and nieves takes the ballight f tip. ounce dw tsend hitatter of s ballgame. >> rob: well, he damaged nieves last time up. so, he is really threeing to get there and right there. you see a curve ball slip off the tips of the fingers. micah owingss not goi to blow you away with 95. he doesn't have the best curve ball or fastball runs a bit. big, strong guy. has fantastic stuff. >> johnny: so, let's see if lannan can advance the runners. squares up to bunt. lays a nice one down. the throw to third and they got him at 3rd base. >> rob: wow. >> johnny: willingham forced at hird bullet and a great acceleration to get to that ball and a rocket throw to 3rd base. >> rob i think rosales comes in and he's got one thought in mind. i'm going to third. and looked liar hairston wasn't on the bag but you have -- looked like hairston wasn't on the bag but you have to have that in mind. he tried to cut off the lead runner right there. >> johnny: and they get him. lannan on 1st base and nieves is down to second. >> rob: you can st

wil nieves, elijah dukes, and then willie harris.he nats only have one left- handed bat on the bench tonight. you never know when you might need your other catcher for later action. here's nieves 1 for 2 with an infield hit. target in, he gets under that one. looks like it's going to stay in the park for now. it's up against the board, and caught by cody ross. oh, if wil could have pulled that ball just a little bit, it would have been a double or his second career home run. >> rob: ricky nolasco may be running out of a little gas. that fastball right there, almost left the building. cold di ross will run it down, right up against the wall. deepest part of the park. a lot of balls have gone out there to die, or be caught. >> bob: wil knows how close he was right there. here's elijah dukes. of 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. >

nieves goes to second for the force. for some reason, hairston wasn't running full speed. >> rob: he saw it go up in the air and obviously he didn't know it hit the ground otherwise he would have been running earlier. this ball is hit up in the air by taveras. and he is dead to rights out at 2nd base. look at hairston caught between -- up in the air. that is why you have got to get that bunt down. when they say get it down. try not to have it pop up like that. >> johnny: taveras on first on the force out at 2nd base. we have got one down in the top of the first. johnny holliday for bob carpenter. you guys head to tampa for a weekend series tomorrow night. >> rob: we know we can't get rained out there. they have a roof. >> johnny: a lot of ball clubs don't really like playing in that particular atmosphere down there. >> rob: yeah. it never really affected me where i played. i think it was more a question of the noise level down there at tropicana field with all those cow bells during the playoffs, world series last year,

he gets dund gunned down by wil nieves. dan uggla thinks he'll take extra base on elijah dukes and elijah guns him down. cristian guzman quickly beat. great slow throw, but nick johnson on the other end that's good job squeezing that out of the dirt. a great 1-2-3 inning last inning. most it it -- most of it by the defense. >> bob: that ball is coming back fair. zimmerman on the run. he throws out john baker proving you never gup on a foul ball. if it comes back fair before it reaches the bag, it's flaibl. how about the english on this thing. oops. >> rob: looks like he fell coming out of the box. great job by zim on the throw. >> bob: sean west, the pitcher up thee. left-handed pitcher, right- handed hitter. he's 0-10 with eight strikeouts. >> rob: a rare combination. >> bob: thanks to that quick out, stammen could be facing the top of the order here very quickly in the third. and the pitcher helps out on ball two by neighboring strike @two. chris coghlan next.   >> bob: 

nieves is now 1-2 for the afternoon. >> rob: wil nieves right here, johnny, very simple approach. i'm just going to try to make contact and put it in play. he got a nice base hit but he has done a fabulous job. >> johnny: that is only the nationals' 4th base hit in this game. willingham has two and cristian guzman got one back in the third and nieves cleths hit number -- collects hit number four. willie harris will pinch hit for john lannan. wait a minute, now. nick johnson heading up to the plate. nick is going to step in. when you talk about a guy that is overdue, i think johnson is overdue. johnson went up to the plate and micah owings is finished for the afternoon. dusty baker with a call to the cincinnati bullpen. nationals threatening with runners at first and second. we will be back in just a moment. 2-0 cincinnati leading washington. ÷xxppúú nce 1873, coors banquet has been brewed in one place... and one place only: golden, colorado. it's followed one tradition: use the best high-country barley... and only rocky mountain water. and it's been brewed under

