quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding ofce t setor from north dakota. mr. dorgan: i ask that the quorum call being vished. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. dorgan: i know that the senator from connecticut has been on the floor all of this day managing a piece of legislation and it appears to be kind of a lonely process down here, managing what is a very important piece of legislation dealing with financial reform or wall street reform. and i know that he perhaps is as frustrated as everybody is that we're not making more progress and being able to vote on amendments. so -- but i know work is going

on behind the scenes as well, so my hope is that we'll be able to move ahead and get a good piece of legislation through the senate. i don't know what time it will takers but far more important than the time it takes is that we get this right because the consequences of not making the changes necessary would be that we would experience, again at some point in the future, the kind of financial crisis that we have now seen in the last couple of years in this country. and it is a significant, significant crisis for a the love americans. about $15 billion of lost value, but that's just an agray gatt nawm doesn't mean much. millions and mstles people are losing their jobs, losing their homes, many of them losing hope. that's the kin consequence of ts kind of recession, the deepest since the great depression. following the great depression, if you read the history -- the economic history of this country, you find that a number of very aggressive pieces of legislation were put in place to

protect our country and to make certain that couldn't happen again. and those -- that legislation -- those pieces of legislation that were enacted into law lasted for a long time, 70, 80 years to protect this country's economic interest. but what happened was a number of people decided they were old-fashioned provisions and needed to be modernized and so we had modernization legislation that i did not support but you've got to modernize the system. well, that moderniz modernizatia decade ago caused massive problems. so now we're back, having experienced the last couple of years' depend recession, that is not some economic disaster. it is man maid, it is caused by the most unprecedented greed in this country has, i think, ever seen among some of its largest financial institutions. it's important i think to say that banking is critical to this

country's economic existence. you need production and you need finance. so, i mean, i don't think we ought to suggest -- and no one has -- that finance is not worth whim it is very important. you can't produce. you can't have businesses without the ability to provide finance for those businesses. but over a couple of centuries of economic history in this country sometimes producers have had the you were hand. sometimes those that finance production have had the you were hand. for the last 15 or 20 year, i think those that finance production in this country have had an unbelievable amount of clout and sway and have had the youpper hand and that has caused us very serious problems. i'm not going to today talk about the origins of this latest economic wreck. i've done that many times before. but starting with the subprime loan scandal that permeated much of this country, unbelievable greed, us unbelievable greed an

excess, securitization of bad mortgages that were rated triple-a and passed from one to another from mortgage bankers to hedge funds to investment banks and back and forth, and then even that wasn't enough. passing a bunch of bad paper around where everybody was making big fees, not knowing what they were buying and in some cases buying things they wouldn't get from people who never will it. that wasn't enough and then we created synthetic securities and naked swaps and what that was is, i guess, natural extension by those who are greedy enough to believe that you've got have something to trade no matter what the circumstances. so they created instruments, debt instruments, and others -- and securities dhash had no value. i mean, they were related to -- i shouldn't say debt instruments. they were related to values of things that were extraneous, so no insurable trvment a naked credit default swap is something that has no insurable interest

on either end. it is simply two people who have decided to make a bet on whether some bondholder over there may or may not default, despite neither of these people have an economic interest in the bond. they could have just put it down son black or red on a roulette wheel or played the craps table or played black? jack. it is not investing, it is just betting. all of that went on and a dramatic amount of new leverage, new borrowing -- i can't even begin to describe the excess that occurred -- and i guess the final circumstance for me to see what was wrong with all of this was that in 2008 the wall street firms -- quote, unquote -- "wall street "querntioned a net negative of $35 billion; that is, had $35 billion of loss and

paid, i believe, $17 billion in bonn uses. i mean, that represents sort of the most egregious exis hes that you can imagine. so i think the question now and the circumstance that exists that i know the senator from connecticut cares a lot about is how do you restore confidence? how do you restore some confidence for the american people going forward? if we don't have confidence, this economy is not going to expand and rebound. i think the answer is you put together a piece of legislation called wall street or financial reform and construct it the right way to try to make certain the things that were done can't be done again, to make certain the kind of economic wreck that occurred cannot happen again. so, my colleague from the banking committee, the chairman of the banking committee, senator dodd, i think he and others have done really quite a good job of putting together a piece of legislation that moves

in that direction. it can be improved, in my judgment, and perhaps will be. i know he would agree with that as well. there are other ideas that can be brought to the floor of the senate on this legislation. i'm going to talk about two of them just ever so briefly. actually three, but one of them will be very, very quick. senator grassley and i will intend to offer an amendment that says the federal reserve board you must disclose who you were providing loans to out of their loan window, the first time in history to investment banks. you must disclose who you provided loans to, who got those loans, what the terms were and how much those loans amounted to. two federal courts -- the district court and the phrao*els appeals court -- ordered the fed to do so. the american people they felt deserve to know. senator grassley and i tomorrow will offer an amendment that said the law will require you to make that disclosure. the american people deserve to

know. madam president, the other two issues quickly, one is on too big to fail. this is central to the bill. there are a lot of ideas about trail. mine is -- about too big to fail. mine is, i think, the most direct, the most decisive and i think the most effective. if the financial stability council decides an institution is too big to fail, that is by definition the construct and size of that organization would create a moral hazard to this country, would create unacceptable risks and grave risks to the future of the entire american economy, if that is the case, if that's the judgment, then it seems to me you've got to pare back portions of that enterprise until it is not any longer twaeupl and cause -- any longer too big to fail and causing grave risks to this kpheufplt it seems to me the most direct and reasonable thing to do is to simply require

that you restructure and require divestiture where necessary of those portions of an institution that have become too big to fail and cause a grave risk to the future of this country's economy should they fail. so i will be offering that amendment. i know it is different than some others. my colleagues senator brown and senator kaufman have an amendment which i will vote for and support as well on this issue. this is probably the most direct and probably the most effective amendment on the issue of too big to fail. finally, i am going to offer an amendment that would ban what are called naked credit default swaps. people want to gamble, just bet one another, there are plenty of places to do that in america. las vegas comes to mind. atlantic city comes to mind. but it seems to me we should not mistake betting for investing. and i think we ought to get back to basics in our financial institutions.

when you see -- i think we have something like $24 trillion of credit default swaps now that exist. i don't know what percent of them have no insurable interest that represent just wagers, just flat-out bets rather than investments. but in england, it was suggested that 80% of their credit default swaps were what are called naked credit default swaps with no insurable interest. if that's the case on this side, you're talking about a value of perhaps $16 trillion, $17 trillion of instruments out there that simply allow for the making of wagers that have nothing at all to do with the insurable interest of bonds. i mentioned earlier that mr. pearlstein, who writes for "the washington post," once observed a pretty simple question: why should there be more insurance policies to insure bonds than there are bonds to insure?

