then the atlanta braves come to town for a big weekend series over the fourth of july at nationals park. welcome back, everybody. happy to have you with us on sunday afternoon. tomorrow night it will be scott olson coming off the dl against ricky nolasco of florida. >> scott won 12, he pitched three straight years. they're saying his velocity is up two miles per hour. it was 88 to 91 when he was here. we were talking about his velocity. nolasco struggles for two starts. giving up eight runs. but his last four he's only given up five runs. he's striking out a lot of

then the atlanta braves come to town for a big weekend series over the fourth of july at nationals park. welcome back, everybody. happy to have you with us on sunday afternoon. tomorrow night it will be scott olson coming off the dl against ricky nolasco of florida. >> scott won 12, he pitched three straight years. they're saying his velocity is up two miles per hour. it was 88 to 91 when he was here. we were talking about his velocity. nolasco struggles for two starts. giving up eight runs. but his last four he's only given up five runs. he's striking out a lot of people, he struck out 25 and walked five, so he's back on top of that stretch. >> the nats really about due to take on florida. there you see scott olson's numbers. 41 innings pitched, 18 walks, 29 strikeouts. nolasco who beat the nationals the opening game of the year, then scott olson lost to florida in the second game of the year. we talked a little about craig stammen going to the bullpen on our pregame show. you now the word is he will start tuesday in florida against the marlins. >> just explain that, martis was pitchin

it's willy aybar hitting for gross, former atlanta brave. villone will throw him a breaking ball hit to the right side. willy aybar originally signed by the dodgers. a couple of years there. atlanta 06 and 07. didn't play in 07 because of a wrist injury and substance abuse problem. he hit .253 for the rays in 95 last year. 0-2. >> bob: still at 2nd, carlos pena. 1-2. that one really sailed. >> rob: a little bit hard on his changeup. maybe break a breaking ball off here on the shoe tops of aybar. >> bob: danger lurking. aybar racing. the ball hits the base. the rays take the lead. willie harris was waiting for the ball. it hit the 3rd base back deflecting to left field. [cheering and applause]  >> rob:  very good pitch by ron villone. it's going to kick off the bag and go to left field. carlos pena will score on the play. >> bob: crawford will run for willy aybar who will get a double on that. then he'll come in and play left field. the rays have a chance and position to sweep the series now now. [cheering and ap

[laughter] >> today's speaker, stan kasten formerly served as president of the atlanta braves, who ran off an unprecedented 14 straight division titles. the braves haven't won since he brought his baseball expertise to the nationals. so far, however, a success on the ball field has eluded the nation's capital, despite a new stadium, attendance is down unless you count the red sox fans, so is the nats as won-loss record. still, they did beat the yankees two out of three earlier this month. [applause] >> by the way, that is the team that mr. kasten rooted for as a kid. when he spoke at the club three years ago, he talked about how he was building a club through the farm system. you can look at ryan zimmerman, the star third baseman and hjorth zimmerman and start seeing the fruits of those efforts. still they remained mired in first place. rumors are swirling that the manager will be fired. the general manager jim bowden has left, and a permanent replacement has yet to be named. questions abound. will they be able to sign their first round draft pick, steven strawsberg, kerd the best pros

on the 4th of july this year, the nationals will be home against the atlanta brave. >> rob: the home of the brave. >> bob: jo that will be a day game. that will be cool that day, 1:05. >> rob: remember homer the brave, the mascot, he fired the cannon shots. >> bob: i remember before him, chief nakahoma. >> rob: that's right, chief nakahoma. >> bob: he had the tent right there in fulton stadium. i'm pretty sure that's offensive now. >> rob: yes, it is. >> bob: third walk by craig stammen. here is a look at what the rays have done over the years as far as the draft. their current roster is full of guys they scouted, signed, developed and got to the major league. >> rob: and they dave up a first rounder in dellmont young for matt garza. so, remember, they used their draft wisely. >> bob: so brain santiago, upton and crawford, three consecutive draft choices, may be batting here in the 5th inning. upton singled, steal two bases last time up. and, of course, we have not talked much about the man who engineered the amazing season last year. he was 524 years of age then, manager joe maddon.

