tool at nats park. hernandez, on top of his game for 8 innings. but ubaldo jimenez, a little better in the rockies shutout win. tonight it's dodgers, it's nats right now on masn. >> bob: beautiful friday night in natstown. lots of folks coming down to the pal ballpark. the dodgers aren't playing dodger baseball right now. they have pitching issues of

their own right now. >> rob: these are two really good offenses. when they were in cincinnati, they had 28 hits. we've got a couple of those guys on our teams that can swing the bat. one of them is going do the hall of fame. pudge rodriguez, hitting about .450 right now. he's just a joy to watch no matter what he's doing. what a great addition to this ball club. he's a lot of fun to watch. and he has a lot of fun. >> bob: pudge rodriguez, leading the way at .449. dodgers have some young talent like etheir. they're hitting way up there, better than anyone in the league. it's their pitching keeping them glued to an under .5 00 record. luis atilano, good e.r.a. at triple a. >> rob: yeah. and he's a sinker baller.

>> bob: if you see ground ball outs tonight, the rook rookie is doing his thing. willingham is back in the lineup tonight. he's given the nats surprisingly good defense. a great overall start for the hammer. into every chili's kitchen? it's all in the "pepperation." take our quesadilla explosion salad. i hand-toss it with fresh greens, corn relish, and tortilla strips. add grilled chicken, and finish it with crispy quesadilla wedges. the quesadilla explosion salad is part of our entree plus an appetizer pairings for $9.99. pick one of our 16 entrees, like baby-back ribs or honey chipotle chicken crispers. then choose an appetizer -- all for just $9.99. for a limited time, only at chili's.

>> bob: nationals come in to this game with a record of 8-8 on the year. the dodgers are 7-8, two behind san. right now the dodgers have the worst defense in the league. they're offense, how about a .311 average as a team. they're leading the league in

runs. matt kemp is the young star. rbi total tied with ryan brawn for the lead league. andre etheir hits in front of him. major league debut for luis atilano, described as a sinker baller who can throw that from 90-93. i asked if we see ground ball outs if that's a good thing. he said, we just want outs. doesn't mat how we get them. >> rob: bright lights, big city, major league debut. he's just over a 2 e.r.a. spring training was one of the reasons he got here. let's see what he has, bob. >> bob: rafael furcal is

healthy again. he's 10th in the league in batting. the first pitch of his major league career is a strike. we're underway at 7:06. furcal as an on-base average of .716. not the most patient hitter an. there's a good sign. a ground ball to start the ball game. 70 degrees under partly cloudy skies here. you can visit trainsearch.com and locate an independent train dealer near you. it's hard to stop a train. >> rob: big thing for the kid, just try and be yourself. do the same stuff you're doing in the minor leagues. do it here. don't try and do something you're not capable of doing. >> bob: garrett anderson was in

the national league last year. he's now with the dodgers and off to a slow start at .192. he's always been around a .2 00 hitter. he had 15 years with anaheim. over 270 homers and nearly 500 doubles during that time. late reaction by the hitter. late reaction means the pitcher's got some late-moving stuff going. of course, the dodgers, other than maybe an inning or so in spring training, haven't seen this pitcher. that ball is out to left field for josh willingham. >> rob: he made him reach out and go for that. still a good sinker. he just smacked it in the outfield. >> bob: i'm not going to drop this stat on you because my

superstitious partner would throw me out. >> rob: just say it. >> bob: the nats have been playing good defense no matter who's out there. zimmerman is not back in the lineup yet. >> >> rob: i think pudge has spread the spirit of defense throughout this ball club. >> bob: here's etheir on a fantastic start. he's become one of the premier players, not only in the national league, but in all of baseball. he drove in 106 runs. right now he's batting .388, 7 for his last 16. a base hit to right. five-game hitting streak now for etheir. he came in with an on-base percentage of .455. >> rob: it was a good pitch, down and away. he just reaches out and gets

it. didn't get great wood on it. but when you're on fire, everything looked like a beach ball to you. not bad there. those two guys there are murders row by themselves. stay away from those two in the series. >> bob: with ramirez on the dl, if you can keep etheir and kemp in the ballpark, you've got a good chance to pitch to the rest of the dodgers and be effective. matt kemp, 7 homers. that's number one in the league. 21 rbis, also at the top. he's on an 11-game hitting streak. atilano going with his breaking ball. 2-0. chatted briefly with him this afternoon. he throws a slider and a curve

