dukes got back to 2nd some how. dukes was running on contact. dunn was not. a serious crossup almost resulted in a disaster double play. >> rob: elijah dukes is running on this play. adam dunn was not. dukes' speed gets him back to 2 2nd. dukes just got back. >> bob: shields thought he had a rare double play. here's gonzalez. he's driven in one run and run a strike. he's not a runner you would squeeze with. hard sinking fastball. 1-1. >> bob: 2-3 one out, time given. often this is the kind of hit you'd rather have batting in this situation than a big free swinger that strikes out a lot. no swing. that was interesting. the 1st baseman was the first to call for the appeal. >> bob: nationals trying to increase their 1- 0 lead here in the top of the 4th inning. that will work. a drive to left center. that will bring in two. dunn from 3rd. dukes from 2nd. alberto gonzalez has all three nationals rbis. how about the little guys in this series. gonzalez and hernandez. >> rob: whatever they did to gonzalez in syracuse, he came back on fire. a pitch is up in the zone.

and dukes overmatched here. that's the first out of the 3rd and for matt garza, his third strikeout. you are not looking for elijah dukes to bunt a ground ball but you would have loved to see him advance the runners. >> rob: well, he thought maybe he would challenge him. as we said, 80% of the pitches are heaters. and only when he needs an out. you see by the swing that elijah was fooled. did you like my assessment that the strike zone is under attack all night by matt garza? >> bob: yes, he goes -- he is coming after you. >> rob: be ready. he does take something off the fastball from time to time. >> bob: and he will move you off the plate on occasion. >> rob: that was a two-seam fastball. four-seemer is about 95. two-seamer is about 90 to 92. great movement. it's not about velocity, it's about movement. willingham gets jammed and flies one to dukes. taging is zimmerman and can't go anywhere. two outs. >> bob: get your red on. of the grand slap flex plan is still available. you can pick four games. pick your pl

elijah dukes. now elijah dukes running -- running has been an adventure this year. two steals in nine attempts. several of those are pickoffs when you are picked off first, that does count as caught stealing. baker, 10-53 this year. and that's another by product of a young pitching staff. >> rob: in elijah's case, too, he's work on stuff. he was an excellent base steal her in his day when i played against him. you have to separate the game from work on stuff and trying to pickup certain things off a pitcher and there's marquis grissom. sometimes you're thinking a little too much. he's got to get out there and just execute, let it happen. elijah is way too good of an athlete to be 2-9 in stolen bases. >> bob: elijah is very fast once he gets going. part of the stealing bases art is getting that jump and exploding towards second base. >> rob: i wouldn't mind bringing ricky henderson in here. work with the outfielders, the base stealers. >> bob: two balls, two strikes to wil nieves. anybody on our ball club have a relationship with him? >> rob: i'll call him. ricky, yo

dukes basically walked home. willingham at 3rd. we need is a fly ball to the out field to send this into extra innings. >> johnny: hernandez will come up to pick -- >> rob: this is gonzalez. hernandez is waiting on deck. >> johnny: nats with runners on the corners now. gonzalez will take a pitch outside. 1-0. >> rob: he's got to hit this somewhere on the ground. >> johnny: cordero a little tight after the two hour rain delay goes behind in the count 2-0. 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

that ball unplayable for dukes. he has started at home against the pirates, orioles, giants, reds and tampa bay was a road game. so two starts on the road and the other four here. he has pitched deep a game, 6th inning, three times. tough hitter here, 2-2 pitch. >> rob: the second time that he was out against the oriole, 96 pitches, 56 for strikes. i think we both agree he was working really hard that night. >> bob: yes. >> rob: to throw that many pitches. against the reds, a couple of starts going, 103 pitches in 6 innings. that is still a little bit too high for a young man. we have been told by mike rizzo that these guys are not on any count for the year. there will come a time when, if they have to, they will shut down some of these young arms on the staff and i agree with him. if you've got some kind of plan for these kids for the future, which they do here and you're going to stick to it, then you have to shut them down but you have to find pitching somewhere he is else in the organization and that's when they

. >> reporter: elijah dukes' turn. we used to say in the pool hall, talk's cheap. >> rob: is that the swimming pool hall. >> bob: no, the billiard. >> rob: is that how you put your self through college? >> bob: i will take you one day. >> rob: okay. >,i can see that. >> bob: that ball is hit hard. vernon wells ties the game. that's his 6th of the year. and the third given up by detwiler in seven starts. so the homerun ball has not hurt ross that much. that ball was really smoked. >> rob: you asked me earlier in the game what do you think about pitches that are up for a high strike zone and you will get hurt if you leave pitches up like that. that's a hanging curve ball, right on the sweet spot of vernon wells' bat. there you see it, mr. spawlding leaving the building. i know it's rawling. you don't have to tweet me on twitter. >> bob: that was a change-up >> it's 1-2. >> rob: it's going to happen. we said this about zimmerman, martis. guys who throw really hard, sometimes, you hang them, second, third best pitch, you w

