starting pitching. edwin jackson has struggled against his former team, the st. louis cardinals, and today was no exception. let's take a look at the highlights. edwin is actually the only nats starting pitcher with any kind of playoff experience. today he lasted five innings giving up four runs early. three of them were off this blast by pete kozma in the top of the 2nd, but the big problem for the nats was at the plate. they couldn't do enough of anything leaving 11 runners on bases, morse 0-4, harper 0-5, not numbers to move on. the nats bullpen couldn't keep the cardinals in check either. they surrendered four runs as the nats dropped game three to the cardinals 8 -0. >> it's going to be tough to score if you don't hit, but i believe in this team and in knees guys. we've been here all year, over 1 -- these guys. we've been here all year, over 160 game season, still the best in baseball. >> we didn't score. they got a nice pitcher out

there. he's pitched in some big games. we didn't get it done, but we got five games in the series and one big one to play tomorrow. >> i've had my back to worse walls than this, but i like my ballclub and i think we'll come out, play the game tomorrow. >> reporter: here's a look at the final numbers. the cardinals chris carpenter gets the win, pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings. bryce harper falls to 1-15 at the plate in the playoffs. you heard davey johnson talk about the game tomorrow, annuation do or die. ross detwiler starts on the mound. he replaced stephen strasburg's spot in the rotation and now he's pitching to save the season. how about that for a story line? live at nats park, i'm kristen berset. >> that story line continues tomorrow. let's hope it goes beyond that as well. meantime a whole lot of folks had a very tough decision to make around 1:00 this afternoon, stay at work or go

to the nats game? if you did stay at work, you probably made the right call. however, some members of the local government decided a nationals playoff run, just too monumental to miss out on. we spoke with a couple of them during the game. >> we recessed the hearing, a number of requests from colleagues, people in the media, everywhere if we could recess the hearing and then reconvene at 5:00. so we've done that. >> i walked over here just to be here to get a little bit of the atmosphere and to be able to be here for the first game in washington since way before i was born. >> hey, you can't blame him, right? just to be clear council member jack evans did resume that hearing at around 5:00. a former aide to mayor vincent gray was sentenced to 24 months probation and 200 hours of community service today. howard brooks avoided jail time after he admitted his role in the scandal surrounding the mayor's campaign. he's the man who made the direct payments to sulaimon brown, the other mayoral

candidate who was also aiding mayor gray in winning the election. brooks faced up to six months under his plea deal, but his lawyers asked for probation and community service of the. an update to news of a shoot -- service. an update to news of a shooting we brought you in the 1100 block of eighth street northeast. there are no suspects or motives right now. we'll continue to track the story and give you more information as they give it to us. today the supreme court heard oral arguments in one of its most high profile affirmative action cases in years and the outcome could have a broad impact on colle admission practices all over. danielle nottingham with the latest from the supreme court. >> reporter: the main question here is can race be used as a factor in college admissions to achieve diversity? the supreme court took up this issue nine years ago and now the justices are giving it another look. abigail fisher saw her lawsuit against the university of texas argued before the supreme court

wednesday. she sued the school four years ago claiming she did not get in partly because she is white. >> i hope the court rules that a student's race and ethnicity should not be considered when applying to the university of texas. >> reporter: the university of texas uses factors including test scores, student activity and race to help pick its freshman class. lawyers for the university told the court the policy is necessary to improve diversity. >> most americans would like a day when we don't need to take race and ethnicity into account in admissions. we are not to that day. >> reporter: abigail fisher went on to graduate at another university, but the supreme court's decision could impact college admissions nationwide. when the court last considered the issue in 2003, it supported some racial consideration in public university admissions. as the justices listened to arguments, supporters and

opponents of affirmative action gathered outside the court. both sides are closely watching e fisher case. >> the historical content, it's very important we have a level playing feel for everyone. >> i don't think diversity is a compelling government interest. it's certainly not a justification for further discrimination. >> reporter: a ruling in this case is expected next year. the supreme court has upheld affirmative action for the last 30 years. this case could change things. at the supreme court danielle nottingham, back to you. >> interestingly this case will be decided by eight of the nine supreme court justices. associate justice elana kagan recused herself because she was involved with the case while she served as solicitor general before joining the court. commuters beware, that air bag you're counting on to save your life may be a fake that does not perform as advertised. according to the national highway traffic safety administration, criminals are selling the fake bags to

unknowing suppliers who are then installing them in cars, perhaps yours. in some cases the bags explode and even send fragments hurtling towards the driver, but nhtsa says most drivers are not at risk. >> in fact, believe the safety issue may involve less than .1% of the u.s. fleet and only consumers that had their air bag replaced in the past three years by a repair shop that is not part of a new car dealership may be the folks that maybe most at risk. >> but you could be at risk if you recently bought a car titled salvaged, rebuilt or reconstructed. by the way, no air bag injuries or deaths have been reported so far. the same sex marriage debate in maryland hit the campus of gallaudet university today. chief diversity officer angela mccaskill has been placed on leave after signing a petition to put the referendum on the upcoming ballot. university president t. allen hurwitz said signing that

