i'm dave owens here at nats park.e'll take the break and come back and finish up our newscast. >>> i'm anita brikman with this health alert. it's time to cut back on the radiation to the kids. new research shows even a few brain scans to increase the risk of brain tumors or leukemia later in life. >> this health alert is sponsored by cancer treatment centers of america. care that never quits. to learn more, visit cancer center.com. >>> today we get another glimpse of the most talked about baby in town, the little panda at the national zoo. watch closely as the mom carefully picks up the squealing cub in her mouth. did you see it? >> yes. >> you can hear it, for sure. she puts it on the ground and starts grooming it. zookeepers say mom is being great. always tending to the cub when it squawks. isn't it crazy that it squawks. >> it's crazy. >> i love it. >> what noise does a grown up panda makes? >> we have to go. [ laughing ].

dave owens in st. louis. he joins us now live. dave, i see no champagne shower tonight for you.orry, buddy. >> no champagne room for me, and you know how i like the champagne room. just joking, of course. but the nats, they seem to have this game on lockdown. they were in cruise control throughout the night. jordan zimmerman who struggled in this stadium, busch stadium before, he struggled again tonight. could not make it through the 7th inning. he was picked up by his offense. kirk suzuki with the big knock. we caught up with zimmerman. here's some of his comments. >> we're one win away. i've struggled against the cardinals. to have this game definitely feels good. you know, we'll come back tomorrow and try to get the win. >> i really feel bad that we didn't save it for him. he pitched a heck of a ballgame, a really great ballgame. unfortunately, we didn't save it. >> yeah, davy johnson also saying these kind of games are good for this young baseball team as they head into the post- season. playoff type atmosphere. so as you said, k.b. and you described it very well, the magic

. >>> and now, 9sports with dave owen. >> it's a tall order starting a game as a rookie quarterback in the nfl. cam newton's success made people forget how difficult this is. peyton manning threw three interceptions, but can he deliver? that seems to be the $1 million question. we'll find out in four days. griffin told reporters he is ready and he feels that way because he trusts his preparation. he is confident, then again, what else would you expect from the heisman trophy winner? sunday will be a dream come true. >> it's every kid's dream to play in the nfl. we made it to the preseason. all these guys working extremely hard to make the team and moving forward from there. i'm excited about it. >> of course there's 52 other guys on this roster and they are just as excited to get the season started. the young ball club with a lot of new faces, which makes sunday's game more compelling. who are these guys and what can they do? sunday, the redskins will get a chance to show. >> this group that we have, i love going to war with them. everybody is accountable. you can see guys up this morn

. >>> now 9 sports with dave owens. >> well, it's amazing how a 162 game season can boil down to thise braves will never admit it, but this is their last chance to catch the nats. davey johnson knows it. he knows this series is a chance to drive a steak at atlanta's heart. can they do it? let's check it out in the ofth -- 6th inning bryce harper says i want to be your sledgehammer. now he's five shy of making a record. tough play here but one an all star has to make. ian desmond, the fielding part is good. the throwing part no. they're seven and a half back. maybe it's appropriate that tomorrow's maryland yukon game is set for tomorrow noon. it will be a shoot out. etsel left yukon for maryland. he says he regrets that. can the huskies get revenge. we'll find out tomorrow. and by the way, we're your station for the game coverage. we'll be wrapping up the game and looking for redskins and ravens. that's the appetizer. how about a little friday night football? prep pick. 9 sports brings you the best. robert e lee doing a better job. holding down west springfield. but was it enough to sp

