julian tavarez now will get the call. the plot is thickenning from the pitching standpoint here to say the least.  . >> bob: it's become a long night here at nationals park but as we found out, thursday in new york, friday in our nation's capital, the nats will stick around as long as they need to win a ballgame. julian tavarez got all the warm- up pitches he needed. he is ready to face lyle overbay here. >> rob: would you bring another pitcher for another injured pitcher. julian tavarez needed as many pitches he needd to warm up. >> bob: he can throw just about every day. he may be one of those guys who does not need as many as others. lyle overbay started last night, went 0-for-2 with a walk. >> rob: mr. hoye is consistent with that back door breaking ball, ringing up adam dunn on that pitch from camp. >> bob: lyle overbay's first pinch hit appearance of the year. he was supposed to have a night off. .274, 8 homeruns, 38 rbis. he started against the nats' lefty, ross detwiler who we hoped would have

hanley ramirez against julian tavarez in a 3-2 game now, bases empty, two outs.anley ramirez has one thing on his mind. trying to get under a ball and drive it which he does, but it's off the end of his bat. that will be a double down the left-field line once adam dunn retrieves it. he's going to go for three, and now stop. he was first pitch swinging with a home run on his mind. >> rob: when you're seeing the ball real well, then it's a hanging breaking ball right there. he was trying to throw in there for an easy strike one. with his speed he easily gets a double. looks like he's limping a little bit. >> bob: hanley ramirez three more hits tonight. starting the night the leader with miguel tejada with 97. tavarez cannot give up another run here. the nationals bullpen has had an absolute nightmare against florida this year. that ball skipped and it was picked up in nifty fashion by wil nieves.   >> bob: front door breaking ball, well off the plate inside. 2-0. the nats in the ninth, guzman, johnson and zimmerman. crucial to keep t

take this lead. 5 1/3 innings, 4 hits, one run, four walks and four strikeouts as you look at julian tavarez. he is the second nationals pitcher this afternoon. following lannan to the mound. >> rob: 12 starts for owings and still only 4 times he has gown 6 plus innings. >> johnny: finish in line to get a win, too. leading off the cincinnati 7th, adam rosales. the 1st baseman. he is a 1-2 afternoon. singled and struck out swinging. >> rob: that is a lot of work for 5 1/3 innings. 102 pitches like you said. 4 walks, 4ks. 0-2 with a strikeout for micah. >> johnny: dickerson getting set to pinch hit. tavarez delivers outside. a ball and two strikes. >> rob: that is a pretty good pitch. really good pitch. >> johnny: tavarez has been pretty impressive. one run allowed in his last 7 appearances. >> rob: i think with the success of ron colon, it has been tough to get proper work for julian tavarez. he needs to be tired. that requires a lot of work. >> johnny: from san sant ago go, the -- santiago, the dominican republic. fly to left. willingham right in front of dukes to make the grab. there's one

. >> bob: top of the order, julian tavarez. tavarez, a third of the inning in new york last night getting a key out late. marco scutaro 0-3. manny talked about this bullpen today. they brought in a lot of veteran guys. we saw a total transition from young to not so young as april turned into may and the results were not immediate but lately they've been much better. 2-1 from tavarez. zimmerman was playing shallow like do you on a leadoff guy. one out. >> rob: meet and hop, very nice. >> bob: julian tavarez, 36 years of age. dirk hayhurst throwing for the blue jays. >> rob: what a great baseball name. hey dirk hayhurst. >> bob: and ron villone, that's a pretty good baseball name too. ron told me he really enjoyed going to yankee stadium this past series. grew up a yankee fan. his family actually from thebronx been they went to jersey. tap swing and a foul. aaron hill 1-3 with an infield hit off the glove of jordan zimmermann. one of the best hitters in the american league this year. 91 hits. if he gets another hit tonight, he'll