petition was inappropriate for someone in her petition. the referendum was started by someone for same sex maryland opponents. what do you think? did mccaskill give up her right to even minimal political involvement when she signed on as diversity officer or is this political correctness run amuck? she didn't really take a side. she just thought voters ought to have a shot. you should feel free to play favorites in mcginty's mailbag, the address mailbag@wusa9.com. today's weather meeting all my benchmarks and i'm hopingit holds up. topper is in the weather center with your first look. >> we have a cold front to our west pushing through tonight. it will drop temps tomorrow and friday but nothing crazy. current temperatures, after a high of 71 temperatures are in the 60s, temperatures a little below average, 67 downtown, 63 in frederick and also leesburg. you jump the divide, the cold front through oakland. they are down to 43 and 54 up

in cumberland. so again cooler air is on the way but nothing out of the ordinary really. satellite picture radar combined, we have a few clouds pushing through with a frontal boundary to the east of cumberland. all the showers are pushing north into pennsylvania. so for tonight clear, breezy, chilly, keep the windows closed. temperatures will drop to the upper 30s in the burbs and upper 40s downtown. we'll come back and let you know if you need a sweat shirt tomorrow d a look ahead to the weekend. we do know americans will spend millions on candy, but what else may they break the bank on this halloween? you're looking at it. >> but up next tragedy at a parking garage at a florida clem, the latest on what happened -- college, the latest on what happened there.

two people are dead after a parking garage collapsed at a florida community college.

the five-story concrete garage was under construction at miami- dade community college when the roof simply gave way. a construction worker still trapped there but is alive in the rubble and police say it may take hours to get him out. at least 10 other workers were hurt, luckily no students in the area at the time. halloween is right around the corner. that means candy and costumes and apparently it's not just for the two-legged members of your household. americans are expected to spend $370 million on pet costumes this halloween. this is all according to the national retail federation. that is a $40 million jump from last year. pumpkin and devil suits are picked to be among the top sellers. wait a second. 370million bucks on doggie and cat costumes really? i'm thinking nobody asked the pets what they think of that idea. on the other hand, if everybody else in the family is getting dolled up, how can you leave your best friend out? we won't leave you out of

mcginty's mailbag, but you have to write me. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com and you might want to send a photo of your dog or cat all duded out as a cowboy or space pup. we'll put them in the mailbag tomorrow. a guy robs a bank in kalamazoo, michigan, and guess where he went to spend the loot? the local strip club. the club owner called and said one of the patrons had hands core offed in red dye and he showed one of the strippers a gun and asked how she felt about dangerous men. now he faces multiple charges including armed robbery. coming up after the break topper has your seven-day and you don't want to miss that. it's going to be very nice.

in campaign 2012 both presidential candidates are vying for voters in the battleground states today. meanwhile their running mates are preparing for the big vice presidential debate. >> reporter: mitt romney teamed up with new jersey governor chris christie on the campaign trail in ohio. >> we just got to get government the hell out of the way and let you suck see. >> reporter: the romney campaign showing crist -- suck searched. >> reporter: the romney campaign is hoping christie's bold style will help him. if romney loses ohio, he will

have to win almost every other swing state to get into the white house. romney has been gaining ground in the polls since his first debate against president obama. the president spent tuesday in ohio and critiqued his debate performance in a radio interview saying, "i think it's fair to say i was just too polite. ". >> when we were on stage governor romney decided instead of changing his plan it just didn't exist. what $5 trillion tax cut? >> reporter: the vice presidential candidates are the next stop on the debate stage, vice president joe biden and judgment knee paul ryan preparing for their face-off in kentucky. the vice -- and nominee paul ryan preparing for their face- off in kentucky. the vice president is known for his debating background. >> reporter: ryan was 3 years old when biden first game a u.s. senator. >> he's been doing this for 40

years. what i hope to get out of this debate is to present people with a very clear choice. >> reporter: ryan is trying to downplay expectations, but a new poll show more voters believe he'll do better than biden thursday night. susan mcguiness, cbs news, danville, kentucky. do you like your spuds? so do the potato farmers in idaho. they planted nearly 350,000 acres of them which is 8% more than last year. that's good for you, maybe not so good for the farmers because larger supply could mean the price goes down which again is good for you, not so good for them. >> baked poe take toffees are never really -- potatoes are never really expensive and they're good with little bits of bacon. on this date in 1979 we recorded our earliest measurable snowfall. >> really? how large was it? >> only .3-inch downtown, but go to our website and check out my blog and get the details.

