orioles coming to bat in the fourth. and mora are coming up. ♪ ♪ (tucci) more bars in more places. at&t. the best coverage worldwide. get the blackberry bold for $199.99 after mail-in-rebate. only from at&t.

dukes broke his bat. out is the shortstop marco scutaro man. >> rob: man, bat companies are making a lot of coin this year. >> bob: good changeup pitchers, rob, it's so hard to center the ball against them. >> rob: you hate lot off the end of the bat and that will shatter bats. making this guy like like -- look like cy young talent. >> bob: 43 pitches, 25 strikes in his first three innings josh bard is next. >> rob: to joba chamber lane's credit, he gave a lot of credit to the pitching staff and the hitting staff. he said they were very patient. made him throw a lot of pitches. he recognized how well the team did last night. a classy kid. there's rick eckstein. >> bob: nationals are down, if you will, to number eight in the league in batting average at .257. they were hitting in the .270 range for quite a while. manny acta's ball club, second or third in the league in runs for a while now down to number 10. lately, the pitching has rescued that and josh bard has a four-pitch walk. both hitters that tallet

after getting a home run in his first at-bat, manny ramirez is walked in his second at-bat.course, we keep it here on "espnews" and we will continue to show you his at-bats live. once again, he is expected to play long enough to get four at-bats. now here is how the upcoming minor colleague schedule looks like. sunday, monday and tuesday he will be facing rancho cucamonga and "espnews" is all over it bringing you the highlights. and expected to return to the big leagues on july 3rd and he will join the dodgers when they face the padres. the phillies are yet to beat the blue jays in four chance this is season. and werth knows it and wants to change it. and a scoreless game but you can add two on the board. crushing that one to left field and an upper-deck shot for werth. check out how the ball carries. he had two home runs in the game and was 4-4. his sixth career multi-home run game. and the phillies win the second time in the last 11. 9 -- the 10-0 win is the largest since 1994. and j.a. happ's first shutout. >> and andy roddick facing met met -- jurgen melzer. and roddick'

his very first at-bat, manny, of course, batting lead-off. a home run against nick schmidt, the first-round draft pick of the padres in 2007. and then in his second plate appearance, manny walked with a man on. manny expected to play long enough to get four at-bats. manny taking the first pitch low. ramirez declined to talk to reporters today. came about 2 1/2 hours before the game. fly balls and took cuts in the batting page for the 66ers of the california league. two balls to manny. and because of california league was on its all-star game break monday through wednesday, the start of ramirez's stint with inland empire he went to albuquerque, new mexico where he went hitless in three at-bats and stepping in and ramirez takes the cut. and it appears that manny flew out in his third at-bat nowhere, it actually dropped in for a single. so manny ramirez 2-3 with the walk. now this is what is awaiting manny in the coming days. he will be facing rancho cucamonga on sunday, monday and tuesday. and he is scheduled to return to the dodgers on july 3r

hermida bounced into a double play his first at-bat. -- at-bat. he's now 0-10. this is the second game against the orioles. they will conclude their interleague play this weekend in tampa against the rays. breaking ball for a strike. the second time through the lineup has been the most efficient and consistent for berken in his previous five starts. the batting average, buck, against berken the second time, .225. it was .279 the first time. then, it jumps up to .417 the third time. >> buck: i think the first time through drd -- the first time through the order, he's trying to get con troafl his emotion. you have to remember these younger pitchers are just getting their first taste of big league babe. there will be all kinds of emotional hills and valleys they have to deal with. we've seen all of them. none are intimidated by the big leagues by any means. they've been very good in their composure. you have to control your emotions and get some experience. nothing more than that. >> jim: ball hit deep to left center field. long run for luke scott makes the running

the old bats, the grains are the length of the bat. when you broke them, it was basically like breaking a boat oar. now they're longer and thinner in the middle. you've got to projectiles when i used to break them, they dropped at home plate. it's the grain and not the different types of bats. >> bob: detwiler tried to paint inside. change up and a base hit. >> rob: b.j. upton had that right there. i guess back in the day -- what was his first name, the walker that had the rbis and stuff. i think pat walker. wilson. i think they were stirring up the paint with his bat. he liked the look of it, they liked the look. that's why they started calling it the walker finish. >> bob: those clubhouse guys are a different breed. they seldom see the light of day. >> rob: we talked about how the batting practice baseballs come from china. the game balls come from costa rica. >> bob: they're stitched by machine now. they're stitched tighter than human hands could. good lead by the runner. he's picked off. nick's got to hurry. he throws high. [cheeri

he'll bat from the right side.here's a strike as rich hill comes back. 1-1 the count. >> buck: time for the pnc scouting report for rich hill. fastball, curve ball, changeup. he made a great, early adjustment last night owm -- time out against the phillies and had a couple of good at- bats that led to an rbi. might be an asset for him tonight as he'll get chance to hit. >> jim: he even pinch-hit one time in this series because dave trembley ran out of position players. there are the numbers for rich on the year making his eighth start. 1-2, he got him. good curve ball down and away. coghlan down on strikes. one away. >> buck: can throw a lot of striems strikes with his fastball. you're going to see a lot of these ugly swings on his curve ball because nobody can stay back. it's a big, wide sweeper. you don't see many big breaking balls like rich hill's. that's why it's so effective and allows him to retire coghlan so easily to start the game. >> jim: rich is without a doubt a strikeout pitch her in large part becaus

