sirius satellite radio channel 121 at 9:30.dio if you missed part of the show, catch us on esé  >> well, after a rain dela last night here at nationals park, the nationals fought and claw and scratched their way back against the milwaukee brewers. belliard went deep, a grand slam in the 4th inning but milwaukee wins it 11-9. today the nationals try to win the game on masn.   well, perfect weather conditions for baseball in  nation's capital. johnny holiday along with the silver fox ray knight. great to have you with us, brought to you by verizon wireless and this is nationals

nats extra pregame. 7-3 before so they have taken the first two games. the business, ray, win today and win tomorrow, split the series and head to chicago. >> ray: yeah, first thing we have to do is get a good pitch game, johnny and have craig to go seven innings, six minimally and take pressure off the bullpen. we are scoring runs and we will score run off the milwaukee staff. i believe manny parra going today, has given up almost seven runs game his last five starts. the offense has been able to put some runs up but 20 run in two space the bullpen go 11 innings, that's not something that will bode out well in the end. >> johnny: uncharacteristic to see john lannan struggle like he did last night. it was rough, trying to keep the ball club close and i doubt if we will see a performance like that from him again this year. >> ray: oh, i don't think we will, johnny.

he is a good witcher and one of the best pitchers in the league. the thing that i like about john is his tenacity. he has been able to pitch throughout the last two seasons with duress or pressure on him. a lot of times having runners on first and second and pitching out of trouble because he has an uncanny ability to make pitches of. last night he had balls down. i reviewed the tapes and thought everything was up but after reviewing everything, the ball was down but wasn't moving out of the strike zone where he she effective and lost a little late movement on his pitches. you see only 43 pitches last night. of those, 17 were balls. that's not his ratio. he did decent with first-pitch strikes and a lot of fastball but he just didn't have his late movement and hasn't had his last three outings. >> johnny: john lannan knew he was struggling last night and so did his pitching coach. >> he knew i was struggling a little bit but i just said try

to keep as close as you can, you know, and what is what i try to do. i try to keep the game close and you have to tip your hats to the guys who came out and good goth me with the hook again. the bullpen did unbelievable and, i mean, you can't put that much pressure on a team like that. like i said, as a starting pitcher as a whole, we have to clean it up and it's unacceptable for myself if i don't go six or even. >> johnny: not a good situation, ray, when you're down 7-0 in the bottom of the 2nd inning. >> ray: that's like three touchdowns after the first three minutes of the game, john. we have the ability to come back but you have to look at the larger picture. there are a lot of guys on the staff -- lannan is not one of them -- who have pitched and are probably a year premature and early. they're having to pitch in the big leagues early and they don't miss mistakes. a great hitting ball club.

lannan, just a little bit off and everybody hit something hard. they don't miss them here. we have debt wilier and smarties. detwiler is throwing well but when he pitched well, he was successful. overexposure and didn't know where to go and didn't know successful pitches. they will get to you. they will become better and better because they do have the ability to pitch up here but it's very difficult to make that second adjustment once you have been around the league one time and get people out. >> johnny: the guys from the bullpen last night, the most effective and maybe his best effort of the year was saul rivera. >> reporter: did some research on saul today. and, you know, he let led our club in relief appearances the last two years, led over two years with 177 innings out of the bullpen. the opposition only hit 250 off of him over the last three years.

he has been a guy that i didn't realize he spent nine year in the minor leagues, johnny and finally got a chance at the big leagues and has done a great job here. struggled a little bit early this year but look what he has done. he was a mainstay in the bullpen. only second to john roush and this whole organization so we forgotten a little bit -- or i had -- how important he has been in this organization's history and now he's back on top throwing the ball the way he did the previous three years. >> johnny: the numbers you saw there, one of the most impressive batting average against, only .189 and saul was ask about his performance last night. he was as surprised as anybody to get the call that early in the game. >> [ indistinct ] this is baseball. it happens. >> >> you got the chance to come back recently and able to contribute the way you have -- how does that make you feel? >> it made me feel good.

you know, i'm glad i'm here again, and it felt good helping the team out so i feel pretty good about it. >> debbi: what is work best for you right now? >> well, it's hitting the strike zone, you know, getting ahead. walk. the team helping me out. >> johnny: same kind of under shirt you were wearing the other day befits him a little better. [ laughter ] it's early on sunday. >> ray: no holes. >> johnny: the hold of the day brought to you by just for men hair color. when you talk about saul rivera, he is the all- time hold leader for this national franchise. 230 games. his record is 12-15. e.r.a. of 3.88. 45 hold and four saves for saul rivera and just as mr. rivera keeps the nationals in the game, you, too, can stay in the game with just for men hair color on this glorious sunday in washington.

we'll take a break and ray and i will run through the starting lineups for you. milwaukee has won the first two of the series. nats look to get game one victory today. 