. >>> and now 9 sports with dave owens. >> mike rizzo, davey johnson, gm manager, pitching coach met with stephen strasburg today to map out shutdown 2012. strasburg's final start planned for september 12th at new york of the davey johnson said, "strasburg hates mccaddy, me and rizzo a little more than before the meeting. he's a competitor. he wants to play." nats in their stars and stripes uniforms today. their defense making the cubs see stars. 5-4-3-espinoza, laroche and the bomb, 8th inning here's zim. down the line. watch bryce harper from first. when you're 19 years old, you can run like that. your muscles, you got those fast twitch muscles going, scores all the way from first, nats' first winning season since moving back to d.c., win today 2-1, first d.c. baseball team to win 82 games since 1969. >> just getting better, you know, just getting real confident and stuff and when he starts using, you know, all his weapons in that arsenal, he's going to -- it seems to be easier on him. >> strasburg leaving. john lannan coming soon. davey johnson says he'll hurl a handful of starts

. >>> coming up, dave owens is here with a preview of sports plus.with us. >> all right, welcome back. 133 games down, 29 names to go. washington stretched it out again. the bats coming alive. 27 runs through the first three games. today stephen strasburg handling the rock and doing his thing. he was good. six innings of work, nine strikeouts. his relief didn't provide much. sean burnett burned. giving up a two-run shot here. he and desmond to the rescue. game winner nats take three out of four from st. louis. >> all these games are big games. and when you play a really good opponent that's got a good chance to be in the hunt in october, i mean, you accepts it. >> a lot of nats talk coming up on sports plus. also, we're going to talk redskins. 53-man roster. it's set. who made it, who didn't. who we agree with, who we don't agree with. a big sports plus coming up in just a second right around the corner. >>> lots of rain tomorrow, right? >> yeah, and watch out for flash flooding. temperatures won't be hot. that's the good news. highs in the lower 80s

. >>> and now, 9sports with dave owen. >> well, all the talk of finally making the playoffs is done. the nats are focusing on winning the division. the magic number to clinch is 8 before tonight. now don't try to figure out the math of all of that. just trust me. the magic number is eight. nats trying to make that magic number zero. i can't figure it out sometimes. here we go. edwin jackson cruising with a little help. watch bryce harper in the 4th. let me introduce you to the pose. i don't think so. that is his fifth of the year. score remains 2-1. nats leading into the 9th. three earned runs in 2/3 of an inning. the braves lose. that's good news for the magic number, drops down to 7. orioles getting closer to clinching the wild card in boston tonight. that is matt and that's matt doing work. double down the line. the o's win 4-2. gum johnson reports his 46th save. sets an orioles franchise record. all right, we are getting the highlight machine all juiced up. high school football gets the pig skins ready to pop. we leave no stone unturned. a will lot of house calls made. we'll let

. >>> and now 9 sports with dave owens. >> lost in the glow of victory in new orleans was the injury to pierre garcon. the redskins made several moves this offseason which you can tip the cap to mike shanahan. one of them seems to be the acquisition of the former colts wide receiver. they hoped he would bring big plays. he has. last week he provided the biggest boom on bourbon street no. 88 dashing for 88 yards, but injured his foot. he ended up four catches for 109 yards. after the game he told me see you in st. louis, but he's been limited in practice. today coach shanahan says we're not sure yet if he's going to play. >> if he can go live with the pain, feels like he can go full speed, you let him go. in a situation where you're going to make it a lot worse, obviously the chances of him playing aren't very good, but right now it's pain tolerance. we'll see before the game. >>> and the love keeps coming for robert griffin, iii. today he was named fedex air nfl player of the week and pepsi max nfl rookie of the week, both awards voted on by fabs. griffin threw for the second -- fans

. >>> and now 9 sports with dave owens. >> 12-52, that's st. louis' record in the last four seasons. it's a bad time to be a ram. it's a great time to have them on your schedule if you're in washington. they do. burgundy and gold nation, visions of 2-0 dancing in their head. hold on. for those of you with short memories the rams played the redskins tough. in fact, they've beaten them twice in the last four years. they also brought in new coach jeff fischer, a proven winner, and almost took down detroit last week. they only lost by 4. what more do i need to tell you? guaranteed win? no. >> you can already tell that football team is playing extremely hard, three interceptions by their secondary, one for a touchdown, a lot of new players, but the energy is there. >> you can tell the difference in their ballclub this year. seems like they play a lot harder football. it will be a tough game. >> yes, it will. we're also excited to announce a brand-new show here, game on premiering saturday night at 7:00 after the alabama/arkansas game. we'll be wrapp