and the answer is obvious. they created these excess insurance policies so people could gamble. it's fine if you're gambling with your own money. but once you start gambling with the taxpayers' money, if you're a federally insured bank and the taxpayer is going to bear the risk, that's a different matter. so i'm going to offer these amendments. i say again, as i said when i started, i think all of us who come to this debate about financial reform or wall street reform, all of us understand an effective functions system of finance in this country is essential to the well-being in america. i don't think anybody wants to take apart a system of finance that has the different levels of fdic insured banking, venture capitals, hedge funds, all of these are important to this country's future. i'd like to see hedge funds and

derivatives regulated. i've talked about that with senator feinstein and others for a long, long time. it's very important we have a system of finance that has the confidence of the american people and that we need in order to finance the production in this country. ultimately all of us would like the productive sector to be repaired and to grow and to hire people once again, employ people and have "made in america" signs put on products once again. all of us would like to see that happen. that won't happen unless you have a system of finance as well. we had a hearing one day here and we had three businesses come to that hearing. all three were small to medium-size businesses. all three had sailed through this deep recession with some difficulty, but were still profitable. all three were ready to expand, ready to hire more people, and none of them could find any financing to do it. none of them had been delinquent. all of them had existing banking enterprises they had a relationship with and always paid back everything they owned

and never been delinquent, and yet they couldn't find the funding to be able to expand their business and hire more people. and that's what's wrong. even today, by the way, some of these record profits that are coming from some of the biggest financial institutions are coming not as a result of their lending money to people, but as a result of their trading in many cases in some of the same securities that caused some of the same problems a couple years ago and over the last decade. i think this reform legislation is essential. this is one of the most important pieces of legislation that we will have considered in this congress, probably the most important. and i think in many ways the consequences of what we do will be with us for a decade and more. and that's why it's important to get this right. so i would say to my colleague from connecticut, i want to be helpful to him. i think that he has written a piece of legislation that has much to commend it. this senate owes him a debt of thanks, and the bank committee a

debt of thanks. that doesn't mean we can't offer amendments that might improve pieces here or there, but this is an awfully good start. my hope is that he will have sufficient cooperation here in the senate to begin getting votes on amendments so that we can get through this, have the debate and get the best ideas that everybody has to offer, and get a piece of legislation that will give the american people some confidence once again. madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask that the calling of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i'd like to speak as if in morning business for 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: last tuesday president obama traveled to iowa. he visited counties and towns that have been hit particularly hard by the economic downturn. while iowa's average unemployment rate stands at

6.8%, lee county's unemployment rate stands near 11%. wappalo county's unemployment rate is at 9.5%. these were the counties that president obama visited. over 1,000 jobs have been lost in each of the three counties he visited since the recession began. the visit was highlighted as an effort to achieve long-term growth and prosperity by creating a new clean energy economy. during his trip, the president visited a seaman's wind blade manufacturing facility in fort madison. i had the opportunity to visit there about a year and a half ago. the president touted iowa's

leadership in the production of wind energy. this seaman facility is a great facility. i recall just a few years ago speaking to seaman's manufacturing when they were looking for a site for their first wind production facility in the united states. i told the executives at seaman's they wouldn't be disappointed if they chose fort madison for their facility because iowans are some of the hardest-working and honest people in the country. i'm particularly proud of the second in the nation status of iowa's wind production. i first authored and won enactment of the wind production tax credit in 1992. this incentive has led to the exponential growth in the production of wind across our entire united states. it has also helped my state of

iowa to become a leader in the production of wind energy component ph-rg. -- manufacturing. the emerging wind industry has created thousands of jobs in recent years in the cities of newton, west france, cedar rapids and fort madison. so when president obama says energy security should be a top priority, i agree with our president. when he says we need to rely more on homegrown fuels and clean energy, i agree with our president. when he says our security and our economy depend on making america more energy independent, i agree with our president. during a subsequent visit to an ethanol facility in missouri, president obama stated

unequivocally that his administration would ensure the domestic biofuel industry would be successful. the president and i are in strong agreement that renewable biofuels are a key part of our future. unfortunately, i believe president obama missed an important opportunity to make a push for the passage of the biodiesel tax credit. while the president was in iowa touting green jobs, this democratic congress has in effect sent pink slips to about 18,000 people who depend upon the production of biodiesel for their livelihood. on december 31, 2009, the biodiesel tax credit, which is essential to keep a young bio industry competitive, that tax credit expired. in anticipation of the

expiration of the tax credit, senator cantwell and i introduced a long-term extension in august of 2009. that bill was never considered last year. in december, as the expiration loomed i came to the senate floor to implore my colleagues to put partisan politics aside and pass a clean extension for biodiesel tax credit, because without an extension, i knew the industry would come to a grinding halt. and it has. but for whatever reason, the democratic leadership in the house and senate has never considered this extension a priority. and now the industry is experiencing the dire situation that i predicted. on january 1 of this year, about 23,000 people were employed in the biodiesel industry.

because of the lapse in the credit, nearly every biodiesel industry in the country is idled or operating at a fraction of capacity. nearly all of iowa's 15 biodiesel refineries have completely halted production. this has led to the loss of about 2,000 jobs in iowa alone. so the thousands of jobs created by the wind industry in iowa have essentially been offset by the thousands of jobs lost in the biodiesel industry. you don't have to take my word for the dire state of the industry. a $50 million biodiesel facility in farley, iowa, that's northeast iowa, announced that they laid off 23 workers, and cut the pay of the rest of the staff.

renewable energy group laid off nine employees in a facility in rolston, iowa, and 13 in newton, iowa. ironically the newton biodiesel facility is a mile down the road from a wind manufacturing facility that president obama visited on earth day just last year. and during president obama's trip to iowa, he was within a few miles of three biodiesel facilities that are idle, one in keokuk, iowa, and in crawsford, iowa. according to the to the iowa fuels association, an iowan affiliated with the biodiesel industry was able to speak to president obama briefly following a town hall session. he was with the renewable energy

group, told president obama that plants are idle and 90% of the biodiesel employees have been laid off as a result simply of the tax credit lapse. according to mr. albin, president obama assured him that he would not let the biodiesel industry die. he recalls the president saying something like this, and i want to quote, i suppose, what's a paraphrase by mr. albin -- quote -- "i'm the president and i promise i'll do whatever i can. look, i'm on your side, but i've got a congress to deal with." end of quote. well, i can understand what the president would say and i happen to believe in my four years that i served with then senator obama, senator obama and now president obama, are very sincere about the promotion of ethanol and biodiesel or

biofuels, whatever you want to call it. in fact, i had the good occasion of working with then senator obama on a senate bill when i was still chairman of the finance to promote the -- the -- the tax credit that is now in place so that filling stations can get a tax credit for putting in for e-85, ethanol, as an example. so i don't question president obama's response to mr. albin. and, of course, we do have a check -- have checks and balances in government, and the president has got congress to deal with. but i hope that congress -- or president obama will take strong action to insert himself into this debate in the congress. it seems that even president obama, then, by this quote is frustrated by the lack of action by the democratic congressional leadership on this issue. i ask unanimous consent to place

a press release in the record at the conclusion of my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: the board president of western iowa energy, wall lake, iowa, recently stated -- quote -- "due to the continued lapse of the biodiesel tax credit, western iowa energy continues to suffer from significantly limited sales and reduced sales forecast. due to these market conditions, we have made the difficult decision to idle our facility. today we're laying off 15 full-time employees. this represents more than 50% of our staff." end of quote. on february the 10th, senator baucus, chairman of the finance committee, and i worked in a bipartisan fashion to develop an 84 billion jobs package that included a one-year extension of several energy tax credits

including the biodiesel tax iincentive. before the ink was even dry on the paper, majority leader reid scuffled our package in favor of a bipartisan approach. that delayed package in the senate for well over a month until the month of march. now, it's been languishing for six weeks. where is the urgency? this congress jammed through a stimulus -- a stimulus bill that spent $800 billion to keep unemployment rate below 8%. and, of course, it didn't stay below 8%. and, yet, we can't find the time to pass a simple tax exemption that will likely reinstate 20,000 jobs overnight. we're four months delinquent in our obligation to these biofuel