 >> johnny:  welcome back to nats x that pregame. lopez, the second baseman, in this series 6 for 11. he went 4 for 6 last night, batting .361 as brewer and over the last 16 games, lopez hit at a .420 flip. here's the milwaukee starting lineup. lopez will be at second. counsell at third. fielder back in the cleanup spot and then cameron in center field. rivera handling catching duties today and manny parra on the mound today and shortstop, parra ahead of the shortstop. how about that? >> ray: he had a little tony larussa trick, try to get a

leadoff in the nine holic and neat more offense, especially with felipe swinging so well. >> johnny: let's look at the nationals start-up today. belliard, 3 for 4 last night, his third career grand slam over his last 17 games. belliard hitting .391, hit three home runs, driven in 11 run in the series so far against milwaukee. 4 for 7. leading off, morgan at center field. batting second, guzman. back in the lineup tonight, zimmerman at third. dunn in the cleanup spot and then willingham, belliard, bard doing the catching. morse starting and you see stammen, career grand slam number three. let's send you down to debbie taylor on this glorious sunday on this pregame show and she has a very, very special guest with her today. >> debbi: that's right, johnny. one of my favorite people here

in washington, d.c., has been connect with baseball for 50 year in washington. i have to ask you, as a baseball historian and expert, the signing of stephen strasburg -- how exciting has that been? >> wow. only ted williams and frank howard generated so much public excitement. you're talking about ted lerner, not spending $15 million on this young man but investing because -- every phanos he is going to deliver and will against dividend. that's what we're looking for. there are three ways to attract spectators -- win. not everybody can win. number two, have a superstar and hopefully we have that now. and the giveaways. you know, the moms and dads have to come because the kids are bugging the heck out of them. i want that!

so it looks like the future with strasburg could be -- he is the superstar. he is going to mean winning and winning plus all these give away. it will be a whole new ball game. >> debbi: what's it like for you to come to the ballpark and just feeled renewed enthusiasm in the team? >> there's so much more excitement and enthusiasm now. before, it was kind of a norm. well, we're doing the best we can and we win a few and lose a few. but this is like getting a shot in the arm. this is somebody who -- the experts are saying that this stephen is like the best prospect ever. and now everybody is all excited about it and i think when he does appear, he is going to be attract 10,000, 20,000 more spectators every time he pitches here. >> debbi: that sounds

unbelievable. now, i have to go back into your history a little bit. you have met a lot of president here's in washington d.c. presidentizen hour was your first at a baseball game and that led to you announcing the inaugural parade. you announced president obama. i have to ask you, what it is going to take to get president obama, not only to come here and throw the first pitch but to bring his beautiful daughters and wife to the ballpark? >> absolutely. i'm disappointed he has not been here because he loves sport. he loves baseball! and i think that he will next year be throwing out the first ball. >> debbi: oh, that's exciting, charlie. thank you so much for visiting with us. let's go back over to johnny and ray with more on charlie. gentlemen? >> johnny: his resume would take a half hour and would fill the entire show. here are some things share lee has done. he went to mckinley high school and graduated in 1946.

he was an eh an announcer for the inaugural parade since 1956 and a shark on the golf course. he will take your money out of your pocket in a second, believe me. time for the hot corner from the washington times and just around the corner, the month of september, ben. guys are biding their time in syracuse, about to be called up. >> yeah. i think we heard a lot about the possibility of bring up a few starting pitchers once they hit their innings a little bit. we have seen smarties and detwiler -- not necessarily in that order. i expect detwiler will be the first to come up. there was talk about revamping the starting ration because they would hit innings. they're not in as much danger since zipman is out. he would have been shut down some time in september so the main modifications you would see in the rotation would be

