the following is amans presentation -- a masn presentation. >> everything was going right for the nationals last night in the series finale against the phillies. it got interesting in the lateinnings and the outcome remained in doubt until ron villone threw the biggest pitch of the game. tonight, they face the marlins on their home turf just five days after ryan zimmerman gave them a parting gift they will not soon forget. 

 >> bob: from our nation's capital, south florida, beaches aren't far away. nats-marlins getting ready at land shark stadium for the final series of the year between these ball clubs t seems like they get together just about every week. in fact, last week they did. bob carpenter, rob dibble. the marlins only five back of the phillies right now thanks to a little help the nats gave them last night. one of the wildest and most fun ballgames of the year. >> rob: it was. livan hernandez was outstanding. he did exactly what you would expect from livan hernandez while the nationals are playing spoiler here trying to beat the phillies as many times as they can, trying to beat the marlins, et cetera. last night he was in total control, total command of the strike zone answered earned his first nationals win since 2006.

on the offensive side, it was a rookie ian desmond that did a ton of damage. you saw there driving in elijah dukes. then drove himself in with one of the farthest home runs i've seen hit at nationals park rand bob too. four rbi's in his debut. it was quite a coming out party. then, 8-2, the outcome was still in doubt, bob. up six in the ninth barely finished that one with a save, but ron villone did a great job. >> bob: and a great job by the young shortstop of hanging in there with chase utley all over him. now, these next 12 ballgames are really going to be interesting because the nats start here in florida, a day off monday, three in philly, three in new york and then they come home in a very unusual series against the western division dodgers. >> rob: hopefully, we can play the dodgers tough. the dodgers have a very easy schedule in the last two weeks. they played 12-final 21 games against sub.500 teams us being included in there. >> bob: and willie harris is having another interesting

year. on-base percentage of .363. three of his hits have gone for extra-base hit and he can play anywhere jim riggleman needs it him to play on the field. he visits with rob dibble next.

bob: nationals baseball on you by southwest airlines. trip at southwest.com. pnc bank, pnc, leading the way. land and i'm here with harris of washington nationals and, you on one team. all the time. not starting. you are starting. role you because of versatility. to to do what you're doing? a daily basis, much the same. ground balls at every

i might -- possibly go in at. in left field. as far as batting practice goes and just try to keep the same routine and stay upbeat. what you do is attitude. attitude to clubhouse. you're always up. favorite when i was still playing, we like willie harris. very special. basis, what when in the lineup? forward to one at-bat. the game. just one one opportunity. i thrive for. for my teammates. very difficult situation. millions of have that opportunity. and try do the best i possibly can facing a closer or game against anybody. tough

task tonight. not this guy. many guys can go you do and come up clutch in big situations. those big situations hit a game-winning home run? i don't home runs are those are are coming from. hit a couple. hit a couple big home runs. confidence i feel the plate. handle the bat well and it's all confidence. in the box, you're good to go. hear the nickname i have from you hot rod comes from the cut las that you have. cutlass that you have. a nice vehicle kind of loud. personality? >> not really. do. of my buddies back home, can do. this car.

the put on it represent the red and white. nice red can kind of my team. get it from. that we did fun with. in the work on cars. how it came about. rob: well, it's a classic like you. for sharing time with us. thank you. people really trust. gecko: yeah right, that makes sense. boss: trust is key when talking about geico. you gotta feel it. why don't you and i practice that with a little exercise

where i fall backwards and you catch me. gecko: uh no sir, honestly... uh...i don't think...uh... boss: no, no. we can do this. gecko: oh dear. vo: geico. fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.  >> bob: we are surrounded b some nasty-looking clouds leer in southern florida. that's pretty much the way it is around here. had a little sprinkle during batting practice. theal that's why they'll have a

retractible roof stadium downtown someday. done dunn hitting well against the marlins in the cleanup spot tonight. 12-96 rbi's. guzman back in there after ian desmond's amazing debut last night and josh johnson starts for the count it sixth time against the nats this year. >> rob: he's big. he's strong. he's 6'7", 250 pounds. >> tom: nats are hitting -- >> bob: nats are hitting .264 tied with houston. ninth in home runs. willie harris goes from interviewee to leadoff man in a matter of about 2:00. 81 degrees, cloudy skies, rain in the area. what else is new? not much of a breeze blowing at