. >> rob: you why julian tavarez -- you had julian tavarez in st. bob: and -- the fan is wrong. you are right. i know had you a fan hounding you on that. t-a-v-a-r-z. >> rob congratulations on your 50th win. >> bob: he joins a select group of relief pitchers. how about this group, trevor hoffman, are another rhodes, mariano rivera, those are the guys with 50 wins active. and julian told me he also found out from a friend of his down in the caribbeans that he is now second all time in caribbean series wins to jose lima. he had no idea. >> rob: lima time. he was telling me a story about his 7-year-old son in the playoffs. on a day off, he will fly down there to be with him, watch his game. >> bob: villone trying to come in through the side door there, just missing. the count is full to ben zobrist. ron villone, one intentional walk. if you take that away, he has had a few walks, 8 of them in 24 innings but he has been pretty unhittable. that ball goes straight up does not hit any girders or rings and josh bard is there to grab it. we are with you tomo

we will see what he can do against julian tavarez. it is amazing, rob, in all the years julian has been pitching going back to his debut of 1993 with cleveland. he's only been touch eded the homeruns -- no homeruns last year. none with the red sox when he was pitching for them. and most of the years have been under 10 allowed. or given up. >> rob: that is a guy that is hard to hit. he has been in the big leagues 17 years. >> johnny: good control pitcher, too. no balls and strike. and it is 1-1. jay bruce waiting on deck and then alex gonzalez. nats with their only run in the 6th inning, trail it 2-1. what has been a series where washington just not able to get more than two runs. two tuesday night, two last night and one today. pop up behind 1st base. a long run. kearns and it hits the warning track and bounces up in the stands. well, between cordero, rhodes and weathers, they have appeared in 2,230 games. that is the kind of experience the reds have. you can see a relaxed cincinnati bullpen. >> rob: they won't be relaxed in that phone

julian tavarez against michel hernandez, reid brignac and b.j. upton for the rays, bottom of the 8th. >> rob: julian tavarez worked a couple of innings for his 50th win in the major leagues. >> bob: guys like mariano rivera, hoffman, wet they ares on that list. >> rob: i think arthur rhodes is on that list. >> bob: threw his bat at the ball. it will be uncatchable down in the bullpen. >> bob: is that ludacris? >> rob: throwing his bat? that's what you call throwing the bat head out there. literally. >> bob: the line on andy sonnanstine who will go 7 1/3, six hits, a walk, five strikeouts. he threw the same number of pitches in 7 1/3 that jordan zimmermann did in five innings, 92. did he go? the appeal takes forever. paul shriver finally says no. >> rob: check this out from the side view. he may have held up. >> bob: that bat broke the plane. look at zimmerman. he always starts the glove down low and then sweeps it up right into the ball. beautifully done for the first out here in the 8th. >> rob: imagine this score is a one run ballgame, this wou

. >> rob: julian tavarez veteran with a sideline slider. b.j.alk back to the dugout. >> bob: he did side wind it. it also had a strike to it. it was not a fast slider. here's burrell with two outs. just off the dl a couple of days with a neck strain. he's 1 hive 8 in this -- 1-8 in this series. >> rob: josh bard has been flip flopping the catcher. >> bob: 2-0. here's the hook again. tavarez misses. these two have seen each other a lot. years with the phillies. >> bob: a fastball misses. [cheering and applause] you hate to see evan longoria bat when it could have been a one, two, three. try out the 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

there's julian tavarez warming up in the bullpen.harry was maybe 75ish, old school pitcher in the major leagues. one of those hard crusty older guys. he just ed you todoyour job. he'd get you ready. >> strikeout number five for sonnanstine. we're back with you tomorrow for the wrap-up of this series, 1:30 2. ross detweiller with a 5.06 e.r.a. owe pone he -- opponents are hitting .268 against him. for the rays, coverage begins at 1:00, "nats xtra" starring johnny holliday and ray knight. >> rob: wow, starring? >> bob: top billing for those boys. >> rob: a broadway show. >> bob: and people think we're the odd couple. >> rob: so you're felix? >> bob: i'm pretty sure you're the messy guy. >> rob: i'm without a doubt the messiest guy you'll ever meet. >> bob: no, you're not. >> rob: except for my cars and my garage, whatever. >> bob: your car is spotless. >> rob: i didn't know whether to strap it or genuflect. >> bob: nick johnson reaching for a pitch away. manny made this point last week when talking about guzman. he said when hitters