johnny: you talk about credentials, how about four gold gloves, a world series ring with the atlanta bravesthe alcs. he would love to get a foundation here in d.c. to help the kids in the area. >> phil: he is a solid guy. fans will remember the homerun he hit in the alcs against balls more that broke their back. >> johnny: how much pressure is there on a kid like bret cecil here. he is only taking roy halladay's spot in the rotation. pressure? no, forgot it. >> johnny: an all-star pitcher, right, no less? >> right. bret cecil is just getting his career underway. i hope, for his sake, that he is not too pumped up tonight with so many friends and family in the friends. >> johnny: so ross detwiler still trying to get his first win. it will be interesting. the nationals have not had a winning streak longer than 7. you have to go way back to august 26th of last year, through september 1st when they rolled off seven straight. how sweet would it be to take this one tonight and make it 4 in a row. >> phil: four in a row. if they can roll out a streak of 8 out of 10 or 10 utah of 15 and show that wh

. >> well you were president of the atlanta braves, you put together one of the greatest pitching staff, consisting of great maddux, tom lange, others. you have often stated that putting together a strong starting rotation is the key to the long term success of the ballclub. on your current roster, the seven highest-paid players are not pictures. for example, to give a $20 million contract to an outfielder who has led the league in strikeouts three times and it is, a defensive liability. are you going against the blueprint that made the braves the team of the '90s? >> no. i am following that blueprint. by the way, we are not the only team that is succeeding on the backs of a young group. let me say, really soon, you'll also see baltimore. in baseball, call it fair or unfair, you're younger players do not make much money. they are not eligible for salary arbitration. if your building for young pitchers, you may have your very best players i think we are exactly doing as we should. >> as president of the washington nationals, how much blame the shoulder for the pore forms of the team? >>

. >> buck: nobody was anticipating that possible return of smoltz to the rotation against the atlanta braves. the red sox go there beginning a three-game series tomorrow. i think they made a good move not creating a little more hoopla around his return by starting him in atlanta. >> jim: doin bounce it is to secondment uggla charges -- andino bounces one to second. uggla retires. the way the rotation goes with smoltz going tonight, orioles can expect him at camden yards next week. >> buck: yeah, it will be good. obviously, he's not up to speetd speed as he's coming back from shoulder problems, and here we are on the 5th of june he's making his first start. >> jim: rich hill is 0-1. he flied tout to right field his first at-bat. takes a high fastball. orioles only have three hits in the game. there's a bloop foul the other way. marlins have six hits including two two-run homers. birds have lost two in a row and after working so hard to get back even in the month of june with that sweep in philadelphia, orioles are now 9- 11 in june. cantu to the pitcher sean west. hill is retired. two down. t

. >> why your president of the and atlanta braves, you put together when the greatest pitching staffs in history. you have often stated that putting together a strong starting rotation is the key to the long-term success of the ballclub. under current roster, the seven highest-paid players are not pitching. you gave $20 million contract to an outfielder. he has led the league in strikeouts three times and is putting it nicely a defensive liability. are you going against the blueprints that made them the team of the '90s? >> no, i am following exactly that blueprint. we are not the only team that is a pending our hopes on the backs of a young pitcher. the oakland team is doing a great job of that. releasing, you are going to see baltimore doing a good job of that. in baseball, you are younger players do not make much money. but they are not eligible until their fourth year in the majors. if you are building three young pitchers, you may have your very best players as your most affordable. i think we are exactly on track. >> as president of the washington nationals, how much blame the s

then atlanta braves come in for big fourth of july weekend series against washington.ky nolasco goes tonight for the florida marlins. he has had major success against washington. >> he certainly has. he's a guy that throws hard, fastball. this year he's got a 4-6 record. three games ago he gave up eight runs, then the next game he gave up eight runs, but his last two ballgames he's given up only one run in 12 innings. only walked 18 people in the course of the season, so he's a guy that was a part of that quartet, nolasco, olsen, sanchez and johnson who won at least 10 games back in 2006. >> scott olsen goes tonight for washington. the nationals signed a second baseman out of cal berkeley, he's a big kid. >> we have some video of him here running. he runs really well. talking to mike rizzo, he said he's one of the best runners they scouted. you can never, ever get enough of middle infielders. this kid has played everywhere. we'll excited about getting him signed, the 50th pick in the draft, our first pick in the second round. his father actually played in the seattle f