now you have to get out elijah dukes. when dukes is swinging well or zimmerman, that is the protection he needs to see better pitches. but with 1st base open here and one out. >> johnny: and he swings through a fastball. >> rob: he expanded his zone. we talked about that. he didn't get anything to hit the first time up. second time, staying way away from him. elevates the fastball right here after that 78 miles an hour breaking ball. >> johnny: owings racks up his first strikeout of the afternoon. he has walked four, struck out one. it is up to elijah dukes to see if he can get guzman home from third. and zimmerman from second. two down here in the bottom of the third. elijah 6-30 with a double, a couple of homeruns, three rbis, three walks. in his 8 games since coming back off the dl june 2nd. he has driven in 14 runs his last 21 games. had that big homerun on tuesday night. >> rob: jeff brantly is marv ling at the -- marvelling at the size of dukes. >> johnny: g grounded foul down the 3rd base line. >> rob: he broke up

he will be pleased with this -- >> bob: elijah dukes cruising for this one. one out.rder coming up now. >> rob: if you're steve mccatty, you want to see the evolution of guys like stammen. today, you're going to have gays -- have days where you don't have your best stuff. detwiler had one really big mistake. other than that, it was an excellent day for detwiler. >> bob: do you see a difference now in the way our young pitchers are approaching hitters? >> rob: absolutely. they're trying to work ahead. they're working with their best pitches and getting beat on some of their best pitches instead of nibbling around the plate and trying not to get beat out there. you're going to have to pitch to contact. that's what steve preaches. go out with your a game. see what happens three times through the line up. i think a lot of guys were worried about the end result before they went out and performed and performed and executed. i think you have to have an idea when you take the field as a pitcher. steve is telling the guy, it's on yous. >> bob: completely fooling upton on that

here is one, a home run by elijah dukes. tavares grounded to third, struck out looking and swinging in his three trips against detwiler.  jason bergmann scoreless  at 9 of 11 games pitched this year. >> rob: that might have got will nieves, thought it got him maybe in the hand. but it got him high also. >> johnny: hopefully giving kneeev's little time to -- >> rob: a little foul tip. got the inner half of his knee. that's gonna leave a mark. i don't know johnny yup. >> rob: and catchers wear those bruises with pride. one that was just too deep is now the fractured shoulder bone. >> johnny: yeah. an off-balance swing by tavares. >> rob: couple of punch-outs by bergmann. >> johnny: don't forget saturday, june 13th the rays will host the nationals. first pitch for 6:08 p.m. because of major league baseball's national black out on saturdays masn will join the game in progress with live coverage beginning at 7:05. so we hope you join us as the home team, tampa bay chooses the game start time

and then elijah dukes. >> rob: put up your dukes. >> johnny: right there. looks like a future national player. new pitcher for the cincinnati reds, carlos fisher who shut out 4 of his 5 opponents this year. 6 games in appearance. 1-0 record. e.r.a. of 2.45. 4 walks, 9 strikeouts. pitched against the cubs on sunday. facing four batters. 1 2/3 against chicago. and the nationals have got the number 3, 4 and 5 hitters in the line-up to face him. ryan zimmerman two balls and a strike. flew to left and walked and flew to right. rob, there's nothing to apologize for now with this nationals pitching. the starters and the bullpen. really on the same page and if the bats get in there well this, we'll be all right. shairon martis looking on. >> rob: a 1.04 e.r.a. in 14 games into the season. our pitching staff has really turned the corner. as i said today, steve mccatty issed howing these guy -- is holding these guys accountable for their performances. >> johnny: and zimmerman draws another walk. today we are kind of giving you up close and personal. my good friends a

dukes will place of birth it up. duke -- dukes will pop it up.ohnny holliday along with rob dibble. rob carpenter taking a few days off. great view from our postgame site. as you look toward the infield, an ominous night. luckily the rain drifting off to the right. last night there was almost a two hour rain delay to get the ballgame in. josh willingham, good to have him back in the lineup. over the last six games, hitting .444 with three home runs. he was out a week way viral infection. >> johnny: he's never played right field before. it's been an unusual experience trying to get used to it. >> rob: i find it hard to believe a little bug took this guy down. he's been tough on our team. >> johnny: a terrific young man too, biology man in college. >> rob: very smart. >> johnny: hernandez is out. foul territory, two out. >> rob: i think he hit the catcher with his back swing. check it out. he may have hurt his hand on this play. watch him come back. no. slips out of his hand. i think the bat hits hanigan's hand. you don't make a lot of friends when

dukes will pull a slow roller to third. going for two, and safe, aubrey huff might have saved a run, if that ball gets down the line. josh willingham might score from second base. >> jim p.: you know you're going to get the lead runner. he catches it, then tags the runner, the throw sails, aubrey huff, a very underrated first baseman. last year mostly third base to dh, but he does save a run. you try to be balanced so you can come off the bag. >> bob: he's not underrated in those games against washington this year. he's been outstanding. >> jim p.: aubrey, as dunn will come out to talk to david hernandez, aubrey was proving that he let the orioles resign him, that he can not only hit, but he can play the position. i always thought when we saw him at camp, didn't see him as much at third base, but the last couple of years he's played well at third. he can flat out hit the ball. >> rob: if you can play defense and you can hit, you have more options to sign with a national league club and an american league club. >> bob: anoth