nieves throw right there. got him! right on the bag, right on the runner's arm and coghlan gone for the second out. you couldn't throw it or place it any better. >> rob: but watch how quickly wil nieves gets up and just one fired strike right to the bag. beautiful. watch how he just gets up, doesn't try to shake off the mask, just throw it, great tag by anderson hernandez, right down on the bag. >> bob: two outs, bonifacio shows bunt once again. >> rob: they teach catchers to throw from the ear. you don't reach behind you like a pitcher. you have to come right up to your ear and just fire. as quick motion as you can possibly do. olsen got him the ball really

nieves throw right there. got him!rm and coghlan gone for the second out. you couldn't throw it or place it any better. >> rob: but watch how quickly wil nieves gets up and just one fired strike right to the bag. beautiful. watch how he just gets up, doesn't try to shake off the mask, just throw it, great tag by anderson hernandez, right down on the bag. >> bob: two outs, bonifacio shows bunt once again. >> rob: they teach catchers to throw from the ear. you don't reach behind you like a pitcher. you have to come right up to your ear and just fire. as quick motion as you can possibly do. olsen got him the ball really quick. that worked perfectly. >> bob: the bases are empty, two outs, and it's 3-0. you don't want to walk this as they would say punch and judy hitter with a legitimate power guy hanley ramirez next. you have to challenge bonn faso who has hit one home run this year. that's at the knees. >> rob: he's begging for a walk. >> bob: they list him at 5'1". >> rob: come on, he's not 5'11". >> bob: bonifacio's onl

for the second or third time tonight, a foul ball slams off the gear of wil nieves.ke a listen. >> rob: yep, that's a wake-up call right there. >> bob: catchers need good orthodontists. they've got to have strong fillings. a swing and a foul. and very late on that one. >> rob: hernandez barely fouled off the 93, then he barely fouls off an 87-mile an hour slider. i'm sure he's guessing right now what's coming next. some high heat. >> bob: or a slider in the dirt. >> rob: you know i don't like those to the bottom of the order though. no home runs, this guy's got one home run. >> bob: the block, the ejection of the mask, then pouncing on the ball. >> rob: that's high. >> bob: nice crowd here in st. pete tonight. ludacris will be starring in their post-game concert series starting tonight. so there's probably 25 to 30,000, maybe more. not too many empty seats except way up in the top. straight back it goes. the ballpark here seats for baseball 44,000. they only had 18,273 last night. they've probably come close to doubling that tonight. we'll let byron kerr tell you tom

that got away from wil nieves. third base with one out. >> rob: he may have crossed wil up on that pitch. >> bob: they're going to call it a passed ball. >> rob: they wanted a breaking ball right there and i think kip gives him a fastball. >> bob: yep. >> rob: little things, communication, fundamentals, cutoff man. >> bob: they won't call it wp for wild pitch but it could have been for wrong pitch. a passed ball on nieves. the infield in. 1-2 to wells. breaking ball popped up. guzman playing shallow has to get out there. he is there. big second out. now, the infielders can back up and it will be wells against rolen. >> rob: well, you see wil set up outside. this is a backup breaking ball that could not have worked any better than that. manny acta is going to make a pitching change up here. he does get the pop-up right there and saves a run at third. >> bob: and this is how he feels about joel hanrahan these days. like owning a home. watching our children grow. and retiring with confidence. so whatever you're lookin

and will nieves looking for his first base hit of the night. we'll see what he can do gents johnny quelt oh. >> rob: josh going to be starting in right field tomorrow. >> johnny: you know how anxious he is to get back in this lineup. >> rob: i think the lack of production from austin kearns, if josh willingham gets back to swinging the bat as hot as he was, that gives him the versatility to be in the lineup every day. >> johnny: will nieves the fourth hit of the night for washington. line drive to center field so the nats get a runner on with two down.  and willingham will hit >> rob: i like him. i talked to him a couple years ago. first time i had to go back to cincinnati since we won the world series. new owners, cas ski leany. arthur rose, having a fantastic year. >> and he'll be getting the call here too. >> got my glove. >> rob: that's something to talk about. sometimes you know, obviously his change up is his out pitch. got to make it work. got to try to get through the lineup three, four times, tha

