>> . . "savage inequalities" and "death at an early age" the recipient of science bk award in science, philosophy and religion. >> host: it's now been 41 years

since that national book award. right? >> guest: that's right. >> host: 1968. >> guest: that's right, yes. intimidating to me- >> host: it was your first nonfiction bo? >> guest: it was my first serious book, that's right. >> host: what was it like to win the national book award for your very first try out on nonfiction? >> guest: well, it was very intimidating 'cause i was so young. >> host: how old were you? >> guest: i don't know. around 28 or 30, i guess. but i'll tell you, it was a blessing for me in one way. that my m and dad, i must say they just passed away both of em actually at the age of 102, but they were very nervous when i i'd gone to harvard and by

some mistake i won a rhode scholarship and i gave up my rhode becau i found oxford boring and i moved to paris and i made friends with richard wright, and william styron who mentored me and i came to the united states and instead of returning to the university to harvard, they expected i'd become an english professor. instead, i was swept up in the civil rights movement, and i went offo roxbury, which is the black community of boston, and i ultimately moved into the community and became a fourth grade teacher and so they were really scared as any parents would be, i think, not that i

was in the black community but just, my father especially but my mother was better, but my father at first kept saying, you're squandering your education, you know? rhode scholar teaching fourth grade in the inner city. and in a way when i wrote, "death at an ely age" which was that first year as a teacher, suddenly -- suddenly it redeemed me in my daddy's eyes and even when it was published, he wasn't sure whether he was going to forgive me because in a sense -- he'd gone to harvard, at the harvard med school and, you know, he felt i turned against everything he stood for and he was worried that i was going to ruin my life. so when "death at an early age"

won the national book award, i think it was the first time that daddy felt i was eoing to survive. that i was okay. >> host: but before "death at an early age," you had a novel that you didn't mentioned? >> guest: that was when i was an undergraduate. >> host: i have a copy of the, "the fume of poppies." >> guest: what's the tune they used to use, a piece of juvenile-alia. it's a horrible stupid little book. i wrote it in my senior year at harvard. i had a wonderfulmerican professor named archbald mcleash. >> host: isn't he also the library of congress.

>> guest: he was and undersecretary of state and lived much of his wlooifsh in paris bringing scott fitzgerald drunk at the end of long endgs and mcleash, he adopted me as an undergrad at harvard and i had him for two years. but in senior year he took me aside and he said, jonathan, this was like november. you know, you're not going to get an a because you haven't really produced much this year. because you're supposed to write a lot. so during christmas vacation i spt exactly 12 days, and i wrote this absurd little romantic novel and i got my a and i thought that was the end

of it but by accident it got published and i immediately put it out of print. >> host: you put it out of print? an author can do that? you pulled it out print. >> guest: i convinced my publisher that it was a silly book. nobody has the right to publish a bookhat they wrote in 12 days during christm vacation. >> hos i want to ask you -- so many of your books are about people. i thought we'd just kick off by asking you to just talk a little bit about a few of your people in your books. let's start out with pineapple. who is pineapple? >> guest: pineapple is this wonderful little girl whom i met in the south bronx. i've been working with south bronxids for about 25 years. i met herbout 15 years ago in

the middle 1990s, early 1990s when she was in kindergarten. and she was just arable. very smart. very bossy. a little plump. and i remember like even in kindergarten when i was trying to help her arithmetic and teachers trick me and say don't just standthere. do sothing. you're supposed to be a teacher. i was trying to help her and she looks at me and she says, you're standing on the wrong side of me. 'cause she wanted me just lean over her left elbow. so i moved, you know, and that pattern continued when s was in fourth grade she got s bossy with me that she got worried about my social life and started trying to fix me up with her

teacher. fifth grade she looked at this suit. see this suit i'm wearing. this is the same suit i used to wear every time i visited her and sheid not like the fact that it s always the same suit. and black. she fingered with her hand like your grandmother might do if you're wearing something that looks shabbycause it is kind of ratty. you can't see on tv but it is. and she said, jonathan, ithat your only suit? and i said, no, i have two. but they're both the same. so she looked very concerned -- i remember we were sitting face-to-face in little chairs and she folded her arms like she was the school's social counselor and she says, jonat n jonathan, do me a favor, just like my mom would say -- she

said, some day when you'r in a nice part of town, go into a good store and get a good yourself a good new suit. she was so commanding and i behaved h and i went to brooks brothers and i bought a new suit just to please her but to her dismay, it was the same black suit again. and then we had another counseling session and that's the end of this little story and she folds herrms again and she looks at me -- and i never forget this. she was pretty mature now. she was a fifth grader. she said, jonathan, i know you get depressed sometimes to see the way we have to live but you don't always need to dress in black. i loved her for telling me. here she was a little girl in a part of the south bronx where that book -- well, my last five

books have taken place. that book was "amazing grace." that's the poorest urban neighbhood in the united states. so there she is living in dire poverty in a grim, grim building, an awful building. the elevator never worked, you

jacqueline. pineapple was her nickname. she was rescued from the new york city public schools, at least from the very bad schools in the south bronx. by a very kind person who had read my book. and we brought her up t new england and she went to a good school in new england and last june the principal called me up and asked me if i would give the commencement address so i could hand her high school @iploma. which i did with joy and she's a freshman in a very good college andhe's studying to be a social worker so she can go back to the bronx to help other children.

>> host: who's francesa. >> guest: it's a made up name o a first grade teacher. she went to swathmore college and she majored in literature and anthropology and history, and was a very broadly educated -- but she also got certified as a teacher. she had good education courses. i met her -- she called me once as teachers do all the time. i lost my little ear piece. >> host: we'll fix it later. >> guest: teachers always do this. shealls and says would you visit my class sometime 'cause she was in her first years of first grade teacher in boston, in my hometown, and i said, sure, i'd love to.

and the teachers always do this to me. as soon as i walked into her first grade, she says to me, well, don't just stand there. help one of the children. s i started helping one of the kids, and i did wrong. i made a mistake. i wasn't following the lesson plan. and she scolded me. i love teacher like this. she's not only a beautifully trained teacher but she just had a jubilant love of life and a nice sense of humor and so when i made a mistake,he says to the class, she said mr. jonathan did not pay attention to the instructions he's not behaving like a big grown up first grader.

she said, what should we do to him? and the chilen voted that i needed a timeout. those little devils. and so they made me go sit in the reading area and holdhis big stuffed bear for a while. she was the kind of --here are thousands like her. she was the kind of beautifully prepared, wonderfully educated, sparkling idealistic young teachers who are flooding into our urban schools right now. they're very eager tteach in urban scols. a lot of them lik francesa are steeped in civil rights tradition so whether she happened to be white, jewish background, white, latino, they're very much on the side of the children and identify with the kids and she just flooded that classroom with all the beautiful children's classics,

wonderful books like -- my favorites like the very hungry caterpillar. >> host: i read that you liked it. >> guest: it's by eric carle. he also wrote "good night moon." maybe you remember that. but she also read them poetry, little bits that were accessible to children. >>ost: now, your letters to her were this book, right? >> guest: letters to a young teacher were to francesa. in the background it would always be beautiful music playing sometim it was african-american music, 5 brahms or schubert. and she had this joyful personality. the kids would line up for their hugs every morning. and the thing is, we'reetting

thousands of young people like her coming into the urban schools nowadays. the trouble we are losing a lot of them. a lot of them quick in three years and when i ask them why because i get hundreds of pho calls o emails every month from teaches like thishom i encouraged to go into these classrooms. i sayhy are you quitting? and they never blame the children 'cause they fall in love with the kids. they always say it's because of this obsessive, crazy testing mania that's been forced down our throa whi is the law no child left behind which is the worse single piece of educati legislation i've seen in my lifetime. but anyway teachers hate it because it stipulates every single moment of the school day

so that if somebody like francesa wants to come and read the children a marvelous poem that she read the night before or get off track a little bit and let one of the children tell her a wonderful story there's than sword above her head. don't do that. you're wasting time. at's not going to help to pump the test scores. you see? so, unfortunately -- i mean, she stuck it out for eight years but a lot of these teachers are quitting within three years and it's a terrible loss to the children because wn they do quit, if they say -- if the continue to teach, you know, where they end up? in the best suburban schools where they can -- where they know they're not going to lose their souls, you know? >> host: you lost an early job by bringing langston hughes -- and i guess i bringt up because you were talking about

francesa bringing up these things maybe she just read last night or something that she enjoyed. can she do that now and you weren'tllowedo bring langston hughes into the classroom that many years ago. >> guest: it's even worse now. these standards are so -- in the effort to -- in the effort to pump the test scores, which is the only goal of no child left behind,lmost everything that's not going to be on the test gets exiled from curriculum. so, you know, people would say to me, holding up francesa is a model is very dangerous because you can do that in the suburbs. that's fine. leave playfulness and whi and joy and brahms and woody guthrie and great black folk music --

leave happiness to the children of the burbs. these black kids don't need that. we need to have a regiment to pump those test scores 3 percentage points to satisfy the government. so that in a way it's worse now than it was then. it's parallel. in boston when i was a young teacher, there were standards, too. there was accountability, same thing. i was not a rebel at all. i wasn't political in the least when i started teaching. i was stirred by martin luther king and by the deaths of young civil rights workers in the south. that's why i became a teher. but basically i just wanted to teach children. and then my fourth grade

class -- this was a typical all-black class, alblack school just as we have today. and there was no -- there was no black material in the curriculum of any substance. except for a few tokens, you know? everybody the george washington carver because the kids called him the peanut man. he didn't do anything controversial. but there were no stories or anything about black kids. so one day just on a impulse, purelyn a impulse when i was in harvard square, i went into our local -- i always joke and call it our local communist bookstore, that's the harvard cook. remember joe mccarthy said harvard was crimson. that's a good name for them

because they're red. i picked up a brand-new book by langston hughes. partly because the kids hadn't seen a new book. kids used to say,verything is old and raggedy and i brought it in and even before i opened the book, i held it up. by the way, i had 35 kids in my class. in a nightmarish building very much like today. they had a string of subs before i was appointed. i was their twelfth teacher that year. and they'd been rather hostile to me at first because, you know, why should they trust me after they'd been abandoned 10 or 12 times already? but suddenly everybody was on the edgef their chair and i remember a little girl in the front row whispered to the girl in front of her, she said, look, that man's colored because

there's a picture of him on the front and i read a couple of poems to them and one girl in the back row, who had been most hostile to me, distant, sort of -- a beautiful face, chiseled, austere, a beautiful young woman smiled but cold. looked at me with that look in malcolm x's eyes with that famous look at him. never smiled. she suddenly got up and came around the whole room, came up and touched my shoulder very gently, stroked it kind of thankfully and she whispered, thank you. 'cause they'd never heard a poem by a black man before and she said could i bring that book -- could i bring tha book home and show it to my mom. i was so happy. i would have given her my car.