the old players get the chance to reacquaint themselves and the boys >>> and now 9 sports with dave owens. >> take it from me, it reunions aren't always the nicest things. some cousins you only want to talk to from a distance. i'll tell you that. randy etsel probably feeling the same way. his previous family yukons come calling saturday. some of the former players bitter taste in their mouth. etsel left connecticut to seasons ago to take the maryland and didn't meet face-to-face with his players before leaving. one of those players said it's not going to be hard to get up for this game. etsel, if only he could turn back the hands of time. >> if i had a do over and it's something that i have to live with, i wish i could have talked to those players in person. but the circumstances in our profession is one that didn't allow that. and that's something that i have to live with. >> he talked to those players there, coach. we're excited to announce a brand new show game on at 7:00 on saturday night. we'll be wrapping up the day in college football. fdc local and looking ahead to redskins and ra

. ♪ >>> and now 9 sports with dave owens. >> six games to go.he nats working their way towards the finish line. so are the braves. time running out on the latter. time squirrelly on the side of nationals. they're hoping st. louis is the place where they can pop some champagne. the splits right there say the bases are loaded. 9 cards came to the plate in the first inning. 5-1 after one. let's get this baseball. it's no longer with us. the nats lose 12-2. but so do the braves, so the magic number is now two. washington could clinch in st. louis tomorrow. that would be cool. the orioles three up on tampa for the final wild card spot. bases loaded. bottom first. light hitting ryan flaherty. light hitting until tonight. don't you just love it when they call you big popup. grand slam puts 6 on in the first. and the other story was chris tillman. baffled. threw a one hitter. baltimore their magic number now three after they win tonight 9-1. some bad news today for the wizards. john wall will miss the start of the season. stress injury to the patella. w

dave owens has details in your morning sports. >> reporter: good morning everybody. spoke to a lot of redskins fans last week who told me they were putting yesterday's game squarely in the win column. people forget cincinnati made the playoffs last year. yesterday was going to be a stern test for rg iii and it turned out griffin looking to help washington break a six game losing streak. ran it for 85 on 12 carries and scored his third rushing touchdown of the season unfortunately, he couldn't play everywhere. they win it 38-31. >> i wasn't even aware about the whole seven games in a row, i'm losing at home you know, it is not something we need to change. we need to make it an unfriendly environment when opposing teams come in and play here. >> ravens and new england, torery smith playing with a -- tori smith playing with a heavy heart. he lost his brother in a motorcycle accident. but he elected to play. two touchdowns, the ravens coming back to beat new england, again smith the former maryland wide receiver 126 yards. >>> finally yesterday the nats got the wood put

dave owens is live at the national park where the excitement and the anticipation is building up for tonight's game against the dodgers. now dave, we thought we had it last night and then it just slipped away. >> reporter: yes, he thought he would spoil the party out here. of course that late home run, giving the dodgers the 7-6 win. it made us wait just a little bit for the nationals to try to clinch that first playoff spot like you say in some 79 years. even as you say, derek, it brings to mind, just how bad it had franchise has been. i mean, the nationals, they lost about 300 games, over a three-year span. then all of a sudden the clouds turn and you could pinpoint a couple of things. the drafting of all of those things. but we're going to dive into some of the other things as well. right now over my shoulders. they are preparing, going through their final chucks into the batting cage as they will try to get a big win tonight. like i said, this is big. 789 -- 79 years the last time the d.c. baseball team said they could play in the post- season. they were the senators there to take

