nick johnson 0-1. he's been walked and hit by a pitch. fastball just right by his hands. ight in there. a little bp fastball. 78 right down the middle. >> rob: nick also got into one out in right field. he hit a long fly ball. >> bob: nick is still a very fine major league hitter. he's a line drive guy. not a true home run hitter. i'm wond federal government that wrist injury from last -- i'm wondering if that wrist injury from last year affected his power. bergmann and macdougal. nats lead by three, it's a save situation. that ball is really hit hard to center. it will stay in the park and one-hop the wall. nick johnson's on base for the third time tonight. it will probably be bergmann against hanley ramirez. it would be unusual for jim riggleman to go to macdougal this early. there's another right-hander coming up. he could stay with clippard against ramirez. >> rob: i think you let clippard stay in there. >> bob: right-handed batters coming up. >> rob: that's why we're not managing. >> bob: he wants bergmann leadoff man aboard in the eighth. clippard faces seven. marlin

i like that number. >> bob: ball went outside to nick johnson hitting .304. coming to the marlins, nick is hitting .355. his 20th game as a florida player. >> rob: some like it hot. >> bob: yeah, and he spent two weeks on the d. l. with a pulled right hamstring, so that cost him some time. >> rob: good heater on the inner half. >> bob: i had the pleasurmeeting j.d. martin's parents yesterday. >> buck: he told me about half his hometown of california was in san diego last week. increasing his on-base percentage average and somebody sooner or later will put a ball in play. only one ball has been hit and that was the home run by adam dunn. everybody else has struck out or walked. nationals defensively with cristian guzman back at short tonight. pete orr at second base. pretty much the regular outfield these days of willingham, harris and dukes and the nats are 12-12 in the last 24 games in which wil nieves has started. here is the league's leading hitter and world batting champion willie harris. a 20. -- hanley ramirez. a 20-point average above -- to right center

now nick johnson is considering ramirez is next. fly to center. fly to right. >> bob: throwing a lot of off speed stuff these days. he has been effective the last couple of times out. there is another ball. >> rob: some of the drier parts of the uniform. you see clippard pulling trying to keep his hand dry. >> bob: the only thing that may usher another delay is the 3rd out in this inning. umpires like to finish a half inning if possible. >> rob: they willing putting the tarp on. >> bob: the baseline between 7th and 3rd is puddling. nick johnson high in the air. a late break. dukes is there. he has it. up to see what is going on. he is walking in toward home plate. into the 8th inning. 7-1. rob: 7-1 nationals the top the 7th and top of the 8th tuesday the nationals will be masn knock versus cliff lee and five ins. 13-11 record and cleveland and 6-2. and coverage 6:30. spook. bob: spooking of coverage. with of the more impressive things i have seen. bob: crews are scrambling out. he is able to do most of the a couple of swipes. they have another one

six yards shy by nick johnson the middle linebacker. >> ray: yeah nick johnson is a warrior out there

nick johnson, the middle linebacker, dropped him for a two-yard loss. >> ray: johnson did a really nice of fighting his way through the blockers. he fought off two blockers to get up there and get into that one and he's got seven tackles thus far on the day. >> pam: he's a throwback. his defensive coordinator, greg hudson, says he reminds him of a neckroll guy. there's greg who likes to be on the guy. you like neckroll guys. >> ray: neckroll guys, that's a beautiful thing. i used to wear one back in the day. >> pam: not too many of those guys left in football. second and 12 for the tar heels. they've had the ball over three minutes in this crucial drive trying to protect a seven-point lead. yates on the roll. he's got nowhere to go. but out. and there's a silly penalty for east carolina. yates outside the tackle box and the throw was okay as he threw it out of bounds but a roughing. >> ray: yeah and that's c.j. wilson didn't put the brakes on there and yates was standing there, knew he had nothing, just tossed it out of bounds and wilson -- >> referee: personal foul. >> ray: -- just cam

here is nick johnson. lannan 66 pitches. 40 strikes in the first four innings. first pitch breaking ball. stayed inside for a ball. >> bob: in his 26th game as a marlin, came in hitting .348. drive that to right field. dukes is back. warning track. 2 outs. letting out an exhale there. not as many ground ball outs as he gets. >> rob: he is holding down a potent offense. he is keeping the pitch count respectable. he can get to the 6th or 7th inning. a test here. >> bob: 2nd out of three times. the bases empty. forces you to do so many things opposing him. there is cantu next. two outs, bases empty. orr was charging. he thought may lay down a bunt. or a line drive by you. he is versatile as a hit weir speed and power. up the middle. guzman picks it off. he didn't hurry the throw and ramirez steal as base hit. you cannot take a couple of hits. look at that. >> rob: guzman goes to the left. he takes his time and target. >> bob: that's his 184th hit. cantu the hitter. guzman made a fine glove play. didn't finish it off quick. now lan nan's job from macing that hurt. r