the next day she came in and she memorized one of the poems, the great famous poem ballad, which has those famous lines, what happens to dream deferred? does it -- does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? and the next day i was fired. i was fired for reading that and other poems of langston hughes. they had this list that just like today that said langston hughes was an eighth grade poet. and i'd read him in fourth grade so the formal charge against me, if i recall thisas on the front page of the "new york times" because people were astonished. the charge was curriculum deviation and the "boston globe," our local paper, of course, played with this.

and their headline was something like, rhode scholar fired from fourth grade. but it didn't hurt me, you know? i got fired for curriculum deviation and a couple months later the federal government hired me for curriculum development. white people can take these risks. my harvard degree was sort of like my american express gold card. does that make sense to you? but it did politicize me. then i did become politically angry. and the parents of my kids were very loyal. a lot of white teachers say to me, if i stick out my neck, do you think black parents will support me? and i said, of course, they'll support you if they think you're on their side.

they're not stupid. if they think you're fighting for your child, they're like all other parents. so they shut down the school the next day. and then the shut down the whole school system. they organized -- it sort of -- what's that word, mushomed? >> host: uh-huh. >> guest: and the black leaders in the city seized on this. they said, good lord, if the greatest black american poet is forbidden in the fourth grade, along with the fact that we have a totally segregated system, a viciously unequal system, we the to fight so they organized a massive protest on beacon hill, which is for those who don't know boston is sort of like capitol hill, you know? it's the center of government.

and i had to come out and march -- i was very nervous. i was frightened because i didn't want to -- i was shy. i was a very shy person. i used to tremb in public sometimes and i still do sometimes. and they made me get up and speak, you know? i still remembe the head of the nap who said to me, jonathan, you got to -- you got to find the nerve to do it. see, i liked watching history. i liked watching history narrated every evening for 30 minutes by walter cronkite, you know? i didn't want to enter history. i was afraid of that, but i had no choice. and that transformed my whole life. >> host: so bringing that to today, do you support teacher

taking that kind of action today and if they did, would you come out? or do you go out and defend them? >> guest: and defend them? >> host: yeah. >> guest: i absolutely do. i support teachers who take stands on principle. and teachers who are not afraid to speak their voices courageously when they say a real atrocity in front of them. >> host: and is that happening? >> guest: of course it's happening. it's not as obvious as the story i just told because nobody today would dare to ban langston hughes from the public schools. i might say by the way i got my reward not in heaven but on earth when langston hughes called me up. i was so happy. i felt honored by that.

the teachers today, the thousands that contact me at least, are mostly overwhelmed by the -- by the merciless -- i don't want to sound obsessive because we mentioned this before the merciless pressure being placed on th to do nothing but prep their kids for exams. i'm talking particularly about elementary school. teachers don't want to teach third grade because third grade is the year in which the tests really count the most. that's nclb, no child left behind. third grade is the year in which -- if the child fails the test, school systems are encouraged to hold the child

back, don't promote the child. teachers, i find, are outraged by the anxiety this is creating for children, by the -- let them explain. no good teachers that i know are opposed to testing. if you're testing somethinf valuable and useful, you're just testing subject matter. and if you're also including things that dot show up in numbers such as whether a child writes with charm, whether a child writes with humor, whether a child can write a story that can make you cry, but see, these tests don't measure anything like that. you don't get any credit under nclb for writing a beautiful story that brings tears to someone's eyes, story that could break their heart, a story that makes them smile. no, you get credit for topic

sentences? do you remember topic sentences? i've written 12 books and i've never used a topic sentence in my life. but they teach these useless things, and they require them to do these things probably because the people who write the standards aren't very bright and they learned this in school when they were kids. standards are not written -- these standards they are written by nclb. these are not written by brilliant poets or great philosophers. >> host: who writes them? >> guest: mediocre local officials. >> host: government. >> guest: they find university people, people who could never get tenure at first rate university. i hate to be nasty but they're mediocre. i read the standards. i'm a masochist. i actually read through the standards. so the thing is -- and the other thing that these teachers

protest and they do protest this is the following. very few of their kids in the early grad, they see this, it's obvious -- very few of their kids in these desperately poor inner city schools get preschool. now, there is a program called head start. you'll remember that. you're not as old as i. but i remember the year it began because i helped to start the first head start in boston. in about 1965, i believe, '66. it serves less than half a of the eligible children in america because it's funded so low. there's not enough money. >> host: all federal funding? >> guest: yes. but, unfortunately it's even worsen the inner city neighborhoods where the poverty rate is so intense.

typically, if anything into an inner city school -- this ishe only way to find out the truth abou preschool, by e way. i just -- i never rely on online statistics because states fudge the numbers in lots of different ways. for example, ia child is in daycare or grandma care, they'll count that as preschool, you see. but if you want to know how many children got real preschool, the only way to do it, i find, i go into an elementary school. go into kindergart, squeeze your bottom into one of those little teeny-weeny chairs and ask one of those teeny-weeny people what did you do last year? and the year before. and if a child is too shy, ask the teacher 'cause the teachers can always tell within a couple days. anagain, and again the teachers will take me by the arm and they'll say, jonathan, if you mean real pre-k, if you mean the real thing, the kind of

thing your harvard classmates would buy for their own children, those beautiful montessori schools and so forth -- if you mean the real thing, out of these 25 children in this room, maybe five or six. got the real thing for half a day for one year. and meanwhile, my affluent friends in new yor and out in beverly hills and brentwood -- 'cause i do still know rich people, you know, and, you know, i grew up in that world. i live in two worlds. you know, i kw what they do with their cldren because they tell me or their a grandchildren depending on their age. typically, their kids get three years starting when they're about 2 1/2 of rich, wonderful developmental preschool, not

drill and kill testing preparation but wonderful education where they -- where they -- i call it preliteracy, you might sit on a reading rug. do you know what a reading rug is? i'm sure all parents can remember that. remember, you could sit on a consonant blend and maybe it would come up through your little bottom. what do i call it, phonetic osmosis. but they learn social skills and everything. and the kids i know get almost nothing. and then suddenly a few years later, they're all in third grade and they all have to take the same nclb exams and guess which ones score above pricient and are immediately slotted as gifted and talented and are set on that roa that

inevitably leads to honors in high school and a.p. and onto the best colleges and guess which ones on the other hand are found to be developmentally delayed, developmentally delayed which is our polite term for retarded. and likely to be kept back from promotion. and by the way, every time you hold a child back from proiotion, it doubles the chance that she will never graduate from high school. hold her back twice reduces the chance by 90%. that was in the "new york times" so it must be true. >> host: let them jump in and invite our viewers to join with us and their phone calls. >> guest: i think it was the "new york times." >> host: jonathan kozol is our guest for "in depth" for this month. we'll spend two and a half hours with him. and taking your phone calls and emails and having a discussion

with him on his years of writing and his numerous books. here's how you can join us. east and central times: >> host: and we do also haven email address if you'd like to send a question in that way. it's book tv@c-span.org. you can also twitter us and you'll see that address at the bottom of the screen. so you came into writing your books really through the civil rights movement, as you said. >> guest: i did. >> host: now, i have a question for you that i have never seen you write about and maybe you have. after the -- in mississippi when the civil rights -- >> guest: when three young people were murdered. >> host: right. after that, you said once that you went to a religious person

and asked them what you should do. >> guest: yes. >> >> host: who was that and why did you go to that person? >> guest: well, ion't know why i chose a religious person but, you know, i'm not -- i'm not religious in the sense that my orthod jewish grandma would like to me to be but she got something into me deep spirituality, and my mom did too,n different ways. and i've always been drawn to people who are, if not religious, spiritual people.

and i guess that's one reason i did this. i got my little car in harvard square. i'd come back om paris by that time. and as i said, i was just on the verge of going back to grad school. at a harvard to appease my father's anxieties and because i actually would love to have spent my life as an english professor at a place like harvard. i would have -- at that age i would have loved to spend my whole life -- i know it's is not going to sound very cool to young people. i would have loved spend my life teaching shakesprean sonnets and reading king lear and othello and hamlet with young people and yates, which is my favorite modern poets.

but as soon as i read abo those thr young people being murdered by the klu klux klan in mississippi, and i just thought, they could be me. they were about my age. i just got my little vw, naturally it was the '60s, i had a little plug plastered with slogans probably. probably with a little happy face or something. and i went to roxbury. i lived in th boston suburbs my whole life. i'd never been in the black community before. that's how divided we were and by the way, still are. >> host: and you were from a fairly privileged background? >> guest: i were. my dad was a neuropsychiatrist. my mom a social worker.

