hit the home run here we go again another comeback win. >> i was fired up there. you know i thought we were going to come back and put pressure on street. but he closed it down this

time. we have to be ready to go tomorrow. >> what cow know about the pitcher tomorrow. i know a lot about him. saw him in spring training. saw him a couple times this year. he's a good pitcher and if we stay with our same approach we'll get him. >> what's the best approach. stay up the middle. hit the ball the other way. >> they have the lead in the wild card. you will play contending teams this is good for you. >> most definitely. we're going to be spoilers. that's our moto. to finish up the season and be the spoiler and play solid baseball for 27 outs. >> morgan with this ballclub, 2 for 3, a triple, single, 2 runs scored. that's about a 368 clip. can't play better. this is one of the best acquisition that a general

manager made. burnett struggling but morgan has added a spark. speed, on base agility and the personal. >> gary mock tomorrow will try to stop the slide. he will pitch against jason hammill. >> two good outing only given up 2 runs total in 12 innings facing hammill, a guy that's inconsistent. .475. unearned average. >> and we'll start our coverage tomorrow night at 6:30. we'll be already on nats xtra game. on pregame. good night. xxúú struggled in

even numbered decades, while odd numbered decades have been good for them. they've been 17 of a possible 20 playoffs and won five super bowls in odd decades. >> the biggest problem i see with the dallas cowboys is going

to be at the wide receiver position. watch what you ask for. yeah, you got rid of terrell owens and his drama, but you got rid of some touchdowns and production, and how are you going to replace that? roy williams stumbled out the blocks and didn't make much of an impact on this team. patrick crayton i think is better suited as a number three position, and you have a strong running game, but the balance you need on offense is just not there. whether roy williams step up and become the next terrell owens for this team? i don't see that happening. they're going to struggle, and they're going to miss t.o. >> right now on espn.com check out the three biggest keys to the dallas cowboys to have a successful season. that's three and out right now on espn.com. here's matthew berry with a fantasy sleeper for dallas. >> i know, it seems weird to call tony romo a sleeper, but considering g he's currently th

seventh quarterback being taken on espn.com drafts, he's going much lower than he should be. last year he finished 12th among quarterbacks in fantasy scoring, despite missing three games. it's the average 15 fantasy points per game, just three fewer than drew brees. he was fourth in the nfl for passing. i know, he lost t.o., but that's a good thing, no more drama, no more questioning who's the leader? remember, owens was fourth in the nfl in dropped passes last year. he still has a healthy roy williams and a great run game to take the pressure off and a throw first offense. i know, jessica simpson doesn't anymore, but i love tony romo this year. >> our blitz preseason countdown continues tomorrow with a look at the washington redskins, the 8-8 record fell short of the playoffs last season, and washington's 23-0 preseason loss to the ravens means there's still a lot more work to do. catch the blitz special on

thursday, september 10, starting at 10:00 a.m., eight hours of coverage, all 32 teams, a different division each hour, leading up to the nfl regular season opener that night with the stealers and titans. >> according to the new york daily news the jets could be interested in brandon marshall. meanwhile marshall has a beef with how the broncos have handled things after he was acquitted of misdemeanor charges last week. >> from day one i never asked the broncos for more money, and that's from the summertime. it was really disappointing and that some of my teammates on one of the best days for the past three years of my life, one of my teammates was quoted as saying don't say that you're happy for brandon, so that was the thing. i felt like we need to sit down with the guys upstairs and try to figure out what's really going on. >> terrell owens will not be in action for the bills on saturday

against the packers, the wide receiver is still recovering from a sprained toe suffered in the preseason opener against the titans. he is not expected to resume practicing until next week sometime. >> and here is your poll. the pulse of the espn sports nation. which nfl player will be the biggest distraction to his team this season? 35% saying that brett favre will be, terrell owens, second place, 21%, and then brandon marshall, and michael vick with 17%, each now of course favre wasn't even on this poll, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out, if t.o. will be a distraction. three-time champ jimmie johnson may have run out of gas at michigan last weekend, but managed to have enough fuel to park his number 48 chevy at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. johnson, one of nine drivers to be honored at the white house. >> it is not every day that we

have a championship stock car parked out in the south lawn. fortunately we got jimmie to agree not to do any burnouts or tear up my backyard. i also suggested, jimmie, that in exchange for free parking, he should let me take the 48 out for a few laps. he said that was fine, but secret service didn't think it was fine. but that's okay. because i'm just glad jimmie could be here so we can honor him for winning his third consecutive sprint cup championship. >> roy halladay could not get it done. find out who did d

>> an update right now on "espnews," good news for the rangers, yvonne rodriguez got his first hit with the rangers since september 29, 2002, but they're losing 5-4 in this one on a night in which boston and tampa bay won. remember, right now after boston's win they're a half game back in the wild card race in the american league. >> we told you about some outstanding pitchers on the bump tonight. some of them shining. cliff lee, another complete game, gave up two hits and 11 ks against the d'backs, dan haren struggled against the offense, roy halladay struggled against the red sox, and zack greinke

still can't find a groove after his fantastic start, justin verlander also lost, so some aces out there on the mound, but finding trouble tonight against several offenses. of course we'll have much more highlights and reaction coming up. top stories ahead, brett favre missed two a days, find out how he's winning over his two viking teammates. will and j.w. stewart take over will and j.w. stewart take over ooooohhhh. i'm not beth. aaaaaahhh. ooooohhhh. (announcer) calling all captains. drink responsibly. ( music, words in reverse )

what could you win? i won! live nation vip concert access with scrabble at subway! play the game millions have won. everything from prius cars... to $100,000 jackpots, trips and vip concert access. play scrabble at subway... where winners eat. ♪