. >> our team coverage begins with dave owens with reaction from the nfl today. dave. >> you know what, guys, it's what the nfl didn't want. eyes focused on the referees, not the game. last night was 60 minutes of defense by both teams, but viewers probably won't remember any of that. what they will remember is the final eight seconds. let's set the scene. here it is. seattle with the football. that's rookie quarterback, russell wilson attempting to engineer a last second comeback. he rolls to his left and launches the football. you know it, the hail mary. it appears the safety elevate and claim it over everybody, but the seahawks wide receiver, golden tate. he tries to wrestle it away. now, watch the refs. one comes in from the back and begins to put his hands in like it's a touchdown. the other appears to give a touchback signal. the lead referee never steps up. the call, touchdown. wow. now all scoring plays are reviewed upstairs. replay officials upheld the touchdown call for the seahawks. for green bay, utter disbelief. >> i think if you asked tate to take a

meantime, dave owens is live at redskins park with the latest and he better not call me either. . >> derek mcginty, 202-487- redskins fans have been waiting for people like me to say the following words. it is regular season game week and of course as you see, all eyes on us. this is a dream come true, starting your first game as an nfl quarterback and we all know that's what rg3 is about to do. all preseason long, he has down played his first rookie camp, first preseason game. this one, however, is different and he admits that. >> i do feel different. i feel like the guys are, you know, it's real. i think it's not that guys weren't out here working hard or anything like that. i think everyone is working, knowing that stuff counts. >> all right, i'm joined by grant paulson from 106.7 the fan. we had a chance to talk to rg3 today. if temperment means anything, this guy looks cool, calm, collected. that was my assessment, what was yours? >> i completely agree with you. i don't know if he'll ever be at a podium. he's not wired that way. sunday is going to be different. any time we'r

. >>> and now, 9sports with dave owen. >> true. there are more important things going on in this world besides this replacement ref story, but not many this fascinating. in a football crazy society, we are witnessing a billion dollar industry willing to sacrifice the quality of its products because it doesn't believe its consumers will walk away from it. last night's storm in seattle is the criticism surrounding these guys. you heard the word, integrity of the game compromise a lot in the last few days. do you agree or disagree with that? that's the question we pose to nfl expert, jarrett bell of u.s.a. today. >> no question at all. you are talking about the nfl quoting a hard line, knowing in its heart of hearts that the officiating is not up to nfl standards. the fans and those players and coaches deserve the best officiating. >> the nfl released a statement saying the officials determine that both players players have possession of the ball. the result of the play was a touchdown. we reviewed the video and support the decision.

dave owens will have more on the big weekend series with the braves later in sports. >>> still to comey cause headaches for us and now it's a headache for them. where some local utilities took to the hot seat today for questions about nose recent power outages coming -- those recent power outages. >> and the godfather of go go chuck brown, his kids are here in our studio to talk about an exciting new event to honor their father's music and memory. that is up next on 9news. ♪i feel like busting loose >> from his funeral to concerts all summer long, dozens of tributes to chuck brown since he passed away in may and next week another series kicks off to honor the godfather of go go. joining me now to talk about it, chuck brown's children, micos and kaka. thank you guys for being here. before we talk about what's coming up, you just lost your dad in may and with all the tributes this summer, d.c. has been celebrating him, but it has to be hard for you. how are you guys doing? >> taking it one day at a time, staying prayed up. >> how about you? >> it's definitely been tough, but it's easier

here's dave owens with the rest of your morning sports. >>> happy friday, everybody. this is it, the final hurdle to the nats claiming the nl east crown begins this weekend. it's not a tall hurdle either. atlanta hosting the nats, eight and a half games back with 17 to go. it would take a historic collapse for washington not to take the title. by the way, who needs stephen strasburg anyway, right? just joking. fresh off a gotham city sweep, they head to atlanta after beating the mets last night, the manager davey johnson was asked about the braves series. he usually keep it is very vanilla but not this time. >> it's a big series. we need to drive the nail in the scoff ten over here and -- coffin over here and come into atlanta in a good frame of mind and that's what we're doing. >> oh's, rays -- as, rays -- os, rays, here comes matt joyce. can't get there. in comes the winning run. os tied for first with the yankees. wow. who saw that coming? tough news from the world of local soccer. d.c. united dwayne dizorio has a sprain in the knee. he'll miss the remainder of the