jack hannahan will take the bat.eam has the lowest batting average and the fourth fewest runs scored. that is inside for a ball. hannahan and the warm-up action begins with mark hendrickson, the batter. runner at second base. that is in there for a strike. 2-1. guthrie game in with opponents hitting .274 off him. left handers at 3-7b9 .269 and right handers, .278. that one hit in the air to centerfield. going back is jones again. this time, he has some room. he will make the catch. the runner halfway, cunningham will go back to second base. this is not a ballpark that is noted as a hitter's yard. today maybe an exception because it has been a very warm day and there is no marine layer expected to move in here tonight which brings that damp cloud off the pacific which generally keeps the ball in the park and it's tough to get it out. the ball will carry as well as you can see it. >> buck: and it has. just about this time, it starts to become a real pitcher's ballpark. has not been the case tonight. >> gary: it may not

this might be an at-bat like guzman had. what do teams usually do on the road in a situation like this? >> rob: right here where you have the leadoff guy on base and you have one of the best contact guys and then you have vernon wells? i'm trying to put this guy on second and let vernon swing away. you know you have no bullpen. you have to go for the win right here. >> bob: yes. zimmerman takes it. should make it a double play but a bad throw. he hung gonzalez out to dry. so the nats will settle for one. and gonzalez floating in the air kept that ball out of right field. >> rob: this is an absolute shot right there. ryan zimmerman has plenty of time. takes a little too much off of this and just kind of lobs it over because alberto gonzalez who normally does not play second base is not there yet. great play shown by the x-mo. you saw him kind of pump right there and lobs it. >> bob: that play is a microcosm of zimmerman's season. amazing with the glove, at times erratic with the arm. >> rob: in his defense, since there is nob

was batting second and i was batting third and that was three guys who could run a little bit back thene 21, 22 years old. it was good time. he was playing short evident. i played second and we had a lot of fun. i wish they had kept it that way for a while. obviously they moved him to second base and he is doing a great job there and i'm proud of him. >> we definitely had a bond there. there were so many of us. a lot of us ended up at the same spots. willie harris and i had a great time. i loved playing with him. he is a fun guy to be around. he enjoys being on the field. i always felt like he was a big league player. >> always a good time when you face guys you came up in the minor leagues with. >> you form bonds, and then you always watch them. when you're watching a professional game or even a college game, if you don't know anyone, you don't have last interest. when you know someone, it whets your interest and that's the way it is. those friendships are things that -- friendships that last forever. >> that's why i admire watching you tonight, brother. you're so professional. >> spea

and the bat comes up to ricky nolasco.it to first base. >> bob: maybe that's why ricky didn't bother looking at the runner. he had to worry about the ball and the bat. here is wil nieves. >> rob: i'm sure anderson's hands kind of reverb rated after that hit. they'll be numb a little bit. >> bob: breaking ball away. if it gets by the mound, there's a chance. nieves is safe and the nationals pick up a two out run. it was do or die for uggla with the glove. and the nats get a break on an infield chopper, 2-0. >> rob: we saw this happen to us up in baltimore. they were going over the infield. this one, perfect. >> bob: wil has good speed for a catcher. >> rob: and he's getting down that line. the only chance log had on this play was to try to take it with his glove and scoop it and throw it to first base. never had a chance. >> bob: that accomplished a couple of things. got a run home and it gets scott olsen up here. scott olsen can handle the bat. he is 0 for 8 on the year, but he's a .154 career hitter. for nieves, his 12th

uncanny these bats are breaking at the rate they're breaking. i know major league baseball studies every one of them. that's headed to mlb headquarters. they're going to try and figure out what's going on. >> 3-2 to phillips. >> johnny: catches the outside corner to call a strike. 3-0. low on the outside corner. brandon phillips tried to steal a walk there. >> johnny: the information systems powerhouse -- 3-1. top of the nationals order coming up as we go to the bottom of the 8th. guzman, johnson, zimmermann. they need two to tie. >>> we're back at nationals park. 2-0 reds as we move to the 8th inning. we join you to join the party this summer at ladies night on thursday. the next is tomorrow at 7:30. to learn more about ladies night visit our website. >> thank you debbi taylor very much. trying to find debbi down in the field somewhere, couldn't spot her. johnny holliday with rob dibble. we're in the 8th inning trying to get something going. guzman, johnson and zimmermann. >> rob: guzman has a couple of knocks tonight including a triple. 0-