producers with no end game in sight. the lack of action on this issue defies logic or common sense. so while the democratic leadership talks about creating green jobs, their hacks led to job -- their action has led to job cuts. americans are unemployed are due to the action or inaction of the democratic congressional leadership, particularly on this biodiesel issue. the united states is more dependent on foreign oil because of the inaction of the congress. the u.s. is more dependent on oil because of the fuels. rural economies are being stripped of this value-added agricultural product. so i urge the senate to take immediate action to extend this tax incentive and reduce our dependence on foreign oil and save green jobs. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana is recognized. a senator: thank you. before i begin, i would like to thank chairman dodd for his exemplary work on this wall street reform bill. it is the result of months of tireless work and many hours of negotiation by chairman dodd and his staff. this wall street reform bill will vastly improve the regry structure -- regulatory structure currently on the books. it creates a strong consumer watchdog on the fed, that will put consumers first ahead of wall street profits. this bill brings derivatives out of the shadows an on to exchanges so that wall street's bets upon bets never again threaten to bring down our entire economy. this bill accomplishes many

things and brings us a long way toward robust reform. but there is one area that we need to make stronger. we need to go further in addressing the rampant problems plaguing the credit rating industry. and that is why i intend to introduce an amendment to change the way the initial credit ratings are assigned and encourage competition within the rating industry, the credit rating industry. currently wall street firms that issue complex securities request and purchase ratings from nationally recognized statistical rating organizations or nrsro's. i'm sure all of you are familiar with them, moody's, standard & poors, and fitch. what you may not know is there are a handful of other credit ratings doing the same work.

but the big three agencies have effectively shut out all others in the market and it's easy to see how. now, in the current system the issuer of the bond pays the credit rating agency. and so there is incentive to rate every product that comes across your desk as aaa. if you give a risky product a low rating, the issuer can just go to one of the other agencies an shop around for a better rating. and guess which agency that issuer is going to go back to the next time. of course the agency that gave them the higher rating. does anyone see a problem here? i do. well, the problem is that the entire credit rating structure is basically one enormous conflict of interest. issuers want high ratings and raters want business.

the market offers incentives for inflated ratings, not accurate ratings. and these perverse incentives have driven the behavior of all participants. any rating agency looking to enter the market with better methods are or any rating agency that refuse to inflate its ratings will never be able to compete. my friend and colleague, senator levin, held a hearing not long ago in the permanent subcommittee on investigations. his p.s.i. investigative team unearthed some very unsavory e-mail exchanges between issuers and raters. e-mails which imply that an issuer could obtain a higher rating if he paid more money. and money -- money is what drove this industry, not performance.

as an example, "the new york times" reported sunday that 93% of aaa rated subprime mortgage-backed securities issued in 2006 have since been downgraded to jiang -- to junk status. this might be easy to dismiss if it cost a few wall street speculators a few bucks here and there. in fact, these junk security permeated the entire market. these junk securities were older working pension fund and working people's retirement funds. these junk bonds contributed to the loss of $3.4 billion in retirement savings during this crisis. to me it is obvious we need an entirely different model. my amendment, which i am

introducing with senator schumer and nelson, would finally encourage competition and, get this, accuracy in an industry that has little of either. specifically my amendment creates a credit rating agency board, a self-regulatory organization tasked with developing a system in which the board assigns a rating agency to provide a product's initial rating. requiring an initial rating by an agency not of the issuer's choosing will put a check on the accuracy of ratings. simple. my amendment leaves flexibility to the board to determine the assignment process. but the board will be inclined to make the process one that incentivizes accuracy because the representatives of the investor community will make up

a majority of the board. for example, pension fund managers and endowment directors. folks that have a vested interest in the aaa bonds they selected actually performing as aaa bonds. the board gets to design the assignment process it sees fit. it can be rand remove. it can be -- random. it can be based on a formula just as long as the issuer doesn't get to choose the rating agency. the board will select a subset of qualified credit rating agencies to be eligible for the assignment pool. the board will be required to monitor the performance of the agencies in the pool. if the board so chooses, it can reward good performance with more rating assignments. it can recognize poor performance with fewer rating assignments. if the rater is bad enough, that

might even be zero assignments. my amendment gives the s.e.c. a year and a half to carefully implement this new system with input from the board members. the result will be increased competition among the credit raters, generally, and incentives to produce accurate ratings, not inflated ratings. the amendment does not prohibit an issuer from then seeking a second or a third or ar fourth rate -- or a fourth rating from an agency of its choice. but rating agencies will be disinclined to give inflated ratings to a product if the initial rating reflects its true value. some smaller credit rating agencies who haven't taken part in the inflated ratings game will finally have a chance to really compete. an assignment mechanism for initial ratings will break up

today's credit rating alogopoly and create more accurate ratings. more accurate ratings will decrease risk and create more stability in our financial system. and that's what this is all about. now, wall street lobbyists may claim this issue's just too complex for congress to address. but imagine that your child came home from school one day saying that their chemistry teacher was offering an a to anyone who wanted to skip the final exam and instead pay 100 bucks. you don't need to know anything about chemistry to understand that this system of rewards is harmful. not only is the teacher making easy money, but nobody is holding the student accountable for doing good work. now, i don't know any teachers that corrupt, but the credit rating agencies have

demonstrated that they have blindly followed the perverse incentives of the current market. congress should not sit idly by and let the credit rating industry continue to expose our economy to great risk just because wall street insists that the problem doesn't have an easy solution. now, my amendment may not wearing the cowboys uniform. he is working out with the bengals. is this a good idea? >> well, it's a rift, but really if it works out, it's great. if it doesn't work out, no big deal. you don't have anything tied into the guy. they have 2 good quarters right now. this guy is coming there to earn a spot. i am telling the guy real simple: it has nothing to do with football and it's off-field, don't even think with coming back, because you are done. >> marvin lewis has experience

in dealing with players like this. he can inspire or not inspire. do you see a future for this guy? >> well, it's a rift, but high reward if it hits. he is a talented player and this is probably his last chance. if he doesn't figure this one out, he's out of the league. it would be a shame. talent can be a curse. when you don't live up to it, it's a curse. this guy has the talent. he has to figure out off-field how to conduct himself. >> on a different field, last night. >> [laughing]. >> this was a story no one could predict. it happened in philadelphia. the 17-year-old that got tasered. we have a poll on "sportsnation" and a lot of people said this was no big deal. what are your thoughts about how that was handled by the philadelphia police?

>> i thought they handled it correctly. when you go to the zoo and there aran mals and a fence and a moat and a big sign that says don't trespass. you go to the ballpark, you are a fan. sit in the stands. you are not supposed to go on the field. when you go on the field, there are consequences. he felt the consequences last night. what makes it more funny for me, he called his dad up. >> i know. >> and said dad, i am thinking about going on the feel. his dad said no. there are two things now. he is not coachable. dad says don't go. the guy ain't coachable. >> you played in philadelphia. you know what kind of element was out there. >> the fans cheered when he went down. a pretty good move. >> he had a little speed to him. the eagles might want to sign him. >> go to penn state. >> perfect. herm edwards always a pleasure.