i'd grown up in the -- a cssic privileged suburb where a lot of doctors and lawyers, people like that lived. >> host: you wrote about having a live-in maid. >> guest: yeah. it was called newton, massachusetts. it's comparae to winecka illinois or scarsdale, new york. >> host: uh-huh. >> guest: the oy black person i evernew was the maid. and everybody out there had a maid. it seemed like everybody did. and they didn't call her black. she was the colored girl. that's what people said. i used to hear my friends parents always telling me how much they loved their colored girl. and maybe they did love them but they sure wer't equal. the colored girls came from roxbury, and they were so poorly

educated naturally, they weren't going to end up competing with the doctors and lawyers of newton. they became their maids. that hasn't changed, by the way. it's still exactly the sam thing. and only now the maid is likely to be latina maybe or haitian. i went to roxbury for the first time. i had read about a minister in roxbury, a black minister who is dr. king's -- sort of dr. king's representative in boston. a wonderful man named james breeden, an episcopal priest. i went to jim, and i said basically, can i be of any use? and he said something like this. he said, yes, young man, you can be of use.

and he said i'm glad you came here to your own hometown because all the racial injustice in this nation is not down in mississippi. and i said what should i do? and he said become a teacher. we need teachers who will have some allegiance to our children. and so that's what ppened. i just walked into the boston schools and said, okay, i'm going to be a teacher. i never heard of certification. 'cause, you know- and they said where did you go to coege? i hate to make fun of harvard 'cause i loved it but they said, where did you go to college. i said harvard. they said, well, then you can't be a teacher 'cause you couldn't learn anything useful at harvard. so i said there must be some way i could do it. they said yocould be a sub if you wanted. a sub? just like today they flood the

inner city schools with these -- they call it alternate certification that basically people who know nothing about teaching and just to get a warm body into that classroom. and so they tested me. and the first week they had me teach kindergarten. and i was terrified. i ha no idea what you do with people that size. to me they're like gerbles and i survived and finally they made -- they promoted me. i became a permanent sub and they gave mehis fourth grade. and that's how -- and that's how it all started. >> host: let's get to some pho calls and begin with worcester, massachusetts. excuse me, we're going to begin with maryland.

>> caller: hello. >> host: you're on the air. go ahead, please. >> caller: all right. thank you. i'm sorry. i tuned in about 20 minutes after jonathan kozol had begun but i'm familiar with him. i had a chance to thankfully hear you in person, give one of your talks and insight. and by the way, someone gave you -- or had me give you a copy i'm not drinking the brett favre kool aid. i promise you. >> thank you. >> well, no. all right. >> but i think minnesota is loaded. they are loaded incentively, they've got the greatest running back that we've seen not much of is -- i think what brett favre is going to do is get six good weeks and there's going to be a point where he's going to. >> but if you look at tarvaris

jackson's preseason, he's been playing so he is no longer going to have carry the franchise and when brett favre finally makes his exit. >> wasn't they trying to trade him, though? >> wait a minute, they were trying to trade him because he was the best one they know favre is eventually going to exit. i think tarvaris jackson will be a great president. i don't want them to bring the mentor. they brought them in shot? just to go to the bowl sbuzrblings they don't are not die over the -- tarvaris jackson? >> well, i don't think that's the intended. anybody who gets brett favre. you have to question their long-term longevity. >> brad childress is desperate. desperate. >> they are not going to win because what you know brett favre is going to do down the

sfletch lose the game, that's why i don't think they are going to win the nfc north. >> well, it's >> and you know the bears-packers, ancient rivalry. i know favre the idea that it's -- he will have some big moments. >> undoubtedly. >> touchdown game, remember that? then mike, i'm tired or correcting. and he will throw the next season and i promise it will end in tears. >> cobbler has the porblete. he really hasn't mished intergo are the. cutler really started favre's jets on the trode ruin last year because the jets were 8-8. cutler looked like all world.

the jets hit exactly. i can't believe you don't think bobby douglas is great looking. >> he is the most going in. it's the most compelling group in the sports. when you say that. when you look at won material >> who is the most dangerous team in the entire nfc? >> i still think the giants because a year removed from the plaxico mess, that shook them up. they didn't believe they could really win but now they do. i still like the giants. >> it's not dallas. that's -- let me tell you pep i can figuring warrior? i'm >> and being consistent, i think that minnesota, aim it does appear to me if we wouldn't have enough giants-packers.

i think they were one, un, bad night out on the town for plaxico burress away from being the first new york team to ever win two new york titles in a row. >> didn't give eli manning $97 million not to be all right. >> next t- tony la russa won a world series in 2006. but in his long managerial career, has he ever had a team ♪ you and i must make a pact ♪ we must bring salvation back ♪ ♪ where there is love ♪ i'll be there ( i'll be there ) ♪ ♪ don't you know, baby, yeah ♪ ♪ i'll be there ♪ i'll be there

i like to know exactly where you stand at all times. yeah, it works for us. yeah. hey, if they ranked "sportscenter" anchors, where do you think i'd be ranked? - i don't know. - come on. i'd rather not get into it. come on, pick a number between one and 10. well... i'm not sure you'll be in the top 10. i'm in the top 10, roger.

>> toy la ru sso will turn 65 next month, but as his 31st season as a major league manager winds down, retirement should be the last thing on his mind tony's won five pennants and two world series, brand-new bob, could this be his deepest team yet? >> i'm still partial to some of the a's teams including the one that didn't win in the 1990's. deepest? i don't know. the holliday pick-up is the pick-up of the season. without that we wouldn't be talking about this, this month. so i remain with duncan and what' -- and people forget it was nobody when he came up for

chris carpenter and on and on it goes for being a great pitching coach but this is a team very capable of winning the world series. >> it has one of the. greatest players ever in pujols. hands down. we've got a guy whose been around that long. hard to say whether this was his best team from here. i think he's got an excellent chance to end his career on a very memorable note. >> you look at what dave duncan has done. the asian of this staff is the kid who wear it is clothes are the last time we have -- by the time they got to boston, even john smoltz, who left, did everything in his last start for the red sox except leave yankee stadium with a coat over his head, they get a couple good starts out of him when they've got him on one side of the rubber to the other. this, to me, this year in

baseball, the greatest free agent is not going to be a ballplayer. it's going to be the package of la russa and duncan need to take a closer look because it's all in play. >> has to be one of the greatest mid season pickups ever. when we return our parting shots will play misty for you. the

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shots" and bob leads off. >> it's been an interesting nfl preseason. michael vick. brett favre donning a purple and gold jersey. chad ocho cinco kicking an extra point and osi newseum stomping out of camp for a day but the most amazing thing was seeing bill belichick, mr. stone face going all out and honest by tearing up twice while talking about retiring linebacker tedy bruschi. bill bell collect stpwhrm many a player has come and gone through new england but never has he acted like this. it was this close to a roy williams moment! no nfl player will receive a greater compliment this season, i'll tell you that. >> andy roddick found out something at the u.s. open against a 6'9" power forward named john isner, sports never owns you owes you anything.

>> when it was over roddick lost if five amazing sets the way he lost to federer in the greatest around longest wimbledon final ever plafmente that day was in july and it still wasn't enough to be better. it was as tough a loss as i've ever seen in an individual sport and when it was over roddick was much bet they are in defeat than federer was in victory. he didn't even make it to the second week. he lost the two first two and won the next two and the crowd was with him and a little like it used to be like with jimmy con in the old days. there was enough to knock him out of the tiebreaker so he ends the sum ter way he began it, on the wrong end of a five-setter. >> like the sign wedge and the crack back blocks the nfl preseason is a flagrant newel

should be eliminated as soon as possible, like next season. >> football is one of the most violent sports known to mankind. is question is not if but when you'll seriously be injured. >> fans are held hostage to these meaningless rituals. >> tough to buy ticks, fur a fan of the kansas city injured, kyle orton has ripped up his finger, and for what? three or four extra pay todays for owners, to have how is the season when brett favre can skip off-season workouts, practice two weeks and be able to play. it's an episode of marriage football and forcing season ticketholders to deal with it is a sham around it the

marriage should die now. >> lloyd karl was out and rich rodriguez in as head coach. the result a 3- season. this week rodriguez called it the worst of his coaching career. accused by former and current players of breaking time limits on practice. rich rodriguez has a huge problem. they are now looking around the locker room saying who is with us? who is next to us? >> they. i think rodriguez was a good man and truly hunter at the implication he didn't care for his players but he's an outsider as far as michigan fans are concerned and the only door comes through the winner's circle. join us next sunday for another edition of "the sports reporters." we're on each sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. on espn and on sirius

satellite radio channel 121 at 9:30. and if you missedfarth of the show you can catchúú÷÷  the orioles beat the rangers yesterday on national television. it's sunday. that means it's another edition of dempsey's dugout. rick dempsey will meet up with matt wieters. >> hi, i'm matt wieters, and o's xtra is coming up next.  