ryan zimmerman batted cleanup last night.so, when he went deep, rob, he was leading off the second. >> rob: he has just been swinging the bat really well in the last few games because he's cutting it loose. right there, he gets it on the sweet spot. probably didn't even phil feel it he think so well on thesecond deck. you heard somebody yell "got him." you know when he got it that quick, he got awful it. >> bob: so, that was his 90th hit. he's sixth in the league with that. i like the symmetry to his numbers. when he got his 90th hit, he scored his 50th run. count is even, 1-1. fly ball pitchers giving up fiv home runs in his first 41 major league innings. zimmerman rocks that one to left. probably hit that ball as hard as he hit the home run last night. he's aboard for adam dunn with two outs in the first. >> rob: for west, he's lucky it wasn't a little bit on the upperpart of the bat or it would have been a home run. every time a guy hits a ball hard, it's just a fragment or a fraction of a millimeter or milliliter from bei

he can flat out hit. >> bob: and his batting average coming into that at-bat is .301. he is now 3-4 tonight. here is aubrey huff. >> rob: and the bases loaded. you have to throw some strikes. >> jim: oh, yeah. >> rob: and that was a running fastball. it ran down and in on him and he crushed it. >> jim: a lot of times you get the left-handers to roll over on that two-seamer and now the nemesis. >> bob: 13 baltimore hits aclub hitting over .300 this year. jim, i thought you said the fireworks were after the game? >> jim: no. we started a little early. i suppose it could be worse. and when chen was here, teixeira was 6-10 with five home runs. >> rob: wow. >> jim: that would be a guy you'd pitch around, wouldn't you? i would have. >> bob: 2-0 count and a oncer over nick johnson. roberts scores. jones scampering home. it's 9-1, baltimore. 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

this is luke scott's third pinch hit at-bat of the season. difference in the two leagues. >> jim: now, luke, for one, will definitely be happy to get back home on friday and back to american league rules. ground ball, base hit up the middle. so the orioles can get the tying run to the plate after two outs and nobody on in the ninth inning. and there you go again, buck. you talk about the 27 outs. >> buck: yes. and it is a team that's got a lot of confidence right now, and wouldn't you know it, luke scott comes off the bench, deliver as sharp single up the middle. so mora's two-out base hit and now luke scott's two-out base hit has set the table for matt wieters. >> jim: and lindstrom is fortunate that the hard smash went right to the second baseman. that may have been the hardest hit ball in the inning so the orioles have a chance with wieters ahome run threat up against lindstrom. lindstrom has allowed only two home runs on the year in his previous 31 appearances. >> buck: jim johnson, just in case. >> jim: he was going for it and he swings

first at-bat, actually that was the second at-bat. this is the first at-bat.he's going to bunt for a base hit right here. no chance with that speed. just when you think he's going to play some small ball on you, he's going to jack one off the left center field wall for a double. anderson hernandez having a great night at the plate. >> bob: we like that kid a lot. he's an intriguing player. great speed. my only criticism of him defensively is that on routine plays he probably needs to charge the ball a little more. that will come with experience. he's quick on the double play, good quick hands. here's the veteran lance cormier. he'll let home plate umpire know when he's ready. one out for the rays to win this series and put themselves in position for a sweep tomorrow. >> rob: isringhausen who was hurt before we went to commercial, had elbow problems in the past. i know a lot of guys, especially that are getting up there in years and throwing a lot of pitches, sometimes that adrenaline, just too much for your skeletal frame. >> bob: a reminder that the cal ripke

swinging the bat as well as anybody. and joba chamberlain pitched like a number one pitcher the yankees said he could be. >> a-rod was 5 for 49. he was slumping in the month of june before he came up with a big hit. did this get him going? a number of the slumping yankees got big hits tonight. >> we've seen them pitch around teixeira. it wasn't an intentional pass, but it seemed that way. and i think alex might have there were two prototype ships built and they are coming on stream now but that process was managed poorly. i think there would be temptation to buy both of them. probably we should just stick with one ship so there are places certainly that we need to be careful with spending. >> host: from pennsylvania on the democrats' line, larry joins. >> caller: yes, i appreciate the chance to get through. it's not easy to get through and all i am kind of astounded by this man. he talks with the cadence of a banker like he's so sure these things are definitely going to work and they are definitely, surely needed and rem

challenge the lower part of the batting order. if they can hit the old number one. >> bob: no swing says james hoye. >> rob: let's see this from the side. nope, he didn't. >> bob: one ball, two strikes a toronto team only 16-18 on the road. they're 3-6 in interleague play so far. as rob mentioned, they play well in their ballpark where it's a good hitter's park. they're 21-13 there. jammed him. right side for nick johnson. and the blue jays are gone in the top of the second. look at that. overmatching a left-handed batter and even the guy in the stands calls him out. custom s

just good at bats. that will get him back into his good approach. >> gary: adam jones hitting in the third spot. eighth in average in the american league coming in with a .340 number. tremendous early part of the season still underway for him. now markakis gets to look in and see jones rather than the other way around it's been most of the year and a lot of times. talking to adam before the game he was working on his swing. he said my mechanics were getting screwed up a bit. that one will be blocked. so the last couple of days he's been working on shortening up stride and he said my front shoulder was coming up and i was swinging under the ball. i was putting the ball in the air so he's trying to square up and stay balanced and keep the swing a little shorter. >> buck: all of those things will contribute to a long swing. >> gary: runner at 1st base. jones around on that one. home plate umpire will make the call. orioles what they need right now is the contagiousness of somebody early in the ball game ge