nieves gets jammed on a very good inside running fastball. gonzalez make as fine play at short right there. had to stop himself and the quickest way to stop at this level, taught to many guys, you slide. you see guys do it coming around third. 3rd base coach telling you to hold up, you slide. you try to stop and the momentum you can twist an ankle, hurt a knee. do a lot of sliding drills. >> lannan goes opposite field and he is out. that takes care of the nationals here in the bottom of the second. we go to the top of the third. still cincinnati up 1-0. ÷÷xxúú@@ ♪ ♪ who's watching? ♪ tell me who's watching. (muffled music) ♪ who's watching... (announcer) it's right here. it's easy. ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ it's the money you could be saving with geico. >> johnny: home depot coverg the bases with adam dunn. terrific young guy from texas. everybody thinks the world of him, including his manager, manny acta. >> he has been a good clubhouse guy. you know, he brings the same face every day to us. and make

will nieves tries to get a base hit. nice driving catch. willie tavares with a heck of a play in center field robbing nieves of a base hit. >> rob: the orioles won their game and the reds have taken a 3-1 lead over the nationals in the top half here, two in the top half, willie tavares always known for his speed, agility right here, a nice wet field so a soft l.a.p.d.ing, can layout. and you see his right hand come up. you don't want to jam your arms in your ribs. joint jam the glove hand. he also kept that hand up so he wouldn't injury himself. >> johnny: good defensive center fielder. >> rob: uh-huh. >> johnny: come-backer. >> andy: detwiler is retired. it's two outs. >> rob: you want to take hits and runs away from the other team. that's where you make up for a bad night at the plate when you're a goodie fender. . >> johnny: so two wic here in the bottom of the fifth inning. >> rob: plus i can always tell you as a former pitcher when i see my outfielders laying out for balls i want to do my job because i know that guy is riskin

willie harris, austin kearns and wil nieves here in the 7th. andy sonnanstine. >> rob: look at that stat. >> bob: that's how you go 4-6 with a 7 e.r.a. >> rob: second in the major leagues with run support, over eight runs per start. >> bob: you brought this up numerous times. what is it about these guys with 6 and 7 e.r.a.'s, our ball club can't hit them. >> rob: i don't know. maybe we take them for granted that they're not throwing the ball well. >> bob: that's a way to help out a pitcher. willie harris will fly out on a pitch that was way up out of his zone. the nats now have been set down 13 in a row. >> bob: last night matt garza with amazing stuff. then let them off the hook after that. you've got to keep charging every inning. >> bob: the nats had one hit out of the fourth inning yesterday. tonight they had no hits after the third. kearns puts a charge into one, straightaway center field. it keeps on going. but it's caught by b.j. upton. verizon fios has "nats xtra" post-game. how jordan zimmermann was able to sting the rays, but he only

. >> rob: wil nieves goes out for a little chitchat. manny acta will go out and have a little chitchat. what's going on. one of the biggest outs of the game right here, julian. >> bob: rain starting to fall again.   >> bob: this guy's almost unstoppable when a count gets to this point. >> rob: i don't think he's ever been put out at 2-0 and bases loaded. >> bob: that's ball three. 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 b

as you look at willingham at second and nieves over at first. and there once again is the veteran right-hander. breaking ball down low inside. it is 2-2. >> rob: you see, they don't want to let nick get his arms extended and hit it to left field. they are playing him to pull. >> johnny: runners in scoring position for cincinnati, 2-7. the nationals 0-6. shot down the right field line, a foul by about 5 feet. >> rob: they were pitching him to pull. he hit it down the right field line, johnny. come on nick. put it in play here. >> johnny: johnson checks his bat. two balls and two strikes to nick. and the reds with a 2-0 lead, we are in the last of the 6th inning. jared burton delivers. foul off the 1st base line. burton certainly not in the class of rhodes or cordero or weathers. but still, pretty impressive outings. >> rob: he is a nice bridge to the bridge for the closer. very solid bullpen. something that has been lacking in cincinnati for many years. >> johnny: johnson base hit to right! willingham around third. here comes the throw to the pla

gonzalez, harris and nieves, 6, 7 and 8. ross detwiler showing a good demeanor tonight his mound presence has been very good. a breaking ball in the dirt. dwiet, by the way, 93 pitches, 62 strikes through 7. i love it when you can say through 7. >> rob: i think everybody else is trying to jinx the nationals. we win this ballgame, we can join the rest of the national league in the 20-win club. >> bob: off the glove of scutaro. well stroked by gonzalez. he was robbed of a hit by aaron hill last time so that's justice. here is willie harris. see, rob, why don't you throw a couple of number 13s on it. >> rob: there is al bertho gonzalez throwing the bat out there and marco scutaro could not extend far enough to get that ball. here is willie hard just who is responsible for at least two runs tonight, the run he prevented and the run he manufactured. so willie's 1-for-2 with a double, six steals on the year. >> rob: another run would be huge here. >> reporter: yes, sir. >> rob: all the insurance we can get. >> bob: rolen shallow a