the moment. johnson misses with his first two. under way right on time by the way at 7:10. willie having a rather unusual season batting only .233. the on-base percentage is 130 points higher. tight zone so far for tim welke, the crew chief in his 26th year. jim reynolds, chad fairchild another welke, bill over at third base. nats against the marlins, 4-11 this year. 0-6 here at land shark stadium. no matter what they've named this place, it's never been kind to the nats. and willie harris has a leadoff

walk. >> rob: pnc bank scouting report. miami. 5-0. he's 5-0 lifetime against the nats with a 3.50 earned run average in 10 starts. he's very happy and healthy. he's basically a year and a half since tommy john surgery. he's been outstanding and he helps himself. he's got three homers and nine rbi's this season. that was only the 48th walk, bob, in 183 innings pitched. >> bob: cristian guzman back in the lineup tonight. he's 4-27 over his last eight games. batting average add .295. >> rob: i think the fact he brought it up a couple weeks ago. it's in the lineup. you had trouble in a certain lineup. you can talk yourself into a bad game. walked the leadoff guy. he looks like he's throwing

with great velocity. >> bob: nationals running game virtually nonexistent since the injury to nyjer morgan. two weeks ago yesterday, morganstole nationals steals number 63 and 62 -- 62 and 63 in chicago. two weeks later, they have 67. they've stolen four base over the last two weeks. >> rob: all the teams around major league baseball wearing red hats today with the red, white and blue in their logos

in the remembrance of eight years ago today, september 11th, when we were attacked. >> bob: good numbers by guzman against johnson. the count goes 2-1. >> rob: there's the hat. wondering does it really go well with the green and black. all the players are honored to honor those who lost their lives eight years ago. >> bob: as the nats did at home last night. >> rob: yep. ryan zimmerman had a tough series against the phillies. >> rob: i know you remember the letter that the late jack buck red when did return to playing baseball and he asked the

question should he be here? should we be here playing baseball again? he said, "yes, we should." that's what america does. >> bob: that was the monday night after the previous tuesday that was 9/11. >> rob: dust ourselves off, regroup and come back harder. >> bob: guzman on a hard breaking ball down and in strikes out. >> rob: well, with much better stuff than joe blanton. same mentality. northrop grumman, he'll throw you a lot of fastballs, a lot of hard breaking balls. they'll be right in the hitting zone. you just to catch up to t he's only allowed 12 home runs in 183 plus innings pitched this season. >> bob: that will bring up ryan zimmerman against the phillies went 1-13 with one walk and no rbi's. so since his big swing against

the marlins on sunday, he's done very little. except play great defense. >> rob: yes. >> bob: that never gets affected by what's going on in the batter's box with ryan.   willie harris has taken sev aggressive leads. hasn't run yet. this is where you might want him running. ryan zimmerman hits into a lot of double plays, 19 of them to lead the nationals. a lot of hitting room on the right side. the catcher, john baker, is only 17% against opposing base runners. harris holding. zimmerman overmatched and late. strike two. >> rob: that one popped in at about 91 miles per hour to josh johnson quite loose, lucid. this ball is just rising.

ryan can't hold up on it. >> bob: and some managers will run on 0-2 because they'll think you might get an jot off- speed pitch in the dirt or a nasty breaking ball. willie a-shorter lead now. and if he holds, the -- as he holds, the fastball rides up. >> rob: 95 up there. since there's not a lot of fans in the stands tonight, you can hear that glove exploding up here. >> bob: maybe 1,500 peoplewith us. >> rob: boy, are you kind. >> bob: the marlins announce an average attendance of 17,695. that's only better -- that's slily -- slightly worse for the 30th spot in the league to the 17,774 that oakland has every night. those are tickets sold. and zimmerman swung at a

fastball up. two outs. >> rob: josh johnson, a true power pitcher, 6'7", 250 and this is 95 chest high. see if you can hit it and ryan couldn't and he's an excellent fastball hitter. this is one of the best in the game. fifth in wins right now. he's in the top 15 in e.r.a. >> bob: here is adam dunn. adam hitting at .281.