debt whiler and maybe martis. >> ray: drew shorn have an opportunity to be called up? >> i don't think so. the plan is to keep him in a a to take him to the as fall league. the arizona fall league. i wouldn't completely rule it out but i think the plan is to keep him there so they can take him to the fall league without too many problems and kind of let him develop and i wouldn't be surprised to see him make the team as a starter next year but i really don't see it happening for a cameo appearance this year. >> johnny: while we have you here, everybody gathered around the strasburg press conference. we want your thoughts on your brief meeting with the young guy. >> well, he's impressive. i mean, he carries himself well. he has been expose to a lot of attention and pressure for a few months now and sports illustrated has written about him. he has been all over national news and he seems to be fairly

used to that at this point and kind of knows how to carry himself and knows how to deal with that and block that out. the other thing is he is extremely competitive. he was talking to mike rizzo about not throwing the first pitch out. the next pitch i throw here will be on the mound and 100 miles per hour. they love that about him. he is a gamer and wants to go out and win. he wants to be out there now. i don't think the whole -- going down to florida and throwing bullpens and simulated game will be fun for real long because he is itching to be going and i think he will be up here pretty soon >> johnny: thank you, ben. we'll talk about the starting pitchers when we return and craig stem man will start for the nationals, trying to stop the five-game slide for washington. stay with us. we'll be back in just a moment. coach edwards! the coors light silver ticket promotion is back.

how do you play? you play to win. right, so you start with some cold coors light, - you play to win the game. - then you? yes, yes, agreed. ( chuckles ) we were just wondering, do you go online? do you enter a code? hello! you play to win the game! look for the official entry code inside special packs of coors light... for your chance to win nfl tickets. do you ever play to lose the game? get out! you get out! ( laughs )  >> the innings he has been best is where he has been pretty aggressive and sometimes that sound like you're throwing a lot of fastballs but

you can be aggressive with your off speed stuff and he has done that. he has gotten that over. he and john lannan both need to get a lot of groundballs and against this ball club that has power, you want your ball and john didn't have that going last night. hopefully stammen will have that today where he can sink it up there and get some ground balls. >> johnny: craig stammen will start for washington. the last time he facinged milwaukee, no decision. so a good day. you mentioned last night, ray, you would like to see him go six or seven innings to take the pressure off the bullpen? >> ray: well, there just comes a time when you have to do that. they talked about it last night. they don't want to necessarily have to do it to a young pitcher but stammen has some experience. 25 years old. i would earmark him for 90 to 105 pitchers. whatever the score, let him go out there and take some pressure off the bullpen. somebody will have to do it. we cannot continue to have our starting pitchers throw 41 or

43 pitchers and be gone. i mean, that's an arm that you've got 55 pitches left and you don't want to get them beat up but when you have the bullpen and this type of situation, somebody has to take it. this kid can pitch. his last two outings, only two runs. he doesn't walk anybody and keeps ball down. i'm a little concerned about his matchup with fielder because he is a low fastball hitter and will throw a lot of low fastballs but other than that, i think he will hand it will guys with the breaking ball and the changeup. i know he is tough enough because he had outings where he gave up four run in the first inning, five in the second in a different game and shut down people for the next four innings so he can recover from adversity and this ball club is very adverse right now pitching- wise. starting pitching-wise. he is not that much different from lannan and his tenacity and his ability to reach deep and come up with big games when he has to. >> johnny: his opponent for

the brewers is a guy who will make his 22nd start and second against this ball club. manny parra. >> ray: there's a question going around in milwaukee. what about to parra? the last two years, he has been a consistent winner. nobody wants to face this man. he has four different pitches and he is at 8-9 with a 6.33 earned run average, johnny, but in his last seven games he gave up at least four runs, only six innings with a 7 earned run average so he has been pounded. and maybe we can add to that. >> johnny: what i like -- you made a comment a minute ago, ray, about these guys have got to start going longer. the season is almost over. there's no more -- let's get three or four innings out of a guy. >> ray: you're managing to win. if you're developing young talent -- which we are -- but jim is winning, trying to win not only for the city of washington but for wriggleman. his status hasn't been decided

yet. so every gape he is managing, he is managing to win so you can't afford to go long with these guys to give up six or seven runs, you know, because you're trying to cover your backside he is managing extremely well and i hope he does get that job as manager because he turned ballclub around attitude-wise. >> johnny: let's throw prince fielder break balls today. no fastballs. >> ray: that's fine, as long as you what bury them around the shoetop. [ laughter ] >> johnny: jorge padilla will chat with us in a moment. he was called up from syracuse three weeks ago this wednesday. there he is signing autograph for young fans. we'll visit with him and talk about his rise and his trips to the minor leagues. he certainly paid his dues and used as pinch hitter and got a start last night. interesting young man. i think you will enjoy our chat with padilla when we return as nats xtra pregame continue in a moment. 