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>> well, it's the talk of the town in the city of brotherly love. a 17-year-old tased by a police officer after running on to the park. the teen's father said his son called him before the incident

to ask for permission to run on the field. the father said -- well, we will talk about that in a second. i am joined by bobby valentine. >> i was not the father . >> it wasn't you. >> i was not there. i didn't tase him either. i get blamed for everything else but not that. >> let me get your take on this. we talked about it a lot from the u.s. perspective. in japan, did fans run on the field? is this an american thing or do the japanese do this as well? >> it's not a japanese thing. i don't know from where it came. in japan, they have had large fences all around the outfield and the playing field to keep the players in, i said, but probably to keep the fans out. i was the first to bring the fences down and make it more fan

friendly. the field is a sacred place in japan so there is no chance for a fan to do that. when they get an opportunity to go on the field, it's a very special day. >> no need for tasers? >> no, but this kid got off lucky. they had the holding tank in philadelphia, the jail. >> right there. >> shea stadium -- i won't say in the '70s what they did if you came on the field or were too drunk. i am glad police had sensitivity training. >> as a former player and manager, do you think this is okay to treat a guy this way? >> it's not okay for him to be on the field. >> okay to taser him? >> absolutely. theyey would not have the taserf it's inhugh main. -- inhumane. you have to get this kid off the field.

it might lead to copycat stuff. maybe somebody really being injured by a hit ball or something that happens out to the field. >> we will talk baseball now. >> okay. i have a funny feeling no one will run on the field in philadelphia tonight after what happened last nigh t. those in the stands could see a good pit ching match up. the cardinals are in town. wainwright against cole hamels. are these the best 2 teams in the national league? >> well, right now, after a month of play, plus a little, they have separated themselves. there are teams including the florida marlins, the mets, that could catch up with this pack. some of the younger teams are coog well. the cream of the crop is philadelphia who has won the last 2 years and st. louis who has been in the playoffs. >> st. louis, not only do they have wainwright and chris carpenter. now they have brad penny who has really rediscovered himself

under tony larussa and the coaching staff there. are the cardinals a tougher team right now if they play today in philadelphia. >> oh, absolutely. philadelphia is dealing with 1 ace and 5 starters. their pitching staff and bullpen leaves a lot to be desired. it will get better, but right now they are not pitching as well as st. louis or other teams in the league. st. louis has quality. penny a big guy and now learning how to pitch, that could be dangerous. >> you look at what else is going on around baseball. the national league -- the washington nationals they called up strasburg from double-a to triple-a. they are getting ready to take the next step with him. how would you manage the career of a young talent with an electric arm like this? >> a lot of us who have been

blessed to manage in the major leagues had ha surprised prospect come up through the ranks. i think washington is taking it slowly with him. you don't learn to pitch at the major league level in the minor leagues or hit. but you do learn that professional way of life. it's a little different or a lot different than college. i think he is sharpening his teeth on the experience of the professional baseball. not on the hitters. the good hitters are the next step up. he will make that after 134 days in the minor leagues. >> 5 starts in triple an and bring him up early june? >> he will be up when the calendar reaches that day and it's a tricky combination of things. you have the top 17% of guys don't become free agent until

their 3rd year plus. that's what they are waiting. >> bobby v. thank you very much. let's all be safe on the way home. no tasers. >> keeping you current on espnews: . >> coming up: tiger woods speaks out on the challenge ahead of him. perhaps he longer will be the number 1 player in the

it is a gorgeous nate night for to baseball. welcome to nats xtra pea game, as "pudge" rodriguez loosens up in the out field. evan will be behind the plate, and livan will be on the hill. a lot of people have been asking when is stephen strasburg coming up to aaa? well, today we got word he is heading to syracuse, right now he is with the ball club and the chiefs in aaa. >> , they talked about five games in double a, five in aaa, and if he dominates may see him

in june. and he has been throwing the ball very well. almost a five to one strikeout to walk ratio is very impressive. the young man is right on track. going up there and facing probable lay little more disciplined hitters in aaa, and i still don't think the result is going to be different. i think he's probably going to dominate there, also. >> we felt he pitched a terrific game sunday. we had several people at the game. his stuff was firm and crisp, breaking balls were good. his velocity was in the mid-to- upper 90s, and his stuff was

really good. he did give up more hits than he was accustomed to. we certainly never judged developmentle progress by how many hits, runs, and statist ins that are out there -- statistics that are out there. we judge developmentle progress by the stuff, the poise, the way he conducts his business. >> you know, i really don't think about it too much. i think i've heard june, whatever, and it's funny, time goes by quick. we've opened up april 4th or 5th, and now it's may 4th, and so is, you know, the days go off the calendar, off the schedule, and it will happen soon enough, but, you know, i'm so focused on this ball club, i really don't think too much about, you know, who might be here later. >> and of course that ball game for the syracuse chiefs against

the gwyneth braves after the marlins national game. one guy who has really been doing well at the plate is adam dunn. >> well, taking pitches just off the zone and gets himself in trouble, he has been, but swinging the bat exceptionally well on this road trip.

all he needed was to get to some nice warm weather down in florida and go against the florida marlins. that's ryan zimmerman. and debbie taylor is going to talk -- in fact, had a chance to talk to ryan, but he had a heck of a weekend against florida, ray. >> well, it's the darnest think i've seen in a while. even though he wasn't on the disabled list, he was practicing against live pitching, and came out, and he's had three doubles off the wall, swinging the bat exceptionally well. he can flat out hit. it's a tribute to his work ethic, that he was able to be on time getting in that batters box. >> and when you look at the batting order, having him back in the line-up makes it tough for a pitcher to have to face

adam dunn. >> well, this line-up i think is tough from top to bottom. we haven't been consistent of late and struck out an awful lot, but i think from top to bottom, the and i expect this club to score five runs a game as the season progresses. >> debbie had a chance to talk to ryan about getting up in the line-up. >> reporter: he had a great april, and i asked him about the month of april, and he said it was a lot of the work i did in the off-season that helped me have such a good april, and

that hard work paid off when he came back to work. >> the good thing about my injury was i could hit and keep the momentum going from before i got hurt to now, but just have to keep working hard and took the same things and realize it's so early. >> do you realize, too, what impact you vaughn the line-up, especially with adam and some of the other guys around you? >> well, we have a very deep team. if someone gets hurt or has to miss a few games, we have some guys that can step in and be just as effective. our core of the line-up when it's healthy is one of the best in the game, and it's a fun part to be a part of, and we take pride in it, and i'm just happy to be able to be with them. >> reporter: what do you guys want to carry into may from april? >> we want to keep doing the little things right. i think that's what made us win a lot of those games.

we played pretty good defense, our starting pitching did good, and the bullpen was unbelievable. >> reporter: just your thoughts on what this clubhouse is like? >> well, it's a lot of fun, we look forward to coming to the field every day. >> it's a pretty cohesive group. just a reminder, the all-star ballots are out. you can pick one up at the ballpark, or go to mlb.com and

vote, and ryan zimmerman is on the ballot. >> well, he'll sure have my vote. how about ryan's numbers against the braves, career- wise, 6 games, he's had 77 hits. 11 balls have sailed out of the ballpark, driven in 48, and a career average of .285 against atlanta, and just as ryan zimmerman gives the nationals the edge, you can keep your edge with just more men mustache and beard. the first of three between the nationals and the atlanta braves.

chipper jones having a kind of off year for the braves. hitless in his last 13 at bats. here is the rest of the atlanta braves line-up. let's take a look at it.

welcome back to nats xtra pregame. richard montgomery, never played major league baseball. what a journey it's been for him. >> well, it's all about higher education, when you get right down to it. story in the wall straight journal last spring stated that of all of the players, coaches, and managers on 2009 opening day rosters, only 28 actually had their college degree. of those 28 players, the brainiest was ranked as oakland a's pitcher craig breslow who graduated from yale university.