ball. his forte is that hard sinker. >> rob: bread and butter. >> bob: he got in on the hands of kemp there. weekend underway. game notes here in the top of the 1st inning. thatsix straight multihit starts for pudge. matt kemp, there's that long hitting streak. he is 16-45 over that streak. >> rob: when manny took a 50- game suspension, etheir, loney, and kemp took over the team. the owner, for a few years, was complaining that his youngsters weren't as good as other team's youngsters. >> bob: can't say that anymore. there's a strike. >> rob: and this kid is as big

as a house. he's got speed, power. very good center fielder. last pitch on the ups store pitch track. a little two-seamer. >> bob: he was recruited to play college basketball at the university of oklahoma, 20 miles from where he grew up. he told me last year, he said, "i wasn't a very good basketball player. they just liked me because i was 6'5"." he chose the right sport. matt kemp, 25 years of age. 2-2, offspeed pitch. really slowed down his bat. guzman to dunn. the top of the 1st is over. l, the 57th president of the united states. ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> bob: here we go, bottom of the 1st inning. the nats are 5th in the league, hitting .268. josh willingham is back in there. he leads the ball club, driving in 11 runs. good to have him back in that number 5 spot after a day off on thursday, at least most of the day off. the nats will face charlie haeger. he's a former cub. he went 1-1, six games, three starts last year for the

dodgers. there are some knuckle ball pitchers who throw the knuckler harder than others. it's like a fastball, 84. throws it right in there. nyjer morgan hitting just .236. there's the knuckler. stays outside, 2-1. he wears the same number as charlie huff, who has worked with him within the dodger organization on his knuckler. charlie is at their ball club called inland empire. >> rob: there's a fastball. he's actually got a curveball to go with the knuckle ball. here's the thing about the knuckle ball. i talked to phil, i'll tell you in a second. the hall of famer i talked to a

couple days ago. he said you actually throw the knuckle ball. the misconception is you're actually flicking it off the tips of your fingers. really, you dig your nails into the ball and throw it like any other pitch. he says, once you learn how to do that, it's just as easy to learn as any other pitch. >> bob: that ball is on the turf. he might be thinking three. there he goes. stumbles a bit. he is in there. nyjer morgan has one double this year and now four triples. >> rob: once it gets by the outfield, with his speed, it's almost a triple every time. he's thinking three. right here it splits the left fielder. garret anderson gets the helmet

off because it's bobbing up and down in his face. that lightening quick speed gets him to 3rd. they play a pretty shallow outfield. >> bob: rbi opportunity for adam kennedy who has averaged an rbi per game started this year. he goes left field, but it's slicing. good swing, 1-1. >> rob: when wakefield started that exhibition game. do you have any special words of wisdom to hitters today? he said, no. just go up there, be aggressive. this guy doesn't throw a lot of first-pitch strikes. wait for it to be in the zone. if it's low, let it go. >> bob: by taking the 5th we mean, he became the dodgers

5th starter. there's the third winningest active manager. adam kennedy puts the nats on top 1-0. two left-handed batters, letting the ball get deep in their stance before they take it the other way. >> rob: yes, that's putting it mildly. it floats at about 73 miles an hour. a soft knuckle ball. there's no rotation. see the tips dug into the ball. he hurls it about 73, 75 miles an hour. the knuckle is the fact that there is no rotation. it's just floating in the air, trying to pick a current. you got to just try and pick an area to try and hit it. so far, first two guys have hit it. >> bob: how many hitters can't

stand to wait? so many guys are lunging at knuckle balls. that was a great approach by morgan and kennedy. >> rob: i think it's going to be interesting to watch adam dunn against this guy. >> bob: so guzman with a runner aboard. if you have a speedy team, you can run on him because it's hard to catch. it's hard for a catcher to get himself in good position. a.j. ellis is 0-3 against opposing base runners. >> rob: you're bringing this up off the air. watch the catcher's mitt. it's almost twice as big as far as the size of it compared to a regular mitt. it's more a question of -- i think the quote from bob is, "wait for it to stop rolling then pick it up." that's how you catch a knuckle ball.