. >> langerhans, a former member of the atlanta braves.ing performance for tommy hanson today. we'll touch on that. our 737s fly to over 65 cities across the country every day. woman over p.a.: this is your final boarding call. all passengers... each with an average speed of 590 miles per hour. almost as fast as you. nothing's gonna hold you down. starting august 16th, fly southwest airlines from bwi airport to boston logan for just $49 one-way. bags fly free on southwest so our low fares stay low. grab your bag. it's on. - ( ding ) - book now at southwest.com. ♪ how cold is it? it's chilled down to 34 degrees... for a taste as cold as the rockies. it's aged cold. it's filtered cold. and it's served in cans, bottles, and glasses... that tell you when it's cold. why? because refreshment isn't everything. it's the only thing. frost-brewed coors light. the world's most refreshing beer. >>> we take you down on the farm today. syracuse and pawtucket, 6-2 chiefs. >> that's three in a row he hasn't given up anything. only one earned run in his la

you just can't give extra outs to the philadelphia phillies and the new york mets and atlanta braves and expect to win games. i think that has a lot to do with the pitching e.r.a.s and the lack of our bullpen's success. the defense has a lot to do with it. fundsmenttals we have to stretch -- fundamentals we have to stretch. i give the guys credit. they play hard and run hard. they are as upset and mad as anybody else. >> byron: certainly an exciting june 9th getting stephen strasburg and appreciate you taking the time to join us on nats xtra. mike rizzo. >> my pleasure. >> the acting general manager. coming up we will get ready for the nationals and the cincinnati reds. don't forget saturday's game against the tampa bay rays. we will join in process at 7 p.m. from triple-play kana field. -- from tropicana field. it is the reds and the nats coming up. it's on. - it's on. - it's on. - ( music playing throughout ) - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - totally on. jimmy, it's on. - it's on. - oh, yeah, it's on. affirmative, it's on. announcer: southwest airlines announces new

bobby cox has been with the atlanta braves now for 20 years, and this is a man looking for stability. is looking for stability. when you start making changes with your manager, we've changed pitching coaches, all of the coaches last year, the one thing stable thing that i have seen in this ball club, not the one alot of stability, but -- is manny acta. you make a statement, and it creates stability for the organization. >> i don't know how he has done what he has done, but he has done wit smoke and mirrors. it is time for the stay in the game -- brought to you we our friends at just for men hair color. take a look at tyler cliffford. he comes in out of the bullpen last night a24-year-old reliever acquired by the nats from the yankees in 2007. his career with the nats is 1- 1, 5.11 e.r.a., zero career holds, but eight great saves and he is from syracuse. we come back in the moment. stay in the game, incidentally from just for men hair color. - it's on. - it is totally on. jimmy, it's on. it's on. oh, yeah, it's on. pilot: affirmative, it's on. times may be tough today, but the things w

. >> while doing president of the atlanta braves, you put together one of the greatest pitching staffs in history consisting of future hall of famers fred mattocks, tom, john smoltz, and others. i guess he's not in my particular hall of fame and you often stated putting together a strong starting rotation is the key to the long term success of the ball club yet on your current roster the seven highest-paid players are not pictures. for example, you gave 20 million-dollar contract to outfielder album done an outfielder who has led the league in strikeouts three times and is putting it nicely a defensive liability. are you going against the blueprint that made the braves the team of the 90's? >> no, i'm following exactly that blueprint and of so many other teams. by the way, we are not the only team pinning our hopes on succeeding on the backs of a young pitcher. oakland is doing a great job of that. cincinnati's been a good job, toronto is doing a good job and let me say soon now you're also going to see baltimore has done a good job of exactly that. but in baseball, call it fair or unf

new york yankees, 10-6 advantage in the top half of the seventh inning over the atlanta braves.mon had a a throw-run triple and cody with a two-run double. other games in the american league east of concern, the toronto blue jays trailing the reds 7-5 or actually now at the final. red just won that game 7-5. jay bruce a-two-run double. a solo -- joey votto, a solo home run, rbi single. wells a two-run double. scott rolen a two-run double. tampa bay, 9-4 over the phillies. game in the bottom half of the seven pt -- seventh inning. ben zobrist had a two-run homer. willy aybar hit a solo home run. his sixth. that's a complete look at the scoreboard. we'll be back around take a look what's ahead with brad bergesen pitching tomorrow night at oriole park at camden yards as the others return home to face the nationals. commuté. with a mcdonald's mccafé hot or iced mocha, a better day is possible. or possiblé. here you go. thanks! cubiclé. if you haven't tried a mocha yet, mccafé your day. ♪ ba da ba ba ba ...fast processor, a big screen and something to cut video. ...for under $2000. w