 >> johnny: hi, everybody,

johnny holliday with ray knight. we're back with nats extra pregame against the milwaukee brewers. milwaukee won the first two ball games and the nats try to even up the series by taking the day game today and tomorrow. jorge padilla is with us. an interesting story about you -- you went to melbourne air academy. the florida air academy in melbourne and you never knew much english until high school? >> yes. i just took a little bit up there in puerto rico and, you know, just basic stuff. i never had any, any english at all. >> johnny: wow. and you do pretty well. >> i do pri well. i can handle myself. >> johnny: i know you can. an all- boys school? >> it was. we had -- we couldn't go out. probably the weekend, not much. and it was all studying all week. >> johnny: after you got out of there, all of a sudden you

could focus on some of the ladies, maybe? >> [ laughing ] i was trying to focus and trying to get, you know, good grade and sign professionally. >> johnny: you signed 12 years ago. you came to a professional baseball 12 years ago. take us through through some of the exotic cities you play in before you got up here to this ball club. >> oh, man. i start in virginia. all the way to scranton, aaa. i have been -- oh, my goodness. i have been almost everywhere in the minor leagues. it's really exciting to be here. >> johnny: .367 batting average, led the international league when they called you a couple of weeks ago. you have your first base hit three weeks ago. you have been with the ball club less than a month. you can play at this number. >> yeah, pretty much. i'm doing -- i was doing real good up there and i knew i can play in this level.

and right now, it just a matter of fact -- my timing is not quite there yet but it's kind of stuff. it have been pinch hitting almost two weeks and try to get my timing back and that will be on. >> johnny: the more you play, the quicker the timing. you played last night. the quicker the time willing come. >> that's right. i mean, i'm just trying to get that timing and that will be on, like i said. >> johnny: which is better, jorge? it is better to be at syracuse playing every day or being be here waiting? >> i will be up here waiting because i don't think i have nothing to prove out there anymore. >> johnny: great to have you with us. we hope you have a great, long run and don't go anywhere except stay in washington d.c. >> i will. thank you. >> johnny: you bet. jorge padilla. when we come back, bob carpenter and rob dibble will have the first pitch. third game of the series

against the milwaukee. the final game is tomorrow afternoon here at nationals park. bob and rob are just around the corner. it's on. it's... no, not yet. it back that way. it's on. ( ding ) book now at southwest.com. is if you run into a friend and you want to share a photohone, 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.

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 >> it started with lots of last night in nats town. it lasted one hour and 21 minutes. then downpour. 20 runs on 26 hits. a 3rd inning belliard grand slam. the bullpen was called upon early again and saul rivera hind on the mound and with the bat. in the end, the brewers' storm couldn't be calm. see if the forecast changes for the nats in today's sunday matinee on masn. 

 >> the forecast has ch a day for shades and a day game after night game. a quick turnaround for the guys. dunn and the nats and all their young fans hope this ball club can break a five-game losing streak on this homestand. bob carpenter and rob dibble. welcome. the brew verse won 4 out of 6 this year. belliard use to play for milwaukee and looks familiar and has been hitting well. ronnie is on a hot streak because he is getting at-bats. >> rob: absolutely and he put himself in the lineup.

he is one of the guy, a career .275 hitter, close to his career average. hit a huge grand slam to get the national in the game but he has been on fire since the trade of anderson hernandez. it opened up for more playing time for ronnie. he is making reps and people pay for it. it's fun to see. when guys other than zip and willingham stroke the ball like that, it opens up for the offense. just really the defense and the pitching needs to pick it up a little bit. the last 14 games, .375, but more importantly when he is swinging a hot bat, it's another weapon on the bench if he's not in starting lineup. >> bob: belliard will give you steady defense. craig steammen has faced brewers one time. he is trying to get the e.r.a. down, his 18th career start and maybe craig is the guy who will findly put the damper on -- finally put the damper on these milwaukee bats. @x@0@p@0@6p)@)@