there was a much larger snow north and east of here and it was also boston's first measurable snowfall. let's start with fall colors, getting pretty nice out to the west, got the autumn glory festival in oakland. we have good color to the east now of i-81 and some color around the immediate metro area, montgomery county, fairfax county, prince george's, but not a whole bunch. you have to get up to frederick county and loudoun and points west for good color. probably not this weekend but next to go to skyline drive. it's dark outside. i think we're showing that quite clearly, 67 now, 47 the dew point. notice the winds southwest at 7. so the frontal boundary is still to our west. it will move through this evening and drop temps a little bit, but set the stage for a very nice thursday and friday. down to 63 in gaithersburg right now and also in great falls, 62 in vienna and also in fairfax. we're looking at 66 in college

park and 61 in bowie. so fine fall weather, a bit chilly tonight. you'll need your shades tomorrow, a little cooler thursday. keep a light jacket handy all day and certainly you'll need a jacket at the nats game, temperatures in the 50s and 60s for the game, either a 4:00 or 5:00 start. clear, breezy and chilly, windows closed tonight, 38 to 50 for lows, winds picking up tonight, 48 arlington, 43 college park and bowie and out towards sterling and leesburg and manassas you will be in the upper 30s tonight. tomorrow morning mostly sunny, chilly start. you'll need a jacket, 40s and 50s. by afternoon a very nice day, mostly sunny and cooler but still pleasant, high temperatures between 60 and 65. so we lose 6, 7 degrees tomorrow afternoon. next three days code green, 63 tomorrow, very nice, great on

friday, upper 60s and fantastic on saturday, mostly sunny, highs in the low 70s. next seven days no, derek, we have not tweaked anything today for the weekendful we're going 80 sunday -- weekend. we're going 80 sunday, ravens in town, skins at home, perfect for tailgating, showers possible and low 70s on tuesday, back in the mid-70s with sunshine on wednesday. so october can be kind to us. >> yes. let's get to our weird news file because we're all familiar with the now classic chili cookoff or maybe the pie baking contest, but if what if you could take the cooking contest idea to a whole new level? they do it in bentonville, arkansas where contestants are showing off their best recipes for cooking up squirrel. tomorrow has gumbo stew all made with that little guy in

your backyard who favors acorns for dinner. how does this taste? contestants say it's a bit gamey and the texture is different but otherwise it's good. however, what else are they going to say? the winner is a pair of brothers, brandon and blaine estes with their squirrel sliders, coming soon to an applebee's near you or maybe not. >> i've actually had squirrel. it was a trick, but i had it and believe it or not, it tastes like -- >> chicken. i believe it. >> yup. >> we want to hear what you. this send your e-mails to mcginty's mailbag at mailbag@wusa9.com. 9 news now will be right back.

in the mailbag tonight huge reaction to our story yesterday on polls that seemed to show americans as a group are significantly less religious than they used to be.

in fact, frankly, i've never seen so many comments on our wusa9 facebook page. james kahne was one of them. he says of course, i believe in god and no one will convince me otherwise. i've seen and experienced things that science cannot and most likely will not be able to explain. that's all the proof i need. fyi, that's another fallacy, that science and not are mutually exclusive which could not be further from the truth. another note points out making the statement people are not religious does not mean they do not believe. believe is not religious. believing in god is a relationship. christians have been ridiculed for centuries, bring the word of god the bible as part of your broadcast. sorry, dee, that would be a very different kind of good news. besides, we'd lose viewers like bob ritter who says he left the church 45 years ago. i haven't wavered in my belief since he says. one who asserts the existence of a god or anything as the burden of proving such an

existence, nose who still believe in god do -- those who still believe in god do so because they've been deeply indoctrinated or participate in wishful thinking. bob, i'd have to argue the power of faith has done too much good for too many people to be cavalier in abusing. on the other hand, the abuse of that power has done too much harm and caused too much pain to force it on anyone who doesn't want it. that's my take. mailbag mailbag@wusa9.com for broadcasting yours. that's our show tonight. bye bye.

"entertainment tonight," the worldwide leader in entertainment news. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> lindsay lohan's after-hours blowup with her mom. the 911 call and lindsay's reported claim that dina was on cocaine. lindsay's dad is with us today. >> mommy's been doing cocaine, acting like the devil. >> now what dina recently told "e.t." >> i've never partied with my daughter in my life. >> plus the new photo after the fight, and is her home in foreclosure? from new york city, newlywed blake lively's first public appearance since saying "i do." >> life is great. whatever happened to shelley long? >> he looks kind of familiar. >> sam and diane together again. >> i hate you. >> are you as turned on as i am? >> more! >> they're long-awaited reunion and the truth behind shelley's "cheers" exit. >> they didn't offer me that until i had already made my decision to leave.