good thing for the mets fernando nieve is on the mound. he's got a 1.45 e.r.a.d n three starts for new york. time for a pre-game extra. orel her shiez her call the game for espn and joins us now. orel, the mets mustered only three runs in a forgettable weekend for the yankees. why can't they get anything going on offense? >> well, it has to be the injuries. they have like 69 million dollars on the d.l. of players, and that would be more than nine teams' opening day roster. you think about carlos delgado at first base, 38 home runs, over 100 r.b.i.s. 100 on the d.l. in beltran. jose reyes 100 runs scored and david wright is now an average hitter, but he's not driving in as many runs or hitting as many home runs. the run production is down. the mets' lineup as far as their offense may not even qualify for a spring training game to put enough starters in there to actually put a represented club out there for a spring training buying a ticket. they are so hurt and they need help, and they need the play a perfect game on the offensive side of the ball. >> mets' manag

no chance for nieves. bonifacio swipes his 17th.he's just really playing rather arrogantly against his old ball club. >> rob: absolutely. he's confident. we don't make him not confident in the batter's box and on the base pads. maybe once in a while especially with a guy like that, that kind of speed, just pitch out on the first pitch and gun the guy out. 167th stolen base of the season. he's way too cocky for my taste. >> bob: sheer ramirez who had rbi's in eight consecutive games. last eye in, we saw him just hit the ball up the middle to get one. stammen a-long look at bonifacio. he bounces the breaking ball and during something like that, rob, a lot of hitters will go ahead and step out. that was a long wait. >> rob: what he was doing was taking bonifacio stop. you don't want that -- want that guy to get a walk lead. as soon as you turn your head, he takes off and steals third. that won't give your catch arrest chance. if you get the guy to stop, he'll be flatfootedded and take off and do the steal at third base and do that kind

will nieves, you see him there.and they have been platooning bard and nieves ever since flores got hurt. but stl, wherthe team and take hing staff. >> bob: willy harris taps one right in important of the mound. he was slow getting out of the box. he recovers in time to beat the relay. >> rob: there's speed, falling down and still beating it. >> jim: i think right here danys baez says 11-1 i'm better and you can see willie harris go down. he is going to take -- i think initially he thought about taking it out. but he had so much ti. there you go asprinter. there you go. roy sprint. speed, he had his high school football coach on last gh >> jim: i heard him. >> bob: he told us he thought willie harris was nfl caliber. wide receivers can change the complexion of the game. he returned puns and did all kinds of stuff. >> bob: and they play a little high school football in georgia, too. he was playing against great competition. here is anderson hernandez, oh- fer two with a pop of up to first and a ground ball to aubrey h

. >> we just saw wil nieves on the base pads. we'll take a look at this young guy's arm as he guns down chris could go lab. fios guy! where ya headed? ah, just installed fios in the whole building. now everyone has the fastest upload speeds. and we're giving them a mini netbook. well, i'm sticking with cable. so's ted. (voice) no i'm not! he's just goofing. (voice) no i'm not! (sighing) ted has betrayed me. (announcer) switch to verizon fios tv, phone and internet today and get an ultra-sleek compaq mini netbook. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v geico's been saving people money and who doesn't want value for their dollar? been true since the day i made my first dollar. where is that dollar? i got it out to show you... uhh... was it rather old and wrinkly? yeah, you saw it? umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. >>> "nats xtra" on masn brought to you in part by -- >>> 4-2, florida beats washington down in south florida in miami

and nieves puts the ball right on the back of the runner, but guzman can't hold on. they are 7 for 7 against the nats in the series. >> rob: a lot of times when you steal it on the pitcher, you see a little bit of the leg kick by zimmermann. great strong throw right here. if he holds onto the ball he's out. closed his glove a little too early. in anticipation of the tag. >> bob: b.j. upton has swiped four bases against crawford here. it's 1-# with one out. -- it's 1-2 with one out. i think there are two teams in the american league who play a national league style of baseball at times. this ball club here. >> bob: he's out! a perfect throw by zimmermann, guzman got the glove down, and b.j. upton is picked off of second base. >> rob: well, jordan zimmermann wanted a piece of him before. great move right there. great communication between guzman and zimmermann. you have to know that the guy's going to move. slaps the tag in there before his hands get anywhere near the bag. >> bob: that's b.j. upton who has stolen third base eight times this year being way too frisky wi