so duke has 88 racist faculty members. that's basically what that tells you, who have no regard for the american system of jurisprudence or justice, justice system. and the worst of them, the biggest racist there, houston baker, is a black professor, carl holloway is another one, houston baker even sent an e-mail to the mother of one of these students after he was exonerated, attacking her as the mother of a farm animal. houston baker was making undoubtedly -- well, i know he was making six figure income, probably $200,000, $300,000, went on to a better job at vanderbilt as a private university, the board of regents is controlled by conservatives. the conservative regents at duke protected, protected the accuser and protected the lynching. they supported it. why? because of duke's good name. you get rid of the white racist. there's -- conservatives have efor must leverage over these universities, because they are the biggest contributors, because there are whole legislatures, which are run by republicans. but that's what i

elijah dukes had the ford drive of the game that put the nats up. >> rob: cristian guzman, elijah dukes and nick johnson with the doubles. elijah thrown out trying to go to third. ryan zimmerman and adam dunn 0- for-10 tonight with four strikeouts, three of them looking. it's opinion an odd night for the 3-4 guys. dukes pulls off a breaking ball, hits it right off the end of his bat. fair ball. picked by scott role en and a good throw and a good stretch. we are going into the 12th inning.  scott rolen has been doin for years. 7 gold gloves worth. inning number 12 coming up. it's on. - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - it is totally on. jimmy, it's on. it's on. oh, yeah, it's on. pilot: affirmative, it's on. doing what it takes to make home a little better. that's why we lowered over a thousand prices. and carry powerful tools from dewalt, milwaukee, ridgid, and more. so you spend less, but drill, saw, and nail... more. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now, save $20 on a ryobi 18v starter kit with drill and cir

willingham, dukes and bard is ahead! it's on. oh, yeah, it's on.affirmative, it's on. >> bob: jim, i don't know wha you call the aflac duck here in baltimore. we call him medlick in d.c. >> rob: we call him gone. aflac! >> bob: he has trivia for us. three 200-plus home run players have played for bet of these organizations. interesting. who are they? >> jim: 200-plus home run players. >> bob: now that includes montreal. >> rob: right so the expos and the o's. >> jim: kenny singleton is earnly one of them. >> bob: a good breaking ball to josh willingham who pulled the ball for a base hit and scored washington's only run. >> jim: how about mike epstein? did he hit 200 home runs? i don't think so. >> bob: this has been like dump the band week. they have been killing us on these. >> rob: well, because they opened up an orioles' media guide and just like they were picking them out of the red sox media guide at our park. >> bob: what do they have against you guys? >> bob: it is a vast truck conspirator is what it is. josh willingham, by the way, his ba

dukes, he will be going now on a ground ball. race to the bag.rza gets there before willie harris. nats get three runs in the top of the 1st. rbis by adam dunn after singles by guzman and johnson and then the big hit for elijah dukes. it seems i've got three times the bills i used to. and they're getting in the way of things i'd like to do. with the money bar, i can move my money around instantly, so when there's more bills than usual, it's no problem. and i use the wish list to put any extra money aside for anything i want. being in control of my money feels good. introducing the virtual wallet from pnc, a high-definition, online view of your money. pnc. leading the way. 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? door was open. you'd have tons of ways for you to search for content: by actor, director, a

it was also elijah dukes first career hit.straightaway center. >> rob: they retired those uniforms along with the devil in front of the ray. >> bob: they got rid of that green color. >> rob: that wasn't the greatest uniform combo. >> bob: that was in 07. elijah would hit only .190 that year, but he drove in 21 in 52 games. 184 at-bats. drafted in the third round in 02 by the rays. out of hillsboro high school in tampa. there's a pop-up to the right side. off the bat of pat burrell. nick johnson has it. two outs. gabe gross last time gave the rays a big pushing, so that was five hitters, five runs given up by jason bergmann and manny had to go get it. >> rob: you saw wil nieves wanted that ball down and away. jason ran that ball a little bit too close to the inner half on the lefty, down and in on the lefty. the place you want to throw it. even jordan zimmermann found out these guys can hit. why they're in first in offense in the american league. 95-mile an hour fastball and turned around by carlos pena. jordan zimmermann. then

elijah dukes strikes out. nationals strand their third runner of the day. 4 life 2 half way through. thro) - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - totally on. 2 -- 4-2 half way through. . - it's on. - oh, yeah, it's on. affirmative, it's on. announcer: southwest airlines announces new service out of bwi airport, with three daily nonstop flights to new york laguardia for just 49 dollars one-way starting june 28th. grab your bag. it's on. - ( ding ) - book now at southwest.com. >>> nationals baseball on mas brought to you by southwest airlines. book your next trip on www.southwest.com. timely hitting here sunday in st. petersburg. rob dibble you just hope this was the one bad inning ross detwiler will have and he'll get it together here in the 5th. >> rob: this is one of the better offenses in baseball. you know what, ross detwiler will have to battle better pitches in the major leagues. james shields is no different. he's allowed 4 runs through 5 innings and gone 6 innings in 11 of his 13 starts com