>> last season as a team they batted .331. now, wriggleman got a degree in face ed, and -- phis ed. he has an naia all american in 1974, drafted by the dodgers in that round, and while he never was drafted to playny the

majors, he has coached about 1300 games in the major leagues. another manager tonight of note is bobby cox. 25 years as skipper 0 ever the atlanta braves announcing, ray, this is going to be his last year. he was honored on capitol hill today, and you know a lot about this guy. >> i do. have known him 38 years. he was the manager of the new haven yankees that beat our three rivers are red ball club in the playoffs. i played against him. he's been a tremendous manager, a grace great force in this game. a general manager.

a guy that nobody says anything bad about, and that's unusual in this sport. a lot of back stabbing, a lot of people looking for your job, trying to get your job, but bobby has gone about it in a quiet way, but also a very intense way. he's also the all-time record for getting flown out of ball games, but he lets his guys play. he establishes that temperature in the clubhouse, goes about his business by getting to work early, wanting everybody to keep their mouth shut, care about the guy sitting next to you, and go out and play baseball, and that's what the braves have done during his 28- year tenure, 25 as a manager. >> wow. great success record for this guy, huh? we'll take a break and continue back with more. before game one, we'll talk about tonight's starting pitchers. livan hernandez for the nationals. this is unlike any car you've ever seen before.

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fly tonight think anyone is going to go through the season with a sub 1 era, but physically, whatever it is about the mechanics of his delivery allows him to throw a lot of really nasty strikes, a lot of pitches that are on the edges of the strike zone, in and out, and changes speeds enough that it keeps hitters off balance, even when he's in the middle of the plate. so it's -- you know, it's just the consummate pitcher. not a thrower. he's a pitcher. >> and livan is 3-1 with an era of 0-87.

beat the cubs a week ago, going 7-plus innings. >> he has gone 7, 8, 9, 7, as he's gone back and just thrown strikes. he's thrown almost 70% strikes in three of his four outings. he has only given up the two home runs. he's not walking very many people. he's been our best pitcher by far. >> how about this guy, kentucky -- kenshin kawakami has not won a game since last august 21st. >> well, a lot of breaking balls, johnny. doesn't overpower you, but he had a great career in japan where he had 11 years there with the dragons, won their equivalent to the cy young award, and was the league mvp one time over there. he hasn't done a whole lot this year, walking many more people than he has in the past, but these guys swing a little bigger bat that happens they did in japan. >> and i'm sure through an

interpreter, he is telling his teammates you have to score me more runs. they have only scored 5 runs in his four starts this year. >> that sounds like us with lannan last year. but the braves are struggling offensively, and they have a lot of guys down. hayward is their best player. they said that the other day, that he is the best player on this ball club, a rookie. >> and just a reminder, stephen strasburg makes his first start in aaa friday night. happy to have you with us tonight. beautiful night for baseball in our nation's capital. we will take a break. when we come back, we'll talk with wil harris, a guy who can do everything, and everything well for this ball club. that's coming up next.

>> willie harris is our guest tonight. you playth with atlanta in 2007. you played for bobby cox, a terrific manager. >> one of the best managers i've ever played for. you know, it's sad to see him going out of the game, so they say. i think bobby loves the game of baseball. he's definitely one of the best managers ever to manager the game of baseball. i had great time playing for him. >> i remember one game against the cardinals, you matched the career high 6 hists in one game, six rbi's in one game. you tried the franchise record. >> i'll tell you, that was one of the most memorable moments for me in baseball. just to be a part of that organization. and to have a chance to play for bobby cox, it ranks up there with the world series that i won. >> willie, when they talk about versatility, nobody in major league baseball that i can see can do it as well as you can. no matter where they put you

out there, you can be infield, out field, whatever, you're going to get the job done. >> you know, it just comes with confidence, just being able to go out there and have confidence in myself, knowing that i can make a play to help my team win. i would rather play defense than hit, and that's just something i've always taken pride in, and especially when i'm not hitting, i definitely don't want anybody else hitting. so i take that into the outfield with me. is >> is there a position you would rather be stuck at? infield, out field, whatever? >> no, i really don't have one anymore. i've learned to cope with my role, and i try to be really, really good at with and i enjoy it. i love being able to do different things and give my manager some flexibility throughout the course of the game, and it feels good to me to know that he doesn't feel uncomfortable putting me anywhere, and that's what i like and what i drive off of. >> and to do that does extend ones career, too, doesn't it? >> definitely. it's a plus for me to be able

to play so many positions and play them well. i think that added on a couple of years to my career, hopefully. we'll see what happens. >> you've been around a long time in the major leagues. which is more difficult, the physical or the mental aspects of playing? >> well, for me, i think it's more physical, because mentally, i'm just so strong in the head, and not a whole lot worries me, and i know that i'm going to have more good days than bad days, but this game of baseball is definitely a game of failure, but you have to learn to cope with it, because the pitcher is out there trying to make a living for his family as well. you have know you're not going to go 3 for 3 every night. there are going to be some o fors in there. you just have to learn from that and make the most of every opportunity you get. >> something you've done and done extremely well. >> something i take pride in.

i'm thankful. that's hour nats xtra pregame show tonight. first pitch coming up with bob carpenter and rob dibble here on masn 2. did the caveman invent fire? ♪ sweet times knocking at my front door, what else could i ask for, tonight. ♪ ♪ better times knocking... host: could switching to geico 15% or more on car insurance? host: is ed "too tall" jones too tall?

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uh uh. common sense ain't on the guest list. these people know how to do it. that's it, hey! . >> bob: it was an up and down road trip highlighted by defensive plays in the three wins, tempered by criticle mistakes in the three losses. tonight livan hernandez with the league's best era and his easy going style. the nats look to get a piece of the braves.

good to be back home. fans are coming down half street, and the weather is beautiful. for the nats, maybe the road trip could have been a little better, but not bad. >> rob: yeah, and there have been a couple of games we should have won even before the road trip, and that's the key to where we are right now. 13-12 record through 25 games. i think we could probably be a couple of gains better on the road. and then you look at the series. keep winning series.

livan hernandez is only 5-15 career against atlanta, but that doesn't mean a whole lot because he has pumped for so many different ball clubs, but he has been a revelation for the nats. >> rob: exactly. he lis by example. and he may not have 98 mile per hour stuff, burst he gets outs, and when they too hit, hit it back to him, that's the wrong place you want to hit it, but he's making these guys hit off the inside and outside 0 of the bat, doing a good job. >> steve rogers still holds many of the montreal pitching records. livan there, ken hill. those were all great major league pitchers, and livan is there with the most starts in mlb history. kenshin kawakami, is a typical japanese pitcher with a lot of angles and looks? >> yes, he is. has that hitch in this delivery. throws a lot of pitch process

am lot of different arm angles, and he's giving up some runs, but not getting run support. so the braves are not hitting when he pitches. >> bob: all right. how will he fair against some of the nats big boys? both of our big guys have gotten to this pitcher in the past. zimmerman 4, dunn 4. those two have half of the nats home runs this year. this is unlike any car you've ever seen before. this is power with efficiency. this is an interior that exceeds even the promise of the exterior. this is the all-new jaguar xj. the stunning result of taking a very different road. and dreams big.

