must or they al a ba and hamel coming up for the rockies. our friends call us the shack and here is our radio shack did you know. as we look at him month by month, and in august he is a lot hotter than he was in july, his e.r.a. is about 1/3 of what it was back there. >> and i don't think it has been very easy on garrett, come up as a starter, go back to the minors, be a reliever, come back up to the minor leagues, be a starter, come back here again. now he is start to go feel himself like he probably did when he was a starter. throwing off speed stuff, changing speeds, pounding the strike zone. took him maybe six strikes to get there and now he is there looks pretty good tonight. >> clint var mass, 3 for 9, three home runs. it's interesting when we profile sean burnett, he went the other way. sean from starter to reliever and garrett mock leaving the pen to become at least for now

a fairly solid major league starter.   . >> rob: well, and as it has been for a long part of baseball's history a lot of starters come up from high school, college and have to cut their teeth out of the bullpen, work themselves into the rotation.   . >> bob: high in the air, le center. nyjer morgan is under it.   or is it tony flesh? one out. >> rob: somebody is going to glove that ball when it comes down, but the bottom line is it is a little bit different, the talent pool may be a little bit thin error more shallow than it used to be, they come up, they are going to be relievers or starters, only guys like jab a chamberlain and phil hughes who came up as a targetter now in the bullpen for the yankees. you have the kid felix down in texas. he is going to be a future starter. but right now they had some problems in their bullpen and he was brought up to kind of

shore up the bullpen. so it's not easy to be a young pitcher today. >> zoo you're be torry alba, a catcher. if i remember back to our one of our promotional spots, it was one of johnny holiday's favorite name.

we'll have to pull out the club and that also fee tours fukudome. he looked like he was right at home in the dallas room. torre alba, 6 for his last 15. >> a wong conversation with derek lowe of the braves today and he talked about pitching in boston was like pitching in the playoff game, every time he started in fenway, and he said that's what got him ready for the post-season appearances he has made. two hopper. eight in a row for garrett mock to target the game and he'll face the pitcher, jason hamell.   . >> rob: i can also tell you t once you get to the major leagues it's night and day versus the minor leagues, the adrenalin level, the horizon things that are goin' on, your head could be on a swivel or

you could concentrate and focus. that's one of the things you have to learn at every level. try to control your emotions and block out all the things that might grab your attention and take your focus away from your job.   . >> bob: hamel four for 33 t year, in his career five for 34. >> rob: normally probably when i was a player, the ladies' night theme might have gotten my attentions away from the baseball field but -- >> bob: you? >> rob: i'm kidding. >> bob: and a big breaking ball. good thing they didn't have bring your dog to the ball park night when rob dibble was pitching. nine in a row for garrett mock and a perfect first three innings.

you're visit tore y'all ba. torrealba. somebody's watching me. ♪

 time to bring you up to spe with the at&t rapped re-wind. as garrett mock took the mound tonight he was hoping he had a good bullpen session and he has been outstanding. got gonzalez to target the game. brad hawpe on a change-up. and then the other guy, jason hamell, six pitches, six strikes in the first inning. nine pitches, seven strikes in the second. at&t the nation's fastest network, your world delivered. >> rob: man, those two are delivering the goods so far tonight. >> bob: eh, guys, like the uniforms.   we're bringing up a whole n generation of baseball fans right here. 

 they are gonna have to ask their dads and the grand dads about the senators because they'll know all about the nats. here is josh bard. had a good night last night. josh was 2 for 4 with a base hit and a home run. >> rob: took huston street yard in the ninth inning, gave the fans and everyone else some hope. >> bob: in eight major league seasons josh bard has now hit 31 home runs.   he pulls that ball foul.    and last night he was lead being off the bottom of the ninth. unfortunately the nats were down by two.   that was a towering drive. >> rob: i thought they were going to give him a two-run home run, but they don't do that in this league. >> bob: not on distance. >> rob: a great way to start out the night last night. >> bob: reaches out and hits it

hard. that's seven straight for jason hamell.    bard aggressive.    here is alberto gonzalez whos bat has suddenly come alive, he was 1 for 2 after coming in for defense last night. and alberto is now 8 for 25 over his last eight games. so he is showing signs of life after that prolonged slump.   1-1. phillies have three earl runs at home against the diamondbacks tonight. and arizona just scored in the top of the second.