came in to score on nieves infield hit.that front door breaking ball, just got inside the door frame. it's 0-2. similar situation. you have to be thinking hard stuff here. that's a hard breaking ball away, and josh actually got good wood on it. >> rob: that was kind of a cutter or a slider. that wasn't a good curveball. don't be thomas edison out there. don't be trying to sink too much. right now fastball and that curveball pretty difficult for the nationals to hit. nolasco really shouldn't mess around with another pitch. >> bob: the way nolasco's pitching right now, things are happening quickly, and they're all good for him. he's retired six straight. and there's the fastball up and away. >> rob: if you're throwing a 77 just amazing curveball. then you're throwing 94. that differential is going to be hard to hit. but you throw something 94, then 84, they got a shot. >> bob: there's a breaking ball. >> rob: that's the third breaking ball in this at-bat. as i said before, if he throws three in a row or four in an at- bat, i

that ball ticked off the equipment of wil nieves.r, ross needs to constantly make a conscious effort to remind himself to finish the pitch first and then fall off towards first base because he steps across his body. that front leg way over toward first base when he is throwing the ball to home plate. >> bob: late on that one. it was a pitch away and detwiler blows away vernon wells, his 24th strikeout in 33 innings. >> rob: here you see the delivery on the 1-2 pitch. high fastball out and away. can't catch up to the high heat. >> bob: scott rolen will be next. rolen, two hits. one hit last night. hit the ball hard twice, reached on an error and he has a nine-game hitting streak. >> rob: james hoye has a nice high strike zone tonight. at that could help detwiler. >> reporter: what's better for the pitcher, high or low? >> rob: depends upon what he is throwing. >> bob: right field, elijah dukes moves back, moves over, he is there and detwiler puts a 0 on the board for the nats in the top of the 1st. úúxx . >> bob:  nice vanta

. >> johnny: and we talked during the inning break about the catching situation with nieves, mark was originally pencilled into be the starting catcher tonight, but nieves is catching ross detwiler and sometimes guys get on the same page too, don't they rob? >> yeah. i mean i was lucky enough to start rookie ball with joe and play 11 straight years with him. joe new me better than i did. in warmups he would do my delivery and stuff like that, so yeah, the more communication there is, and i don't just mean looking in for the signs and all that stuff. the more you're on the same wave lengths if that guy knows what you are going to throw before you throw it the easier it's going to be for this ball club in general. >> johnny: a shot to center field and taveras has a bead on that one. nick johnson's fly ball to center. get your family fun packs for sunday games. you can purchase the $14 upper right field terrace ticket or $25 lower left right field reserve ticket and you'll get a hot dog, non-alcoholic drink and chips, minimum of two tickets per purchase, bring the whole family out and ki

wil nieves up the middle to the shortstop marco scutaro.t year, john gibbons was let go and cito gaston took over. he was let go on june 20th and cito gaston led them to a 51-30 record. he has been a guest manager for the last few years. people forget he is a good ballplayer. he was then known as clarence gaston. ross detwiler gets around late. as a major league hitter, he is 0-for-8 i. still looking for his first win and his first hit. >> bob: yep. >> rob: he is definitely in search of. cristian guzman with a base hit tonight, he is next. infield hit in front of scott rolen back in the 1st. detwiler puts it in play. three-hopper. scutaro, two outs. get your red on and a grand slam. pick 4 game, take one three. five different plans to choose from. your plan, your games, your seats, you get a free game. it's that easy. @0-5%-ats or @nations.oa. @and those could help get into the ballpark if you do not have any ticket for the boston red sox tuesday, wednesday, thursday. here is crsnguzman. there is a tapper. it will be much easier