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. >> bob: here we are back home. 20 games in 20 days. jim riggleman said today that adam dunn will get a day or two off during this stretch, zimmerman and all the guys will get that, because he wants to make sure that others stay involved with this paul club and get the playing time they all require. adam dunn hitting well lately. heyward, we'll see the young phenom in a moment, when he faces livan hernandez who has been nothing short of fantastic in this four starts. >> rob: and it's what you expect from livan. he'll pitch inside, he's going to give up contact, against colorado obviously gave up those two long balls on two mission takes and lost 2-0, but he's going to keep you in the

game, and he's going to go deep. >> career record of 159 wins, 152 losses. he has started 27 games in his career against the atlanta braves. 5-15 with a 5.27era. chipper jones is 0 for his last 14. we know he won't be hitting .206 for long, but the braves are 13th in batting average, 14th in home runs, and they're also 14th in runs scored. only the pirates and the houston aft troys have scored fewer home runs than atlanta. and we have some kids on the mound tonight. one of them getting the thrill

of taking with livan hernandez. >> rob: he just taught that kid a breaking ball, and he's only 7 yours old. >> bob: how to throw it 66 miles an hour. >> rob: great numbers to start the year, bob, hopefully tonight it will continue. 11 straight years of 30 starts or more. and not a fan of the braves, as you said, 5-15 lifetime against them career-wise. the postman, he always delivers. he'll go out there and pitch in the cold, when it was 43 in chicago, or tonight when it's 80 degrees, stop the madness. just go out there and do what you do livan. >> bob: defensively, the nats are ranked number 7 in the lash league.

beautiful night that the ballpark. nate mclouth tries to bunt

first pitch of the game. wire under way. clear skies, 80 degrees. north west at 10, just a built of a breeze blowing. nothing that will affect the game much. nate mclouth hitting only .172. livan goes soft and misses inside. mclouth with an on base percentage of only .299. he has struck out 19 times already this year. and we know that he's better than that, we know this atlanta offense is better, and that one just goes skipping foul. nate mclouth is a .260 career hitter. mike riley is the crew chief tonight. mike riley's 34th year. eric cooper, bill miller, and chad fair child have the bases.

>> rob: there is thatchange- up. >> bob: mike riley umpired the first ever game here in nationals park two years ago. >> rob: there is the grip as you hold it in between the sames, and it rides down and away from the guy throwing it. >> bob: 3-2 again, and mclouth

hanging tough fouls aa ball away. the braves starting tonight start a 9-game road trip. they went 0 for 7 in new york and st. louis, and swept houston, and now they take a 3- 10 road record to washington, philadelphia, and milwaukee. it was the worst road trip of bobby cox's managerial career. mclouth rips another foul ball. bobby cox had a wonderful honor today. we'll tell you that after we look at the standings here. bobby cox was honored on capitol hill today. mclouth with a good swing. that ball is going away from nyjer morgan, one-hopping the scoreboard. how about that at bat for a guy hitting .172? he makes livan hernandez throw

nine pitches, and then he gets a double. >> rob: well, livan is not going to give in, but he's not going to walk you either, and right there he throws a sinker away, looked like mclouth kind of cheated up a little bit more on the plate on that pitch. went over, covered the outside portion of the plate, and crushed it. >> bob: next up, one of the league's leading hitters. and who just is martin prado from venezuela? well, we saw some of his flashing last year as he hit .307 in 128 games. he has started this year on fire. right now at .354, fourth in the league. second in hits with 35. good with runners in scoring position, and 5th in the league with nine doubles.

>> rob: well, escobar was put on the disabled list with an abductor problem in his hip was only hitting .215 anyway. not like he was tear it will the cover off the ball. what a difference a year makes. >> bob: close, ask safe says bill miller. all the way up here, we could hear the base coaches hollering back, and mclouth did. >> rob: livan can handle his position. excellent glove man. a lot more limber on his feet than you might think he is. >> bob: well, rob, you know how important footwork is on that throw. you're doing a 180, and throw being in the same motion. if your feet are not right, that ball goes into center field. >> rob: well, and a lot of it

is field. you work on that fake move to third, to first. >> bob: lined to right, and right there and dropping to the ball is bernadina, and the braves have first and third with nobody out. error 9 on a ball that was just about letter high to roger bernadina who is usually a good outfielder. >> rob: he takes his eye off of it looking at the runner. he was seeing mclouth tagging. he has a great arm, but you have to catch the ball first, and that is just one of those mental mistakes that the nationals have been making lately that, bob, you just cannot make, especially in the first inning when you're trying to set the tone of the ball game. >> bob: talk about a way to help chipper jones out of an 0 for 14. hitting a hundred points under

his career batting average. left-handed he's hitting .196. the nationals will be happy to trade a ground ball for a run here, if they can get two. and chipper way out ahead of that one, rolling it over. you know, the bad thing about that bernadina play, on a line drive like that, the runner is really caught in between, so there was very little chance nate mclouth was going to be tagging anyway. >> rob: well, he was running back to the bag, and that might have caught the eye of bernadina, but you have to make the catch. you know, at this level, you have to make easy plays like that, and that's a routine play, you just squeeze the bail, take the out, don't worry about the guy at second. now you've got trouble. >> bob: 1-1 to chipper. big slow breaking ball fouled. >> rob: and if you're livan, you forget about the guy at third and just try to get two outs. >> bob: and if you're atlanta, this is what you need, because

your team is hitting .238. almost everybody except for prado and jason heyward in your line-up is slumping. don't want to give them any help and wake up their offense. and a 1-2. i to chipper jones with the target away. livan just misses low. chipper more walks than strikeouts this year. and that's nothing unusual for him. >> rob: ups store pitch track right here, sinking fastball just below the track, against chipper, tremendous career he has had. >> bob: we do a lot more than shipping at the ups store. 2-2 now. got him! to livan didn't get the low call, but got the high strike for the first out.

and chipper jones out of strikes for the 12th time this year. >> rob: the beautiful sinking fastball right there. 84, took something off. the one thing about livan, he's made over 400 starts, so he knows, okay, it didn't work against mclouth, i'll take a little bit off. get a little bit different feel on it. >> bob: beautiful swingback action on that fastball. mccann takes ball one. brian is hitting only .242. one of the most dangerous left- handed batters in the league. >> rob: don't go to sleep on mccann. he can lose one in a hurry. >> bob: in the last four years, he has had better offense than any catcher in baseball. he leads catchers with doubles, homers, rbis, extra base hits, and in clutch hitting with game-

winning rbi's, which is not an official stat anymore, but coming into this season, 52 of them in the last four years. they got rid of that stat back in the late 80s early 90s, because sometime this game winning rbi would happen in the second or third in, somebody some felt that rendered it rather relevant, and so it stopped at that time being an official stat. >> rob: but i don't agree with that. sometimes a three-run home run in the first or second inning is worth a game-winning rbi note. >> bob: agreed. big slow breaking ball for a strike. >> rob: not fair. >> bob: yeah, you're all gyred up on 2-0 to get a heater, aren't you? >> rob: yes, you are. this is a hitter's count, you get this soft kitchen sink right there, the 65 mile an hour breaking ball.

look at the knuckle curve. just tremendous. wow. >> bob: 85 on that heater. 2-2. it probably looked 93. >> rob: i was going to say on the breaking ball, if it was easy, everyone would have one. it's not, and that's why you don't see a lot of guys throw a 65 mile an hour knuckle curve. >> bob: and this time mike riley gives him the call that he didn't get against chipper jones. >> rob: i think mike riley is getting in a groove, too. >> bob: one out. i'm a little surprised, well, maybe not, because "pudge" rodriguez is catching, that bobby cox hasn't done anything with matter prado, but "pudge" gunned a runner out over the weekend, and runners have only tried to run on him twice this year. 3-2 pitch. i'll bet he's moving here.

there he goes. slow ball, and it's hooked well out of play. how do you wait long enough to hit that ball fair? >> rob: well, first of all, you know he's not going to throw 86 by you, or maybe he will, after the 65 mile an hour breaking ball. you try to keep the hands back. troy glaus, has some good rbi numbers, still not hitting for average or power. 14 games last year. they took a big risk bringing troy if here, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. >> bob: yeah, he was hurt all of last year. 3-2 again, and the bases are loaded on the walk.