  doug davis and joe blanton that game. gonzalezez up the middle. a high chopper, tulowitzki had to lay back, and two quick outs. now, rob, i want to clear up something from tonight. javier and dan from our clubhouse set me straight. saul rivera does indeed have his own batting helmet. he was not using one from willy harris. and it has a flap on each side because i had forgotten that saul is a switch-hitting pitcher. >> rob: that's way too much information. first of all who cares if he has his own batting helmet and who cares if he has s a switch hitter. was he 0-6. >> bob: he is a 000 career hitter. but the clubhouse guys wanted me to know that they take care of guys who don't even get the best. >> rob: come on javey. i've known handoffy for a long time. >> bob: what a year. >> rob: no back with the

marlins. i've known him for a long time. >> bob: garrett mock probably has his own bats and he is gonna need another one for next time. 9 in a row for mock. 9 in a row for hamell. who needs batting helmets right now.

@p @>pk@c@" ep6l.xopnpq.cp+pgú  . >> bob: not many hitters have bounce in their step tonight the way these guys are pitching. we're going right to the middle innings. no score. but we will talk about carlos gonzales, an emerging star, do the rockies have one in the

outfield here? he went deep against craig stay man in the eighth inning. that was a big run on tuesday night, and then in the eighth inning last night jorge sosa. so if he comes up in the eighth inning let's pitch around this guy. >> rob: well a guy that was evaluated and drafted back with the diamondbacks when mike rizzo worked with the diamondbacks he drafted gonzalez, he went to oakland and was traded from oakland over to the rockies. everyone i've talked to has said, i don't want to use the term five-tool player, we have seen this kid, he can bat, he can throw, throw the ball with authority, he needs to get the at-bats needed to see if he is going to be an everyday player for the rockies not only this year but in the future. >> bob: diamondbacks signed him at the age of 16 in venezuela and he went to oakland in the dan her ron deal.

out to short. guzman. cristian knew he had a fast runner. he was already in throwing position by the time he was very fluid in picking up that ground ball. then of course gonzalez moved on to colorado in the mega deal involving huston street and matt holliday. so he was the sleeper in a couple of those deals and he may turn out to be quite a star. here is ryan spilborghs who bounced out to ryan zimmerman first time out. >> rob: 6 degrees of mark molder. her ron traded for molder back when he was with the cardinals. they would still have him but they thought molder was more developed and could help them win. traded him out to, obviously, the oakland athletics. >> bob: and he has been with oakland and new all about molder. and that will be the first base runner of the game for either team. garretttt mock will retire 10 in a row before spilborghs lines a clean single to left.

  . >> rob: mock had been perfect up to here. throws a fastball not down enough and gets a nice top spin for base hit.   . >> bob: yeah, that's what t call getting over the top of one. hit it extremely hard and here is todd hilton.   . >> rob: go right back, ma another run. >> bob: rob, is it kind of odd when you've pitched three innings and now you're on the stretch for the first time. >> rob: rob it will be awkward for the first two or three pitches. but one thing we did, your odd numbers, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, you would workout of the stretch in your warm up pitches. >> bob: oh. >> rob: to get you used to pitching from the stretch. i always liked it. i came out of the bullpen sometimes in the seventh and

later on in my career for a little bit in the ninth, but it's always nice to do both, to practice both and get into a habit and i'm sure, you know, you warm up in the bullpen before the game, you do so from the stretch.   . >> bob: spilborghs, 9 stolen bases.   . >> rob: by the way, i had m rizzo on my radio show today after it was aannounced he was senior vice president in charge of development. drew storen got his fourth save now since being moved up a level and will probably see some action in the arizona fall league. and basically mike said that that's always a stepping stone or usually a stepping stone to either being put on the major