to the pitcher, one out. 11 straight since the wil nieves base hit. well, 11 of 12.nd. >> aflac. >> bob: the six players in uniform tonight that will receive votes for rookie of the year in 2006. one of them is the nats pitcher, one of them is their pitcher. josh johnson i think was another. what do you have, four? i think jeremy hermida was another. >> rob: maybe dan uggla. >> bob: was willingham a rookie? might have been uggla. >> rob: hanley ramirez? >> bob: it was uggla. >> rob: didn't ramirez win? >> bob: he did. >> rob: ramirez, ryan zimmerman was fourth, fifth? >> bob: he was third. no, zimmerman was second, uggla was third. that thing was a marlin-fest. and a 1-1 to nick johnson. >> rob: no, leo nunez was a rook any 07. >> bob: yeah, he wasn't one of them. maybe ross gload. i think he was with the whosm at that time -- the white sox at that time. hermida only played 23 games in 05, so he was a rookie. but he was hurt a lot. he's probably not one of them. >> rob: what about willingham? >> bob: nick johnson, high fly ball, left field. this ball slicing toward t

wil nieves specializes in going to right field. that one down the line.t's a fair ball when caught on a good play by nick markakis. >> jim p.: gold glove caliber right fielder for the orioles, leads the american league in assists. 17 last year, 8 already this year. difficulty is, it's a rubberized track. doesn't slow you down any. >> bob: i'm a little surprised the orioles play him as far off the line as they do. >> jim p.: we'll call the clubhouse and move him over for the later innings. >> bob: normally a guy like wil nieves, you don't usually play him around and short to the off field. maybe not with anybody out because it would be an cra base hit. i'm a firm believer you play them where they usually hit 'em. one ball, one strike. harris with a double in two trips today has hit safely in seven of his last nine games. so he's warming it up a bit. couldn't buy a hit for a couple of weeks before that. that's why his numbers are way down, but they're on the way up again. through four innings, 72 pitches, 44 strikes for hernandez. harris pulls it, a foul. >

hernandez on at first and nieves up. >> jim p.: i wanted to do to ricky henderson what president obama did to that fly, i just could never catch him. we were looking at the scoreboard, aren't we seeing what the orioles try to do when they get an early lead? tack on those runs. >> jim h.: absolutely. orioles have only four hits in this game. breaking ball high fly ball to left. playable for reimold. has it for the out. inning ends.  hey mom i need some minutes. i just gave you some at the restaurant. yea i know. i threw them out. they were old so...... old! they are rollover minutes. they're as good as new. ya know not everyone gets to keep their unused minutes. and these days we can't afford to be wasteful. saving minutes..... .....saves money. yea. (announcer) only at&t's family talk with rollover saves your family's unused minutes. and saving minutes saves money. get the lg neon from at&t, now only $29.99 after mail in rebate  >> jim h.: take a look at our drive of the game. boy, was it ever driven. 442 feet. the nationals trailing by one. not anymore w

nieves pounces on it and fires to fires. lannan gets out of it. ú we've got a ton of stuff we've gotta pay for. and a few things we want to pay for. on top of it all, we're still trying to put away some money for the future. with the wish list, we can save up for anything we want. and still have enough to cover the day-t0-day. plus, the savings engine helps our money grow. and that's something we need and want. introducing the virtual wallet from pnc, a high definition, online view of your money. pnc. leading the way.  >>> nats hitting coach rick eckstein admits this team is struggling with their situational hitting. the nats are hitting only .236 with runners in scoring position. >> to get that crucial hit with runners in scoring position and deliver that knockout punch, a lot of times guys, their heart's in the right place where you're wanting to do it so bad, but emotionally you have to stay under control. you have to work and get a good pitch to do it on and take control of the moment. >> adam dunn told me, too, that when hit

balls to hit that we lost when flores went out. >> it looks like the florida tooning of bard and nieveso far. >> i don't think it's a straight platoon anymore. i think josh bard has earned a majority of the playing time, and he is swinging the bat well. it's something we need, in dire need of us to be able to have consistent offensive production. he's gotten big hit after big hit over the last three or four weeks of the season. >> one of the reasons josh bard is swinging the bat so good might be the hitting coach of the nationals, rick eckstein. debbi taylor caught up with him a few minutes ago. >> rick, you have had such a knack for being able to personalize your approach to the different individual hitters. how difficult is that to do? >> it's not easy. it takes time to sit down with each individual and go through a game plan and go through an approach, a swing approach, and then the daily maintenance on that, then you go back and make your adjustments and, so it's a constant process of communication and work ethic and putting it together in the games. >> this season has been difficul

