-- for joel hanrahan. absolutely perfect as a pinch- hitter and those five hits have resulted in four rbi's which is really impressive.  a 1-2 to adam dunn. he went off-speed again missing away 2-2.  that was a fastball he trying to paint. >> rob: from our vantage point, that's a foot outside. on tv, camera is off center in center field. from where we're standing, we've got a good view of it. it was a ball. >> bob: adam dunn to the left side out of play. >> rob: vernon wells was laying not only no doubles. i think he's playing no triples. he's way out in center field. >> bob: he's probably 370 feet away. runner goes. dunn squirts it foul. manny acta may be surprising the blue jays there, but thinking dunn would make contact and sending nick johnson.  two outs. in crucial situations tonight, the nationals have not been able to make contact with the ball. that's six strikeouts in th

the pitcher is joel hanrahan. high e.r.a., five saves, but four blown and a 32-1 strikeout to walk total. -- 32-12 strikeout to walk total. >> rob: last pitched on the 12th. a couple of hits, one strikeout, no runs through 0 pitches. before that, against cincinnati on the 10th an inning of work. nothing after that. so, really 31 pitches in the last week. >> bob: being hittable has been the big thing. .29 329 opponent's average. he's given up 40 hits in 20 innings. strikeout to walk numbers, not that bad. 32 over 12. here is barajas, corner infield even with their bags. middle infielders, double play depth. a badly-needed strike one. ground ball, zimmerman home for one. that's a great decision. safe, first base! and the nats cannot buy a close call and manny acta wants to talk about it with just james hoye. >> rob: i think we got the dude at first. we got barajas. i think that's a makeup call even though he got the call right earlier on cristian guzman this is a great play right here by ryan zimmerman. he noas know

so, joel hanrahan, when i talked to him this afternoon, didn't know if he was going to be leaving to rgh or just stay here until the pirates get here. joel did tell me he's got some friends on the pittsburgh team. he got to know john grable very well duns during the wvc and he's good friends with andy la roach and nose to a certain extent his older brother. 's

nats acquire outfielder nyjer morgan and left-hander sean burnett from the mets in exchange for joel hanrahan and lastings milledge. we'll talk about it coming up on "nats xtra" pregame here on masn. >>> hi, everybody. time for "nats xtra" pregame. i'm johnny holliday along with the silver fox, former mvp of the 1986 world series ray knight. good to have you on a special night for nats baseball. number one, nats will go to florida and knock off the marlins in the doggone eight- game slide they had in miami and a couple of new guys are coming in to join this ball club and we talked about that, didn't we, ray? wouldn't it be nice to get this kid, morgan, playing in our ball club? eye want to relate to the fans about what you said to me. we were walking around the ballpark all year long. we have not commented loot about oppositional players. johnny says have you paid attention to nyjer wilson. he says he flies, he's quick to me. runs almost to the on-deck circle. a kid who has a tremendous amount of energy, johnny. it's ironic you mention that. wouldn't it be nice to have a player hike that who

joel hanrahan has to keep them right here. this is the most important inning of the game, 3-3 against the best offense in the american league. >> bob: i think joe west is giving the rays' dugout a hard time because of our lights. he knows everything going on out here. it's the bottom of the 7th. reid brignac, b. j. upton and carl crawford. brignac 0-for-1 with a dprowb a -- a ground ground ball and a walk. that ball right off the mask of josh bard. >> rob: we may have to explain to joe west how much money masn spends to televise these games. he needs to take a chill pill. we have the best crew in the game. top of the order now, b. j. up ton after the base hit by reid brignac. upton is a right hander. ron villone is ready for carl crawford. so this becomes a vitally important hitter for joel hanrahan. here is b. j. upton bunting -- is b. j. upton bunting as early as the 7th inning, knowing it will be lefty-lefty after this? >> i don't think so. 8th inning maybe. 9th inning maybe. >> rob: you already have the tie at home. you go