. >> rob: by the way, one of night's highlights was francoeur did a nick johnson, slid 30 feet intobase on a play that made the highlights. so just veer off. >> bob: and when a shortstop is throwing side arm he wants the runner to get down. josh is struggling with the bat, down to 232, and since july batting just .204. i see fewer and fewer teams -- that ball is off his foot -- i see fewer teams throwing him first-pitch fastballs. he likes to rip. 23 pitches, 16 strikes, in the first inning. j.d. martin by the way got his first three outs on only 12 pitches. the marlins are at cincinnati tonight again and the phillies open up a series at atlanta. by the way, the mets got here about 3:00th morning after their long rain delay down in georgia last night. and bard rolls a double play ball. castillo, valdez, 4-6-3, doesn't get much more convenient than that. and the nats are gone in the top of the second. up two. ? what is it to lead? at pnc, it's doing what most benefits our customers. whether that's building more certified green buildings than anyone on earth. creating online banking t

nick johnson at first. hanley ramirez at third. jorge cantu will be at third. john baker catching. ond base. cody ross in right. cameron maybin in center field and josh johnson on the mound tonight for the marlins. who says you can't go home? livan hernandez started with the nationalities, went to the fish, came back. who says you can't come back and be productive once you leave a ball club. phil wood with diamond dust. >> the winner livan hernandez was the first in a washington uniform since august 1, 2006 when he beat the giants. livan was traded to arizona a week after that and returned to the club this year after stints with the diamondbacks, the twins, the rockies and the mets. the old expression you can't go home again never hasn't always applied to baseball. the senators did it with great regularity in the old days. players like mickey vernon, george cayce, seaver, all left washington only to return sometimes to finish their careers. vernon actually returned a third time to manage the club in 1961. going back further, lucky harris managed the old nats. he he won the world ser

valdez has to hurry >> rob: i know he is not on our team any more but one of my favorites was nick johnsonntana the other way. hit that home run to left fee field anyway. that has to be one of my favorites. of course nick is not a power guy anyway. >> bob: we're going to sleep fast, we hope you do too, join us here, "nats xtra," 12:30 tomorrow.   . >> rob: 15 hours. of 15 hours and 20 minutes from now. >> bob: yeah, we're gonna sleep fast in the that never sleeps. >> rob: i'm goin' to get some pizza. what's the name of that joint >> bob: we're goin' to rays, i'm sure. >> rob: lay's. >> bob: we arrived in town from philadelphia 1:00 this morning and our director, doug you lackey, made everybody go there. reluctantly we did and damage we did. >> rob: but that's when the freaky people are out at times like that. why would you want to go 1:00 in the afternoon. >> bob: you should see how normal we looked. >> rob: getting off that two or three-hour bus ride. >> bob: yeah, what was the movie we watched? >> rob: russell crow. filmed right in our back yard, washi

the closer, the exciting center fielder, a good left-handed reliever, nick johnson, about to go out on a rehab by the way with a bad hamstring. the signing of mr. strasburg. then bringing inly von and lee belliard to the dodgers. a litany of effective transactions for mike rizzo so far. >> the scout i was talking to go is within of our washington national scouts, mark bach ca.   . >> bob: a good part of the brain trust is here together. >> rob: yes they are. >> bob: some of the menu don't get to see. moose constitutionalling is an interesting guy, a long-time basketball official. then a long-time coach on the field with the then california angels. that's moose in the greene shirt. >> rob: that's mark back a, whose son will be activate by hhe astros tomorrow. >> bob: nice. but these are men of great experience and long-time basell guys. kouzmanoff, very steady at all year, out willingham. >> rob: now moose constitutionalling, is he related to cap table stabbing of the love boat. >> >> bob: i don't think so. he is a great guy, a lava mint. but he used to dabble, baskball game

johnson that's a tough error. nick has to try to knock this down. desmond is by the bag. >> bob: 1st and 3rd. batting right happened now. and this year has been over 3 hun-right-handed all year. at 304 i don't know if you can put a game away in the 4th but you can set up the rest of the day. >> rob: you can try and get as many as you can. 2-0. they pounded the nationals come back. be nice to pound this em. move to. they have been to the nats. there is a pay back. 6-1 as guzman drives in another. debbi taylor. go usman from the right side collecting another r.b.i. they are two of five shortstops to hit over 300 for the last three seasons. the key to his skiff tensy is keeping the same approach. he wants to get to the 300 mark. >> bob: guzman in 55 runs last year. he is within 5 of that. nobody out. first and second for adam dew point. a walk and a base hit. a great time for triple digits and r.b.i.s. there is heat from the dugout. and someone said you got something to say? he is moving cantu around. you cannot say anything from the dugout that the um

watch for is the fact that ronald johnson isn't in there, really damion williams is really the only proven receiver that you have. what that means defensively for nickolt i think that you need to drop one of those safeties down into the box, and for me i would rather have that guy on the weak side because way have a lot of times with joe mcknight and the runs he does, he likes to cut those things back and you also talked about aaron corp on those boots and waggles and coming out on the backside, you bring that safety down to the weak side of the formation, and take some of that away. >> the other big game today, lane kiffin will coach his first conference game as the head coach of the tennessee volunteers. oh, and what a game it is. he travel little to swamp. quickly, todd, what does he have to do to keep his tennessee around. >> get a quarterback to not turn the football over. jonathan crompton struggled, three interceptions a week ago. he's got to get more efficient play out of that quarterback position. >> yeah and when you talk about the offensive line which lane kivhinmentioned part of the problem and put the blame on some his own shouldperse h