took a little bit off that breaking ball, 1-1 to dukes. elijah looking for his 30th rbi of the year. by the way, dukes, with that double in the 1st added to his runner in scoring position batting average. he came in hitting .315. here is another such opportunity. throws off the breaking ball, no fastball from dan wheeler yet. >> rob: come on, elijah, be patient. take that ball to right center. >> bob: he pulled off that one. >> rob: he pulled off that one. you need to get the guy to third but, more importantly, you need to get in there. >> bob: he might hit a ball out of the ballpark hitting to right field. >> rob: yep. >> bob: as strong as he is. >> rob: wheeler knows he can't get it by him on the inside. >> bob: so he's gone slider, offspeed breaking ball, slider, offspeed breaking ball again. everything down and away i i what do . >> rob: what do you think he's going to throw him? >> bob: i have no idea. that's why i'm up here. >> rob: you are not going to be able to hit that ball. slideer away. >> bob: i would be shocked to see any bal

here's elijah dukes with two outs.the bats have gone quiet again here. >> rob: manny may allow zimmermann to go back out there. >> bob: that's down the line and foul. craig stamen told me something interesting today. he was very upset at himself for not getting through six innings last night. he got longoria to line out in the sixth last night, gave up a couple of hits and manny took him out, that was still chafing at him when i ran into him this afternoon. i like that about craig. he was not happy pitching only 5 1/3 innings. dukes into right center. that will be run down by b.j. upton. p boss: so you've been doing a nice job out there helping people save money on car insurance. gecko: aw thank you, sir. boss: but i think there are a few other things you can say about what a reliable company geico is. gecko: right. uh, well maybe how geico's the third-largest car insurance company in america? nice tidbit there. boss: exactly. and i've been thinking, looking a bit more businesslike might help to

dukes goes down swinging. so, that is tryout number 4. 2-0 cincinnati. - it's on. - ( music playing throughout ) - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - totally on. jimmy, it's on. - it's on. - oh, yeah, it's on. affirmative, it's on. announcer: southwest airlines announces new service out of bwi airport, with three daily nonstop flights to new york laguardia for just 49 dollars one-way starting june 28th. grab your bag. it's on. - ( ding ) - book now at southwest.com. grab your bag. it's on. welcome to chili's. something new is on the grill. try chili's new fire-grilled quesadillas, starting at just $6.99. like our bacon-ranch chicken quesadilla, flame-grilled tortillas layered with all white meat chicken, applewood smoked bacon, jack cheese, and ranch dressing. they're crispy on the outside, melted to perfection on the inside. you've never tasted quesadillas like this before. new fire-grilled quesadillas, starting at just $6.99. only at chili's. >> johnny: we head to the 6h inning here at natio

elijah dukes is going to do -- going to have to do some damage here. >> bob: it will be dukes 0-3. here is a freeze cam from coors light the world's most refreshing beer. it's frost brewed. >> rob: cristian guzman, nothing but hustle right here that gets them a base hit beating hayhurst to the bag. let's freeze it there for the coors light freeze frame. got it just by a spike. that's your coors light freeze it. >> bob: wheels turning in the bottom of the seventh. nats still a great chance to take the lead thanks to nick johnson's three hits tonight. . - it's on. - it is totally on. jimmy, it's on. it's on. oh, yeah, it's on. pilot: affirmative, it's on. welcome to chili's. something new is on the grill. try chili's new fire-grilled quesadillas, starting at just $6.99. like our bacon-ranch chicken quesadilla, flame-grilled tortillas layered with all white meat chicken, applewood smoked bacon, jack cheese, and ranch dressing. they're crispy on the outside, melted to perfection on the inside. you've never tasted quesadillas like this before. new fire-grilled quesadillas, starting at j

 . >> johnny: home run n for elijah dukes and r.b.i.ber tied thi >> rob: ballhnny: homer in this ball park and t 62nd of the year r the ball club.  . >> is just some k rob: yes he would. >> johnny: got so much talent still not even tapped into. >> rob: quite raw. >> johnny: willie harris with a foul off the plate. harris struck out in the first and his on-base percentage is .382. >> rob: johnny lab none, 41 starts, detwiler, his fifth start, jordan zimmer hand hamas nine starts in the big leagues, cy he has 15, the other four. so the others don't have as many as johnny lannan. so you know when i came up i had, you know, phil gull lick son was at the major league level, you had ron robinson, tom browning had been there for many years, tom franklin had been there for many years, our pitching coach years late would be don argue lick. even the griffey seniors and dave collins and joel youngblood and guys like this, they can help you with your psyche and that's the most difficult thing i think

zimmerman to third, dukes over at first and dunn at second. andnd harris takes high for ball three.  . >> rob: i think with th loaded here you got to take a pitch, make him throw strike 2. but this is above the pitch track, a breaking ball, kind of dropped down a little bit on that. >> johnny: and the 3-1 from johnny cueto. >> rob: a fastball. >> johnny: and the count is full. the runners will be off and running, two outs here in the bottom of the first. >> rob: last pitch on the pitch track. 3-1 in the bottom. >> johnny: the runners go. harris with a foul off to the right. >> rob: no go-back. >> johnny: almost got the batter in the warmup circle. >> rob: that's how young this pitching staff is for the nats. 24 years old for johnny lannan, 49 career starts, 487 2/3 innings at major league level. not a lot of experience. >> johnny: 3-2, swing and a miss, strike three. so johnny cueto on the rocks there in the first inning, the nats couldn't get anything out of it. we'll be back with the top of the second