braves. in his first 10 years starts against atlanta, josh beckett went 2-7. since then 6-0 in seven starts with an e.r.a. of .38. in fact, his two runs allowed over seven starts against the braves is the fewest in a seven-start span against atlanta in the modern era. that's since 1900. >> there were reports friday the warriors were going to trade stefan curry and a couple other players to the suns in return for amare stoudamire fire, but warriors coach don nelson says that's not going to happen. >> he wasn't drafted for somebody else. he is not going to be traded. we drafted him because we think he's a terrific player. and he's the kind of guy that we want. he fits right into our program of our green and growing young team. and that's why he's here, so he can unpack his bags, go look for a house, and relax. he ain't going any place. >> ricky rubio one of three point guards the t-wolves took in the first round of the nba draft, but might not be on minnesota's opening night roster. his father told market.com that rubio may play a few more seasons in spain. that'

atlanta. after how the braves treated the future hall of famer, they might get two minutes for roughing.rying to come back from surgery on his left shoulder and elbow, the 43-year-old glavine says he was released to make room for top pitching prospect tommy hanson to be promoted this weekend. >> i feel i guess a sense of betrayal a little bit, i have a little bit of resentment for the way things were handled. i didn't feel it was a performance issue. i felt as though it was a business issue and they had better options with tommy hanson or medlen or -- as things turned out they had an opportunity to get nate mclouth and by not paying me, i think that freed up principles of limited government. the idiots that people like my mom instead of going on welfare we should reformate because getting the job from an employer is better than getting a job offer from the government because you can take pride and teach your child a work ethic. b.a.t we should not leave our country with a huge debt we should the bit better off for our children. every generation until this generation has always sought the

in atlanta, red sox and the braves, top of the first, vazquez strikes out david ortiz swinging to end the inning. tim wakefield in the top of the first. bottom of the third, still scoreless, wake feel getting hernandez looking on a called strike three. boston shutting out atlanta, that final is 1-0. now, let's go to manny acta brought to you by verizon wireless talking about tonight's' loss to the orioles. >> i think it was the first one, because we had there on the ropes. wened up scoring one run after that and it was because of a loss. the first inning set the tone. i think at least we should have scored four runs in that inning. >> what did you think of martis tonight? >> i thought that he played with fire the whole game. and then finally ended up getting burned. he was pitching away from contact. he did have -- he pitched behind in the count the whole night and that really cost him. that's why he ended up throwing 98 pitches in five innings. >> it's obvious josh didn't see the ball, but did anybody think it was going out. >> i really didn't move even when i saw the hitting because

he was a negro league baseball player before he played for the braves in both milwaukee and atlanta. mr. aaron formed the chasing the dream foundation with his wife in 1994 and has given financial support to hundreds of youths that enabled them to pursue their talents in music, dance, art, science, literature and athletics. his wife, by the way, attended texas college in tyler, texas, where she is on the board of directors and it has been one of the highlights of my life to get to meet mr. aaron on more than one occasion. it's heartbreaking, heart rending to hear some of the hell on earth he was put through simply because of race. yet he never wavered. he continued to give everything he had to those tasks put before him. people remember the home run record, but many do not realize he had over 300 bush over .300 batting average, .305 lifetime. it was incredible. i once asked him, for someone who was a home run hitter to hit over .300, most players only dream of hit .300. how did you do that? was there some secret ability you had? and in his typical, humble style, mr. aaron said, i was

atlanta within one. pittsburgh starter charlie morton left after pitching just one inning due to tightness in his right hammy. the braves see their winning stream come to an end. the braves have seen their winning streak come to an end. >> the vikings have backed off their pursuit of brett favre after favre failed to report to organized team activities this week. brad childress hit the radio air waves with his version of what was expected this week. >> was there a deadline or not placed on brett favre to report this week to practice? >> absolutely not. maybe by deanna or somebody like that, but certainly not from me, not even close. don't know where that would have dropped out of the sky from. >> would it be safe to say that there will be a later date where this will resume in a more serious manner? >> i don't know. i'm not into predicting the future. we'll just have to see what's around the corner tomorrow. he was a great player. he obviously had a setback last year. he was playing very well early. and if in fact he's had that surgery, i'm anxious to see just exactly what he's got left in that cannon because he had a p