. >> bob: and this is how he feels about joel hanrahan these days. like owning a home. watching our children grow. and retiring with confidence. so whatever you're looking forward to, m&t bank is here to help you get there. m&t bank. understanding what's important.

let's touch on the problems of joel hanrahan. we know he can pitch. he's proven that before, when he's on, he's very good. when he's not on, there's problems. >> we've got a tape here, we just, you know, he's got a great fastball. probably the best fastball in our ball club. he's got a devastating slider, but sometimes he doesn't command either one of them. when he does command, we're going to show you how effective he can be. last year seven saves. as he was able to throw the fastball and elevate it. when you get a fastball number this area and you're throwing 97, hitters have to cheat. they're going to chase that pitch. you're going to see where he throws a back door breaking ball. it's kind of a hanger, but it's located in a good spot. he was able to do that. when things are going well and you're mechanically sound, those things happen. look at that. that ball is just going right there and drops down almost to the bottom of the shin guards. that is the breaking ball that we are looking for. you throw it somewhere in the strike zone, it drops out of

here is a match-up of big fellows, joel hanrahan, 6'4", 250. scott rolen, 6'4", 250.ird base, two outs here in the 8th. joel was outstanding in the 8th inning last night. he actually pitched the last two outs in that inning and then a 1-2-3 night. rolen takes a beauty of a fastball on the outside corner. >> rob: i was talking to darren fletcher today talking about hanrahan, how can this kid throw 95 and not three 95, trying to blow by team. >> bob: game tied. 95 mile-per-hour fastball. scott rolen turned it around. >> rob: the location was just terrible. still have to locate it. >> bob: that run charged to kip well and a win taken away from ross detwiler. >> rob: well, now, you have to do damage control right here. pitch location is going to be up in the zone, very hittable. rolen did not try to crush the ball, put it in play for a base hit and tie the ballgame. >> bob: scott rolen, 2-for-4 tonight. here is adam lind. and they are going up hacking. >> rob: that's a very good hitting ball club. you knew it was a matter of time they would put a couple of singles, maybe

. >> bob: five-plus innings and right around 100 pitches for detwiler and joel hanrahan is on the way! announcer: what's your cialis moment? when she gives me that look. when at last we're alone. when we both decide. announcer: today, guys with erectile dysfunction can be ready with another dosing option from cialis. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. so relax and take your time. tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. don't drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. announcer: today, you have options: cialis for daily use or 3

joel hanrahan with a count of 1- 2. rios hanging tough. white sox won, baltimore scoring late to win at philadelphia, phillies losing six in a row now. how about that? detroit at home beat milwaukee 3-2. not a good day for the national league. that includes right here. tampa bay, 8-5 lead at the mets. atlanta five hey five in the ninth at boston, 5-5. houston about to win at minnesota 4-1, st. louis 12-5 at kansas city. american league ruling on this day so far. 3-2, 2 minute board. there's a base hit. he had retired the first two batters. the next three all make it aboard, and it's 7-2 toronto. when you're pitching in the ninth inning and down four, your manager wants to see the effort that you might give when it's a 1-run game in the 9th inning. joe has not been able to close it out. >> it looked like a change-up, which you don't want to really throw a lot of those to right- handers because it breaks down and into them. that's what that was. as you said, you want to get the three outs and give your team an opportunity to bat in the ninth

hanrahan unleashes a fastball way upstairs. one of the problems that joeln he has missed, he has missed by such a wide margin at times that his fastball does not even challenge the strike zone or even make the hitter think about swinging. that ball served into left. josh willingham right there. so the d rays -- well, now they are just the rays -- tied the game. guzman will lead it off followed by nick johnson and then ryan zimmerman. ♪ (tucci) more bars in more places. at&t. the best coverage worldwide. buy the lg xenon messaging phone for 99.99 after mail-in rebate and get one free after mail-in-rebate. now that college is a few years behind me, it seems i've got three times the bills i used to. and they're getting in the way of things i'd like to do. with the money bar, i can move my money around instantly, so when there's more bills than usual, it's no problem. and i use the wish list to put any extra money aside for anything i want. being in control of my money feels good. introducing the virtual wallet from pnc, a high-definition, online view of your m