willingham in left, dukes and bard a switch-hitting catcher. hair nighs center and anderson hernandez at second base. >> rob: let's take a look another brad bergesen, only 23 years of age. he loves to pitch here at camden yards. again, the orioles over .500 at home. you can't steal on him. they have attempted to steal a base twice, and they're oh-fer two. again, the orioles, you know, kind of a up-and-down month. but for brad bergesen, 2-07 in the month of june with a very, very low earned run average. >> bob: he misses outside to christian guzman. 1-0. christian guzman, of course, the orioles know more about him than most players in this lineup because of his years in minnesota. there's a strike. and rob dibble with us for this series and the thing about guzman that i like about him, switch hitter, he hits to the gaps and he has a lot of speed. he really bothers you if he gets on base. >> rob: he has been fantastic. he has within hitting the ball all over the park. for the most part, he just does his best to get on base and set the table for t

elijah dukes is next. adam dunn gets around it and fouls it. 18 homeruns this year, four away from 300. 48th rbi last night. i interairport hill is 20 feet behind the dirt. >> rob: i aaron -- aaron hill is 20 feet behind the dirt. >> reporter: that's going to get him. >> rob: come on, that's not even close. i think the first time this ball gets the plate is when the catch erythros it around the horn. let's see how far that pitch is. >> bob: that's unfortunate. >> rob: it looks pretty, a pretty pitch called the back door slider but the baseball needs to get over that white thing that's called the plate. >> bob: here is dukes. >> rob: elijah was really swinging the bat well. in the batting cage. he carried it into the game. >> bob: a couple of knocks for elijah tonight. a base hit and a double, one rbi. >> rob: he has that hard sinker. talk about the touch and feel of being a pitcher. sometimes, you put the fingers close together to get movement on the baseball. >> >> bob: zaun camp has now pitched a four-hi

dukes makes a good play to cut it off. it will be second and third, one out. now the error really hurts. that's quite an at-bat by alex rios. >> rob: 3-2 fastball away. rios goes with it. good peet piece of hitting by him. he's trying to stay alive. nice job sliding to cut that ball off. get that back in as quickly as possible. >> bob: when you couple this together with the bottom of the seventh, this has been a rough 20-25 minutes. nats had the bases loaded one out after second and third, nobody out. now the blue jays a similar situation here in the top of the eighth. >> rob: you can't give good teams extra chances. >> bob: front door breaking ball up and over to lyle overbay. he's 0-1 with a pair of walks.   >> rob: hitting against left-handed pitchers this year. all the power against right- handers. seven home runs against righties. one against left-handers. >> bob: that will be foul. strike two. right-handed hitting rod barajas on deck. that's why hanrahan is ready. lefty-lefty matchup here as the nats try to

elijah dukes is backing up against wall. he makes the catch. a terrific play by dukes in the field. does he cover the territory out there? >> rob: yes, he does. when he's in right, he covers the territory. get on your horse elijah and start running. he goes right in contact with the wall as he makes the grab. >> johnny: he knew exactly how close the wall was. >> rob: absolutely. watch the alertness. i've got a guy at 2nd. he throws it right in. that's not quite the pitch he was looking for. >> johnny: it almost went over bard's head. they will pass hanigan to get to harang. talking with elijah dukes before the ballgame, i was relating stories about high school athletics. i asked him about hillsboro high school if he ever played them. he said mr. holiday, i went to hillsboro, you should know that if you followed my career. he said it with a smile. he was very nice. talk about how tough the football teams were in the tampa area when we grew up. >> rob: i lived out near the hillsboro district. we played at the old field there in tampa that's no longer around. i lived out by bush garden

after dunn singled, dukes doubled to score both points.s as he jerks one hard off big james. we were up 4-0 at that time. >> bard has been swinging the bat good hasn't he? >> he has. he's been known no swing the bat well. >> nobody had more than two hits. johnson did. dukes had a couple. zimmermann the dh role goes 0-3. willie harris 0-4 with a couple of groundouts. sometimes the little things pay off big time in major league baseball. we'll see today a couple of instances where the little things did pay off defensively as well as offensively. >> you remember we haven't had people covering at times. hernandez getting to 1st to get the out. nick goes on a short fastball going on the first move, getting down there, beating the throw. that's what tough do in baseball baseball. he's gone. he's safe at 2nd. that sets up rbi situation. detwiler whirls and throws here not showing any signs of being a rookie as he makes the right play. you mentioned he had to preplan that play. >> a couple of weird plays developing. one is the pop down into the na

it gets beyond elijah dukes, and adam jones is off to the races. dukes misses the cut-off man. >> jim: 11-1, you're not sending a guy. first of all, it is embarrassing, but he was thinking. the one thing about adam jones, he is a fun - loving guy. dukes tries to catch it. the ball just gets inside the line, and then it is off to the races. a very tough corner here at camden yards, but he's thinking right about here he's thinking, you know what? maybe i'm going to get a triple. but here he is thinking i have an inside-the-park home run. >> rob: he put it in another gear here. >> jim: the coach says we don't need to do that. it is the respectful thing to do. >> rob: yes. >> bob: he's at third base. two outs and mar cake advertise hitter. nick is 3-4 tonight with his 47th rbi. and his batting average has jumped up from .297 to .303. >> jim: he gets into a low period and he'll put four hits on the board like he did last night or the week before last. >> bob: 11 more opportunities with runners in scoring position for the home team tonight. >> jim: and t