>> rob: i was thinking how many more pitches livan has had to throw this inning because of that error. he's up to 27 now. >> bob: he offered.

no swing says eric cooper, ball 2. so you have a veteran who is 33 trying to renew his career, and then on deck one of the brightest careers it appears that is about to bloom in major league baseball. 2-1 pitch. lofted into center, nyjer morgan, and that ball fools him, he has to go to the track and get with and the sac fly will give the braves the lead, and that was almost disastrous. >> rob: well, the wind is not really blowing, but it's a tough sky, bob. the sun just went behind the stands. livan throws his pitch. it's a breaking ball down and away. remember, it's a big man that hit that, and they should know that that he has a lot of home

run potential and power. nyjer great recovery right there. boy, if that ball gets over his head, three runs score, and now you've got two outs, and that's probably the best way to face this rookie, jason heyward, who just 7 homers, 23 rbi, and he's just growing every day as a big- leaguer. >> bob: national league rookie of the month for april. they talk about his bat speed. he's 6'5", 240. and one of the things i've been told is that the braves are trying to get him to be a little more aggressive. you know, he doesn't know these pitchers, and he takes a lot of pitches. because, rob, he's pan little passive, he's had a lot of counts of 1-2, and 0-2, as he tries to get a look at some of these pitchers he's never seen

before. >> rob: throws him on off speed breaking ball. he does not want to give in to the rookie. have melky cabrera hitting .213 behind him. there are your rookie leaders right there. >> bob: 3-0 pitch. would bobby cox give him the green light? >> rob: probably. but he's so patient. talked to dave winfield about him, and he said he has that big reach like win field had, and likened him to freddy mcgriff, and a strong left hand hitter. >> bob: oh. the braves have said over the years that the green light from bobby cox is something that they call the privilege, and sometimes only have it ran hitters earn that after a certain amount of time.

that was nasty, and the count goes to 3-2. brian mccann will be running off of first base. another one. that was close, and the bases are loaded again. >> rob: does not give in. he knows how melky cabrera is hitting, just over .200. going to take his chances with him. he's not going to let the young heyward lose a ball when he can attack a guy right here strategically.

>> bob: what does he have in mind? >> rob: big curveball. no. >> bob: goes up and away with the heater. well, weave often said when livan hernandez pitches, he's out there playing camp with his battery mate. i'm sure that pitch count doesn't affect him the way it

does a yuck guy. >> rob: no. fade win down and away, and cabrera fouled it off. livan tried to muscle up, missing low and away, 2-2.

reaching out to get it, guzman. that might be the most pitches a pitcher has ever thrown while giving on one-run first inning. what's that sound? [ applause ] shut your eyes. [ vendor ] high life light! high life light here! get your high life light! are they really trying to serve the high life light here? [ speaking french ] this is the home of hoops and hockey. this is sacred ground. trampled upon by a canine beauty contest. it's making me queasy. [ vendor ] high life light here! get your high life light! should i handle it? handle it. handled. is that a portrait of a dog?

. >> bob: kawakami is 1-1 in three starts against the nats. >> rob: give you a scouting report on mr. kawakami. stop fooling around. you've had enough time over here. that record cannot be indicative of a guy in japan was 112-72, multi-year all star. he is a 7-game losing streak that goes all the way back to september of last year.

>> bob: here is nyjer morgan hitting .274, and a fastball is in there. >> rob: and the seeing double part, bob, is you will see him double up from every arm angle. throw breaking balls and fastballs from the side, over the top, fork balls, everything. >> bob: did he pull the bat back? yes says fairfield. >> rob: also a good fielder. did a lot over in the japanese league, yet to do a whole lot over there. >> bob: most games he has won over there, 17 games twice. >> rob: that's good, toy, because they only play 140-fame schedule, so 17, probably 18 or

19 over here. >> bob: worst thing they could do would be to walk morgan leading off. this year he has walked 8, struck out 10 in 31 innings. >> rob: right now 7-16 career in 29 starts. >> bob: morgan, bunting, third baseline, forget it, chipper, that's a base hit. perfectly done, and the nats have their lead-off man aboard. >> rob: that will just ad to left-handers hitting .375 off kawakami. now left-handers are 16 for 41. a beautiful bunt, deadened by nyjer, and with chipper not feeling well and having a bad back, he didn't even offer to try to throw that ball. >> bob: cristian guzman will be next. a left-handed bat that has to

start producing some base hits. guzman is .208 from the left side this year on 10 hits and 48 at bats. >> rob: bob, and based on what kawakami did in japan, he got a three-year $23 million contract from the atlanta braves, and that just tells you how valuable pitching is today. obviously we signed strasburg, first round pick, first pick in the draft, 15 million, saw that chapman three was throwing bullets for the reds. $30 million for the 21-year- old. >> rob: and then the red sox paid millions to have lunch with dice-k. a lot of that money went to his club to release him, then they had to sign him. 15 million for strasburg may look pretty good here in the next year or two, and

congratulations to stephen for his promotion today. drew storen has already moved up to syracuse. on friday, masn will carry his first start at aaa. -- reasonically against the braves aaa ball club from gwyneth. guzman rolls it left side for chipper joans, and no chance for a relay. prado takes it for the first out. braves defensively are having a rough time. they've made 23 errors. only the marlins with 24 have made more, as rob said, chipper is ailing. troy glaus was the third baseman most of his career. and they are without yunel escobar, and we are told that jason heyward is a good

outfielder, a plus arm, but not the same arm they had out there with jeff francoeur. over time, that could change. here is zimmerman. so the nats didn't move the runner, morgan. nyjer didn't show any desire to try to steal. guzman bounced into the fielder's choice. here is zimmerman hitting .370 with 13 rbis. that number may not stagger you, bit he has only played in 17 games, and some of those he's only had one at bat as a pinch hitter.

big breaking ball. if he could have waited a little bit longer, it would be 2-1. >> rob: good call. almost a home run, but just a foul ball. bat head out in front of the bad breaking ball. almost like he knew what's coming, but can't pull a carlton give on that one. he was just well out in front of that ball, and he still killed it down the left field line. >> bob: next homer by zimmerman or dunn will give them the to team lead. way inside. ball 3. >> rob: well, and just like

livan, he's not going to give in. he threw a 2-0 change-up, and there he throws a three -- actually a 2-2 fastball in on his hips. wouldn't be surprised if he threw him a 3-2 breaking ball or change-up. >> bob: with buzz on the move, ryan fouls -- with guzman on the move, ryan fouls it off. we had the memorable 15-inning game on the very last day of the season. >> rob: that was awesome. it did help the nationals finish the final 7 with wins. >> bob: that's right. but also kept the braves from tying for second place. 3-2 again with one out. guzman running. zimmerman strikes out.

mccann's throw is high. >> oh, wow! wow! >> bob: it looked like there was no way they were going to get guzman on this high throw. inning over. ♪ traveling in the world of my creation ♪ ♪ what we'll see will defy ♪ explanation [ male announcer ] remember when you were five and anything was possible. ♪ happy 5th birthday again. ♪ come with me and you'll be ♪ in a world of pure imagination ♪ boss: come on in, i had some ♪ come wiother thingsu'll be you can tell people about geico - great claims service and a 97% customer satisfaction rate. show people really trust us. 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...

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. >> bob: there is a big slow breaking ball. desmond, look at that arm, for

the first out. >> rob: all right, big breaking ball ball one, big sinker, ball two, and looks like a change-up, bad breaking ball for a foul ball down the line. 90 running fastball, and then that change-up, 83, strike 'em out, throw 'em out, and then cristian guzman, i don't know if he has those rubber spikes on, but, bob, something stopped him from reaching second base. >> bob: he has the rubber spikes on. >> rob: unbelievable. >> bob: it looked like -- you know, they hosed down the infield before the game, it looked like he hit and just stopped. it was almost like it wasn't even a slide. >> rob: watch. see right there as he goes to put that foot under, it gets caught, maybe even on those long pants. i have no idea. >> bob: here is the pitcher, kawakami. zimmerman to his left. and a couple of ground ball outs. in fact, three in a row now for

livan. >> rob: zimmerman takes a bad hop, makes it look easy. it's not. then adam dunn, here is the xmo, picks it up, make this grab. he catches it, picks up his target, fires a strike right to the chest of adam dunn. can you recall a third baseman that does that, kind of turns toward the outfield to catch the ball? >> bob: no. >> rob: unbelievable. i only got to see brooks robinson play on television. he caught balls in every imaginable way, and didn't brooks tell you that zimmerman is his favorite player now? >> rob: yes, he did. yes, he did. >> bob: i know their some

cincinnati reds fans who still haven't forgiven brooks for what he did to them in the world series. >> rob: wasn't it lee may he threw out? i think lee may still hasn't forgiven him.