 >> bob:  nationals baseball masn brought to you by -- evidently we have gotten just a little bit of a break from the humidity that has been suffocating this ballpark all week long. it's a beautiful sunday afternoon as johnny holliday is set for baseball. craig stammen taking his warmup tosses and the brewers try to make it three in a row. here's their lineup. fourth in the league in runs, third behind the rockies and phillie in homers and lopez is wearing out his exteammates. four rbis, six hits, scored a couple of runs. the nats continue to pitch him out over the plate and he is making them pay for it. here's craig stammen, one start

against milwaukee. at miller park. he only only went 4 2/3 and gave up four runs on nine hits. >> rob: it's time to take a bite out of the brewers. still grounded, 160 ground balls versus 93 flyball outs so far this year. a bear market. stammen really needs to bear down that third time, .344, the third time through the batting orderer and in 12 of 17 starts, one walk or less, bob. >> bob: lopez leads off and he takes a fastball that just miss outside. partly cloudy. 86 degrees on south capitol street. that's a changeup. 2-0.

the nationals have given up four runs on five hits. wriggleman and mccatty want to see the pitcher to an efficient start. lopez will hit in it the air to left. willingham got a late break and that ball is caught over the shoulder i have never seen josh make a catch like that before. he didn't get a quick start but it was a wonderful finish. how about that? >> rob: well, it is football season and this is caught like a wide receiver going down field. it guess over his head. the ball carries very well during the day. the hammer from alabama goes back, back, and makes the grab. that is an absolute feel play. you don't know when it's coming. you're just hoping you get in it your glove. a nice play. >> bob: when you spite looking over the top, it's not in your lineup sight for that long before it's falling into your glove. >> rob: besides, that ball is

running fast. >> bob: counsell start start the game last night. he didn't start the game last night. stammen, 2-0 to another hitter. >> rob: at least we have lopez out. that's a start. >> bob: yes. craig stammen, 18th start, looking for his fourth major league win. gets that one in there. 2-1. home plate umpire had a controversial night at first base last evening. and chuck meriweather has the plate today, 18-year veteran. in the air right field line. it's not hooking a whole lot. but just steered that way so that mike morse could reach it. he is getting his first nationals start tonight. joining meriweather, move lindy and mike reilly at third base. 

 counsell hitting at .28 and the brewers, they're eyeing the .500 mark if they win today and tomorrow. but they're still 9.5 back of st. louis in the central. they won their ball game at san diego last night. the wild card race -- milwaukee still 8.5 back. out of play, left side. >> rob: hopefully today, bob, we can take the umpires out of the equation and do everything right so we don't have to worry about close calls and keep riggleman in the game. >> bob: jim said, i thought my chances were pretty good. i had been out there three times. and on a ball hit to center, morgan barely has to move. two outs. nationals defense a bit of a different look today as mike morse gets the start at right field and we look forward to seeing him hack three or four times. ronnie belliard deserves another start after his four rbis last night and i ask

evidence jim riggleman about josh bard. he doesn't start against many left-handed pitchers. he only had 29 right-handed a.b.ds this year. riggleman has a lot of faith in josh's ability to hit the ball right-handed. braun, three hit in the series, a couple of rbis. he jacks that one foul. >> rob: man, these guys don't get cheated, do they? >> bob: it sounded like he broke it. >> rob: it did. perez gave up six runs in 2/3 inning. here's the swing off the bat. jammed a little bit, sounded like he broke it. >> bob: werth and ruiz -- 1st inning homers for the phillies and a six on the board in new york. >> rob: you have to like that before you have to tote the rubber you're up 6-0 if you're pedro martinez. >> bob: the place is probably

going crazy as he takes the mound. and the 0-1 to braun. fastball up. braun, ninth in hitting and homers. 4th in rbis, third in hits. with zimmerman, second in runs. >> bob: zimmerman does charge it. gloves it beautifully and on target to adam dunn. a very difficult play that ryan zimmerman made look fairly easy.  ( shouting ) anybody want a beer?