here's elijah dukes.f the guys on the bench, he easily has the most power, and manny knows that one swing of the bat might decide this game, 2-2 in the 8th. dukes is in a big-time slump though. he's four for his last 31 and they are killing him with breaking balls. >> rob: i had a great conversation with elijah on the way down here. he knows what's going on. >> bob: fastball drilled to center. too bad there's no elevation, two outs. >> rob: he got in on him a little bit. the thing about elijah dukes that i love about him, he has very good smarts when it comes to hitting. >> bob: that was a good at-bat, when you're down 0-2 and hit a ball that well. top of the order now. that's 12 in a row for nolasco and 18 of his last 19. he's only thrown six pitches to get two outs this inning. the nationals first three hitters are 0 for 9 and their first five hitters are 1 for 15 tonight. with only the zimmerman homer. man, what a hook. he has shown tonight how effective a right-handed pitcher can be against left- hand

ey lionel ya dukes, a great throw. he beats the runner by 10 feet. josh bard waiting for his prey and then joe west calls him safe because of a little dimsy doo move. josh bard still had the tag in there early enough. >> bob: do you think josh was a little too casual going after the runner there? >> rob: no. >> bob: because most runners will call the umpire out when the ball beats them by that much. >> rob: most but joe west, he is the president of the umpires and he's going to call a close play like that and it's benefit of the doubt, 9 times out of 10, because that throw is there so early, that guy is out. not even a question. but he stayed there, watched the guy do a little bit of a move. we have done that before and we don't get the call. the score should be 3-1. >> bob: 69 pitches, 43 strikes for craig stammen through four innings tonight. >> rob:dioner navarro, then b. j. upton and carl crawford. he has only given up two hits. a navarro base hit and b. j. upton one-out single in the third. the rays got their next run with their legs. high strik

of the six hits, two home runs hit by elijah dukes and guzman.'s, we break down coming up on nats postgame, ross detwiler's outing tonight, recap a wild and important day in nats park with byron kerr and ray knight and preview game number 2 coming up tomorrow with harang against march tease. the pitching matchups beginning at 6:30 with nats extra. and mike mink doing al becomes the nationals fourth pitcher following jason bergmann, ron villone and the starter ross detwiler. for  . >> rob: can't allow a r got to tell you're a one-run up. >> johnny: the sixth game with washington, only one unearned run and stranded all three inherited runners when he has come in ball games. came back from syracuse may 29th, a couple of saves and a 3.24 e.r.a. in eight appearances a. >> rob: from the d.c. area, born right here. >> johnny: likes to pitch inside and francisco cordero goes to work on the cincinnati pen. >> rob: he was given a contract nearly $50 million to bring him over here. he has done a great job for the nco

dukes fouls it off to the left. zimmerman at second. dunn at first. fisher goes one inning and gives up one hit. nick masset now on the mound. >> rob: you just see how important it is to go 6 or 7 strong innings. owings can't get it done again. three runs here between the 6th and 8th inning. dusty baker can't keep putting out cordero and rhodes and weathers every night. late break on the outer half to elijah. >> johnny: it is nice not to have to see weathers or cordero or rhodes in this game. >> rob: i'm sure dusty was saying i have got to rest these guys occasionally. i can't run them out there every night. that formula for no more complete games at the major league level going to take its toll eventually on bullpens. >> johnny: on the road this year, the reds started the season 13-5. but since then, they are 4-8. they are 2-0 on this road trip. and the 1-2 delivery. and dukes evens up the count at 2 balls and two strikes. 2-2 with two outs and two on and two in. in the bottom of the 8th. masset delivers and he strikes out elijah dukes. pounds the ba

elijah dukes steps in.ge at .262. 1st base umpire rings up dukes with a called strike. >> rob: took a lot of heat last night for getting picked off 2nd base. but as he said he was trying to get a secondary lead. he does have 59 steals in his career. dunn has some wheels. not just a big, slow player. he can run a little bit. >> johnny: owings delivers. the flip to second to brand don phillips and the inning is over. we will talk more and debbi is going to have more on adam dunn. we go to the top of the second scoreless in washington. úúpp÷÷ >> we are back and scoreless we move to the 2nd inning. the nats hosting adam dunn's former team. adam's dad said he coached all three of his sons and adam, who was the middle child wasn't always easy to coach. >> coaching adam was hard as anybody could imagine because he always thought he knew