 from downtown balance  more, welcome to an afternoon of orioles baseball. texas won friday night 5-1, the orioles won yesterday 5-4 to even the series at a win apiece. the rangers are two back of boston in the wildcard chase. o's xtra is brought to you by at&t, your world to delivered. guthrie will be pitching today for the orioles, and holland will go to the mound for the rangers. welcome to our coverage. tom davis here with dave johnson. the orioles coming back after trailing early in the first inning to beat texas. >> it was a good ball game. matusz struggled, but he has

been showing a lot of poise, righted himself, and was able to give his team a chance to win the ball game. the last four innings were very good, and got the win. >> let's take a look at some of the heights from yesterday's game. he worked 7 innings. won his 4th. he struck out four in the game and walked just one. >> his curveball is a big pitch. he gets on top a little bit, and uses a little bit of sweeping slider. again, this is a guy who was pitching in college last year. >> orioles down 3-2. remold hits the home run to to left field. >> well, he got a pitch to drive and did just that. of course he's been doing that all year long, and we hope he'll continue to do that the rest of the year. >> mora had a very good day yesterday, not only with the stick, but also fielding. >> yeah, he did drivety ball,

and has been playing outstanding defense all year long, regardless of his hitting woes. he's coming together and playing solid defense. >> he had his 7th home run. the orioles beating texas 5-4. for more on melvin mora, let's visit with amber theo harris. >> well, he wasn't just good last night, he had a very good home stand. it was just capped by last night's performance in which he had three hits. melvin has been a second half hitter for most of his career, but this we're the surgeon has come on a bit late. the said the reason for that is he help been playing as regularly as usual. he knows that the organization seems to be moving in a different direction for the future at third base. he's very aware of what's happening. he knows for the first time in his career at to the end of this season, he could very well be a free agent, and knows that's why it's important for

him to finish strong. >> every day right now here in baltimore is -- my day, it counts. so i don't know if i'm going to be here next year. probably will be with another teal, but, like i say, at the end of this season, you know, that's going to be like the more important day, because going to be my first to time, almost 11 years in the big league, that i'll be a free agent, so that's exciting. >> well, melvin is making a good case for himself, and helping the orioles while at it, so that's not a bad thing. in his last 8 games, 12 hits in 30 at bats. that's .400 average. he's hit three home runs with 7 rbi. he is 4 for 7 if this series, so lease looking toward this future, but also setting an example at the plate and defensively here in baltimore right now. tom? and all right, amber, we appreciate that report. of course amber will be along during the game and also on our

post-game show. dave, what do you think the chances are the orioles will buy out the option on mora? >> well, it's something to think about. one thing mora has done all year long, again regardless of the hitting woes, he's played solid defense. yes, he does have a big number if they want to pick up the option. i assume if they decline the option, maybe they work out a deal. they don't feel that wiggington may step up and play that position for a year or so, or whether they feel a guy like figgins or some other. guy could be the guy to fill that hole for a year, too. what's interesting, they only feel like they need to fill that hole for a year. it's an option they could do, of course i done think they'll want to pay him $8 million or $9 million just to do that for a year. >> good point.

remold is the dh today. brian robbers returns to the lead-off spot. felix pie drop downs to second. nick mars -- markakis has been the clean up hitter.    now, for the texas when you talk about power, nelson cruz is a player that i don't think anybody thought would hit 30 home runs in a season. whether you see the pitch he

drove out of the ball bark there. drives it over the scoreboard, which is tough to do. you wouldn't think he could have lifted the ball that well, but he does hit the long ball, as you said, and four home runs over his last 7 games. the orioles have to contain him, and of course guthrie has had trouble with the home runs of late, so hopefully he can handle cruz to today. >> you see today nelson cruz is down there in right field hitting 8th in the line-up. hank blalock returns to the line-up hitting .238. 23 home runs and 58 rbis, and she a free agent at the end of the season. of course omar advice kell, what a terrific player he's been for a long time in manager like baseball. when we come back, roc will join us next here on masn. the new mcdonald's bacon and cheese angus third pounder.

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 welcome back. we're joined now by roc. >> it's interesting. he's been throwing off the mound in sarasota. he has not pitched since june 23rd in florida. you can't send him on a rehab assignment, so basically it's like go out there and nation big papi, good luck to you. we think bob might be another

one, a 40-man roster guy. they could bring up chris waters, put him in the bullpen initially and move him in the rotation. other than that, they want to add another catcher. and another infielder, which will probably be justin turner. now, none of those guys are on the 40. they have to create room. they can move lou to the 60. still no plans to add another outfielder, even though adam jones is injured. >> what about the rotation? i mean, obviously some moves, talking awould it shutting some guys down? >> it's supposed to be a six- man rotation, and then bergesen to took a shot off he shin and ruined everything, thanks, brad. but looks like they're going to

shut down matisz, even though he looked good yesterday. but it is his first professional season, so they will shut him down first and we assume waters will move into the rotation. maybe tillman makes one extra start, and then they'll go with a bullpen. they'll try to piece it together. you will see the bullpen again come more into play, which is so important as they are expanding it right now. we figured tillman would be the activity guy shut down, but trembley says no. looks like it will be matusz first and then tillman, and staying with the five-man rotation instead of the six. >> how about luke scott now. great first half of the season, and barely .200 the second

half. >> i feel bad. i approached him today and it's look wick hey, your numbers terrible, let's talk about it. second half .176, three homers, 13 rbis. he's 1 for 15 this month. of course the one hit thing still hasn't landed it r yet, but luke said he has tried everything. she is he's watch in order video than anybody on this team, and he's spent more time in the batting cage, and he said he doesn't have an an explanation, and it's eating him alive. he does have the achilles problem, not able to get down and drive the ball as much, but he said right few his heart feels about this big, and it's shattered. he said he was having a very

special year, and now it's shattered and he doesn't know why. >> roc, we always appreciate you stopping bid on sundays. it will be another edition of dempsey's dugouts coming up next. rick is here, he'll be doing the game, and he catches up with matt wieters when we return on o's xtra. xw@t@t@@@@

 >> texas seasonal two games

back of boston in the american league wildcard chase. it's sunday, and that means another edition of dempsey's dugout. to today he talks with matt wieters about hitting. >> can you show me some of your, like, the philosophies that you have hitting right- handed as a switch hitter? the might be a little bit of a difference hitting right-hands a left-handed. what is it about your swing that makes you feel so comfortable up up there? >> well, i think of it as if i have two different swings, i'm two different hitters, and my swings feel different from both sides of the plate. and that's key for me where i'm not trying to mirror one side from the other. i'm working as a right handed hitter and as a left-handed hitter. but right-handed, it more my approach. from the left side, i really want to stay close and try to hit the ball to right center.

that's when i feel most confident at the plate. i really like to try and work right center, right-handed, and left handed is a little bit different. left-handed i have more of a timing mechanism, where i'm trying to go up the middle, and then i just sort of let to the barrel work. if a ball is inside, i just try to catch a little more off front, and belt high, try to catch it a little deeper. left handed is more timing, while right-handed, i feel i'm more trying to read the pitch and hit whatever pitch it is to that side of the field. >> you don't seem to have much finesse in this respect, for a big. man, you like to stand tall in the batters box, or do you like to bend down? >> i like a little bitth of a knee flex, but the big key with he me, no matter how much i bend my knees, i have to keep my chest up. when i get leaning over, that's when i hit ground balls, and they'll get inside on me, because i have longer arms. so i want a little bit of knee

flex, but more important for that than me some keeping the chest up and sort of staying square to the pitcher. >> what does it mean to keep your hands inside the ball? >> to me, that's huge,, notth being a fast guy, i'm not an out and a round guy where i'm going to try to hit a lot of ground balls. i want to be able to stay inside and be able to stay through a ball as much as possible. it's something to where in the cage or off the tee, i'll be pretending like i'm hitting three four or five balls where i make sure i can try to get all of the way through it, and that will give me the baby spin some line drives i want. >> which side of the plate do you feel most comfortable with your power in left-handed or right-handed? ? well, i think right-handed is more of my power side. i play golf and everything else right-handed. soap would assume i'm a right- handed hitter. but i think most switch hitters in this league, eventually you turn into a natural left- hander, but. left-hander i feel more i'm the

average hitter, and right- handed more of the ability to do a little bit more damage to the gaps and a little bit more power. >> thanks for joining me on dempsey's dugout today. you're off to a good start. >> matt wieters, catcher for the orioles. >> have you seen some improve. if his swing? >> i think he has a tendency to use the lower half of this body a little more trying to dive the ball. when he first came up, looked more like he was feeling for the ball. that's not a bad thing to be handsy with the -- as a hitter, but this is a guy we're expecting to hit the long ball, and of course his home runs have been to the opposite field, but i think it looks like at times he does need to pick a pitch here or there to take on the ball, and and can

generate more power. >> jeremy guthrie get this start today. he'll be pitching adense holland. guthrie has been hot recently. he's trying for his 10th win. holland after his 8th when we continue o's xtra pregame, we'll have dave johnson with his pitching prospects next. ♪

♪ 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.  the orioles need a vict today to take two of out three to finish 5-5 against texas. well, dave johnson and i go back a long, long way, and cal, one of our producers, helped find something with addition and me from many, many years

ago. a pitcher in '89. i interviewed you back then. >> yes, you did. you were a little smaller then, and i had hair. >> we're going to take a look at the top three plays of the week from to the orioles. one occurred yesterday to conclude tim game yesterday when cesar izturis made this great stop behind the bag. number two turns out to be a fabulous catch by felix pie to rob a home run out there in left center field, right in front of the bud light warehouse sign, and the number one play is after the luke scott home run that went out on to utah street on the fly. luke scott. and there's the fan catching the ball out.

now here is dave johnson. >> look at that tie. look at that tie. >> i still have that tie, want you to know. >> i'll bet you have to the jacket, too. >> if you would have told me, i would have brought that tie today. unbelievable. >> it was interesting. that was pie first major league win and the first start at home at memorial stadium, so that was a crazy -- and coming off of that mound, i know one thing, i had no idea who you were doing an interview, because my mine was going a thousand different places. >> a little more than 20 years ago now. >> yes, it was. >> unreal. >> what's the scouting report of jeremy guthrie? >> well, his last three games have been outstanding. sunday is a fun day for guthrie, because in day games, he's 4-1. he's pitched outstanding during day games.

