into that cincinnati bullpen. up the fans that have come out to watch this ball game tonight in a rain- storm that delayed the start of it for almost two hours. nick johnson, ryan zimmerman, adam dunn the heart of the national's order up now. nobody out in the bottom of the eighth, the nationals up 1-in. it's two balls and no strikes to nick johnson. nick bounced into a double play in the first. flied out to willie tavares and then walked in the sixth. >> rob: he was hurt the whole year with the mariners in '07 and they let him go in october. >> johnny: johnson takes a called third strike on the outside part of the plate.   ryan zimmerman heads to  plate now. and, in the past, some pretty good selections here, rob, of buys that the nationals drafted leading with detwiler just two years ago, jordan zimmermann two years ago, ryan was first in '05, lannan, stammen and bergmann also draft picks by this ball game club. >> rob: now zimmerman, jordan zimmermann was the compensatio

a call to the cincinnati bullpen. coming up tomorrow nights the nats are on the road -- tomorrow night, the nats are on the road to tampa. an outstanding rookie right-hander and rookie starters for the nats, 6.4 e.r.a. matt garza will oppose him. coverage begin at 7:00 with nats xtra hosted by ray knight and yours truly. laynce nix has moved to left field in place of jonny gomes for cincinnati. and herrera. >> rob: 24-year-old out of, oh december that -- odessa, texas. odessa -- odessa, texas. they can run these guys out there. almost all of them have 25 plus appearances. this is his 26th of the year with a 1.5 e.r.a. >> johnny: daniel ray making his first appearance in this series. left-hander. ball hit that ver taveras. he is hurt. >> rob: right here, herrera -- oh. last night, the 1st baseman charges and it hits him on the instep or ankle of that right leg. he is a tough guy. he is not coming out of game. >> johnny: yeah. herrera stays. anderson hernandez hitting for the pitcher. man on, nobody out, bottom of the 8

this cincinnati bullpen is tough. >> rob: very tough. as i said before, fourth in earned run average in the major leagues as far as the bullpen goes. they have a lead, tough to get it back from 'em. but only a difference right here, a couple of home runs, string together a few hits, maybe a walk or something, and got to send it to extra innings. >> johnny: willie harris popped out swinging, popped to second grounded out to second. he is 0-3, leads off the bottom of the ninth. takes a strike call.  francisco cordero first  save was july 21st of '08 against san diego. his last blown save was that, a year ago.    another one of these guys  have been around a little bit too, rob? >> rob: yup. >> johnny: a lot of experience under his belt. >> rob: rangers, brewers, reds, he has been bounced out of that closer role and then comes back. it happens from time to time. >> johnny: has made all his save opportunities this year. >> rob: brad lidge put on the disabled list,

david weathers who we saw last night in the cincinnati bullpen. 2-1 reds in the bottom of the 9 9th.johnny: gonzalez five hit appearances this year 4-4, 5 rbis and a walk. here's the 2-1. shot to right field. a base hit the game is tied. how about that? gonzalez with a base hit. willingham will score. we're tied at 2. the nats have a winning run at 2 2nd base. let's take a look once again. >> rob: now you know why. after an hour rain delay, you usually take a man out. hits it to right center field. great job alberto. that was worth the wait. >> johnny: gonzalez drives drives in the tying run. we'll go back to the top of the order with cristian guzman. >> rob: he's got to get a base hit. >> rob: the pitch inside. one out, 2-2 ballgame. >> rob: if you waited up to watch the end of the game, it was worth the wait. glad to have you with us. >> johnny: dukes walked and scored. willingham walked and scored. guzman falls behind in the count 1-2. >> rob: that was a wicked breaking ball there. >> johnny: bard has tied the ballgame with an rbi single. gonzalez tied it. guzman evened the count

dusty baker with a call to the cincinnati bullpen. nationals threatening with runners at first and second. we will be back in just a moment. 2-0 cincinnati leading washington. ÷xxppúú nce 1873, coors banquet has been brewed in one place... and one place only: golden, colorado. it's followed one tradition: use the best high-country barley... and only rocky mountain water. and it's been brewed under one motto: never compromise. now maybe this means we're a little set in our ways. but we know a few guys who will drink to that. coors. the banquet beer. for the next minute, i'm gonna show you what it's like to have verizon fios. these are your widgets, they let you put whatever you're watching down here, while you check out local traffic, weather, even your news up there. i've got a news flash you're out of mayo. how did you get in here?

cincinnati 30-27. they're starting rotations in 35 ballgames, bullpen 5. brandon phillips the 2nd baseman. comes in hitting .275. >> rob: the kids would enjoy this. they looked back at the video on eckstein going after andy. he did not swear at him once. he was a gentleman saying you weren't doing a consistent job. >> johnny: quick one, two, three first inning. the nationals coming to bat. know -- no score here at nationals park.  >>> you heard the expressio ominous. these are ominous clouds. starting lineups tonight. let's look at the nationals. guzman leads off. johnson at 1st. zimmermann left field. dukes center field. willingham first career start ever in right field. 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 loo