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

sheer dukes. elijah this year,.300 with runners in scoring position. he's 0-7 last.batting average downd down under .250. >> rob: go figure that brian tallet grew up in oklahoma and grew up loving nolan ryan. don't we all. >> bob: dukes will pop it up into short right field. alex rios is waiting. nats will get a couple of base runners, a walk and sangle, leave two, no -- a single, leave two, no score. ÷pñ)y@@p >> debbi: scoreless as we m to the top of the second inning. craig stammen told me last night that the young the starters are feeding off each other. they're good friends and a tight knit group. here is more from manny acta on that topic. >> they play together at some point. a couple of those guys are together before. they motivate each other and feed off each other and it's good. they don't have any type of competition going on, but they're trying to outdo each other, followup in each other's step every feist days. >> debbi: for jordan zimmermann, he told me he needs to continue to pound the zone. he has a really good strikeout to walk ratio. he has nearl

dukes takes the ball. josh willingham next on deck.ould come ronny belliard. 2-0 bottom of the 9th. nationals 3-6 against the nl central. the reds under .500. 5-7 against the national league east. that's why they play nine. you don't stop there. >> rob: absolutely. they're playing it. it's not really coming down anymore. >> johnny: last save for francisco came last night. right behind the nationals dugout, cincinnati one error. josh willingham misplayed a ball in right field. got to give him a break there. it was his first time ever in that right field area. >> rob: there's a lead off walk. very nice. that's using the old melon. at the plate right now. you've got to find a way to get willingham in however he can get on base. [cheering and applause] >> johnny: i'd love to see josh get a hold of one now. he takes a strike from cordero. 13 of the hits were extra bases, 5 doubles, 8 home runs. fouled off. 0-2. [cheering and applause] >> johnny: going back to last season, cordero converted 29 -- takes the pitch low. 14-14 this year. the 1st

reimold heading for third as dukes digs it out. dukes will get it back in. the orioles have something going here, second and third and nobody down. >> jim p.: what did we talk about, the fact maybe he gets righties out better than lefties. he hangs a curveball here. numbers are high, over 300, but they're better than they were a month ago. >> rob: they were almost .400 off of him left-handed about a month ago. he's got to get that curveball down and away from luke scott. that's up and in the zone. that's right where a lefty wants that curveball. danger time for that guy. >> jim p.: so you talked about the nationals last night, the four double plays. two ground balls to the right side will get you two runs in here, at least one. unless manny plays the infield in. but again, everybody back on the right side. they'll give you one, but they won't give you two runs. so hit the ground ball to the right side. you'll advance the runner from third to home and the runner from second. so the situational hitter. you can see salazar, he was flat out airing it out down in

dunn, duke in center. willingham will have his first career start in right field. >> they don't want to keep moving dunn around to left one night, right the next and 1st the next day. >> i played growing up. i was center fielder, leadoff guy. i switched left, right, used to be able to play every outfield position. >> johnny: fouled up, one quick out. first pitch at 7:07 tonight. 77 degrees here at game time this night. hairston went 1-3 last night. i noticed how you got all state in soccer without missing a beat. >> rob: i had to prove i had skills. you know how they do the little -- i wasn't all that good. i was 180 pounds back then. >> johnny: that's minus a few now. no balls two strikes to willy. line drive to left. dunn has a beat on it. two quick outs here in the top of the first. hernandez will be working behind the plate. we wish him well. scott at first base. andy fletcher will be working at 3rd. did you see eckstein come out of the dugout? he was after andy on that call on kearns last night to end

there's dukes, it is beyond the reach of upton. dunn will stop at 3rd 3rd. elijah dukes is putting on a power display today. >> rob: how do you like me now? looks like a hanging curveball. it is. 85 miles per hour north on the pitch track. it's a double off the wall. second one of the day. >> bob: the ball got out there so quickly. adam dunn who could see off the bat it wasn't going to be caught couldn't get beyond 3rd

does any decent person and think that if david duke were leading martin luther king, david duke should get favorable coverage in the media because of winning begets winning coverage? is just nonsense argument that we shouldn't take seriously and am only mentioning it to get it off the table. because when you get down to it, it really comes down to a simple understanding of what the press is there for. is there to give us the facts, it is there to tell us what's going on, it really is there to be the impartial referee, and let us decide. the american people are not that stupid. just give us the facts and let us decide. i don't think it's that complicated. part way to the campaign to show you how crazy it got, when a mysterious mental disorder broke out in some places in america including the media and it happened interestingly right after sarah palin was put on the republican ticket, it was a mental disorder that came to be known as pds -- palin derangements syndrome. whether you like sarah palin or not and i understand there are some people who think she's great and some people who are

he jacks it into right center, in the sun, elijah dukes, one out. >> rob: a little bit, too, rob, it'so be tricky. a lot of shadow here, especially late in the afternoon. the sun is shining in the back of the field. you saw elijah dukes go from the shade into the sun and made the catch. >> bob: somewhere, george harrison is smiling because here comes the sun, shining. >> rob: very nice beatle reference. my favorite beatle song is "while my guitar gently weeps". >> bob: george did that one, too. right off the end of the bat. of course, as a high school boy, your favorite song was hey jude. it was slow dance that lasted 7 minutes. [ laughter ]. >> bob: can you play that again? >> rob: that's awesome that you know that was a slow song that they played for 7 minutes. >> bob: just a little bit off the plate. 2-1. detwiler in 33 innings, 20 runs, 19 earned, 36 hits and aaron hill is right up there. 91 hits. leads all of baseball. one more than miguel tejada here in this league. detwiler, lots of fastballs to start things off and he goes 3- 1. >> rob: they are not the most powerful team but t