what do you think manny acta said to julian tavarez when he went out there on the mound in the 8th inningtake him out of the ballgame. here's what he said. >> i just told him that keep his delivery simple and stop doing any extra stuff with his legs and stop trying to pull that stuff and just keep his delivery simple so he can throw strikes. but it didn't work. >> and really surprised, ray, because one of the big proponents much putting the ball across the plate, manny acta's always talked about tavarez is here because he can throw strikes. >> i haven't seen it consistently. there's times when he goes out there and he is really effective, but then he'll go through a two or three day period where he can't find the plate. he's got tremendous movement and sometimes it's tough, if you're a little off centered, you have a little bit of balance problem, it's tough to get that ball to come back over that plate. i haven't seen him throw balls consistently for me to think that he's a control type pitcher that when you bring him in the game that you're not sitting over there growing a few more gray

julian tavarez has been in the big leagues for almost 20 years. he knows nibbling in the late innings gets you in trouble. the marlins always find different ways to beat the nats. not even close. four hitters ago there were two outs and the bases were empty. and now the marlins get a huge insurance run and lead 4-2. there's just no excuse for what manny acta has to watch here in the 8th inning. and these are two veteran guys, villone and now tavarez. joe beimel. ronny paulino could put this game out of reach. hot shot, zimmerman knocks it down. and how they got the runner at second i don't know on a really bad throw by zimmerman. when this shoe store added aflac to its employee benefits package no direct cost the company... it was a perfect fit. find out more at aflac!... ...forbusiness.com  >> bob: let's have a look at our coors light freeze cam, brought to you by coors light, the world's most refreshing beer. listen to somebody holler got 'em when ryan zimmerman hits the ball. he centered that one, and the coors light freeze cam cent

they are batting .278 as a ball club, second in the american league, detwiler, julian tavarez, thosehey're going to start a new show called gilligan's island. they are stranding everybody these days. how about that, 28 of 29. and so the blue jays, .278, fifth in the american league in runs, fifth in homeruns and alex rios is on fire, .394 over 33 at-bats in his last eight games. his batting average is up to .277. tall order for ross detwiler tonight, but, hey, at this time last night, robb, we were talking about jordan zimmerman having his work cut out for him. that's a daily occurrence for these young pitchers. >> rob: and they have been up to the task. going back to the tampa series, i talked to a lot of the players there, they are still upset that they didn't win more games. there were a lot of great pitches. and ross detwiler in line to not break the chain. the nationals do not have a win in his starts. his job is to put them in line to win. you are showing up against the best offense in the american league and, hopefully, you can rise up to the occasion so that's your pnc bank b

julian tavarez getting loose. >> rob: excellent people. >> johnny: high infield pop into foul territory goes rosales and now back into fair territory. there's one away as kearns pops up to the 1st baseman. >> rob: before sandy wentk to the san diego office, dusty baker may make a pitching chao he was the pitching umpire who was in charge. >> johnny: baker makes a trip out to the mound to talk to micah owings. he is working into the 6th inning here against washington. got a 2-0 lead. >> rob: and he has only worked into the 7th inning four times so far this year. actually 7 innings once this year. but more than 6, only 4 times in 11 starts. >> johnny: that is jared burton trying to get loose. >> rob: he may give him a hitter or two more. he probably said if this guy gets on, you are done. >> johnny: 101 pitches he has thrown so far. >> rob: it is very humid. very muggy today. >> johnny: harris grabs a bat. he is ondeck. willingham is on first. kearns popped out to the 1st baseman. >> rob: i think man in acta probably senses if the nationals don't get something going soon, they will b

julian tavarez has not pitched a lot lately. wonderful today going after the reds in the middle of their line-up. he turned it over to joe beimel in the top of the 9th ining to get the save. a wonderfully played ballgame. john lannan like you said, great job. turns it over to the bullpen. doesn't get any better than that. winning against a very tough defensive team that like you said some well bunted balls. they are throwing guys out at third. to beat them at their own game, very well played. >> byron: rob, got a question for you, some people might have thought mike macdougal would be the call there. how much confidence does it show to go with beimel in that? >> rob: they got about three or four closers in the bullpen. really macdougal has been pitching a lot. been getting a lot of work. joe beimel who has been throwing the ball as well, it doesn't matter. whoever can get the final 27th out, that is what manny acta needs. >> byron: thank you. rob dibble up in the booth calling the game. ray, the victory at 3-2 breaks a losing sk