>> rob: apologize. he's 11th in e.r.a. >> bob: about 30 feet into right field. and dunn goes high in the air to left that. ball slicing away from chris coghlan and it disappears! home run, adam dunn! two nights in a row with an opposite field home run. that's about as short as you can hit one in this ballpark. the nats have two on the board. >> rob: he knows himself than anyone else. i asked him about the home run he hit. he said sometimes they come. sometimes they come in bunches. he is not worried about getting to that 40th home run probably as much as we are. number 37. he is just so strong. this guy just blew away ryan zimmerman and then hawk comes up and takes him opposite field. >> bob: first home run josh johnson has given up in his

last three starts. willingham who has many a home run here. i guess that makes up for the fly balls you can hit here that get caught out in left center field that. ball probably went 340 feet matter maybe. >> rob: should i give you a math problem. 1,300 home runs in -- >> bob: that's about one every 18 innings. >> rob: there you go. pretty good percentage. especially a power guy that'ssupplying 95 to the hitters. you know, as willie harris so aptly puts, you run into a few here and there. there occasionally will be a guy who makes contact and wraps one around foul pole. only given up 13. very impressive. >> bob: and willingham on jean wrus strike three call -- generous strike three call will strikeout. adam dunn home run. good start to the series

tonight. in the dark. no peanuts or nothin'. in the dark. 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 ) ♪ tell me who's watching. ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ (announcer) it's right here. it's easy.

i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. anything before takeoff mr. kurtis? prime rib, medium rare. i'm bill kurtis, and i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t.  >> bob: adam dunn home runs last two nights. he now has 37 on the year. his rbi total has climbed up to 98. southwest.com lineup for the marlins and chris coghlan has been a rel revelation for them. he was in the middle of a long hitting streak when they were in town last weekend. in fact, coghlan in the three- game series against the nationals, two more hits on

sunday. he went 7-15. he's had .308 on-base percentage of .384 and j.d. martin takes the mound for his 11th start. he has a 2-1 lead to face the a very difficult lineup. martin marlins tied for second in batting average at .269 for the mets. dodgers at .272. they're third in runs behind the rockies and phillies and seventh in home runs. tough matchup in this ballpark. especially when their right- handers get in there because of that short porch over there in left field. >> rob: notice the up tempo. he has a nice tempo working already getting the ball and flowing it. oh, nice pitch. remember, work uptempo, defense

stays on their toes. numbers on him. >> bob: coghlan, nick johnson and hanley ramirez here in the bottom of the first. marlins start tonight five back of the phillies. florida won three in a row. and j.d. martin slips it by chris coghlan. good tailing fastball. >> rob: very nice fastball right there. hello again, my friend. we just met the other day five days ago he pitched against the marlinsment second time in five days he starts. when he's got ducks on the pond, .143 opponent batting average with runners in scoring position in his last seven starts and go for seven. he's gone six innings in 4-5 last starts, 6 2/3 twice.

get that number seven. i like that number. >> bob: ball went outside to nick johnson hitting .304. since coming to the marlins, nick is hitting .355. his 20th game as a florida player. >> rob: some like it hot. >> bob: yeah, and he spent two weeks on the d. l. with a pulled right hamstring, so that cost him some time. >> rob: good heater on the inner half. >> bob: i had the pleasurmeeting j.d. martin's parents yesterday. >> buck: he told me about half

his hometown of california was in san diego last week. increasing his on-base percentage average and somebody sooner or later will put a ball in play. only one ball has been hit and that was the home run by adam dunn. everybody else has struck out or walked. nationals defensively with cristian guzman back at short tonight. pete orr at second base. pretty much the regular outfield these days of willingham, harris and dukes and the nats are 12-12 in the last 24 games in which wil nieves has started. here is the league's leading hitter and world batting champion willie harris. a 20. -- hanley ramirez. a 20-point average above -- to right center. the outfielders can only watch t it hits the top of the scoreboard, goes out and this game is tied. each pitcher has walked a

batter before a home run. hanley ramirez matches adam dunn's 98 rbi's with that swing. >> rob: as you might expect, first pitch after a walk, hanley ramirez is hitting dead red fastball. j.d. martin throws a rising fastball. hanley ramirez, one of the best hitters in baseball today used a lot of that velocity against the pitcher and then the nice fluid swing and that ball will jack to left center field. >> bob: next up, jorge cantu. 2-2 ballgame with one out. this usually doesn't happen to the nationals until later in the games here. they've had a number of leads into the middle and late innings that they've lost in this ballpark. cantu drills one to center. as mentioned earlier, it's agraveyard for fly balls from there over top left center.