1.8era. should have won all three games. we just didn't get it done with him. he's just a little bit more consistently down in the zone, and i think his confidence level has come up. late life on he fastball. just pitching better now. guys go through slumps in hitting. we talked about luke scott. he mass no idea why he is not hitting 0 are seeing the ball as well, it happens, and it happens with pitching, too, in the first half of the season, same thing for guthrie. it just wasn't getting done for him. >> derek holland goes for the rangers today. what do you see from him? >> well, he's had his struggles. the yankees two games ago got him for six earned runs and the blue jays in his last start got him for 10 earned runs. that's how difficult it is to pitch against the east, and of course derek holland found that out. he has problems pitching from the stretch. his batting average is .350 k when he pitches out of the

stretch and runners in scoring position. so he has to try to get better at that. when you're in those jams, steps guys are able to step up and do a little bit better. they just rise to the occasion when guys their scoring position, and theory able to maim a.m. make those pitches. he has not been able to do that. of course from the orioles perspective, be we hope he continues to struggle at least for one more game. >> how about dave johnson's key to the game? >> well, in this situation, it's one of those things where we have to keep the ball in the ballpark and make sure we continue to hit the ball out of the ballpark, because the rangers are pitching, especially derek holland has given up the long ball. and the player to watch today is brian roberts. he hits well in day games. so brian roberts,'s hitting right-handed today to startty gam against derek holland. hopefully he can continue doing well in day games. >> should be interesting.

we'll be back bait half hour post-game show. jim hunter and rick dempsey standing by with the play-by- play. record yells and rangers coming. -- orioles and rangers coming up next

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orioles baseball age a lovely sunday afternoon at camden yards. birds getting set to take any the texas rangers. hi everyone i'm jim hunter. thanks for joining us as the orioles try to get two out of three from the playoff hopeful rangers are. yesterday, the birds had to come from behind, and they beat texas and did it at the plate. they have been consistently a good-hitting team at home all year, and we saw some of that yesterday in particular from nolan ratzmann ratzmann, and -- reimold and melvin mora.

the top bat bathing average in are the major leagues of all 30 ballparks is right here at camden yards. and the orioles have hit .290 as a team this year. joined today by rick dempsey. the condition about the or yeahst, we know they consistently hit well at home, but why not as well on the road? >> well, i think a lot has to do with how comfortable they feel right here, and i think they're putting together the kind of ball club that produces well. you look at our gaps and alley, and it's not really that big. it's 263 to left center field. think those are perfect, because we have a lot identify guys that like to hit the ball up the middle.

>> jim: guthrie will take the mound today. >> rick: i think the key to him is to slow down during the course of his delivery. once he does that, he allows his arm to get out in front. when he does that, he wall comes off his fingertips a lot differently, a lot more movement on the ball. that's what jeremy guthrie needs to do. >> you say this could be some trouble. 30 home runs allowed by guthrie, most in the major league, texas comes in as the number two team in the league in home runs. only the yankees have hit more. >> rick: is guthrie is one of those kind of goes that doesn't take a lot of advice from from everybody, everything he has to go out and work on his own. this is something you want to see in most of your pitch. ers, but he is taking a long time to put his game back together. >> one of thing things about guthrie this year, as we have

seen, he seems to miss in the wrong spot for a pitcher but the right spot for a hitter, and it's amazing how consistentlies that hat has happened to him this year. >> well, when your arm lags, rushing through the delivery, the arm stayed back. when he released it, ball was fun the strike zone. you cannot pump the strike zone in the american league. i don't care what team you're facing unless you're ahead in the count, and that's something he hasn't been. >> today texas in second place in both the west and the wildcard. it's sunday daytime baseball at camden yard. line-ups and first pitch are coming up. ut. don't make any moves. play it safe. if you look out your window, you can see those people from up here. nothing's gonna hold you down. book your flight right now and keep on flying.

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 it is a gorgeous day fo baseball.

fans in the bullpen picnic area getting set to enjoy this game, as to the orioles and rangers plea the rubber game of this series. >> rick: here is the scouting reportth for guthrie. locking in a little late this season, but better late than ever. tempo is the key to his game. slow the body down and get out in front, and if he does that, he will stay down and that will help him to stay around.

>> jim: so making his 28th start, gets ahead of the rookie borbon, 0-1. now quickly 0-2 on borbon, a 23-year-old rookie. >> rick: these texas rangers are starting to come up with a lot of do guys that really fit the puzzle pieces putting this organization together. they have needed a lead-off hitter, and they think this guy here is going to be the answer to their question. he's a guy the orioles have to watch out today running the bases. >> jim: guthrie misses low. a ball and two strikes. yankees eventually won the game on guthrie's last start, but he pitched some gate innings. >> well, the yankees just came in here and mauled everybody. guthrie actually had a good

game against them. >> jim: one away in the texas first inning. >> rick: well, here you see the or yeahs defense today. >> jim: threw is fiorentino making hits first start since coming up from aaa. the only position player of the four called up on sent 1st. andrus, another rookie, taking a strike. 10 for his last 26. does a very good job in this number two spot for the rangers. guthrie is coming right at these texas hitters. >> rick: well, he's another guy, this andrus, he looks to steal bases, and i think jeremy guthrie is going to have to do

a real good job at slowing these goes down. andrus has stolen forebays in one game, so you know he's looking for every opportunity. >> jim: 0-2 bounced to third. the throw across, scooped by wiggington! saves a mora throwing airer, and more importantly gets andrus for the send out. nicely done by ty wiggington on the back end. >> rick: well, mora just softed it over there. could have put a little more on it. at least he had a good wind up and throw, and wiggington dug it out over there. pretty good job on his part. >> jim: so two down in the first. of course the first inning for jeremy guthrie is the most important inning. he has struggled in first innings overall on the year, and here is ian kinsler. and kinsler takes a strike. so guthrie has gone to 0-1 with all three batters in this inning.

kinsler tied for 8th in the league for home runs. when you care him and brian roberts, you have two second basemen that each go to the plate and put up big numbers. >> rick: i have to laugh because i've never seen second basemen that put up the kind of power numbers that they're doing right now. 29 home runs coming into today's game with 78 rbis, but the thing that alarms me a about kinsler, much better hitter than at .250. >> jim: guthrie a solid three up and three down inning. texas doesn't score. here comes the birds in the bottom of the first! how 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 )

 texas with three up thr down in the top of the first. here come the orioles in the bottom of the first. southwest airlines starting line-ups for the orioles.    . >> rick: here  report on derek holland. not his best when he's out of the west. has struggled to win games in other divisions. for him, the own one loss last year all season long, 13-1 in the three different places that he played, he is a pitcher after nolan ryan's heart, 240 strikeouts in the minor league with only 217 innings pitched. >> well, the left hander is another of the young pitchers

coming true this rangers organization. there are the numbers on the year. he is 7-9. this is his 17th start and 29th appearance. he began the year in the bullpen when he was called up. help actually started in aaa. made his start there, and then came up, was in the bullpen, but this is his 10th consecutive start since his last relief appearance. and he gets a pitch on the inside corner. so 1-2 on brian roberts, who has had a tough home stand. >> rick: well, you can so a lot of things that have changed in this texas staff. all of them work very fast. this is something nolan ryan wanted. this guy is a power pitcher, 94 and plus, and good off-speed pitches. >> knew so roberts down on strikes. one of the thing this orioles have done consistently well on the year, first innings of game this, number one and number two batters regardless of who bats usually behind brian roberts, they have put up big numbers in first innings of games. best batting average, best on base percentage, tied for the

most extra base hits, tied for third and home runs, the top two hitters in the line-ups in first innings of of games. >> hasn't this guy been a huge surprise in the second half of the season? he has really showed everybody what label he came over here with. he has put it all together with the power, the average, the running, the arm, the defense, everything is coming together for him. >> jim: takes a strike on the outside corner. 1-1. derek holland is out of newark, ohio. came through the rangers system very quickly. he gets a slow breaking ball past pie, 1-2. you wonder where players find homes in big league organizations. the other night, on friday night, scottfeldman started for the rangers. he was a 30th round draft pick in 2003. pie goes down on strikes. back to back ks to begin the

first. >> >> you spoke of fedman. this guy has basically come out of nowhere. bolt of these guys can outstanding. >> jim: here isratzmannn reimold who is dh'ing today. holland was a 25th round pick of the rangers in 2006. >> rick: that's amazing. >> jim: he was the 748th player chosen in the 2006 draft. one of those what they call draft and follow players, as texas drafted him and he then went to junior college in alabama, and pitched well enough there for the rangers to offer him a contract and he

signed son two members of the roy face of the moment at the top five, very low round draft picks. and reimold gets ahold of one. in front of the warning track, he makes the catch. so each team goes three up and three downny the first. we'll head to the second. rangers and o's. no score. n 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 $30. that's just plain mean. why do they hate your bags? at southwest airlines, bags fly free. grab your bag. it's on! ( ding ) before taking it on, one must study it first. rushing in unprepared may prove overwhelming... with all that juicy, 100% angus beef. there! you found a point of entry!

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 . >> jim: guthrie deals inside. that's the first batter he's gone 1-0 two. 57 extra bait hiss on the year for byrd. she the 17th ranger in that franchise history to have at least 40 doubles in a season. >> rick: a lot of doubles. what i love is watching jeremy guthrie on this monitor so far today, right behind his right shoulder. i love the movement on his fastball. when he slows everything down, this is the old jeremy guthrie we saw for the first two seasons when he joined the orioles as a starter. look at the movement and drop on that ball. >> jim: jeremy 9-13 on the

year. the orioles have gone 10-17 in his 27 starts. a 2-2 to byrd hit sharply to third, and that's in for a base hit. andino hustles to keep byrd at first base. that's the first base runner of the game, marlon byrd with a lead-off single.    swill dh'ing today. 