>> bob: 0-2 to guzman. a foul tip, and the catcher holds on. he couldn't hold on to one that hit his glove cleanly. the foul tip goes right in there for the first out. by the way, i was told by the dodgers that the myth mitt that ellis is using is a josh bard model, the former nat who went to boston. >> rob: there you see. maybe because it's bigger, longer, he's able to catch the foul tip. >> bob: belliard it playing shortstop. he and furcal will now trade places. belliard goes up to a 2nd base position. that's the shortstop. furcal, the only dodger on the

left side of the infield. >> rob: he knew ronnie wanted to go back to 2nd. >> bob: they did that because if adam pulls the ball, they want furcal turning the double play because of his great arm. that guy has a cannon, always has. adam dunn at .176 with a homer, 4 rbis. the count is now 1-2. >> rob: a lot of times a knuckle baller will have a designated catcher so throw to because it's no fun to catch him. it's an absolute battle. it wears a guy down. russ martin was given the option of catching haeger. he said he would take his day

off tonight. he'll catch the kid that throws 95 tomorrow. >> bob: adam dunn pops it up, left field. garret anderson. adam dunn's bat continues to be quiet. the dodgers and the florida marlins at 17 have made the most errors in the national league. belliard has 2. dewitt, a couple. that's not like the dodgers, who have always been built around good pitching and solid defense. >> bob: josh, with a .470 on-

base percentage. he has twice as many walks as strikeouts. >> rob: gets the fastball by him. >> bob: willingham, third in the league with 14 walks with adam dunn. there's the knuckler. >> rob: i know playing with a lot of good hitters over the years, some didn't even take batting practice the day they were going to face a knuckle baller. they don't want to see anything straight that day. other guys, they get upset. some of them, they think it puts them in a slump for the next couple weeks. so they want the day off. >> bob: kennedy got a tremendous jump. adam kennedy is in there. that's his third steal of the

year, the national's 16th. >> rob: as bob said, when he does throw the knuckle baller, you see him take off. he's actually waiting a little bit, going the whole way. as soon as he lifted that leg, boom, he's gone. you see the knuckle baller has a motion towards home plate. >> bob: willingham, left side. belliard cuts it off. the nats are gone in the bottom of the 1st. nyjer morgan igniting a triple to left center. adam kennedy then drove him in. after one inning, the nats are on top. geico's been saving people money on car insurance for over 70 years.

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umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. >> bob: nationals are on top. loney, belliard, and dewitt for the dodgers, top of the 2nd. jimenez only needed one of those homers yesterday. he was brilliant yesterday. loney is always a good average hitter. he's .313. doesn't hit for a lot of power. hits that one well.

but it's right at justin maxwell for the first out. 2nd inning, we're talking about all things that revolve around the number 2 at 2nd base. dodger jamey carroll was all over that. the dodgers signed carroll to a free agent contract. one of only two they had this year. the other was doug, who signed a minor league deal. carroll was signed for two years. here's belliard, who the nats moved to the dodgers last year. he played very well. traded to l.a. august 30th for right-handed

pitcher luis garcia. >> rob: he played so well, he ended up starting in front of all-star 2nd baseman, which prompted orlando to get out of l.a. >> bob: then they resigned ronnie to a free agent contract. not a guy you want to walk. belliard and guzman up the middle. you make a mistake, he'll make you pay. even if you're randy johnson. >> rob: looks like he was looking breaking ball. i was told by his teammates here that ronnie is always looking for a ball, middle of the plate, in. if you throw anything away, he

says this is his words, not mine, that he's not going to have a chance. he's looking middle in all the time. >> bob: dewitt, the 2nd baseman, is on a six-game hitting streak. >> rob: we both watched him last year. he could still hit. he was madman in batting practice. >> bob: safe at 1st. kennedy, a very good turn. ball just hit too slowly. >> rob: yes. it hits, dies in the grass. cristian charges it. great feed, great turn by kennedy. sometimes with a lefty at the plate, or a guy that's pretty fast, it's difficult to turn that over because the speed of the ground ball. it's one of the one times you want the guy to hit it hard to you. >> bob: here's a.j.

ellis. he's had a couple of rbis. he's from lexington, kentucky. a dodger's 16th round draft choice. he's had 13 at-bats at the big- league level the last two years. he'll get many more than that this year if charlie haeger sticks with the dodgers all year. they've got him catching the knuckle baller here tonight. this would be a great hitter for atilano to retire. breaking ball, fair. willie harris goes to 2nd. the nats are out of the inning. a one-out walk did not hurt. pudge is next.