dave owens is here to explain. >> that's right, guys. those of you from this area know there was a time anacostia football ruled d.c. oh, how times have changed. socioeconomics have chipped away at the school's heritage and athletic heartbeat. cato june, a familiar name in these part, has returned to reef success take the -- parts, has returned to resuscitate both. the heartbeat of anacostia football has been fading for years. >> the guys don't want to play. you know, guys that are ineligible. >> reporter: two wins in two years, both forfeits by the other team, a far cry from way it used to be. settled in the shadows of downtown there's history everywhere in these streets. there's history here, too. >> we were the buffalo bills of the inner high. i think we went to eight in a row, championships in a row. >> reporter: cato june is part of the glory days, superior football player, starred at michigan, spent seven seasons in the pros, even went to a super bowl. he's returned to his roots to revive the program's heartbeat. >> one of our bigg

i'm dave owens.ave a great tuesday, everybody. >>> you may have already refinanced your mortgage, but now it might be time to go shopping for a credit card. more on why coming up. >> plus, many students are on their second or third week of school, but today the area's largest public school system begins classes. 5:24. here's upon came. >>> overall right now, the commute is relatively easy. it's going to get tougher as the morning progresses of the keep that in mind for your travel plans today. the beltway right now at georgia avenue looks pretty g. i'll be back with more -- pretty good. i'll be back with more traffic coming up in a few minutes. you're watching 9news now. >>> good morning. welcome back to 9news now. i'm andrea roane. >>> i'm mike hydeck. they finished the air conditioning and they fixed it a little too much because it's a little cold in here. good morning, everybody. happy monday. >> happy tuesday. >> i'll be right back. more coffee. that means the roads will be an issue. >> yes, they

now here's dave owens with the rest of your morning sports. >>> good morning, emp. steve -- everybody. stephen strasburg creeping ever so closer to the 160 innings. he's shaking off statistically his second worst performance of the year. five runs in five innings on tuesday. yesterday let's see if he could get back on track. he was cruising through the first four innings with a little defensive help. brian anderson lifts this one to bryce harper. alan craig on third trying to score. don't do it, alan. don't do it. welcome to the harper hose. nice throw from the outfield. in the 4th inning, turning in and burning on one, the second home run in four days. 1-0 nats. tied at 2 in the 7th. another critical rbi base knock. nats get the victory 4-3. to more starts for strasburg. >>> orioles and yankees, this one was tight as well till reynolds got a hold of things. not just one but two home runs. that one out of the park. the os come back with four in the 6th inning. there's the other one. he had a big day. they beat the yanks 8-3. now just two games behind those yankees.

dave owens has highlights in your morning sports. >>> good morning, everybody.re the cubs really this bad? probably. a glance at the standings will show you that. still what washington is doing to the north siders is pretty impressive. if baseball had a criminal code, it this would be assault. the nats landing large numbers on the cubs. gio looking for a career high 18th win last night. how much help did he get? that much and that much. bryce harper with two bombs. that was all that goal dison les would -- gonzalez would need. for the second straight night the nats' six home run, they win 9-1 over the cubs. >>> some football now. rg3 says he's ready for the big game against the saints. he says his preparation has guided him and he trusts them. griffin ain't vanilla and the offense can't afford to be on sunday. rg3 says he's looking forward to opening it up. we shall see. last night n.f.l. season opener, good stuff, cowboys at the giants. this was a defensive struggle in the first half. then eli in the second half. baring down on cowboy defense. handed to bradsha