two outs. >> rob: guys are going to take you deep and hit home runs off of you. try to stop a little bit of the damage. the walk hurts as much as the home run because that puts another runner out there for hanley ramirez to drive in when he does go deep. >> bob: here is the catcher john baker. he's done a nice job for them this year. ronny paulino hits from the right side. marlins have 17 home runs and 73 rbi's from their catchers.

he lines one to left. battling the lights on a knee and josh willingham has it. each team with a home run after a walk. florida native elijah dukes will lead off in the second. pete orr and wil nieves to follow the red-hot elijah. what is it to lead? at pnc, it's doing what most benefits our customers. whether that's building more

certified green buildings than anyone on earth. creating online banking tools for the next generation. or making a 10 year, $100 million investment in kids. it's how we've always done business. and will for a very long time to come. pnc. leading the way. so you can record in one room and watch in up to six others. you can do that with cable! living room. bedroom. kitchen. thank you. (announcer) get the amazing multi-room dvr from verizon fios free for 3 months. you can watch recorded shows in up to seven different rooms. plus get all three fios services, tv, internet and phone for the price of two. hurry, this offer won't last. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v  >> bob: hanley ramirez hit 100th career home run in washington last weekend.

he keeps on going. martelliens are fourth in the bottom in defense in the national league. ramirez, eight errors. uggla, 11 up the milled at short. coghlan and ross reliable on the corners and between the speedy cameron maybin, cantu and nick on the corners. and dusty baker, the -- john baker, the catcher. elijah dukes leads off, top of the second. he bounces a base hit. dukes has hit safely now in 15- 16 last games. he had a bunt base hit and a couple of walks last night and i'm going to have to start keeping track of his on-base efforts on a daily basis. it's right up around .344 now with his base hit. he has improved that dramatically over the last 2 1/2 weeks. >> rob: i think if you witnessed the first inning where he struck -- josh johnson struck out the side, you don't want to fall behind this big man. he throws hard. he started to elevate the fastball when he got ahead of

the hitters. >> bob: pete orr gets sawed off. >> rob: gets jammed and pops up weakly to cantu at third base that. might be a little bit more you saw pete orr couple and swing at the first pitch. guy has great stuff u don't want to get behind 0-2, 1-2. then you're in a hole that not many guys come out of. >> bob: things happening quickly here and the number eight man for the nats is wil nieves. in the first inning, marlins giving up the two runs have given up 94 first-inning runs this year. for some reason, their pitchers have a problem coming outs of the gate. that's the most runs they've given up in any frame this year. i would think that the more runs you give up in the first inning, the younger your pitching staff is.

mark wiley the pitching coach with an interesting expression. >> rob: what was that look? it's the luke look of disgust. >> bob: maybe because he fell behind 1-0. josh has been behind a few hitters this year. i wouldn't look like that if my guy had an 86-mile-per-hour slider he can throw at any time. >> rob: yeah, and won about 70% of his starts this year and about 85% of his starts since he came back from the disabled list. >> bob: 16-20 last have been the so-called quality starts. and 13-42 since he came back from the tommy john surgery. amazing recovery last year when he came back late in the season went 7-1 -- >> rob: 14 starts. >> bob: yeah, 14 starts coming back. >> rob: phenomenal boirt. >> bob: everybody knew he was in line for a big year. he's looking for his 15th win tonight. rand nieves bounces one that

sends uggla to his left and dukes would have been safe anyway. dan uggla made a really bad choice. >> rob: why are you trying to get that play? >> bob: the pitcher is coming up next. all you need is the second out. you no they'll give j.d. martin a chance to bunt a couple of runners ahead. they're going to call it a fielder's choice. no error because there was no further advancement. >> rob: you've got to know the guy on first base right here. dan uggla has to noe liningia has great speed. elijah right there is doing a great job taking out hanley ramirez. i think he spiked him, but you almost get your shortstop into a jam right there by throwing that to him like a quarterback throwing a pass over the middle. >> bob: to make that mistake for the secretary out with the pitcher coming up. >> rob: and you have a not so speedy catcher running down the first-base line rand you're 150 -- and you're 10 feet from first base. >> bob: j.d. martin identifies a tough pitch to bunt. watch how late dukes goes into second here. >> rob: he clips him there and