roberts to second for one, to first, not the time to get blalock, but nicely done by brian roberts. he had to come far to his left and gets the lead runner. one away in the texas second. >> rick: row read a lot about how texas's offense is not producing as much as it hasny the past. a little more than a run down over the companies are of the season so far than they were last year, but that the pitching has done so much better. and guys look at blalock, and guys like him, kinsler andering, the batting average is way down. the home run production up, but

the averages are not there. >> jim: nelson cruz fouls it back. well, the the morling of that story, if as you just describe it is, if you hold your opponents down, you have to score fewer runs to win each day. that's been the orioles problem all year. hard to win with any kind of consistency when you need to score at least 5 runs every game to have a chance to win. >> rick: yeah, and the focus has always been putting bigger and better players oh financively in that line-up, rather than the pitching. and nolan ryan now takes over, and his focus is totally on the pitching, and let the guys figure it out offensively. the averages aren't there. they're hitting the ball out of the bail park, which earl weaver would absolutely love. they're winning ball games that way, and playing better defense and getting better pitching. >> jim: cruz takes a breaking ball outside. count evens up at 2-2. nice job by chad mole her to get down

and get that ball. missouri -- >> rick: so far today, i like what guthrie is doing. every ball that's been been hit so far is on the ground, that's what you want him to do. >> jim: fortunately for guthrie, that fell foul. so back to the plate comes nelson cruz with one down, and

blalock on at first base. >> jim: hitters themselves, jim, will tell you exactly what kind of stuff he has in this ball game. you've already seen a couple of funny swings. the fact that cruz is trying to protect against that down and away tells you that he is very deceptive. look at this swing right here. ground ball third base. mora over with it, not enough time. base hit. >> jim: so there's a broken bat swinging bunt if you will, slow ground ball to third, and cruz is on with an infield hit. >> rick: you see then bouncing ball right here, and melvin mora just hit too easy. >> jim: so texas has something down. here. and here is chris davis. davis the first baseman, has

spent some time in the minors this year. 23-year-old in his second season, takes strike one. one of the things that texas also does, which you know ron washington would like to see improve, is cut down on the strikeouts, and davis at the plate is a perfect example of that. no to team has struck out more this year than the texas rangers. >> rick: you think it might have something to do with the fact anyway all sit on that back leg, and have the big upper cut swings? if they connect, there's no ballpark in baseball that's going to hold them, but you have to be patient with these guys, because they're gonna strike out a lot. >> knew davis has struck out 126 times on the year, and that includes some time spent in the minor leagues, yet he is still up there tied with 7th most in the league. so this clubs a struck out 1076 times on the year, if if you

strike out, you don't put the ball in play. >> rick: and the on base percentage goes down. you don't have as many guys to drive in, which is the reason why they're down a full run more than they were at this time last year. >> jim: checks in time, and there is what we're referring to with the strikeout totals. tampa bay is second, indians third, and then red sox and tigers. one team you don't see on there is the yankees in my opinion yankees lead the league in home runs, quit they put the ball the play. 2-2 on davis. first and second and one down. guthrie misses inside. ball 3. >> rick: there are teams, jim, that you still have to be very careful with whether you're ahead in the count or behind in the count, because it doesn't seem to matter. they don't cut their swings down when they're behind in the count. they're still look fog are the fastball, and if you leave it anywhere near the middle of that plate, you're gonna pay for it. last year, they put up 30 runs

against the orioles. they're the kind of ball club who can come in there and when everything falls in place for them, they can put up 20 to 30 runs in a heart beat. >> jim: ron washington has has done a remarkable job with this organization, bringing his philosophies from oakland, and impressing upon this team that there's a certain way you have to go about it if you're going to win. the 3-2 pitch is fouled off by davis as he stays alive. wildcard race in the american league, the red sox are really slumping, but still have a two- game lead on the ranger. the orioles dealt texas a damaging loss yesterday. had the rangers won that game, they would be only a game out, and tampa bay is still hanging around, but they are six back. 3-2 with one down. guthrie battling here in the second inning a on pair of

infield hits. and fouled back again. >> rick: nolan ryan wants their pitchers to go deeper in the ball game, throw more pitches. condition themselves stronger for the season, especially in texas, where it really can be hot, and really trying on anybody who is out there on a the mound trying to pitch. i think it has an overall effect on everything they're doing in this organization. >> jim: 3-2 the count remains on davis, and strike three called! he got it on the outside corner. a big out for guthrie. hits first strikeout, and two down in the second inning. so davis thought it was low, and he looked it over. >> rick: watch his pitch right here. it is right on the corner. down and away. toughest pitch in baseball to hit if you set it up properly. jeremy guthrie is on his game today. let's just over he doesn't make any mistakes with men on base. there is taylor to steckel, the

young teagarden, the young catcher for texas, and he takes strike one. melvin mora will step on think pace, and that ends the inning. couple of infield hits, and two left. no score. 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,

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 . >> jim:  welcome in to utah street. the orioles have won just one series since the all star break. this is their 15th series since the break. they are 1-11, and two splits since the break going against the 22-year-old left-hander derek holland. holland is coming off a miserable start in his last outing, as nick markakis will lead off for the birds. mora and wiggington will follow. on monday again toronto, he went three innings and allowed 10 earned runs on seven hits. and markakis takes high, 1-0, and 2 of those hits were home

runs. here is what rick was referring to, the pitching improvement for the rangers this year, as markakis takes a strike. so that is some kind of an ugly line when you look down three innings, 10 earned runs, and one guy takes you deep for a three-run shot, and the other guy takes you deep for a grand value. slam. >> not good. . >> jim: 2-1 pitch to markakis, is bounced towards second base. ian kinsler gets it, one away in the second inning. mors's bat came alive yesterday. >> boy, it did. he haded a home run later on in this ball game.

played some possible lass do fence. you see him here making a play, but hurting himself as he dove, but he's pack in the line-up today toughing it up.  

 swings through that  to t-2. since the all star break batting average a bit better. four home runs, 16 rbis. puzzling as to melvin's drop off in the first half of the year. 2-2 pitch. a slot bloop towards center field, and that's going to fall in for a base hit. so melvin stays hot. his 5th hit in the series as he   s it in to center field for one-out single. orioles have their first base runner. >> rick: well, he's starting to find his swing again. he has the head of the bat out if front. if he doesn't hit it off the good part of the bat, at least he's in the part of the field where he has a chance to get a base hit. here he bloops one into center field. this is the good thing about melvin, when he starts to get hot, he stays within himself and doesn't overswing. that's what we're seeing right now. >> jim: first base runner for their birds. ty wiggington now, and he takes

a strike. wiggington playing at first base again today. 8 home runs, 34 rbis on the year. mora has three steals on the year. and there's another strike. same pitch, same result. 0-2 on wiggington. >> rick: he's been very good for the orioles coming off the bench. they needed somebody with a little power, and somebody with some experience in tough situations that kind of knew what pitches to look for. he's a dead fastball hitter. there's no doubt about that. but when he gets it, he doesn't miss it very often. he's much of what i call a tempo swinger. he has to tempo himself down a little bit, because he swings so hard all the time, that finally when he starts to back off, that's when he fines his swing. once he gets lobbed in, he's not streaky, lease a guy who can hurt you consistently. >> jim: ball and two strikes on wiggington. and holland misses inside.

2-2. holland has allowed 21 home runs on the year, rightnders have just worn him out. right-handed batters have hit 18 of those 21 home runs.

>> jim: when you look back on his initial promotion, the orioles drafted him in the third round of 2004, and he was playing at frederick. only his second professional season, and all of a sudden he got promoted to the big leagues, and everybody was stunned. mora will go on 3-2. he lasted only 13 games, and then was sent back to the minor leagues, and he kind of fell off the radar. >> rick: he did. think we starred to see other guys, nick markakis was making his mark at that time, too. and, you know, that's pretty tough character right there to go up against. i think he -- the orioles were looking for outfielders with a little more power. they needed to see that, and he wasn't one of those power guys. good solid contact hitter, and

very impressive coming up out of a ball doing what he did. >> jim: it's high, ball 4, and he works the walk, and the orioles have two on with two down, as mora goes counsel to second base. moeller getting a start today. he has really been hitting the baseball. batting average up to .250. brings a three-game hitting streak into today's game, which is significant when you consider that he doesn't get frequent at bats, and yet he still is swinging the bat well. >> rick: well, that's the icing on the cake is for chad moeller to come up here and hit the ball solidly has he has the last couple of games. chad moeller is there as a settling influence for the pitching staff. he's there to also give wieters a little break most of the time, but he's a guy they can rely on, veteran guy, knows how to handle the young players, and have we have a lot of young guys that look to him for

guidance. >> jim: taking another close pitch. 2-0 the count as ovechkin falls behind. he averages 3 walks per nine innings, but also averages 7 strikeouts, and already has three strikeouts in this game. he averaged 7ks per 9 innings in the minor leagues. >> rick: 240 strikeouts in 217 and a third innings. that's pretty good. and you know now why. to this is the first time i've really had a chance to see him up close this well, and the power pitching, 95, 96 if he wants to get it up there with a good breaking ball. not very many left-handers are going to be successful against him. >> jim: so the pitch count elevated this inning. now he's 3-1 on chad moeller. mora hat second, fiorentino at first. two men down, to score in this game. rubber game of three against texas. there's a line drive towards center feed.

back on the ball is marlon byrd and the can't get it some mora will score, fiorentino will score, and chad moeller with a two-run double has given the orioles the lead! >> rick: well, this is what we were talking about. you know, with the troubles that holland is going to have trying to get on right-hand hitters, and you see this catcher sitting on the outside corner. gets his arms extended. drives the bail to right center field. no chance for him to catch the ball in right center field. two guys on, they know right away. look at fiorentino, he is on the way. he knows that that ball is in. he's going to score all the way from first base. the orioles have two runs on the board for guthrie. >> jim: he extends his hitting streak to four in a row, and has 5 rbisin the four games. andino gets a start at shortstop today. he has played infrequently. really going back to the

beginning of august. he's had only 21 at bats since august 1st. .225 on the year with a home run. >> rick: well, you've got remember how well andino played when he got his opportunity day to day. izturis on the disabled list, and he showed everybody in this organization how good he can be on defense and offensive, too. you go up against a guy like roy halladay, he ends up with four hits that day. that's unbelievable. it took me a whole career to get four hits off of halladay. >> jim: orioles get a big two- out hit from moeller to get the lead, and andino fouls it off to stay alive. orioles are 3-6 on the hope stand, which ends today. the birds will then head out on a five-game road trip through boston and new york. dave trembley's team snap add

four-game losing streak west the come-from-behind win yesterday. and andino down on strikes, and that ends to the inning. but chad moeller with a two-run double has given jeremy guthrie and the birds a 2-0 lead. era