. >> dave owens was at nationals park last night when the team clinched a spot in the postseason. >> what a night out here at nationals park. 30,000 came to witness something quite frankly folks they never thought they'd see. the nats trying to clinch a playoff berth and this is how they did it against the dodgers. in the bottom of the 3rd, ryan zimmerman getting et done. doubling to deep left driving in bryce harper to make it 1-0. 2-0 after that. the dodgers get one back in the 4th. then in the nats' half of inning, danny espinosa goes to work with his own audio daily double. ian desmond the birthday boy scores to make it 4-1 nats. drew storen versus hanley ramirez. dr. drew wins, the nats going to the playoffs 4-1 the final. >> fortous to be guaranteed to play in a playoff game. for what they've been throw is you know it's very special. >> we want to say thanks to them for holding on. it's got to be tough holding on. i know that being a rams fan and everything. >> we always believe in ourselves, we know the talent we have on this team and for our fans to come out and know what was

dave owens has more in your morning sports. >>> good morning, everybody. a phrase you often hear when covering a mike shanahan press conference: you've got to keep your poise. oftentimes he's talking about his players, though. he might want to lecture his son. the n.f.l. has told players and coaches lay off the refs. kyle didn't on sunday and now he's paying the price. the younger shanahan fined $25,000 for his behavior at the end of sunday's loss when he got after refs at the conclusion of the bengals game. he admitted he lost his composure with the referees. now his pocket is a little bit lighter. skins get some running back help yesterday signing ryan brett rushing for almost 1300 yards in 2009 but injuries have limited him the last two seasons. redskins banged up at running back. here's hoping the phillies don't just sneak into the playoffs. five out of the last six times they've met with the nats phillies win but the magic number is on the line. the lucky number going into last night was five. was philly a lucky city? every city is lucky for ryan zimm

. ♪ >>> and now 9 sports with dave owens. >> talk about a buzz kill, the wizards haven't even started and storm clouds are forming overhead. john wall, the face of the franchise, heck, the legs of the franchise is hurt, stress injury to the patella. it's estimated wall will miss training camp and the first month of the season. tough news because wall put in a lot of work this summer and was looking forward to his training camp. wall averaged 16 points, eight assists and four rebounds last year. today wall appeared at simon elementary in southeast. he hung out with the kids as they went through a physical activity program. wall later spoke with reporters disappointed, of course. >> it's very tough for me, but great teammates to have around me, coaching staff. it's a minor setback, but i trust in my coaches and the new coaching staff and all those guys and my teammates. they're going to hold it down and play the best they can. >>> the dom perignon has been on ice. the nats magic number is 3. >> what is that? >> in other words, any combination of three washington wins and/or atlanta loss

. >>> and now, 9sports with dave owen. >> there were hugs, a lot of picture taking and tears. those were just the fans. nats fans delirious about the fact their team was going to the playoffs. nats fans deserve a good cry, especially those that stuck through this team through thick and thin. speaking of sticking with it, ryan zimmerman has done just that. i mean the face of the franchise has been in d.c. ever since the team moved back from montreal. he has seen his share of l's. now he gets to relish in the w. >> not just one guy. it doesn't matter about me. the whole team, the whole organization, the whole city and everyone involved with this team. >> it is huge. especially for a guy like ryan zimmerman who has been here. he has been very low. he has been in plays place. he had to ride all that out until this year. so we are running games for him now. >> good for the man. west virginia and maryland border one another, but the fortunes of their programs are worlds apart. the terps offense is a work in progress and seems allergic to scoring. they don't seem to have that problem

. >>> and now 9 sports with dave owens. >> well, are the cubs really this bad? probably. the standings with show you that. still what washington is doing to the north siders pretty impressive. if baseball had a criminal code, this would be assault. the nats hanging large numbers on the cubs during this series. six homeruns last night. how much helped did go get? that much help. back-to-back tonight. he hung two on chicago. back to gonzalez. the gonzalez stare. had a no hitter through five before the second straight night six homeruns. the nats hang 9 on the cubs, 9-1. orioles magic, could they continue tonight? how about baltimore. they scored 12 runs last night. they called this the suicide squeeze. because if you don't make it, the play is big. but toronto made it and they won it 6-4. all right, redskins fans. will you be satisfied with baby steps by your quarterback? derek mcginty says no. but hickory says you better. peyton manning, ben roethlisberger all really good. but he's ready because the preparation has guided him and he trusts it. griffith only hurled 31 spira