bullpen. something that has been lacking in cincinnati for many years. >> johnny: johnson base hit to right! willingham around third. here comes the throw to the plate. and he goes back to third. >> rob: now, that was a great stop. >> johnny: you are not kidding. looked like he had a full head of steam and less listach wisely held him up. >> rob: nick johnson smokes this into right. bruce comes up throwing. short hop. still, willingham probably would have been dead at the plate. >> johnny: bruce has a pretty good arm. >> rob: not when you have guzman and gonzalez and zimmerman coming up. >> johnny: fouls off the first delivery. so, willingham at third and nieves at second. nick johnson at first. 2-0 ballgame. the best threat the nationals have been able to mount today. and there's one down. guzman grounded to first, singled to right and grounded again to first in the 4th inning. burton from the stretch. quickly ahead 0-2. >> rob: yep. likes to go inside on the lefties. he is doing it with nick. got caught trying to throw a breaking ball. didn't get it down enough in the zone and nick jumped

cincinnati. this is not over yet. the left hander arthur rhodes coming in. he came in out of the bullpen last night. he's got some incredible number this is year. they've got one of the best bullpens in the national -- all of major league baseball for that matter. >> rob: owings has seen more hits than miss. he's got a .490 era. 30 walks and 41 strikeouts, 8 home runs so far. >> johnny: rhodes had gone 8 innings without allowing a run until guzman touched him last night for a home run. it's lefty against lefty. >> rob: they'll break the string of 8 consecutive games allowing one home run. >> johnny: he's 0-10 against the left hander, 6 strikeouts. 1-0. zimmermann at 1st. a shot to the 1st baseman. that's it for the nationals. we go to the top of the 9th. time running out for this ball club. 2-0 cincinnati. forward to have. 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. >>> nationals baseball on mas is brought to you by southwest airlines and by hon

bullpen. david weathers who shut out opponents in 20 of his last 24 appearances. this is appearance 921. struck out 10 -- walked 10 struck out 15. he becomes the fifth cincinnatiitcher this evening. austin kearns will try to get things going for the nats. they came back to tie it in the bottom of the 9th. let's see if they can again in the bottom of the 12th. it can be done. bottom of the 9th inning. guzman on deck. kearns leads it off. 0-2. >> rob: these guys played together in cincinnati. >> johnny: kearns takes the call, third strike. reds are two outs away from a 4- 4-2 win. set this pitch up with a breaking ball. >> rob: he comes back with a sinking ball. that's a salty veteran that's been here a thousand games. moves the ball in and out, up down, doesn't have the stuff any longer. >> johnny: back to the top of the line up for the nationals. guzman tries to keep things going. david weathers is number 22 in games pitched all time. >> rob: it would be close to get through 1000. i'm sure he has another year under his belt. >> johnny: 1-2 to guzman. one out here in the 12th. pitch just misses inside. >> rob: one of us saw him pitch in person. >> johnny: one o

cincinnati. >> rob: well, johnny, we stole one there and that is just what the doctor ordered. wonderful job by the pitching staff. john lannan, the bullpen and then scratching and clawing in the last three innings to get three runs. >> johnny: it is nice to see the guys standing there bumping fists together. joe beimel hands shake from bard. nats win it 3-2. you salt-wash everything and let it breeze dry. knit, delicate, permanent press... the ocean doesn't care. so grab your bag. (tucci) count on the nation's fastest 3g network. at&t >> byron: welcome back. the washington nationals e back to defeat the cincinnati reds. they finally get one on get away day as they head off to tampa bay and puts smiles on the faces of everybody. >> ray: everybody. >> byron: byron kerr with ray knight. we are getting ready for nats xtra minutes away. >> ray: it was a fielder's choice that gets the win. important contact. phillips tried to and had to chance. the great thing was the lead-off pinch hit by harris and another pinch hit by hernandez to get it started. >> byron: in the 9th, joe beimel got the job done. debbi taylor is stand by with him righ

leagues was there a guy on that cincinnati team that kind of took you under his wing and showed you the right way? >> rob: they all did. i mean as far as in the bullpen it was wonderful, johnny franko, frank williams, johnny murphy were all seasoned veterans. for someone who started in the minor leagues, johnny franko startd out with the dodgers and got traded to the reds. like i said danny jackson got traded over to us, jose rio came over from the athletics to the reds and so i was quite left blessed with a lot of the older guys that were like you're doing this, working too hard on that, even buddy bell was there, you know, dave econ exception i don't who played back with the big red machine. it's not the worst thing in the world to have veteran players around, but they also have to be giving. they gave a lot. a lot of information, i was a young kid, i peppered them with questions, you know, it doesn't help you if you're a young man and sitting next to, even some of the guys i played with, marquis grissom sitting down there, jim wriggleman, danny acta, you got to be pumping those guys for information because the more knowledge you have the more powe

cincinnati, when they get the advantage with the first run against their opponents are 22-4. >> rob: that is a good record right there. a lot of it probably has to do with their bullpen. >> johnny: mr. baker says i will drink to that. >> rob: he is a player's manager. he kind of got in trouble back in chicago for that. >> johnny: check swing but he went around. owings strikes out but cincinnati get as run. they lead 1-0 as we go to the bottom of the second in washington. times may be tough today, but the things we all look forward to haven't changed. 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. so, what's the problem? these are hot. we're shipping 'em everywhere. but we can't predict our shipping costs. dallas. detroit. different rates. well with us, it's the same flat rate. same flat rate. boston. boise? same flat rate. alabama. alaska? with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. dude's good. dude's real good. dudes. priority mail fla