we bring joel hanrahan out of the nationals bullpen in the 8 8th. great outing for shairon martis. he had 7 solid innings on the mound tonight. >> rob: you can't pitch any better than that. that's exactly what's expected of you. go out there, go through the lineup three time, try to get the ball to the 8th. >> johnny: hanrahan comes in 38 hit, 12 walks. he's not allowed six earned runs hrhree iingsgs tchehed. . jerron goes to work against hanrahan here in the top of the 8t 1-0. willy taveras is next for the reds. then comes brandon phillips. >> johnny: he's ahead 1-2. lowest era since may 21st. that's a pretty good number. >> rob: that weakness we had has now turned into a strength. now we're having trouble getting runs. you know what, the hitters did it now it's time for the pitchers to go on a role. the hitters will catch back up. >> johnny: hairston retired a ground ball to guzman. >> rob: our over all run average is a run er than the closest competitor. we need to get that downder four. if our starters ke going a t mo >> johnny: the ball came right to his glove. the umpire raci

we'll see joel hanrahan in the 8 8th. harris way fly to right. the nats are retired. we go to the top of the 8th inning at nationals park. reds are tossing a 2-0 shutout. take the right path. even to change it when conditions demand. keeping you on the road to achieving your goals. it's something we've been doing for over 150 years. let our strength and stability be the basis for yours. pnc. leading the way. >>> nationals baseball on mas is brought to you by southwest

gets the applause from joel hanrahan. you do it every night, they're going to start expecting it every night. >> johnny: that's right. he had a great line. was last night's catch the greatest catch you ever made? he said not even close. he made so many of them. we'll take a break, phil and i will be back in just a moment to continue and we'll talk to mike macdougal who came in and go a great job. it has a very nice spice note. it has a little lemon zest and a historic brewing spice called grains of paradise. it's citrusy, lemony. sam adams summer ale. it just totally reminds you of summer, yeah. geico's been saving people money and who doesn't want value for their dollar? been true since the day i made my first dollar. where is that dollar? i got it out to show you... uhh... was it rather old and wrinkly? yeah, you saw it? umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. . >> johnny: i know you are disappointed, you had some tickets left for some friend in syracuse. >>

the likely candidates are colome and joel hanrahan. me, colome is older, joel has more of an upside and he's younger, so expect colome to be designated for assignment. >> bob: thank you. big news for the nationals bullpen as we approach the bottom of the 7th here at camden yards. both of those pitchers have struggled mightily. hanrahan probably slightly more struggling than colome lately. here's tavares for a second inning, facing jones, markakis and huff. >> jim p.: he certainly hasn't struggled. talking about tavarez. >> bob: that ball is jacked to center, willie harris is after it. and he'll run it down. that's indicative of the center field he's played for the nationals. >> rob: that ball was hit, then that ball was run down. that was a pretty good play. willie harris gets on his horse right there, gets after it. and the walls come on you pretty quick here in this ballpark. >> jim p.: probably the toughest field it play here is left field. when the late johnny oates managed here, he moved brady anderson. he said i'm going to put yo