looks like he gets him on the right -- the inside of the right leg and ramirez immediately went down. ouch. thanks. >> bob: martin, one sacrifice this year. josh johnson keeping that ball up. he's going to say, ok, bu buddy, you want to bunt, you'll have to bunt my high fastball. tough to get over the top of. >> bob: he gets it in the air around by, two outs. nats are taking deposits for

season tickets next year. you can place your department by -- deposit by going to nationals.com. 202-675-nats or visit the web site to enjoy guaranteed seating or sing of savings over single-game prices. discounts on exclusive events. make your deposits now. willie harris bats instead of the pitcher being the final out in the top of the second. he's got a good, hard breaking ball going. that thing was either a hard slide or -- hard slider or cutter. 89 with movement. >> rob: that was a cutter. >> bob: wow. is that as hard as a slider can be thrown, 89? it's hard to believe a breaking ball could be any harder than that.

>> rob: i used to throw a slider low 09s. it depends on the grip. remember, i didn't consider it a slider because i threw it straight over the top and tried to bury it. i was just basically holding it on the side of the ball. when you're looking at mariano rivera throw a cut fastball, he's not trying to cut t he's throwing a four-seamer. you're seeing when he throws 95, he's throwing a 95-mile-per- hour cutter naturally. randy johnson used to throw a low 90s slider. norm charleston threw a low 90s fourth ball. >> bob: he must have had some strong fingers. >> rob: strong fingers. he also when he tore the ligaments in his elbow, the next pitch when he tore his ligaments 94. that's one tough texan.

>> bob: 1-2 to willie harris. one tough georgian. i love visiting with him hearing you you interview him. >> rob: he's a great kid. >> bob: i hope he takes us for a ride in that cutlass before the season is over. fastball up. >> rob: you have to have a rag top as much rain as you get in dc. >> bob: don't they say red cars get pulled over the most for speeding? not willie. >> rob: not willie. big gap in right center. fans on the corner. harris place his bat down and -- lays his bat down and nats are gone in the top of the second. we love duffel bags, golf bags, small bags. these bags right here-- they fly free! i wouldn't pay to fly in here. why would these airlines charge for bags? why do you charge for bags? what's a flight without bag fees? about a hundred bucks cheaper.

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 >> bob: jim riggleman's nat two. fredi gonzalez marlins two. tomorrow night, marlins for a post-game concert. they're starting their game at 6:10. we will not be able to be with you till 7. 067895 because of the mlb national television rights deal with fox. during the early part of the game, go to masnsports.com, live game blogs and stats and then rob and i will join you live at 7:05 straight up. we'll have highlights for you of what you might have missed up to that point. after the game, "nats xtra" as usual. rheaume riggleman's post-game press conference, player interviews, highlights with johnny and ray coming up

tomorrow night. by the way, byron kerr for johnny holliday, it is a terps football saturday tomorrow. here is dan uggla followed by cody ross and cameron maybin. bottom of the second. 17 pitches. 10 strikes for martin in the first inning. he throws a hard breaking ball to the corner. 2-1. dan uggla hitting only .242, but maybe the heaviest .242 in the league. fastball.

he's late for it. 27 homers. 75 rbi's. so, uggla has a chance for another 30 home run season. he will be a free agent next year. there's some conversation about his availability going on around this league. not the best defensive second baseman. if you have the kind of ball club where you need some offensive damage from that position, not usually associated with that position -- >> rob: right, he hits like a third baseman or first baseman that you would want to hit with power. he doesn't plate greatest second base as you said. >> bob: we've already seen that tonight. >> rob: that's a bad choice ifeel on his part. take the sure out at first like you said. pitcher is coming up. you'd have two outs. j.d. martin at the plate. instead, you have a pitcher coming up with one out and had that -- that ball gone farther, maybe elijah dukes would have gone to third.

