two biggest boppers, evan longoria hits a little flair out to the outfield.then your number four guy bunts for a base hit. then the bottom of the order just crushes a couple of home runs. >> bob: i think those last two columns gave you a reason for colome's problems here in tampa. tampa bay, at least. willie harris will catch this one, off the bat of brignac. jesus colome, a 10-7 strikeout to walk ratio. in his years here. tonight's copyrighted telecast presented by the authority of the washington nationals may not be reproduced or retransmitted in any form. everybody in this inning for the rays have batted except for the two speedsters, upton and crawford.  >> bob: very tardy, strik looks to me like they've got some hitters in this line-up who do a lot of guessing. i think he was thinking first pitch slider there. >> rob: i would agree. then you regroup and you cut down a little bit. i want to hit something in my area.  >> bob: 17th time they've five or more on the board. that's how you lead the maj

strikeouts, 95- mile-per-hour fastball, great breaking balls, you saw that last 3-2 change-up to evan longoriath a man on third. the nats other run came on a bases loaded ground ball in the third. nats had the bases loaded, nobody out, settled for one run. so ryan and jordan doing quite well, andy sonnanstine giving up another home run. he's given up 14 of them this year. so now you're up to date and carlos pena hack as foul ball. to begin the bottom of the fourth inning. nationals by the way have austin kearns in the line-up tonight. you might have heard by now that the nats are without josh willingham. byron kerr will have more on that shortly. a tragedy in the willingham family, and josh left the ball club this morning to go back to alabama. we'll check in with byron shortly. pena, disoab rift, burrell. that ball is going to leave the yard, way out of here. almost to the scoreboard. and pena's 20th of the year gets tampa bay on the board here. he becomes only the fifth player in the major leagues with 20 home runs. >> rob: this is going to be a 95-mile an hour fastball down and in, it's sup

so that is a big plus for stammen, retiring two of the fastest players in baseball and here is evan longoria, second in the american league with 34 extra base hits. only mark teixeira has more with 36. raul ibanez is the major league leader with the phillies with 38. you think sits sense bank park is not jumping tonight. jon lester, joe blanton, red sox and phillies, last two defending world champions. all good breaking ball. >> rob: you can make a great argument against strasburg and what his agent is saying. this a kid who came out of nowhere, six games into the major league last year, they gave him a long-term contract, goes out and wins rookie of the year. talk about impact player. >> bob: stammen is there to grab it, longoria signed a 17 million-dollar six -- 70 million-dollar six-year deal. od through safety-colored glasses. 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

. >> bob:  evan rock longoria front of him.nny acta says the best way to handle this for stammen and for josh bard, keep b. j. upton off base. b. j. hitting only .2212. he came in as a .277 career hitter. rob will have more on craig stammen who is mamaking art. his last uteing was not very od on sunday, was it? ro no. >> bob: b. j. upton who only has an on-base average of .307. byron kerr handing me a note and we'll knock on wood for this one. rays9-22 when the rays have scored first butve not had an at-bat yet. >> rob: and they do have the top offense inthe american league. >> bob: they have scored more runs than the nats have given up. that's a lot. >> rob: you came back on fire. >> bob: you know,

[cheering and applause] you hate to see evan longoria bat when it could have been a one, two, three.grand slam flex pan. five plans to choose from. go to the website for more information. >> bob: we'd love to see the nats grab this final game. it would make the weekend for our manager better. manny is shaken by the willingham news from yesterday. and all the news of his job status. it can't be easy being asked about that. that's a good man in that dugout, a good baseball person. >> rob: he's a stand up man. >> bob: he's got one going today. 0-2. make sure you keep that baby down. >> rob: i wish i was younger. i would love to play for manny acta. outstanding man, even better manager. i'd love to be the one to walk into the press briefing and say what do you think of the guy in your bullpen? >> bob: look at that pitch. way outside. tavarez takes care of longoria. it will be dukes, patterson and gonzalez in the 4-4 game.  >>> nationals will have f six, seven up in the 8th. elijah dukes has had a lot to do with the success of the offense today. >> bob: this kid is some kind o

close but misses. 1-2 with even evan longoria coming. >> rob: you can turn two here. longoria is not a speedster either. >> bob: people say, what does it matter if the guy at 2nd isn't fast? >> rob: it's going to take lodge tore get to 2nd base, take longer to get the ball to 2nd and concentrating on getting the double play. >> bob: up the mid it will first time. three consecutive hits now in the series. >> rob: the fact longoria has nursing a hamstring the last few weeks. that helps also. >> bob: he's been trotting the 1 1st base trying to get that warmed up. 2- 0. >> rob: we talked about this after the 2nd inning. detwiler has to finish off the pitches and try to throw it through josh bard. when he starts falling towards 1 st base, he's not following through. when you're stepping across your body, your arms are trailing too far behind to throw stris. >> bob: pitch up. far enouway. couldn't reach it. it's 2-1. longoria got all 28 first place votes for rookie of the year lastear. >> bob: went to the all-ar game -- runner going to not even a throw. the ball was called