. >> joel hanrahan almost came in trying to hold the jays down, unfortunately not a successful one for him. >> it's unfortunate. >> these guys can come back from four runs any day. it suction that you get in that situation and get two quick outs and let the game get out of hand right there. the team that we have, we feel like we can come back from four runs. we started out getting the first three guys on base right there, so it's tough. >> can you put today a side and say, we took two out of three from the blue jays and two out of three from the yankees and facing the red sox. >> it was a great week for us. we won two series. those are two big teams there that we won the series from, and we have to get ready for boston and enjoy the day off tomorrow and regroup a little bit and get ready. >> the boston red sox come to town for a big series starting tuesday. they beat the braves today 6-5, started the game 3-game lead over the yankees. lannan, a tough act to follow. he's keeping the ball down, getting the strikeouts when he needs them. there's nothing you can say about john lannan that

there's the numbers comparing jesus colome and joel hanrahan. r that jumps out to me is the age difference, hanrahan a much younger guy by about four years, probably the guy they would think about keeping. >> i think so, because mainly hanrahan does not have any options left, with that kind of arm you don't want to lose him. you know that colome is not going to be the back of the rotation guy, but you hate to see that happen. jesus works as hard as anybody, but i think hanrahan, he hasn't deserved to be here. he hasn't pitched well enough to be here. i think just the circumstances will keep him here. >> phil wood standing by to my right and i think there is a streak that you're going to talk about today as you dust off some diamonds that folks may not be aware of. >> i suspect most people aren't. i know ray can relate to t. but it's all about making productive outs. ryan zimmerman's 30 game hitting streak earlier this season really captured the attention of baseball fans. some balls that are scorched get caught, some bleeders make it past the inf

. >> you talk about getting people out, what has happened to joel hanrahan?was 6-3 with the ball club. two years ago he was 5-3 with the ball club. and his e.r.a. was respectable. but all of a sudden it's almost like batting practice when he comes in. has he lost confidence or what's hatched to limb? >> i think he has lost confidence. i don't know. i don't walk in his shoes. i just know he has been ineffective and he gives everything he has. his breaking ball has just not been consistent. it hasn't been. he has a great fastball above major league fastball. there is is a slider 3-2. it showed you how good it can be. that ball was not a bad pitch. there he misses while inside trying to throw too hard. he comes back with a good slider, a good pitch a nice piece of hilting. sometimes you have to give them credit. right there tonight, from what i saw, e has good enough stuff. he just does not have good enough stuff all year long. look at what happened thins june 6. he came back in may and re-earned that closer's role with a 3-3 chance. and then, d'angelo, june, he

and those last four runs charged to joel hanrahan who already had a 6.68 e.r.a. >> rob: let's take the at-bat here to huff. he throws him a big breaking ball outside. he is going to come back with a hard fastball away. and he throws him a hard fastball down and in and he just feeds it off the dirt right over nick johnson's head. >> jim: the scoreboard dictates you play in, otherwise that is at least one out. >> jim: but that is a big strong man and he crushed that ball right in important of home plate all the way over nick johnson's head. >> jim: on our newer, faster infield. it make as difference, pes levelly when you play the infield in. >> bob: with this offense, make that thing into a parking lot. >> rob: here is the thing, it is the same way for both teams. >> jim: it is st. lower e.r.a. here at home versus the road, the batting average up, the runs scored, up. the record, up. 21-17 coming in versus 11-23 on the road for the orioles. >> bob: nolan reimold started this inning with a base hit up the middle. he bats for the second time. still only one out. nine hitters, one retired.

. >> bob: joel hanrahan, twice the closer and twice getting ready for a possible long relief appearance here. >> jim: well, the three teams with the highest on-base percentage with tampa bay, which are leading the american league and national league in runs, the red sox are two and the yankees number three. their philosophy, and i think all good hitting teams, is that, hey, if you don't want to pitch to me, i'll let the other guy pick me up. i'll go to down to first base and take the base on ball. >> bob: 3-1. >> jim: the one number, and you talked about it early, is the fact that, again, not a lot of run support, but the e.r.a. very good at home. and we talk about detwiler, over eight runs? >> rob: on the road in the two starts. >> jim: and that happens because he has only gone four and five innings in those two starts. >> bob: not annual to get over the top of the fastball at all and the bases are loaded and nobody out, and the orioles have a chance to put a huge number on the board this inning. down to the number nine man who we know from his days in florida, robert andino. here you