julian tavarez, 6 2/3 innings pitched. 0 e.r.a. 1-0., on the mound for 7 1/3 innings, his e.r.a. is the highest, one hold. and just as these relievers come out of the nationals bullpen to keep washington in the game, you, too, can stay in the game with just for men hair color. the pitching staff is getting it done, starters and relievers. we'll take you to look at matt chico on the mound. @@pp÷÷ . >> johnny: we are back on a beautiful night for baseball here in the nation's capital. joby holiday along with phil wood. this is just the middle game of the three-game set against the jays. right back at you tomorrow night at 2 0-0. and then the red sox come into town and then next weekend against the orioles in baltimore. we'll be on masn 2 for that series against baltimore. tonight, the fashion us that try to make it 4 in a row. let's bring the folks kinds of up in date of what's happening notice minor league with matt chico. then we'll talk about another young man that i'm sure the young fans will be familiar with quickly and that'

julian tavarez has done a great job.t's difficult to pitch in that situation all the time, but beimel has been amazing. >> bob: he was one of the best left-handers in the national league for three years with the dodgers. when we look closer at his statistics from those three seasons, he pitched a lot against right-handed batters. >> rob: he's got a great curveball, a great change-up, he throws across his body. i don't know how many lefties want to really stay in there, but markakis and huff are two of the best at hitting lefties. here's the 0-1 pitch, throws across his body. you see him land towards first base. >> jim p.: reminds me of jamie moyer. he's on the third base side. he's not really stepping that much at you. you know, he's way over on this side. that's the angle of six, eight inches across his body as far as where his front foot lands. we haven't even seen the curveball yet. there it is. saw that in washington when the orioles were over there earlier in the year. >> rob: but he just looks like a reliever, too.

. >> bob: julian tavarez gets the win, richmond the loser. rob, your point well taken.tarters don't like doing things like this. >> rob: no, scott richardson will not be happy after this ballgame. comes in relief, gets the loss, left after two innings of work. debbi taylor is right there with wee willie harris who was aflly big tonight. >> debbi: thank you very much. you did it all tonight. talk about the homerun, take us through that at-bat. >> one of those at-bats where, initially, we had the bunt sign on and then we switched that and went to the hit-and-run. he went after me and i'm glad i was able to hit the ball up in the air and be able to hit it out of here. >> debbi: and your reaction from your teamates, i didn't think you were going to get out of that mile. >> i tell you what, we are having fun here. everybody is starting to do their part. everything is coming together. hopefully we can continue to do what we have been doing and see if we can do it again tomorrow. >> debbi: earlier in the at- bat, you crushed one foul. what were you thinking? >> i was trying to

the nationals, -- for the marlins, emilio bonifacio, first home run inside the park job against julian tavarez hoping day -- opening day when they faced the nationals. he'll be in the number two hole. the rest of the marlins lineup, chris coghlan in left field leading off the batting order for florida hanley ramirez with the .333 average will be the shortstop. jorge cantu at first. then comes jeremy hermida. dan uggla, cody ross in center, john baker catching and sean west on the mound tonight. bonifacio, 18 infield hits this year. that's third in the national league. now, for manny acta for the washington nationals, elijah dukes .284 batting average. runners in scoring position. overall season average at .237. he has nine outfield assists. that's tops in the major leagues, but only 4-32 his last 10 ballgames. look for elijah to hopefully break out of that slump tonight against the marlins. cristian guzman leads off. he'll be at shortstop. nick johnson, the number two hole. then comes ryan zimmerman, adam dunn, josh willingham in right against his former ball club. elijah will be in center fie

joe beimel has got eight, julian tavarez has one.ls coming in keep the nats in the game every time they come out of the pen. you too can stay in the game with just for men hair color. nice having you with us. ben goessling is going to talk with us. we saw terrific plays and then go to the hot corner of our "nats xtra" pregame when we come back with ben goessling.  >>> welcome back "nats xtra pregame on masn tonight. they'll meet tomorrow night at 7:00 and sunday afternoon game on masn 2. then, boston red sox come to town for games tuesday, wednesday and thursday. on the big one, masn hd. we hope you'll be with us here in person if not on masn. manny acta knows one thing is for certain. pitching and defense wins ballgames. >> i don't think it's a secret that pitching and defense wins ballgames. the fact is that we haven't played good defense, and it goes both ways. if you play good defense, it makes your pitching better because there's a thousand of errors that they don't shoip on the box score. fly balls that we don't get to. fl