the men who -- the man who led off the inning with a base hit evan longoria will bat again.  >> bob: longoria singled to lead off this inning, his only hit of this series. in the last three innings, the rays have outhit the nationals 8-0. the last nats hit, a single by guzman with nobody out in the third.  >> bob: minnesota got a s- out from anthony schwarz ack to beat the cubs at wrigley today. st. louis won in cleveland, 3- 1. mets beat the yankees 6-2. those are the finals in so far from interleague play. the american league who let the national league, 31 wins to 25 through last night.  >> bob: last night star stretch of 12 very difficult interleague games against the upper echelon of the a.l. east. tampa bay, new york, toronto and boston. then a series to follow at baltimore. that ball into left. dukes is back. can't get it up against the wall. hernandez scores. upton scores. it's 8-2. >> rob: this is just a hanging breaking ball by colome. when you drop down to try to help the ball, sometimes it flattens out. it helps longoria, doesn

his right foot is tagged by evan longoria. very nice. coolers' light showing you how if he had slid to the bag, he would have been safe. >> bob: brought to you fbi -- to you by the world's most refreshing beer. top 6, patterson, gonzalez and bard for the nats. patterson has pulled the ball grounding out to 1st. he advanced a runner from 2nd to 3rd in the 2nd. he scored on the gonzalez base hit. he checks that one. it's cut off by pena, one out. >> rob: good reaction by the left-handed throwing 1st baseman. >> bob: how about alberto gonzalez day at that time -- day at the ball park? >> rob: he gets better and better. there's a double that will bring in two runs. dukes and dunn. what a day for the kids. three of the four runs, he's driven. >> bob: first pitch swinging pops up to short. two down. [cheering and applause] gonzalez interesting, he only hit 1.73 last year with the yankees in 28 games before they sent him down. 250 at berry. july 31st they got him. he came up and hit .347 for the nats. here's josh bard with two great swings. one

evan longoria coming up. will manny stay with the veteran left hander here? not many get to go to the all- star game apt world series as a rookie. >> rob: bob, there is your answer. they're going to walk longoria and pitch to peqa. the fans are going crazy, moo. >> bob: that's about the only way that ron villone ever walks anybody. >> rob: 19 homeruns by carlos peqa this year. >> bob: he has been pretty much all or nothing this year, came in batting .229 with 78 strikeouts, the second most in the american league. manny acta runs out and he is going to call his infield in and will go over this. that's a big out. coming up, how the nats were able to get to matt garza early, 3 runs on four hits, 1st inning. craig stammen did well against the bats, not so well against the speed. tomorrow, jordan zimmerman back in the line-up. the game starts at 6:05 but we cannot join you live until 7:05. >> rob: 13 against righties, 6 against lefty for peqa this year. >> bob: shift is on. zimmerman is the only defender on the third base side. anderson hernandez is in a very inte

and evan longoria never could get the handle on it. i don't know why he would peak at nick johnson, now they've given the nats a chance to get back in this game with adam dunn coming up. but he won't be facing the right-hander. >> rob: well, you can't take your eye off the ball. you saw him there. he peaked at nick. trying to sneak a peak at nick and it cost him and error. >> bob: i think that's a classic example of making a play more complicated than it was because the nats are down by five and nick johnson is not going anywhere. so the nats get a break. how far can you see? at pnc, taking the long view is how we help you take the right path. even to change it when conditions demand. keeping you on the road to achieving your goals. it's something we've been doing for over 150 years. let our strength and stability be the basis for yours. pnc. leading the way. >> bob: andy sonnanstine solid night. only one walk and five strikeouts. at one point he retired 15 consecutive nats from the third through the 7th. lefty, lefty match-up. a

respecting his speed, evan longoria plays even with the bag at third as does carlos peqa, 120 feet across >> rob: any way you can right here, get on base. that will push the bunt by the pitcher, lefty falling towards first and righty towards first. >> bob: this will be an interesting pitch. that will be a two-hopper right after the shortstop brignac. ,