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cold beer: that's our policy. frost-brewed coors light. the world's most refreshing beer. start your three-course meals with a shared appetizer. choose two entrees from over 15 chili's favorites, then share a decadent dessert. chili's --  >> bob:  it's a great day for baseball game. join us. it's the brewers and nats. game three of the four-game series. nationals up to third in the league in hitting at .266. sixth in and understand eighth in home runs. a lot of offense last night. third career grand slam. ronnie's 107th career home run. and he gets a spot in the number six hole behind willingham. and willingham is back in the lineup despite going 2 for 16 lately. he had the night off last night. so he will be well rested. guzman is back in the line up and is 4 for his last 30.

manny parra, a bit of a mystery to me. a talented, young 26-year-old left-hander. a former 26th round draft pick back in ú01 and the brewers know he is better than the numbers he is putting up right now. and two of them right down the middle to morgan, 3 forked in this series with a run and rbi. he is hitting .361 as a nat. and an 0-2 changeup, low. now against this left-hander, the brewers play him a little bit over to the left. so they know the lefty will try to get him out away, maybe, with a breaking pitch. that one is front door. stays up and in. but the center fielder, mike cameron, is on the left side of center field. he was over almost in front of

the geico sign last night with the right-hander pitching. they're going to have to hurry and escobar can't handle it. and morgan halfway to second base right now. you better get the ball back in. i would imagine give him a hit. >> rob: yeah. >> bob: on a backhand play he would probably beat it anyway. >> rob: this is a shot to escobar. you know how quickly nyjer is getting out of the box. that hit skin, it looks like -- yeah. right over the heel of the glove. >> bob: and the milwaukee catcher rivera doesn't play a whole lot this year. he has been in there for 28 games. so the nats could be turning up the running game here early trying to make something happen. >> rob: it's tough with a lefty looking at that base runner. and also the fact it's a day game after a night game and maybe he hasn't been working with kendall. a lot of strange statistics this year. a lot of walks -- 62 walks in

113 innings. so 145 hits and 114 innings pitched. >> bob: 4 for 17 on caught stealings is mike rivera. guzman on the right side today. .320 for the year. he is an unusual switch hitter because he has fewer at-bat from the right side but has a higher average. he has power from the right side, too. morgan started, then stopped, and the pitch is up. one ball, one strike. over the last eight games, guzman, only 4 for 30. let's watch the jump. >> rob: there you see the jump. >> bob: he never put his head down so he was look at home plate all the way.

and it's always nice when you have the pitcher off the stretch to his second hitter of the day. and he's distracted because of speed at first. not to mention all that hitting room on the right side. about 80 feet of it. that's the third throw over. [ crowd booing ] >> rob: morgan is trying to get out to this little cut with his left foot, especially against the left-hander. it will be a lot more difficult. good base stealers try to get to the edge of the cut before they take off. [ crowd booing ] >> rob: he is getting way too much of a lead. for a lefty, you're stearing at him so you know where morgan is trying to get to if he gets

left foot near the cut of the grass, you have to throw over. >> bob: if he throws over for a fifth time, feel free to boo in your living room because they're booing here. guzman hits double play ball. no, he never even caught the ball! [ cheers and applause ] >> rob: he knew nyjer was coming. >> bob: and escobar has had two balls in and out of his glove. this ball got in there and he never had control. it's two on and nobody out. >> rob: well, this is a sure- fire double play right here. parra sets him up nicely and you're going to see, he is look right at morgan coming and never looking at the ball. never had control. so that's a rookie -- i'm not going to say a mistake but a rookie feeling the heat of a base runner barreling done on him. bearing down on him. >> bob: fielder's choice, e6

and a golden opportunity. here's zimmerman. >> rob: you have to take advantage of this. >> bob: this is one hitter, rob, who has liked facing this pitcher. five career hits by zimmerman against parra. and a couple of walks. a big-time rip and it's 0-2. >> rob: ken macha not liking what he is seeing so far from his rookie shortstop today. >> bob: escobar is batting ninth. they have the pitcher batting

eighth today. because of hi speed. because of his speed. not a bad 0-2 pitch under ryan's hand. zimmerman in this series 1 for 8, a home run off trevor hoffman friday night. two rbis, a couple of runs. and the big fella on deck. but zimmerman and dunn are 2 for 14 combined in this series. both home runs. morgan is running! and so is guzman! nyjer scores easily! guzman to third! and the nationals take the lead! now there's nobody there to cut off the throw! [ cheers and applause ] and zimmerman intelligently takes second base! after going up the middle for the ball, escobar never recover and was in no position to grab the throw in. the nats make some things and get a little help. >> rob: great job right here

of zimmerman putting that breaking ball in play. runners were moving. escobar out of position. right there, gets by him. he is trying to get the double play ball so one run scores. it's second and third with zimmerman alertly hustling to second base as that ball went all the way into the infield before prince fielder could get it so now bosio will come out and have a chat. but everybody went right for the nationals. >> bob: well, and the key is, look how far zimmerman is beyond first base because the first baseman is there to be a cutoff man and there's nobody guarding the bag. >> rob: we talk about that a lot with runners taking aggressive turn at first base. you never know what is going to happen and that means hustling down to first base. you saw nyjer morgan on his ball that went to escobar. he went halfway to second base where he almost threatened them to throw the ball to first base and tease them a little bit so it's all about making the defense make perfect plays.