one at bat. everybody else in the oakland line up, everybody in the line up has had at least three plate appearances. 1-1 delivery. i wonder if there will be a change in the schedule and batting practice. >> buck: something the orioles haven't done is they kind of common practice but they're struggling right now. i think they'll change that. >> gary: don't want to put pressure on the players if you're a manager but at the same time it's like look it's not getting done. >> buck: that's what dave tried tonight with the lineup. tried to spark some offense. this is just the nature of the baseball game. peaks and valleys and start making adjustments. >> gary: kennedy will catch that. he was playing the other way. one away here in the 6th. copyrighted telecast presented by authority the orioles may not be reproduced or retransmitted in any form. the descriptions of this game are not seminated without the express written consent of the orioles. oakland, alameda county coliseum. as it was in the beginnin

very good at-bat by josh willingham. >> bob: who is now batting .288. >> rob: here's a front door breakingball. he's all over it. bonifacio has 13 errors, probably mostly throwing. he can't come up with the ball. >> bob: here's anderson hernandez who bounced back to the pitcher first time. when ricky nolasco took a buzz saw to his bat. >> rob: he dropped down on that one. he's got a lot of pitches this nolasco kid. when we saw him earlier in the year he was throwing like this. he's got some good stuff. i think we got to him later in the game. >> bob: well, six innings. the nats, remember, the nats were having their pitching nightmares with the bullpen. then he pitched in washington, and in four innings gave up seven hits but only two runs. the marlins eventually came from behind to win that game. one of those heartbreaking losses. the nats bullpen gave up that first weekend 3-2. and a fastball up. >> rob: we've talked to some people from the marlins. he fancies himself as a guy that has about 7 pitches. that's four too many. right now we've seen a few of them tonight. great breaking ball,

this is just power on a weak bat. that bat explodes in his hands, sets up a 1, 4, 3 double play. >> bob: i love the fact detwiler did not wait to make his throw. he did it with authority. >> rob: that was perfect by the young detwiler. >> bob: two out, bases empty. >> rob: his mound presence is fantastic for a kid his age. that was by all reports, when i saw him the first time in string training, when he gets guys on base, he gets upset and aggravated. she's shown none of that since the minor leagues. >> bob: just turned 23 in march. changeup outside to longoria. going into another day of inner league play. the national league and american league split equally yesterday. the first 70 games of inner league play. joe maddon's rays 4-1. they beat the marlins 4-3. now the first two in this series against the nats. fly ball to right for corey patterson. after the leadoff base hit t, -- hit, the double play is huge. @?  >>> here's our cooler's light cam. >> rob: gonzalez trying to go first of third.

batting at .343. and he will take the fastball for a strike. >> buck: doesn't make any difference who you're playing. if you're not making quality pitches to a big league club, you're going to get hit. when the orioles came to town the a's were at .239 as a club and don't look like that type of ball club now. >> gary: they are last in average in the american league. and 11th in runs scored. orioles pitching staff continues to struggle with the second highest e.r.a. talking hitting, the manager. 1-2 on kennedy. runner at 2nd. and the slider's going to miss inside. and count goes 2-2. two walks in the ball game have scored. nope, sorry. all three. berken has walked all three and they've all crossed the plate. 2-2 delivery to kennedy. breaking ball in the air. left center. oh, my. that wasn't a bad pitch but a great piece of hitting. kennedy's going to go to 2nd base. that will score cabrera and 8- 0a's lead. talk about waiting on a pitch. >> buck: watch how kennedy stays back on this ball. breaking ball

because of the bat.hey can not only get the out, they get the lead runner, the double play in order here. >> jim h.: mora throws to second, one, back to first, will not be in time. that was a tough play all around because melvin was guarding the line. gloves it. got the pivot but couldn't get it there in time, two down. >> rob: but they do get the lead runner. mora goes to his left. takes the force out, gets one. roberts tries to side step 6'6", 275. >> jim p.: paul bunyan coming down the line. >> rob: can you imagine, he was going it start at quarterback at texas. >> jim p.: of course if you're that big. >> rob: all world quarterback down in texas. i think he was major apple white. >> jim h.: charging in is jones, he'll get there for the out. so the lead-off hit an man left. ♪ cold refreshment is an unstoppable force. because every coors light can is cold-activated. when the mountains turn blue, your beer is as cold as the rockies. the coors light cold-activated can. enjoy refreshment at its peak. aaaaa

he is nervous to get in a full swing of the bat.s i said, he will be evaluated an the orioles will determine what he will do, what will be the next step. we do know he will go back up north with the team, though. jim? >> >> jim: amber, thank you very much that is the first step as you get back to the team and then the baseball-related activities, rehab in the minor leagues. once you get back in game conditions, it comes back to you. this is a hard smash to andino. he plays it flawlessly. and a three up, three down inning. the orioles hold the 1-0 lead. cash flow isn't just an important thing to small business. it's everything. that's why pnc is introducing your new cfo, cash flow options designed to effectively improve your cash flow. cfo helps every dollar work harder. from the very first dollar to the last dollar of the day. get in touch with your new cfo. pnc. leading the way. gip tonight's contestant yolanda. she has a chance to win $99 worth of american classic scratch-off tickets from the maryland lottery for every home