>> bob: martin his release on that breaking ball. >> rob: i think the worse part of the -- worst part bf that is maybe the best player in baseball hung out to dry. god forbid, elijah dukes the size of a linebacker coming in on hanley ramirez. >> bob: and uggla will pop it into right center. elijah dukes with the call for the first out. three straight through the air for martin since the ramirez home run. next up cody ross. one note in the league today, cubs won their fourth straight beating cincinnati 6-4. mets- phillies are scoreless in the second inning. figueroa and hamels at citizens bank park tonight and the other team in the east, atlanta, throws jair jurrjens tonight at st. louis. a lot of rain up the northeast part of the country. red sox have rain.

boston. all the u.s. open events were wiped out today. >> rob: good fastball by j.d. martin. >> bob: he has a good heater tonight. >> rob: kind of hard to play tennis in the rain. ball gets a little heavier, a little wet. >> bob: a little slippery on the hard court. >> rob: get that top spin -- >> bob: you ever play tennis? >> rob: yeah, i love tennis. play a lot of doubles. >> bob: you don't strike me as a baseliner. you would be more of a chip and charge kind of guy. >> rob: i would agree with that. i have a good two handed backhand because i swung the bat backhanded so i have good control of the tennis racket with both hands. >> bob: i'm trying to find a sport you didn't play. that's low and away. >> rob: i can't do any golf not well. it's a lot different saying i play golf shooting 100. i love it. >> bob: we all try. >> rob: put my work in.

cody ross is on a five-game hitting streak as he faces j.d. martin here. 8-22 last. he's having another good year. 21 homers, 81 rbi's. he's hitting well against the nats this year. martin gets him underneed that -- underneath that one and adam dunn has the age from first base. two outs. that will bring up the number eight hitter cameron maybin. marlins at home this year not spectacular. 39-33. they're also over .500 on the road. they're 10 over. the nats all kind of road problems this year. 19 wins, 49 losses and 0-6 against fredi's marlins here. this is an organization that

gets a lot out of a relatively small payroll although they are paying hanley ramirez lots of money w uggla coming due, will they be able to keep him? their new ballpark is still more than two seasons away. 2012, they have broken ground on their new park. right jim dowd side downtown miami at the site of the old orange bowl. there's an illustration of the retractible roof stadium. that's right down the middle and maybin is gone. j.d. martin with his second strikeout. a 1-2-3 second. guzman, zimmerman and dunn straight ahead. of the plane in the dark. no peanuts or nothin'. and then if your bag wants to bring one of its little bag friends for company, they charge another $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 ) what is it to lead? at pnc, it's doing what most benefits our customers. whether that's building more certified green buildings than anyone on earth. creating online banking tools for the next generation. or making a 10 year, $100 million investment in kids. it's how we've always done business. and will for a very long time to come. pnc. leading the way. so you can record in one room and watch in up to six others. you can do that with cable! living room. bedroom. kitchen. thank you. (announcer) get the amazing multi-room dvr from verizon fios free

for 3 months. you can watch recorded shows in up to seven different rooms. plus get all three fios services, tv, internet and phone for the price of two. hurry, this offer won't last. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v  >> debbi: we're notded up at 2- 2. there was a familiar face  the nationals clubhouse. dmitri young lives just down the road from here. i asked if he would like to come back to the nationals. he is a free agent after the season. >> i would love to in a sense where i can come up here and they let me work back in the big league playing shape and i'd like to help this team turn around. if i had the opportunity. if not, i still think it's going to be a great organization in years to come. >> debbi: dmitri told me he understands he may not be able to catch on with another team next year. i asked him if he consideredcoaching.

he said, yes, that is something he'd be interesting in. >> bob: that's a fair ball -- thank you, debbi -- caught by coghlan. we had a funny moment in the clubhouse because this young man of 12 years of age sat between strephen strasburg and me at one of the tables and strasburg said who are you? he said, i'm a nats prospect. >> said, no, i'm owen young. i'm dmitri's 12-year-old son. the kid is about as big as any kid you would see in college. he's tawls tall, muscular look. we were thinking we better czech check out this owen young kid in a few years. strasburg had a rather surprised look on his face. i think he asked do you think you could strike me out? [ laughter ] i think strephen strasburg can strike out anybody he wants to. here is ryan zimmerman who suddenly is 1-14 last.