>> bob: adam dunn, second third, nobody out. he goes up ripping. and by the way, no matter what happens in thinning, morgan's run will be unearned because he was supposed to be out on the front end of a would-be double play. the nats are taking advantage here. zimmerman has his 83rd rbi. he got his batting average over .300. and adam dunn is looking for rbis number 89 and maybe 90 here. breaking ball. did he go? mike reilly said no. >> rob: the teams to put pressure on the defense like the los angeles angels have scored almost 700 runs so far this year right there. it looks like he held up and didn't break the plane but bob, only 138 home runs as a team they're hitting .290. over .350 on-base percentage. one of the best at running. >> bob: dunn breaks his bat. that ball is caught.

guzman tags and comes down the line a little but it's caught by lopez for the first out. >> rob: the scouting report, pnc bank scouting report on manny parra. total recall -- 5-1 since he came back from the myron leagues. beware of zip man. now 6 for 9 off of parra and streaky star, a five-game winning streak and eight-game winning streak last year. twice this year. only two four-game losing streaks so once he is going good or bad, it's awhile before he turns the corner. >> bob: a big spot for willingham. 0 for 4 friday night, 2 for his last 16 on this homestand. second and third. one out. and willingham pops it up. that's not going to get it done. shortstop escobar still back pedaling. two outs.

willingham went up first pitch swing. this would be a horrible inning to waste with only one unearned run. it will be up to belliard to do something about that. >> rob: let's see if belliard can get a hanging curveball here. smoke it. >> bob: belliard played for the brewers from ú99 to ú02. and in a milwaukee you form, .295, .263 and .264. then he hit .211 in ú02 and they let him go. he went on to cleveland. st. louis. he has been in washington since ú07. nats signed him as a minor league free agent in february of ú07. right at the start of spring training and the 1-0 to ronnie.

that's a strike. well, pedro rooted rather rudely. the mets got two off him in new york. what will the score of that game going to be? >> rob: i don't know. that will be a fun one. >> bob: fastball inside. >> rob: we nobel yard loves the ball middle of the plate, in. anything on that side of the plate, he is hacking >> bob: pagan hit a home run in that game. to belliard. outside. he gets the call. >> rob: ooh. >> bob: that's the second generous outside corner or near that chuck meriweather has given him at this at bat. >> rob: come on, chucky, this ball is out. >> bob: 2-2. >> rob: it's where it crosses the plate. >> bob: he will sit up out there again.

and belliard knows he better be swinging. >> rob: now two strikes. you have to go in defensive mode or protection mode. ronnie has been great getting clutch hits to right field. >> bob: 2-2 to ronnie with two men aboard. belliard strokes one into right field. guzman home! zimmerman will score! and the nationals lead 3-0. [ cheers and applause ] belliard, six rbis in the last two games. that's a great at-bat, rob, because the umpyre set this whole thing up by calling everything out there a strike so belliard goes out there to get it. >> rob: it was a really nice breaking ball on the outer half

by parra but you know what? good hitters will hit and belliard is on fire. he is confident. and he takes that the other way, bob. if he tries to pull it, they're out of the inning because of a groundball. a great job of hitting by belliard. >> bob: now bard is batting right-handed. 8 for 29 this year and hits the ball pretty well to left center but it's grabbed by ryan braun. belliard may bring it a big inning. the nats get three runs, all of them unearned. but boy, do they count. 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.

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 >> debbi:  3-0 national in top of the 2nd inning. the starters struggled recently and is alarming to riggleman at times. >> i'm always concerned about them. you know, if you had a couple of cy youngs in there you would have concerned. you know, as a manager you kind of manage by what if, you know? or what if he is hurt or not sharp today? you have to live by murphy's law a little bit. but i'm concerned about them because i don't want them to get discouraged. >> debbi: jim also told me he and steve mccatty continue to encourage the young hitters. they try to pump each other up but in their last five starts, nats pitchers only tallied 20 innings for the starters. not good, bob. >> bob: and hopefully craig stammen will go