here is reimold batting with two on, none out. orioles a chance to get back in this game here in the sixth. nolan, 1-it on the -- 1-2 on the night with a single. curve ball outside. 1-0. firestone league leaders. let's take a look at the rookies and the rbi leaders. there's nolan reimold 17 leading chris getz of the white sox among the rookies. brett gasher of the yankees ahead of reimold in batting average. nolan still leads in home runs and rbi's. >> buck: yeah, he's done a nice job coming up here and displaying some early power. it's something we have talked about often how younger players like reimold have a tens tendency to develop a little better power swing as they get more comfortable. a little more knowledge of theleague. a little more confidence when to take that big swing. he has not really ever made me think he was trying to hit home runs. he's just got legitimate power. he doesn't have to pull it to hit it out. he can hit it out anywhere in the ballpark. >> jim: 17 home runs combine. nine in triple-a, eight here with

jack cust hit a three run homer last night will be batting thursday. holliday bats clean up. also had a three run homer last night. the a's have beaten the orioles 22 of their last 30 in oakland. jack led the american league in walks. cust also hit 33 home runs. >> we've had jack cust here. i love the guy. he was a great kid to have on the ball club. if he is the i pit my of a mistake hitter. he had only 77 rbis. that surprised me because not a lot of people on base when he hits his home runs which tells me with nobody on base he gets more fastballs and he can do that. he led the american league in strikeouts last year. it's a mystery to me how he could lead them at the same time and walk. it doesn't make sense to me at all. he looks for the ball in a certain situation. big time hitter. if he guesses right he can hurt you. but the big upper cut swing you have to throw him up in the strike zone to get him off the fastball and keep off speed stuff and low stuff down. low fastballs you're in trouble. >> another player that did that was babe ruth. >> when we come back weerl look

bat.t and fouls it off. >> buck: bonifacio, as you mentioned, jim, has had a tough time getting on base and i think that is a real concern for this ball club. they like to talk about his speed and athleticism but it is negated by the fact to get on base. >> jim: high pop-up, andino is over and he has the play. one away. the other alarming thing for the marlins, buck, is the lack of power for the third baseman. gonzales has two home runs total from his third baseman all year. >> buck: it is a difficult position to be in when you're trying to get power at the corners. they have cantu over at first who has nine home runs, and he has been a big home run guy in the past, but they're just trying to figure out where to play bonifacio. their power on the infield comes from their second baseman dan uggla and this guy. he is not too shabby either, although he recently just had a 100 at-bat streak of no home runs. that was snapped on sunday. >> jim: hanley ramirez grounded out his first at-bat and he

he may say the ball got my finger and the bat. i don't know if we can see that. >> gary: he's -- >> jim: otherwise our out. i'm not sure schneider -- you look back and brian schneider is look where the ball is because the ball is live. jeff kellogg is trying to explain that now that we've had this little parlay down to

some 90-plus at-bats.m with it. >> jim: there are times in a game, that was one of them, when you're mark hendrickson, you have to say, i have no place to put him, got to throw it to the middle. and a pretty good pitch to hit. fouled it back. >> gary: put it in the strike zone and hope. it's fouled off by cora. >> jim: mark does have the big curveball. he's got a little bit of a slurment probably his best off- speed pitch is his change-up. every pitch, all five of them have been fastballs. that's what happens. we saw brian bass get caught in that situation because he didn't command anything else. >> gary: cora will ask for the time-out. >> jim: see that number. >> gary: very peasht hitter. >> jim: look at him choking up. he's down on the bat a little bit. >> gary: the outfield is in and over. much the way they play castillo, only a few steps deeper. cora takes it and the game's tied on a bases loaded walk. so murphy will score. cora will be credited with the rbi. and that will drive a manager nutso. >> jim

dh him and get some guys at-bats.. >> byron: manny acta talking about the next team they will play on the schedule. the rays friday through sunday. joined in progress on saturday a little bit after 7 p.m. also first time for the nationals in the yankees brand new stadium starting tuesday through thursday. byron kerr and ray knight wrapping up as the nationals defeat the reds. time to get a winning streak started in tampa bay, >> ray: if we continue to pitch well and have a chance to win every ballgame and play good defense and get clutch hitting, we can play with those guys. they have struggled. they are 29-31 coming in yesterday. they have pretty good ballplayers down there. longoria one of the best in the business. you know crawford and they have a good pitching staff. garza going tomorrow against us. they are deep. david price. >> byron: yeah. the first overall from last year of course with david price. nationals are going to go with craig stammen. >> ray: he has been able to pitch well. he gave up five runs in the

he was challenging the pitcher every at-bat.n't help when you have that big fella behind you. hits are even at 3-3. nick johnson, a running threat after fouling one off his foot. lyle overbay holding him on there pretty good fastball. just missed. 2-1. >> rob: the above shot of tallet right here. you see that little slide step trying to get it to home as quick as possible to give his catcher a chance. i don't think nick is going to try to swipe second just in case. >> bob: zimmerman off the end of the bat. that will hang in the air for alex rios. two outs. do pitchers sometimes throw the ball the first -- to first just because maybe they're not ready to go home? why would he throw over there with nick? >> rob: a lot of times, and i was not a big believer in throwing and trying to keep a guy on first. i would throw over to change my grip because i had a grip i got into any mi glove and didn't like this. it was uncomfortable. i'd throw over. sometimes the coaches are looking for something. they may feel there's a hit-and- run on.