he's hitting well in this ballpark. i think it was 2007 when ryan's first two homers of the season were grand slams and both of them were against the marlins. he's hit 28 homers this year and driven in 93. one of those ballparks where everything looks like it's right on top of you. if you're pavinner, that left field scoreboard seems so close f you're a hitter, josh johnson looks like he's 40 feet away. this is a different kind of look here because of the football configuration and zimmerman's on as johnson's second walk. how about the last two home runsgoing opposite way for adam dunn? >> rob: i think the more patient he's been, bob, the

more he says i can get to that ball. remember, we got on him a lot earlier in the season because he was letting those balls go by and not expanding his zone. they were thinking, listen, sometimes it's not that great of a thick thing to walk -- thing to walk. get myself in. >> bob: that depends on the situation. i mean, tonight, it was two outs in the first inning. why not go ahead and get your shot and do some early damage. that's what he did. >> rob: early in the count, why not take a big hack? as big and strong as he is, he can hit it out of pretty much any ballpark. >> bob: 2-0. adam has some rbi's gathered here the last few days. two tonight. two last night and on two singles a pair of rbi's wednesday night. mark wiley to the mound. you saw him give us fawny look last inning while johnson was pitching.

something appears to be bothering the pitching coach about what he's watching. >> rob: i think you're looking at one of the guys that repeats his delivery as well as anybody. josh johnson doesn't throw an exorbitant amount of pitches. he comes right after hitters. walking guys and falling behind, that's not his repertoire out there. right now i think mark wiley is saying, listen, you need to close up the front side and challenge these guys. they'll not be able to hit your best stuff. >> bob: the ifntion he's thrown before this year, 157 when he was a rookie of the year candidate in 2006 when he went 12-7. he's at nearly 186 innings tonight in several -- and several starts to go. adam dunn taking another shot at left field. that ball is out of play.

6'7", 252, fourth round draft choice in 2002, josh johnson. adam dunn, two rbi's away from another 100 run batted in season.   >> rob: a little bit of che upstairs right here as he's been walking the ladders on our hitters with 95 chest high. hard to catch up to.

>> bob: and another one just like it. strikeout number five for josh johnson. >> rob: that's not the easiest thing to do to elevate a fastball. most of the time, you're taught throw downhill. throw on a downward plain. now, throw uphill. he throws the last couple going upward and adam is left behind. >> bob: phillies have a run in the bottom of the second and leave the mets at -- lead the mets at home 1-0. nats-marlins play top of the third here. willingham called out on a pitch he didn't like near the outside corner first time up.

josh missed 50 games with the marlins last year and was hitting .341 before the lower back strain put him on the d. l. marlins over threer three years he managed a homer every 22 at-bats. he always saw at least four pitches per plate appearance. the next one will be the fourth of this appearance. pretty good-looking breaking ball. it was called ball two. 20 home runs or more, his regular territory. he's hit 22 this year. ball away. you heard tim welke say, 3-1. the nats are one of those teams

that make pitchers like josh johnson work to get his outs. he's had high-pitch games against the nats this year. when nats saw him last week, he was well up into the -- well, he was at 82 going only five innings. because eventually 9-5 florida win. nick johnson plays behind ryan zimmerman who is moving.

>> rob: johnson now up to 51 pitches as the patience is starting to pay off at the plate. >> bob: it sure is. 21 pitches in the first inning. 13. now another long frame for him. did he go? no. the inning will get a little longer on the jim reynolds call down at first base. two walks for johnson in this inning and elijah dukes on the way. >> rob: let's look in and see if the hammer holds it back. that looks like he didn't break the plain from that angle. there you have the plate right by the front foot. i would say that's a hold of the bat right there. >> bob: snapped it back just in time. zimmerman to second. willingham on first. on the first pitch he saw

tonight, elijah dukes bounced a base hit to left field. >> rob: he's swinging second life into it. >> bob: yes, he does. breaking ball. in situations like this, it's a very interesting ballpark because left field is so short the left fielders can cheat in and make a play at the plate close in a situation just like this with two outs. not always the case with a power hitter like dukes. a lot like fenway with their cozy left field or baltimore on the right field side. outfielders can cheat in. only .330 -- 330 down that line. chris coghlan's probably only about 250 or 60 feet from home plate. dukes will bounce one over to the bag and cantu goes right to it and the nats strand two. they left four. it's a 2-2 game after 2 1/2.