>> bob: i wonder if a young guy puts a little more pressure on himself to make a play like that when you're not in the line-upive day and trying to make an impression. >> rob: yeah, you're trying to impress all of the people, the powers that be. >> bob: there's a fair ball that adam dunn scoots up, and livan hernandez has four ground ball out mass row. see the high lif e is about celebrating, not separating. we are coming for your vip's and we ain't the paparazzi. we are looking for the little fuzzy rope, uh huh. how you doing, yea we're not on that. i guarantee that. excuse us. thank you so much.

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achievement enjoys newfound freedom. i love you. [ male announcer ] mortgages, home equity loans, and lines of credit from pnc. helping achievers borrow with an eye towards the future. pnc. for the achiever in us all. . >> bob: as i mentioned early wish 14 extra base hits for zimmerman. called for the luna double get your second room of flooring free. that was a 13-pitch inning for

livan hernandez. kawakami facing adam dunn. he goes up hacking, children he doesn't often do. into >> well, you talk about jason heyward taking a lot of pitches, and even throughout this entire valley that the first month of the season was for adam dunn, but we know he heats up in the month of may, these two guys very good power hitting left-handers take a lot of pitches. >> bob: adam has walked 18 times this year. 7th in the league. 28 strikeouts. that's how you have a .371 on base percentage when you're hitting just .233. >> rob: yeah, they plash that up there. 57 home runs in may since '03.

>> bob: off-speed pitch, it slowed down adams bat. easy out for nate mclouth. >> rob: bob, let's do the deceptive windups that kawakami utilizes. look at this right here, coming through, winding up, nice beautiful balance point, kicks that leg back, getting everything together. ,000 he gets over the front leg beautifully, and the one thing that the japanese asian pitchers do is repeat delivery, and on the right, you've got his stretch, it's quick, it's about a one-second delivery. that quick extending leg out. you'll see it from a lot of asian pitchers so they don't lose too much velocity when they're in the stretch. >> bob: well, for an instant. there, he looked like a skater. >> rob: i can honestly tell you that if i did that kind of twist entangleled leg deal, i would fall right over on my face. >> bob: josh willingham to left field. did he get it.

>> he sure did! and there's another national with four home runs! willingham who was 3 for 24 ties the game! and rob, evidently the nats have a book on kawakami that says attack early. >> rob: well, attack early, and if you're a righty and get a sinker that comes back in, that's the most dangerous part of the hammer. we know he loves the ball down and in, fastballs that run in on hammer usually run right over the fence, bob. kawakami won't make that mistake again against the hammer. look at that. he knows. >> bob: kawakami gives up his second homer of the year. for willingham, his fourth, and as we mentioned in florida the other day, josh has been swinging at. is that he was taking a week or two ago,, so that's a very refreshing first at bat for him attar a day off. >> rob: once again, kawakami

in the windup, has that little stop in the middle. the little hitch that a lot of the asian pitchers do, because it's deceptive. >> bob: and "pudge" rodriguez up the middle with a base hit! adding to his .400 batting average. that he bring unroger bernadina. >> rob: "pudge" rodriguez. watch him wait. waiting, waiting. boom! right back up the middle. hits it where it's pumped. i'm not going to try to do too much. knows right now we need base runners, we need some runs, got support my pitcher that's getting up there around 60 pitches in the inning. >> bob: there is bernadina, eager to atone for his miss take in left field that gave

the braves a run. short lead by "pudge", and rodriguez will go to third, and the nats this quickly in position to take the lead in the bottom of the 2nd.

here is desmond. riggleman has been very intrigued by having bernadina and desmond together at the bottom of the line-up. fastball low. desmond 6 for his last 20, hitting .247. he has driven in 11 runs. >> rob: and we know that cristian doesn't like to hit in the 7 hole, but it doesn't matter to bernadina and desmond. they are glad to be up here

playing at this level. >> bob: riggleman is an aggressive manager who knows he has the personnel to run with. >> rob: let's hope that "pudge" doesn't try to to score again from third. don't need a double steal from the 38-year-old. i know riggleman wasn't happy after the game, said he can't afford to lose "pudge" rodriguez, just such a catalyst on this team. and you have "pudge" rodriguez at third, he took a good shot by cody ross to the knee if in that last series, and we just need to keep him healthy. everybody feedsed off of him, including us up here. >> bob: desmond, good breaking ball outside. don't forget, there's a very good hitting pitcher on deck. >> rob: who, by the way, is closing in on 200 lits for his

career. he has 197 hits. how many homers has he got? >> bob: nine. >> rob: i knew you would have that. >> bob: i kidded livan about approaching the 200-100 club. and he said what is that? and i said 200 hits and a hundred sacrifice bunts. he has exactly that number. three more hits will get him to the first half of that. i think that's a food combo for a pitcher. bernadina holding within ball 3 on another hook. >> rob: kawakami, like i said, does not give in. he changes speeds from every arm angle. good drop and drive guy. he has very nice leg drive. >> bob: this is a number 8 hitter, you better not throw him one right down the middle. >> rob: well, and as i would say with our pitchers, it's early in the game, you shouldn't be worried about the base runners, i know you don't want bernadina taking off, but

as bob said do not just throw one down broadway to this young man, because desmond could just jump all over it. >> bob: yeah, if he loses his concentration, it's 4-1. there's a shot up the middle for base hit! bernadina stops at second. ian desmond from the 8 hole delivers his 12th rbi, and the nats are on top! >> rob: stringing together a bunch of singles, after the home run, a beautiful thing. >> bob: three in a row, and now good-hitting pitcher. >> rob: well, three in a row led off by yvonne the great. -- ivan the great, and then now you bring up a good-hitting pitcher, anything can happen. >> bob: usually it's automatic that a pitcher bunts here to try to move two runners up, but that is not the case with this

man. >> rob: no, and with jim riggleman, he's a very aggressive manager. he may start the runners and even try to have him hit-and- run. >> bob: livan does lay down the bunt. it's a beautiful one. 3-4 on the sacrifice. >> rob: or just take your smart play, but it's a great play. >> bob: sacrifice bunt number 101. top of the order now with nyjer morgue, who bunted his way on first time. great speed out. >> can he hit it into the out field to put a putt the nats on top by 3.

>> rob: challenges him up stairs with a fastball. chipper jones is -- was five feet in on the grass. now he's just on the edge of the grass, because he does not want to see a bunt laid down. >> bob: and with two strikes, he probably wouldn't bunt, but you never know when a little dribbler would stop in front of you. and here is the 0-2, target in. well inside for a ball. >> rob: nice try. nice try. we want that same pitch for livan hernandez. that's a pretty good pitch by kawakami. throws a running two-seam

fastball right at the hip. a little late. doesn't get the call. morgan on, two hops to martin prado. the nats get a couple of runs. first one on a big fly. josh willingham, his 91st career home run. 4th of the year got him tied, and then desmond gave the that this lead.