league roster or getting an invite to camp so -- >> bob: nice. be. >> rob: -- we talked about getting in a uniform, playing pro baseball and starting to develop and climb levels. it's sad that a guy like aaron crow, he compared storen to crow this year, you don't sign you can't make it to the big leagues. >> bob: easy out for morgan off the bat of todd hilton. tulowitzki coming up with two outs. all this excitement in mind you can secure season tickets. deposits are being taken. 202675-nats. you can enjoy guaranteed seating, savings on your season tickets. much cheaper than single game prices. discounts on merchandise, access to exclusive events and a lot more. place your deposit now, become a citizen of nats town. exclusive events like this saturday when we'll have picnic in the park on saturday afternoon prior to the nats

game against milwaukee. here is tulowitzki who fouled out to adam dunn last time and over this way but this one is way out of play. >> rob: general manager rizzo said seen stew strasburg, they would like to give him 35 to 50 innings combined before spring training either in the instructional league or the arizona fall league, if that's the way things go for stephen strasburg, who has not pitched competitively since may.   may 28th to be exact.    . >> bob: yeah, getting close three months without competition. 

 . >> bob: it's 1-1 to tulowitzk   man, he has been real close all three of these pitches. and the count is 2-1. >> rob: yeah, garrett is throwing a lot of strikes, around the strike zone, repeating the delivery. this is not a full-stretch wind up, a little stutter step, got to get the ball to the catcher in less than 1.2 seconds to give bard an opportunity to throw out the base runner. beautiful work by the xmo camera. target on the corner. there it is. and the count is 2-2. wellll that's that two-seam sinker you try to ride back across the plate.

north of grum monday, comes back across the strike. very hard to pull the trigger on that pitch. >> bob: the information systems powerhouse, northrop grumman with our pitch count tonight. two outs and a 2-2 pitch way outside. this is dangerous. tulowitzki is an extra base hit guy and spilborghs will have a head start. the man they call tulo, 20 doubles, eight triples, 20 home runs, brad hawpe is next. the nats would like to see him leading off in the top of the fifth. >> rob: i thought that was because his pants are too low. tulo. >> bob: change-up. two on, two out. >> rob: well, he is in the middle of the second trip through the lineup and, now, they have seen that change-up an awful lot. they recognize it early enough they are not going to swing. a couple guys out on the 3-2

change-up a bit earlier. there you see.   goes up and the third time it explodes. >> bob: wow. >> rob: that's not what you want to see. both starters so far against us from the rockies, third trip through, batting averages in the .230s. >> bob: here is brad hawpe who struck out first time. mock through him a 3-2 change- up. so hawpe sees something pretty hard. 89. not mock's hardest fastball. and he was pumping on the first one. >> rob: and hopefully as you're taking in stuff and learning all the different pitches, eric ha rang was a great pitcher when we faced the reds a few days ago, he was changing his speeds on the fastball. hats three or four different pitches forth you off of one pitch. 

 you had a guy like paul byrd who can come back and sign with the red sox, they don't over power you but they change speeds. might top out 88, 85 miles per hour, but he'll go 75, 82, 85, back down to 75, i mean, and that's just his fastball. that's what pitching is all about.   manipulating the strike zon and the velocity to get the best results. man on second, can't get together with his catcher, and they are gonna have a little conference.   . >> bob: braves have scored run in the top of the third at new york. kawakami and santana toronto. johan santana 13-8. braveses are one game back of the marlins and they trail the phillies by 5 1/2. marlins at houston shortly. theyey are throwing josh

johnson tonight. and the 0-2, mock goes right after hawpe, really jammed him. and garrett told me he loves weather like this because it reminds him of pitching when he was at the university of houston. you talk about a hot and muggy place this time of the year or even back in the spring during the college season, that's houston, texas. >> rob: goodness gracious. i didn't like walking from the hotel to the taxi in houston. you would be drenched it's so muggy and hot. >> bob: then you go in the astrodome. >> rob: but then you see the astrodome was almost 72 degrees and you would freeze. you would have to put a jacket on it was so cold in there, then go back outside and you need to take a shower.   .