off the bat you think right here too. it's right down the line.es pass markakis, i have a chance for two. nick cuts it off plays it barehanded. baker all the while watching the orioles right-hander and wisely decides to shut it down. nick's got seven assists on the season, first in the american league. last year, he led the league with 17. >> jim: nolasco will bunt first base side. it goes foul. >> buck: aubrey huff has to recognize that bunt right there. if he gets a fair ball, he'll hit with the same intensity and go to second base and get the catcher. now jason berken has to pay attention to that. crowd him again. you might get the same type of bunt, something hard to the first baseman. you get that lead runner. and you can make ricky nolasco run the bases. >> jim: that certainly has hurt the orioles pitchers this year. bunts it first base side. pretty good one. huff will take the sure out at first as roberts covers. sacrifice successful. on at second base with two down now is baker. there's your difference, buck, with the national league game.

the at-bats tonight. we will have them once again, live at-bats from manny ramirez in his final rehab start on espnews. >> he's great. >> he's accurate. that's why. congratulations. >> you're saying cubs' fans are stupid? >> ozzie is not crazy. i agree with the portions about that being more of place to be, more of place to be seen and more of a place to go ahead and have party-like atmosphere than people being encouraged, than people actually caring about what happens on the field. >> in my opinion, i love to see the guy play baseball. he's a true genius. steroids aren't going to keep the guy from hitting a home run. >> as a fan, that's not going to keep me away from dodger stadium. frank mccourt already does that with $10 parking. the gangs and all this stuff. >> ramirez is a cheater. let's be honest. he took steroids. unfortunately he's going to take a lot of grief for what he did and deservedly so because he had to do the wrong thing. >> you defrock the athlete of their manhood in these situations and

i got one at bat spring training, and i got hit.e at bat since high school. >> mike, it's father's day. did you get that great fastball from your dad? >> oh, yeah. he had a good fastball. >> four in a row, obviously better than three in a row, and winning is better than losing. do you feel like the club has turned a corner at all? >> i think we've grown confident and we're definitely on a roll. looking good. >> mike mcdougalle, national's closer. here's a little bit more on the two guys sort of like imitating the umpires right behind home plate. >> i'm tim williams. >> i'm joe ferrell. we're going to be your umpires for this evening. we're going to do a called first strike here. second is a swinging strike and a called third strike with a chain saw. >> how about everyone in the stadium knows is not close at all? >> season ticket holder in tran toe and had an opportunity to meet a bunch of umpires at a restaurant i like to frequent, and they recognized me from the seats. they liked it so much they ended up sending us a few shirts, an

luke scott batting clean up. orioles still lose by a count 9- 4.ped six of their last seven. for more on the orioles on latest losses go back to oakland and visit with buck and gary guilty or not guilty thanks very much. very disappointing getting behind in these two games so early taking the stuffing out for the o's. they got runnings late the offense is doing what they weren't doing. they are getting strikeouts. they weren't doing that before. >> you hate to put so much on the starting pitching, but when you fall behind early difficult as hitters to focus. and they were up against a guy they'd not seen before in transfer cahill. a tremendous sinker early in the ball game and led to a lot of early strikeouts. the thing about cahill when you don't see a guy before, you want to be patient and look at him and unfortunately they were so far behind they couldn't use that approach. one of four on the road trip so far. i don't care who you are or how well you pitch you can't win games where you only score two runs for a ball game. 4-26 with runners in sc

willie harris will catch this one, off the bat of brignac.jesus colome, a 10-7 strikeout to walk ratio. in his years here. tonight's copyrighted telecast presented by the authority of the washington nationals may not be reproduced or retransmitted in any form. everybody in this inning for the rays have batted except for the two speedsters, upton and crawford.  >> bob: very tardy, strik looks to me like they've got some hitters in this line-up who do a lot of guessing. i think he was thinking first pitch slider there. >> rob: i would agree. then you regroup and you cut down a little bit. i want to hit something in my area.  >> bob: 17th time they've five or more on the board. that's how you lead the major leagues with 260 runs. this is their 64th game of the year. so they are averaging 5.6 runs a game. >> rob: they're right there right now. >> bob: their e.r.a. is 4.30. >> rob: well, they're 8th in the american league in pitching, number one in offense. they're 10th in defense. >> bob

still two more at-bats.ow they get to go after the florida bullpen with nolasco lifted for a pinch-hitter. >> buck: the interesting thing, again, we must point out no lindstrom lind down there. probably no leo nunez down there. we've go the two guys in your bullpen and tim wood and christopher leroux that have one major league game between them. >> jim: leroux was called up today for lindstrom going on the d. l. he had been at double- a. there's a ground ball at first. huff to the bagment two men out. so, albers with two quick outs. fredi gonzalez looking it over on the bench. >> buck: you've got to make a decision. >> jim: sunday, july 12, come out to oriole park to 21 ute taw street. an area -- eutaw street. an area for just $21. fans can he purchase a ticket and receive a limited edition t- shirt featuring nick and adam. that's the place to be july 12 for all of nick and adam's biggest fans. call 888-848-bird or go to orioles.com and reserve a seat for 21 eutaw street. >> buck: nick markakis made another