elijah dukes makes it 4-0. line drive to left. >> that baby got out of here in a hurry. into elijah dukes coming back home to tampa, drafting by the rays in the 2002 draft. he only hit .190 when he played down here but i think he was just beginning to scratch the surface of what is going to be a big career. you know he has to be thrilled to go back to tampa. >> ray: i'm sure he is, johnny. it's hard sometimes to play at home with a lot of people making demands, asking for tickets. he hit for average, power, run, throw and field. he's really got on this ball club that fits that. zimmerman is close. he just can't run quite as well as elijah. >> johnny: and we have seen in centerfield elijah loping to those balls like did i imagine quo, mays. >> ray: he can become a true centerfielder if his legs hold up. he has had some problems with his knees over his his career, and his leg. if he is able to keep these lotion strong, he can develop into a strong centerfielder. >> johnny: let's talk about the pitchers. the natio

he'll take the rbi, keep the rally going, bring elijah dukes to the plate. he's batting for the pitcher in the spot occupied -- he throws him a pitch out of the ball park. it's a 2-run game. the nats still have a large hill to climb. they have scored a couple here. it's now 9-4. - oh, it's on. - it's on. it's on. - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - it is totally on. jimmy, it's on. it's on. oh, yeah, it's on. pilot: affirmative, it's on. >>> dad's sake -- saying, d give up until it's time to go home. there's a lesson to be learned here in the ninth inning. the blue jays have a pull benpy committee now. the tying run is not as close as the on-deck circle. two for his last 16, elijah. that's a loud pop with a 94- mile an hour heater. >> right down broadway. >> one ball, one strike. reaching, fouling it, and the blue jays are one strike away from salvaging a game of the series. slider just outside, 2-2. >> heaters and the old slider, just a bit outside in the ball just got a piece. clouds are gone, bright sunshine again. out of play on the rig

here is elijah dukes top of the second. >> rob: put that in perspective.tarting lineup has six combined steals. >> bob: tonight. >> rob: morgan has three times that. right away, that gives us at the top of our lineup or even if he hits in the eight hole a lot of speed and once he gets on base and he's got a very good eye. 3.9 pitches per at-bat. there's a ways hit -- base hit by elijah dukes. >> bob: there's extension on that one. >> rob: he'll fit in our lineup. >> bob: the nationals, 3-4 last hitters hitting safely now. another note on morgan. he brings his 18 steals to a team that has 26 total. only the milwaukee brewers, and they're a power team station to station, have fewer steals with 24. the nats will start climbing the charts in that department. here is alberto gonzalez. the two new ball players will be here in time for the day game tomorrow. pirates are in pittsburgh and the ironic thing for joel hanrahan is the pirates are here friday. they're playing the cubs, scoreless in the second inning. so, joel hanrahan, when i talked to him this afternoo

elijah duke at 1st base, nobody out. cincinnati has a 2-0 lead. we'll take you right back now to espn news. >> right now on "espnews" big poppy and the red sox have their eyes on the prize, unbeaten, 6-0, so far against the yankees, game seven tonight. the phillies have been struggling as of late. cole hamels takes on the mets going for his fifth win in a row. an emotional phil mickelson prepares to rejoin the pga tour as he and his family prepare to

. >> bob: 3-2 to dukes, melvin mora to his left with a good play and two outs. right back with you here tomorrow night and it is brought to you by m.&t. bank, understanding what is important. shairon martis coming off a rough outing. he was scored upon early and often by toronto sunday and jeremy guthrie, 5-7, trying to get that e.r.a. down. in fact, both of them over 5.00. >> jim: guthrie coming off a good start where he beat cole

elijah dukes snaps his bat off. the ball is coming to nick green, the red sox' shortstop. the bat hits him. he's got to swat it away. and this is tonight. bergesen saws him off. the bat comes right back up the middle. very dangerous stuff. there is your coarse light freeze cam. >> jim: here is george sherrill coming on in the ninth inning and if you're wondering what the heck is the closer doing in the game if you're up 10 runs, he needs some work. he has not been in the game since last sunday and you want to get the rust off before it is a save situation. >> jim: what did he tell us in texas when he came in with the four-run lead? i never met a four-run lead that i liked. how about a 10-run lead? >> jim: he has been 11-11. >> rob: closers hate big leads or deficits. >> jim: you closed. >> rob: for a while. >> jim: it was kind of like by committee? >> rob: yes. and there were a couple of years when we had one closer, two closers. but, yeah, it was whoever had the hot hand. when randy myers was there, he was the guy. i didn't like coming in just to get some work, whether it

that ball into right center in front of dukes, and baltimore will lead 3-1. ross detwiler got the ball up in the first inning. he kept it down in the second and the third, but the orioles are flairing line drives off of him right now. >> jim: and elijah dukes takes one of the drop steps. he didn't get a good read. i think we'll see the x-mo here. you can see it down on the end of the bat. >> rob: and even when his right hand came off of the bat, so he has no power. >> jim: he takes a step back and by the time he got to the ball, reimold scores to make it 3-1. >> rob: you talked about that, throwing it out there on markakis' infield single. i say the same thing when it comes in. you throw it in the outfield perfectly and nobody can catch it. that was one of those. >> jim: rob, you know as well as i do burt of good pitching is playing defense. mat wieters -- matt wieters. e he is a double play candidate. he has hit into three of them already. in his first 20 major league games. >> rob: the one thing we saw with the red sox when they did this to our staff, their