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 . >> jim:  omar vizquel fouls bag to stay alive.

guthrie strikes out omar vizquel. he he has two strikeouts. one away in the third. here is julio borbon. >> rick: i don't want to jinx guthrie, but this is one of the best games i have seen him start so far this season. he knows what he's doing out

there. that's not his problem. his problem has been up in the zone when piece behind in the count, and you're always going to play, especially in this league. >> jim: ground ball slowly to third. mora gets borbon, and two down.    so guthrie gets the two in this third inning. andrus, high fly ball to center field. pie back unit, has the play. shading his eyes for the sun, and has it for the out. so guthrie has his second three up-three down inning. mid-3rd. 

 rangers are on a six-game road trip through baltimore and cleveland, these are critical games for the rangers, as they try to catch both the angels in the west or the red sox in the

wildcard. brian robbers leads off. take a big breaking ball for a strike, 0-1. brian struck out his first at bat. holland has four strikeouts already. a on april the 25th holland came on in relief here at camden yards and pitched three strong innings. >> rick: well, he is really changing speeds and positions. he is not going to give brian robbers a chance to see two fastballs back to back because because he knows how good a fastball hitter brian robbers is. >> jim: brian is 35 for 32 on

this home stand. 1-2, just inside. 2-2. if there's one part of brian's game that you would like to see reduced, it's the number of strikeouts. he has now struck out 94 times on the year. he is such an impact player as he hits it into right fold for a base hit. when he puts the bail in play, good things happen. time for our ford trivia question of the day, as we try to stump dempsey. who holds the most record for the rangers for wins in a season? i'm going to say jenkins. i have no idea, but who is your pick? >> rick: i want to pick jenkins, too. i struck out enough against him. he must have had a lot of wins. >> jim: pie shows bunt, takes low. well, let's get thencer and see who had the most wins in a

season. fergeson jenkins back in 1974. >> rick: do i know my k's, or what? >> jim: 25 . >> rick: earlyy weaver wouldn't play me against him anymore. kept throwing me that slider. i kept saying one of these days he's going to throw me a fastball and he never did. how smart is that? >> jim: bunt attempt by pie, pops it up, holland over to grab it. not sure if that was a sacrifice attempt or not, because he tried to push it. nonetheless, he pops it up. >> rick: it was not a sacrifice. he was bunting for a base hit. what i look about that for pie, he's starting to use all of his different types of talents. he has he to use his speed. he has to learn to bunt. he's not a very good bunter at

this point in his career. he's been unsuccessful most of the time, but i live that it goes through his mind at the right time. a left-hander against a left- hander. it's tough. he already struck out once in this ball game, so realizes the best thing he can do is move brian roberts, maybe take a chance of getting a base hit at the same time. >> rick: knew so robbers holds aft first with one down. nolan ratzmann now, and he takes a pitch low. -- nolan reimold now, and he takes a pitch low.  

 reimold really numbers for a shot at rookie of the year. >> jim: 1-2 the count on reimold, with roberts leading from first. holland misses inside. 2-2. of course the question with the voters for the rookie of the year is will they penalize reimold because the orioles are not a contending team?

that pitch was behind nolan reimold, and teagarden somehow was able to glove it. >> rick: let's look at this pitch here. oh, the breaking ball. that might scare you a little rowing across his body. he throw his ball behind non old right he. and it's so hard to try to do what he's inom that corner of the mound. let's watch this pitch one more time. fastball up in the strike zone. when you're ahead in the count, this is when you can pitch up the strike zone. you have swing at it. a big out for holland. two down, and here is nick markakis. grounded out his first at bat. still has an outside shot of

making a run at 200 base hits, but he'll havepto get some kin of hot. 26 games remain for the orioles, including today, and he needs 33 hits in those 26 games to reach 200 base hits for the first time in his career. as brian robbers is chased back -- brian robbers is chased back. looks it over, low. markakis takes a strike. nick markakis base hits on the orioles, 167 for markakis.

roberts is 153. jones has had an injury interrupted year, 131. markakis with that good batting eye. >> rick: you wouldn't want to make another bet with me, would you, jim, on whether nick markakis has 200 hits by the end of the year. i say he'll have 200 before the year is over. >> jim: okay. >> rick: because i know one thing about nick, and f he gets a hit hits first time up, he's going to get three or four. we've got a ton of stuff we've gotta pay for. and a few things we want to pay for. on top of it all, we're still trying to put away some money for the future. with the wish list, we can save up for anything we want. and still have enough to cover the day-t0-day. plus, the savings engine helps our money grow. and that's something we need and want. introducing the virtual wallet from pnc, a high definition, online view of your money.

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 . >> jim: ian kinsler leads here in the 4th, fouls it off. kinsler, byrd, and blalock against guthrie who has a 2-0 lead. kinsler grounded out to third his first at bat. he is now 0 for his last 1 as he faces jeremy guthrie.

takes outside, 1-1. >> jim: i would have to look at his numbers before the game start asks say this guy is looking for the fastball. he has stopped trying to hit the breaking ball behind in the count. >> rick: and he hits it the other way for a lead-off sing until the 4th inning. so texas can get the tying run to the plate here with nobody down in the 4th. kinsler with a soft single to right field. of course with jeremy, it's all about keep it will the ball in the ballpark. well documented. he has allowed home runs in 20 of his 27 starts, and he still leads the american league in most home runs allowed in 30. 19 of those 30 have been solo. he has allowed 46 runs on those home runs. 46 of the 98 runs he's allowed have come in on the home run. 47% of the runs scored on him. >> jim: he's always given up

home runs, but never at the pace he has given them up this year. he's always seems to make a mistake late in a ball game trying to do something, because to the orioles in the past have not to scored him any runs. he always suffered trying to get through ball games with one or two runs, trying not to make a mistake, and that's what makes you make a mistake. there it goes, 6-4-3, and two men down. nicely turned by roberts, as kinsler got on him. >> jim: look at this play again. drops the ball right here to shortstop andino, just a quick throw to brian robbers who staying behind the bag here, doesn't go across the bag at all. makes a pretty good throw to first base, and they've got the easy double-play. >> jim: so andino and roberts turn two. that eliminates the base runner, and brings up hank

blalock with two down. and time requested at the plate by chad moeller, because robert andino was moving, as guthrie was about to go into his windup. andino went into the shift, and he was still moving to the other side of the base, as blalock fouls it back, and moeller alertly saw that andino wasn't set, and requested time from joe west. >> rick: see him with the one ear in his hat and one year at -- that's always good luck for him. another little thing that ballplayers do. i don't think anybody has ever noticed that. >> jim: 1-1 the count. >> rick: you ever have one ear in the microphone and one out? >> jim: no, need to be able to hear. >> rick: and of the things they do. >> jim: tapped foul. good pitch by guthrie. so blalock is down in the count. orioles have a day off tomorrow, but they have to travel. they'll travel to boston for a two-game series with the red sox, and they have another day

off coming up on thursday. outside, 2-2. >> rick: this is when thing toes get real hard for the orioles, when you start to go into boston and new york this late in the season, and both of them are pennen contenders. one is leading the wildcard. the other is leading the east. very, very tough to play those teams under those conditions. >> jim: blalock strikes out. base hit. mid-4th, 2-0o's. 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 $30. that's just plain mean. why do they hate your bags? at southwest airlines, bags fly free. grab your bag. it's on! ( ding )

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 fans looking in on the bullpen picnic area right behind the bullpens. melvin mora leads off for the birds and takes a strike. >> rick: it's a mystery to me about melvin mora and his home run production this year. all seven home runs have been here at camden yard. he has not hit one home run in any other ballpark but right here at home. >> jim: the orioles have been a much better and more consistent offensive team here at home. and they've averaged a full run

per game more at home than in road games as mora pops it up. davis is over. that ball is slighting back into the crowd. the orioles have averaged 5 runs per game here at camden yards, and four runs per game on the road this year for dave trembley. they have been a play for the big inning kind of team. and there is the disparity between home and road. much better batting average, runs per game. home runs per game as well. >> rick: kind of nice to see, you know, what is going on here at camden yards with -- i think everything has to do with the difference in weather conditions so far this season. much different than it's are been. not as hot and humid for as long a stretch that it used to be. lot more moderate around here. the wind doesn't come in

straight away center feed like it used to. and it knocked a lot of balls down. so that short power. right field, you're starting to see how ease by it is to hit some home runs that way, especially into right center field. best ballpark in major league baseball is right here. >> jim: and melvin mora is plunked. he'll head down to first base. leading off in the fourth inning. so the orioles get their lead off man on. >> rick: you see this shot right here, just inside. that's one of those that absolutely undressed melvin mora at home place, and even he was smiling about that. it almost took his shirt off. >> jim: here is the home run production by ballparks this year. yankees stadium, of course, yankees stadium knew this year, and that jet stream, and we're told that the flings are not as far to to the outfield fence particularly in right feed as in indicated. rangers ballpark in article link tong, is it den ballpark.