so chris ray and pie will bat in the nine spot.. >> buck: chris ray threw the ball well in triple-a. he had a 2.25 e.r.a. >> jim: outside, 2-2. >> gary: the thing for chris ray was the election of his pitches. he threw a few too many pitches up in the zone, and his focus and concentration will be to keep the same arm angle and to try to get the brail down in the zone where he is most effective. >> jim: making his first appearance for the orioles since may 27 when he pitched against the blue jays. so a tough outing for danys baez as jorge cantu gets one into right center field. jones and markakis. jones calls and he has it for the out and there is the second out of the inning. fans, on sunday, july 12th, come on out to oriole park for the debut of 2110 utah street. that is an area of the right center field bleachers named for nick and adam jones and their uniform numbers. for just $21 fans can purchase a ticket and receive a limited edition t-shirt featuring nick and adam. this is the place to be july 21st for nick and adam's bigges

next at-bat. beautiful changeup.he gets it out in front again on the changeup after he throws a fastball down and in. he comes back with the fastball away, and then though throws the changeup on the 2-0 pitch and he just chases the ball down a little bit, and he certainly handled brian roberts tonight that was a pretty good indication of how well he threw the ball. you're only talking about an inch or two or three with a guy that is throwing changeups. you get off the end of that bat, and you hit a ball short, which is jamming or long on the end of the bat, you have a tendency to get people out. those balls long seem to be bloopers and balls short seem to be in the infield. >> you talk about getting people out, what has happened to joel hanrahan? last year he 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.

on him, and he doesn't miss very many bats either. he just doesn't strike out a lot of people. so he's a finesse pitcher with a pretty good fastball, change- up, breaking ball. i'm not sure what they're working on, but i'm sure it's throwing the ball in a better spot and making better locations. >> and he did win his first five starts for the nationals. ray and i will take a break. we'll continue with more "nats xtra pregame." gecko: uh, you wanted to see me sir? boss: come on in, i had some other things 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... boss: no, no. we can do this. gecko: oh dear. vo: geico. fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. >>> willie's been playing tremendous. not on

their bat angle changes and that's why he was so devastating. this year it's been a tale of two cities, different story. we have a graphic of how he's done in the past. he's thrown, as you see last year, the 26 innings and 19 hits, the 2.08 earned run average, opposition batting average just .196. that's unreal. this year, 4.42 over his last seven ballgames. he's just not throwing enough strikes to stay ahead. the key to getting people to make outs when you throw a breaking ball, your first breaking ball can't be the best breaking ball you throw. if you're going to throw three more or two more in that sequence, the last one has to be just as good, sharp and deep, as the first one. hanrahan has a tendency to throw the first breaking ball very well. but when he has to repeat, it's not as sharp. now, the hitter's already seen a breaking ball with quickness, depth and sharpness. now they see one that's not quite as good, that's what happened with the base hits last night with mora to right field. he'd already seen a breaking ball. it wasn't quite as

you have guys that read the ball well off the bat. then, you have guys that can just flat outrun the baseball. nyjer is one of the guys who does both. we saw him cover from the left field all the way to center field playing left field for the pirates. i believe he'll be a true center fielder a guy as i mentioned the other day when we talked, johnny, also in the blog, we've been needing a guy that can go from gap to gap, get back to the wall on balls that are hit hard and charge the ball. a high-energy guy. this guy is perfect. he's the guy you picked out of watching all these guys this year, you picked this guy as the guy that you really liked his energy just walking throughout stadium one night. 18 stolen bases would be first on our ball club. four bunts, first. triples, five. also first. i'd like to make a note. ken griffey, sr. i played with the cincinnati reds, he batted second behind peetd rose. he had 42 infield hits a year, johnny, just by putting the bat on the ball. he also saw a lot of pitches. nyjer seize 3.09 pitches per a

of course, you know about the bat. he hit three grand slams this year. >> jim: you are talking about the very tight a. l. east. mets have already won. the phillies are trailing in the seventh inning 9-4, tampa bay. marlins are leading here. the marlins are about to win as ramirez gets it at short over to first. inning ends. the phillies lead would be down to half game over the mets and one over the marlins unless they rally back and they're down by five in tampa bay. so, orioles get three on the board in the ninth to get on the board and break up the shutout. marlins go on to win 11-3 and sweep the series and dave trembley going over some final notes before heading back tobaltimore. >> buck: not too many good notes that's for sure as his team really get hand it to them down here in florida. just eight hits and many of them came well after the fact tonight. you saw andrew miller set the tone for this series by pitching a one-hit effort over seven innings in the series opener. it was just all about the marlins offensivel