evan longoria 0-for-2 tonight drills it to center but right there is willie harris. >> rob: we've got bob: one out. >> rob: i like the defense. >> bob: by the way, that's nine of the last so for craig stammen. our copyrighted telecast presented by authority of the washington nationals, may not be reproduced or retransmitted in any form and any accounts or retrans mission of this game may not be disseminated without the expressed written consent of the washington nationals. next up, carlos peqa. not a wheel lot to show for the in-game box score for the hard hitting rays. >> rob: if he can get through the next two guys, it's huge. you won't see them again until the 8th or 9th inning, probably the 9th if craig can get them 1-2-3. you always think about that, where you turn the roster and where it's going to come back to haunt you. >> bob: stammen's first major league start, he pitched one out into the 7th inning against the pirates. since then, he has not gone longer than 6. so this on that last out became his second longest big league outing. 1-1 to carlos peqa, ground ball and a strike

evan longoria struggling for tampa bay. remember in april, a .369 batting average? things have changed since then. .296 in may. he's yet to get a hit this month. his current streak of 18 at-bats without a hit is the longest drought of his career. mariners and orioles in baltimore as we continue to swing around the majors. that's jorse lopez, the second home run of the game, eighth of the year, the ms win it, ichiro suzuki on a 14-game hitting streak, against the orioles. seattle has won six of its last seven, hernandez gets the win, 4-0 in his career at camden yards, and the ms win it 4-1. let's go to fenway. tying run on second, top nine, papelbon, posada. flies out to left. and that is that. papelbon with the save, the red sox have beaten the yankees seven times this season without a loss, eight times overall in a row dating back to last season, 6-5 is your final, papelbon with 15 saves on the season. you see all the home runs, youkilis goes yard, so does lowell, teixeira a big night, damon and posada also with home runs. royals and indians in cleveland, that's gi

evan longoria retired on the one-hopper to stammen first time up. >> rob: here is the best base stealererican league, carl crawford. bobby abreu having a great career with the angels. >> bob: did he find a fountain of youth? that's a double steal, and the throw goes to centerfield. and the tying run will end up at third base on a throwing error by josh bard. i sometimes, you have to let them go. look at longoria. he is right in bard's way. bard has to throw this ball and it goes over the third baseman. sometimes, it's better if you stay right in front of them, get around him, not an easy task and the throw goes arye, but it's the kind of pressure these guys put on you. >> bob: and now that's a 3-2 game with the tying run 90 feet away. >> rob: now you know why manny acta was trying to manufacture runs after we were up 3-0. >> bob: this team can score runs even if they are not slugging the ball. the nats have given up 345 runs, this team has scored 352 runs. longoria overmatched by craig stammen. that's a big strikeout. two down. straight change that went down and in to the right hander.

evan longoria snaps the 19th at bat with a homer in the fifth inning. >> tigers and the white sox wrapping up a five-game set. top 5, 3-1, 3-all. curtis granderson, goodbye. ties the game with his 14th. we go to the bottom of the ninth. and here's your controversy. we saw a game-winning hit off a third. how about a game-saving play by a fan? watch this. nice catch, but did you go into the field of play to make the catch? jim leyland says he did. tigers sigh he did. game's in chicago. later in that at-bat, podsednik chops c it to right. past the infield, and that's the end of the game. the tigers are mad, but they didn't have an out at the time. and who knows if having an extra they would have. still, controversial finish. chicago gets the win. white sox are in milwaukee tomorrow. tigers are in pittsburgh. >> all right, minnesota trying to win three in a row on the road for the first time this season. bottom 8, adam kennedy. minnesota trailing 3-1, no more. tied at 3 after the two-run home run. bottom of the ninth now. davis, with two men on. just dumps it into right. that would prove to be

. >> jim: how about evan longoria? it looks like it is little league and he's 1 and all of the other kids are 9. >> rob: yes. if you let them do that, they will get so comfortable, they will, just like an inning like this, just knock you around, even when you're making good pitches. >> jim: that and the confidence. >> rob: yes. >> jim: you get on a roll. the guy in important of you has a good at-bat. you saw that with adam jones. he hit a good slider down and away. and markakis comes back. what is he, 1-9? off of villone. he gets beat. villone gets ahead of him. he hit as single into right. it just steamrolls. >> rob: adam jones came in oh- fer 11 out of that florida series? he looks like he is in a 30- game hitting streak himself. >> bob: one ball and two strikes to mora. he's driven in three with a single and a double tonight. >> jim: a chance for a huge rbi night. >> bob: the ballpark holds 48,300, camden yards, not many empty seats. >> jim: no, if any. >> bob: ball two. >> jim: the one thing about melvin, you pitch