camden yard is 4th in yielding home runs in the major leagues.    holland has five ks three innings, plus one batter. >> rick: it's kind of funny, jim, as much as we're seeing a difference in the amount of home runs here at camden yards, the orioles still only have one player with over 20 home runs on the season. and the new york yankees come if here, they've got 7 already with over 20, and a few of them (indiscernible). >> wiggington takes outside, 2- 1. >> well, i'm sure that's one area that andy mcphail will really take a long hard look at this off-season. what the orioles need is a bopper they can put in that cleanup spot some leave him there and let him do his dam,

let markakis get back into to the number 3 spot where he is so effective. >> rick: i totally agree. think if to pie continues to swing the bat as well as he's done. he is a hitter you would experiment leave income the number two slot behind roberts with his ability to bunt and move some guys over, that needs to to improve. bust to get markakis, just like you said, back in that number 3 slot, i think that's imperative. they have to do that. they find a guy that can hit 40 or 50 home runs right there. nick needs that kind of protection, because he's your horse, right there in the middle of your line-up. your number 4 guy, you tonight worry too much about him hitting .260, .270, something like that, but you do to want that production where teams air trade to pitch to him because he's hit 50 here. >> jim: josh bell is one

prospect, who they got in a trade, and wearing, who was the carolina league player of the year, and is now at bowy. >> yeah, those it would two guys upcoming. >> jim: blistered over the glove of andrus. heading to second is ty wiggington. that will be a double for wiggington, and the orioles have second and third and nobody out. that ball was absolutely crushed. >> rick: he got that fastball he was looking for and crushed it. low line drive over the shortstops head into left center field. a little bit of a bobble on the play. melvin mora seas that, heads to third. wiggington getting to second base with the double. >> jim: mike maddux the texas pitching coach out for a chat with holland. holland has seven wins despite an era of 5.63, because he's the guy in the rangers that they seem to score a lot of

runs every time he goes to the mound. he doesn't have enough innings to qualify in the league leaders, but they have averaged 6.1 runs per game when he pitches. that's a lot of run support. >> rick: it is. jeremy guthrie has had 6.1 runs per game, you would have seen a lot of difference in his won- loss record over the last three seasons. >> jim: texas will draw the infield in for fiorentino, already trailing 2-0. big opportunity for the birds. here is a strike at the knees, 0-1. >> rick: jim, you were just talk about the orioles lack of big, big home run hitting guys. i think floor two guys in the line-up now that can some day produce that many home runs. adam jones for one. >> jim: that will fall for a base hit. mora scores, wiggington to third.

and jeff fiorentino has a base hit and an rbi, and the orioles have a 3-0 lead. >> rick: we talked earlier about his veteran presence and approach to hitting. this left-hander does not make him pull off. he just hangs in there. fastball away. he goes away. you see he's very solid, sees it, stays inside the ball, drives it to left cent are field. this a huge run for the orioles in this situation. that's going to save to the orioles an at bat. that's huge for them. >> jim: wiggington moves to third. fiorentino to on at first. and here is chad moeller. moeller got the orioles the lied with a 2-out double to drive in two in the second inning. pops it foul out of play. back in the second inning, going the opposite way. >> rick: fastball out over, gets the extension, drives to itsty wall. two runs score. you see right there fiorentino, who had walked, he ends up

scoring all the way from first base. >> jim: 0-1 the count on moeller, takes a strike at the belt, and it's 0-2. nippert is now getting loose in the bullpen. >> rick: i am so glad they have fiorentino back with this ball club, and proud of the orioles to reward him for the great year that he had and attitude he took down there. for tough to go back to to the minor leagues and be stuck in a position like that. you almost feel like your career is over with, but he is a pure hitter, and anybody knows, i can see is it in this guy, i've seen a lot of players

like that from behind home plate, very, very tough to get out. they go with the pitch. they know when to be aggressive, when not to be, and i hope he stays around for a while. >> jim: chad moeller goes down on strikes. here is the first out of the inning. and the 6th streit strikeout for derek holland. >> rick: holland to me is going to have to experiment move agency round on the mound. this is the second strike won't i've seen in the last inning or so with the breaking ball inside, but he's had trouble west the fastball away pitching off that side of the mound trying to come in. i justify don't think that the oriole hitters should even look for the fastball inside off of this guy right now. >> jim: andino takeshigh. 1-0. andino giving izturis the day off. struck identity his first at

bat. runners on the corners, and only one down. there's a strike. holland pitched in 43 games in his minor league career, 41 of those starts, as he raced through the texas mean league system. >> rick: the one thing you don't want to do in this situation, first and third, is hit the ground ball down there to third base. you give that third baseman an option to go home and cut the run down, or if it's a hard hit ground ball, go are two two with a right-handed hitter up there. you see are the third baseman even with the bag and even as the pitch comes to the plate, he moves in a little bit closer. so stay away from third base. fly ball to the outfield, sacrifice fly to the right side. anything you can too, but don't get caught with that breaking ball down and in and try to pull it. >> jim: 1-2 on andino.

breaking ball looked live missed inside. 2-2. >> rick: that's what they're trying to get him to do is hit that ground ball to third base. >> jim: fiorentino edging off the bag. 2-2 on andino. a run in for the birds. ball 3. he's had a lot of success with that tailing fastball to the right-handed batters, but that breaking ball keeps breaking inside off the plate. >> rick: well, like i say, right in this situation, he is trying to get the ground ball to the left side. they what he wants. he stun want to give them a chance with a fastball out over the plate. they already know he's a pretty good swinger in that situation. >> jim: and it's inside, ball 4. very good at bat by andino, who is quickly down in the count. and he works the walk. >> rick: not so sure that was a ball. i mean, i'm glad he walked him in that situation, now the

bases are loaded. you have one guy closer, but thatth was a pretty good- looking pitch right there. i don't blame him for being frustrated with the call on the umpire. >> jim: wiggington at third, fiorentino at second, and robert andino is at first for brian roberts. >> rick: of course you don't want to look at joe west cross eyed, do you, jimmy? >> jim: 32nd year in the major leagues. he is the crew chief here, and that one is too tight. 1-0. >> rick: you may have a very tough time getting a lot of really close calls with jo west if you give him any kind of lob at all. >> jim: brian is one out of two. he singled his last at bat. line drive left field, and that ball is hit for a base hit! over the plate. here is wiggington to score. fiorentino will score, and it's a 5-0 orioles lead!

big base hit for brian roberts. >> rick: that's why i say brian roberts is as tough as any hitter the orioles have with men in scoring position. he always gives you good at bats in those situations. why the orioles wouldn't be afraid to move him anywhere in the line-up when they need offense. look at this pitch right here. middle away, brian pulls it down the left field line. fiorentino good jump, scores easy auntie play. everything worked well for the orioles in that at bat. >> jim: and still only one down. pie takes ball 1. pie is 0 for 2. he has struck out and popped up to the pitcher on a bunt to attempt. outside again, ball 2. meantime, while the orioles now have a 5-0 lead on texas, the

angels have a 4-0 lead in kansas city. with joe saunders on the mound. so he angels with a four and a half game lead on the rangers score for the division lead in the west. could have an opportunity to open up a five and a half game lead. holland is laboring here. andino at second, roberts at first, with one down. there's a strike. pie took all the way. >> rick: is still going to be very tough, in my eyes, jim, to see texas catch the l.a. angels, because they just don't have enough depth right now in their starting pitching. goes, yes, they're pitching a lot better, they're pitching better out of the bullpen even,

too, but their starters with mccarthy, who already has 70 innings, and who has 80 innings, these guys, i just don't think they're solid enough, deep enough, really. they might have a shot at boost continue boston at all wavering going down the stretch, but right now it's going to tough for them either way. >> jim: here is ron washington out for a pitching change. so holland will go three and a third, and the orioles had a bases loaded in the 4th. 

 . >> jim: holland leaves, an not very happy with himself. five earned runs on six hits. walked three, hit another batter, did did strike out six, and leaves west the bases loaded, they're all his responsibility pop so rough outing for the 22-year-old, but here is dustin nippert who has spent time in the rotation for texas. so one nate inof ohio replaces

another -- native of ohio replaces another. well, you can certainly see what is so impressive about holland, the the fact he has the good fastball and breaking ball, but inconsist innocent the strike zone. >> jim: reimold flying one out. coming in is andino, and the throw is off to the line. so there's a sac fly, an rbi for reimold, and the orioles now have a 6-0 lead. >> rick: that's what you have to like about reimold is that he address this situation. he knows he needs to get a fly ball, at least a sacrifice fly in that situation. he hits the ball to the right side. andino scores 0 easily over there, the orioles have another another run. you're never safer in this ballpark. six runs up for the orioles, and still trying to keep it together. >> jim: the other runners did hold. two outs now in the inning. and here is nick markakis as he orioles have batted around.

markakis twice has grounded out to second base. that is very good situational hitting for nolan reimold to get that runner from third on the fly ball. those are big add-on runs. >> rick: we were talking earlier about that 40 home runs, and i think nolan reimold is going to get bigger and stronger just as adam jones has. he's already probably going to do anywhere between 15 to 20 home run in the season, so if you stop and think about doubling that production like adam jones was about to do before he hurt his ankle, we're going to have a couple of big power guys in this ballpark, and when they start pounding them out early the season, jimmy, that confidence builds, be whether & who knows what these guys will be capable of doing. >> jim: 0-1. well, when you

talk hitting with terry crowley, he'll say that consisten power the last part of the game to show hirst at this level. >> rick: it is. you're right. they have to develop a swing first. the confidence comes a little later. the power when they get bigger and stronger, and then they start luking for pitches when they guest ahead of in the count. a guy makes a mistake in this ballpark, there is no part of this park that is safe, right- handed or left-handed. easy to go out when you hist it solid. >> jim: roberts and pie take their leads. two down. markakis art the plate. looks like an off-speed pitch, and he swung through it. nippert was acquired from arizona. he was drafted by the diamondbacks in 2002, and was in the organization through 2007 before he was traded in to spring training of 2008 to texas. so he's in his second year with the rangers organization. runners will go, 3-2 with two men town, the payoff to

markakis is hit towards shortstop. andrus is there, and he get l get it to first. that ends the inning, but the orioles bat around and score 4. guthrie and the birds with a 6- 0 lead. éa,

 know knew when i see guthri missing in the strike zone but misses low, that tells me he is really on top of his game. a lot of move haven't today. i love to see that. he'll ably go very deep in this ball game today.

i don't want to jinx him, won't say it again, but just doing a pretty good job. >> jim: skyed to right, as cruz lines tout markakis, so after 3-0, he gets cruz and one down. davis takes strike one. davis was called out on strikes his first at bat. one of the three strikeouts by guthrie, and there's ball one low. davis is 23