melvin is insistent that the ball hit the bat and he's trying to show them where it hit the bat. >> jim: it's been a tough couple of weeks. endy chavez tipped for one of the balls he hit. called it interferencement didn't get home run even though it was interference. >> gary: melvin is really upset about this and so is dave trembley because he is going to be called out, has been called out. i think he's upset now that you didn't see it. because the initial call was not that he was out. it was only after the conference with the umpires which is fine. the umpires should do that to make sure they get it right. melvin is very close to getting heaved out of the ballgame here. he's going to be out of there and not happily so. watch what happens after. the ball hits. >> jim: watch brian schneider. he's look where the ball is because the ball is live. they called it the way they have. you see him drop under it. i think that got a little bit of bat too. >> gary: the ball is not going to go that far if it doesn't hit some of the bat. >> jim: yeah, exactly. the only thing you can obviously if you'

we had some very good at-bats. reimold had some great at-bats tonight working the count fouling them off not chasingpitches. i mean, the things that are obvious, everybody can see them. i hate to dwell on them. they are things that are veryobvious. the game -- you know, jeremy kept us in the game. he kept us in the game. the game could have -- you used term snowball. the game could have snowballed and been totally out of hand. it didn't. we kept it within our grasp from getting back in it. you know, we had them go to their bullpen. they had -- as soon as it got to a save situation, they went to their guy. we made them earn it after we gave them some -- we gave them some runs and some extra chances. all right? >> well, manager dave trembley following the mets 6-4 win as new york gets the other of this three-game series. let's get a look at the at&t player of the game as voted on by the fans tonight. nick markakis holds off david wright. markakis, 54%. nick had a two-run home run. wright, 44%. alex cora gets 2%. nick

you've got to do it bat after bat. he's worked real hard. he deserves a shot to play. >>> the schedule takes a turn after this series. inner league ball clubs next. tampa bay rays are the defending champs on the road to tropicana field. the first chance ever to see the brand new yankees stadium in new york. >> the rays scare me. they've got good offense, great pitching. when you have longoria do you think there, they're going to score a lot of runs. talking about new york, my goodness. that is like a little league field. every ball hit is going out of the ball park. florida, they've got good pitching. they're coming off a tremendous year believing they can win. they've gotten off to a bad start six games out. they're within striking distance. >> the key to win, hit the cat walks in tropicana. that's my little cheese for that series. that's all it's going to take. hit the cat walks. >> if you hit the cat walk right over the mound, is that a home run? >> no. i'm going to go over that. >> time of the hold of the day brought to you by just for m

breaks his bat. terrific at-bat by the youngster.e's only 20 years old. >> gary: that will be it for castillo as he's unable to get the two batters out he faces and surrenders two hits. bases are led -- loaded. seventh inning. mets have the 4-2 lead. baez coming on and carlos beltran will be coming up with the sacks full. úúxx >> gary: well, bays baez works  out of the -- danys baez works out of the pen. these are the situations you end up with. bases load, beltran's up. >> jim: not a particularly easy situation even though beltran is 0-7. baez was just -- has just been terrific and a pretty good sinking fastball. 93-94 as he chases one that i don't know if you really want to be in that zone. you can seat velocity. there they are, mets everywhere. bases loaded. >> gary: castillo got sage at third. cora singled. he's on at second. martinez singled. he's on at first. baez facing beltran who is 1-7 with bases load this had year, but a dangerous hitter. chop to first base. huff will come home. there's one. wieters no chance t

batting 7th josh bard. on the mound tonight aaron harang for cincinnati in his 12 12th start. 89 hit, 76 and 2 third innings. >> rob: he will go out and give you a ton of innings. >> johnny: out of san diego state, right hander. >> rob: he's big and tall. >> johnny: quickly ahead of guzman. 2-4 night last night. r bi. dukes are a home run, his 6th. ryan misses out side. when you compare umpires and look at hernandez, he's not one to take a lot of lip off batters. >> rob: no he's not. he's been consistent coming into the major league. that's what a lot of umpires try to do. i'm going to be consistent whether i'm lenient, tough, a little more reserved. he's always been tough and consistent at that. i think, you know, you might not like him, but you respect him. >> johnny: line drive to left field. base hit for cristian guzman to lead off the bottom of the 1st inning. >> rob: last start 200th of his career, 201. derrick lee was the one thousand strike out victim. >> johnny: guzman kind of getting back in the s

manuel said last night's not e reason he's batting second, ad is just going to bat second tonighthe's been in the two-hole be for about 20 games. says i put him back up there because he, like cora, is very patient at the plate and will take a lot of pitching. he says i want two guys at the top who will force berken to have to throw a lot of pitches early. >> jim: beltran and wright are two of the best hitters, d sheffield having a good series right behind him. table setters. get them on. >> gary: 20-2 delivery, and berken gets a strike. he sends murphy back on three pitches. >> jim: check out this curveball. it's off the plate. why did he chase it? he got strikes to hit. 0-2, you make, i don't care wo you are, expands the strike zone because they have two strikes. that's the difference between ahead and getting behind. >> gary: here is carlos beltr. the big .333 batting average, 4th in the national league in that department. runner at first base and one down. he is among the leaders in the majors with that .362 batting average on