didn't the boston brave go to kansas city and milwaukee and then atlanta? >> bob: no, they went to milwaukee first. the philadelphia athletics went to kansas city. >> rob: some teams have traveled around a little bit. they have gone and then. >> bob: and they are in oakland. it's i how can you deny the history. that's baseball. at the end of the day, that's all good. >> bob: and the royals fans have the st. louis browns who came there in '53, how their team moved around. i mean we have lost two teams in this town. 1 ball, 1 strike to dunn. that ball gets away the nick johnson never saw it. he just fell right out of the glove of raul chavez. he had the catcher and the umpire in his line of sight. >> bob: that ball. >> rob: that ball gets out of the sight. did you see barajas -- or not barajas but chavez much he was looking at the runner. >> bob: thighs try at the breaking ball. >> rob: i think nick was shaded by dunn and the catcher and didn't know where the ball was. >> bob: yes. screened. >> rob: i'm thinking of the hockey term. >> bob: like screening the

then, the braves come to town after a day off. thursday, atlanta's here. sunday's game in masn hd and dc 50. nats hit the road on monday. >> he's been throwing the ball well. the big papi home run set him back just a tad. five innings plus every outing. really like the kid. he throws it for strikes. he's only walked 10 guys all year long. i just feel real good about him every time he goes out there and pitches. >> how about this guy? >> great arm, johnny. 93-mile-per-hour hard slider eats you up inside. only has eight starts. he's 3-2 with a .338. a -- 3.38. a guy they're raving about down in mime i didn't got his first major league win over the san francisco giants did sean west. he's a big kid, 6'8", 240 pounds. you have rookie against rookie tonight. i put my money on craig stammen if i was a betting man. >> i'm with you, johnny. although this kid has gotten a lot more fanfare than stammen, i think stammen is one of the guys that mentally tough just the way he handles himself. he'll find a way to win and keep new ballgames. >> thank you for joining us h

braves. yankees win it 8-4. a-rod, 1 for 3. couple r.b.i. atlanta only the third time in the last 22 games that they've lost when scoring at least four runs. yankees win 8-4. joba chamberlain, very impressive. 6 and a third. two earned. 5k's. dave o'brien, and rick sutcliffe have the call, and they give us this post-game extra. >> so we talked tonight about francisco servery welly, and the great passion he played with. he hit his first major league home run tonight. he's kind of enough to join us on the field. >> well, francisco, a great night for you and the yankees. and a game you guys really needed. talk about your home run now. your first major league big fly, and you knocked it out to left field. how did that feel off the bat? >> i feel very happen hey. and i just tried to hit the ball. they went through changeups before, and you know, i was ready for something in the middle. and i hit the ball, and you know, i started to run hard. it was on out of the park. >> a lot of conversation, not only on the field but in the dugout between you and joba

braves earlier in month. the opportunities seem to be limited around the major leagues. sending this text message to waga tv in atlanta- i'm not going to pitch and for now he'll be a full time bad -- dad. ordonez benched in detroit. manager jim leyland says he's tried everything. he's homer less in 38 straight games. prior to this year ordonez was a big hero in detroit. 2006, had that walk-off game winning shot in game four of the league championship series. the following year he led baseball, batting .363. he's been selected to a pair of all-star games since coming to detroit. speaking of the tigers the club extending jim leyland's contract through 2011. he was in the last year of his deal. he's 64 years old. it's his fourth year in detroit. led the tigers to that pennant in 2006. >> chad ochocinco, big thursday, feeling pretty good about his team this season at minicamp. he was a full participant. he said despite last season, he thinks this team this season is playoff bound. >> it's going to be a great year. we're going to the playoff. i look at us on paper -- paper don't mean anything. i look at us in practice -- i

then again, the atlanta journal constitution once questioned why he had gotten a contract extension. that was in 1991, two years before the braves began that unpress denied winning streak. he got his start in baseball by walking up to the braves owner, ted turner and offering to work for nothing. as ted turner once told the paper, that was an offer even i cooperate refuse. besides the behaves, he has also served as president of the turner-owned atlanta hawks basketball team and the atlanta thrashers hockey team, becoming the first person ever to serve as the head of three major league teams simultaneously. the son of holocaust survivors, he graduated from new york university and columbia law school. that law degree problems comes in handledy when he negotiates contracts. today's questions probably won't be as hard as those negotiations. let's welcome stan kasten to the national press club. [applause] >> thank you, donna. it is always great being here at the press club. i always enjoy it whether i am speaking here or coming for speeches. it is always great fun for me. i see so many friendly faces out here in the audience today. i