when he found that slider, saw it was effective, saw it had a good break, he and wil nieves went to it 18 times in that fourth and seventh inning. he's a guy that's big and strong, johnny. you know, that is as he was advertised last night. pitch count, only 14, 15 pitches per inning where he was going 21-22 prior to that. big, strong guy. manny with the fewest wordssummed it up. he couldn't be any better. he's back. that will add a big, big plus in our rotation and these youngs guys will learn from him. this is his fourth year in the big leagues. he's a lot of experience and a lot of success. >> for those of you just joining us on "nats xtra" pregame, lastings milledge and joel hanrahan dealt to the pittsburgh pirates for nyjer morgan, their fleet-footed outfielder and sean burnett who start and relieved. >> unbelievable. as you mentioned before, he's done so many many things pitched deep into games. ranked their number one best pitcher for three years. had a 38-18 record in the minor leagues before he hurt his shoulder with a 2.08 earned run average. now he's in the bullpen. 8 58 game

wil nieves getting loose in the cage. he's going to try to crack into that line-up tonight if needed. for ray knight, i'm johnny holliday, thanks for joining us. nats baseball coming up next. frost-brewed coors light. ♪ how cold is it? it's chilled down to 34 degrees... for a taste as cold as the rockies. it's aged cold. it's filtered cold. and it's served in cans, bottles, and glasses... that tell you when it's cold. why? because refreshment isn't everything. it's the only thing. frost-brewed coors light. the world's most refreshing beer. from that first dollar forward, cash flow isn't just an important thing to small business. it's everything. that's why pnc is introducing your new cfo, cash flow options designed to effectively improve your cash flow. cfo helps every dollar work harder. from the very first dollar to the last dollar of the day. get in touch with your new cfo.

. >> orel: in some ways, with nieve, you think it's about time they started to hit him, he's been upree starts, >> the coach here with you. mets, despite playing awful baseball, only 2 1/2 back of the phillies entering monday. how about j.j. harding, 3-0, with a 1.31 e.r.a. this season so far. but on monday night, not so lucky. a triple shy of the cycle. k.c. mcgee takes brian stokes deep for the grand slam. fifth of the year. 10-6 the final. the mets are now up 4 in a row while the brewers have won four of six. hoffman, tough night for him. one pitch. his 18th save in 19 chances. >> trying to right the ship in pittsburgh. gone! his seventh home run of the year. cubs up 2-0. top of the fourth, same score, man on first, milton bradley, and that's a gapper. brandon, two for four in the game. cubs up 3-0. in control. roche, no, brandon moss, take a seat. nine ks, gave up one earned run for the first time since may 12. the cubs have beaten the cubs the last 25 times they have met on tuesday but on tuesday, the pirates would have their first winning june since 1996. >> it would be hard to

wil nieves did a great job catching the out at. we want to give them credit even though we got the loss last night. they're being well pitched. that's a lot of it, has to do with the bullpen. >> kind of quiet last night. guzman late in the ballgame last night. first pitch on the way. we'll see the nationals can get the second game to go their way tonight againsts cincinnati. 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, any word at all. what about chicken? chicken's fine. any word. no i mean do you have any chicken? i want to eat some chicken. one of the coolest things you can do with fios... ...is stream your music and your photos from your computer to your tv. slideshows look and sound better than ever. and now is the best time to upgrade to fios all

manny acta is going to call wil nieves back and he will bat anderson hernandez. >> rob: right man in the right place. let's go, willie. >> bob: interesting. adam dunn walks earlier in the inning, anderson is probably not available for this at-bat because he would have been the pinch runner. i like it, too, because anderson earned has great speed, millar playing almost on the grass. if there is a foot race, i'm going to give it to anderson. >> bob: the outfielders can't play so deep because there is a runner at second base. >> rob: and he has to be moving on contact. two out. crack of the bat, you are going. >> bob: he wasn't swinging at the first pitch after he walked a batter. anderson as a pinch hitter, 222- for-5. when he plays, it's usually a starting role. that's a breaking ball in there. started outside, came right back in on the inner half. >> rob: see the movement of this side winder curve ball right here. all right. now, you have to be protecting. >> bob: the swing, close enough, based on the strike 3 called to adam dunn. the nationals leave two. they stranded 5. oh, yeah, e

. >> johnny: willie harris will hit for wil nieves. josh bard will hit. 2-1 cincinnati. they have led all the way. nats have scored 5 runs in the last four ballgames. they got shut out and so far only 5 runs against the reds in this series. harris digging in. he said when you come down to florida state, can you get me tickets. >> rob: oh sure. >> johnny: i might be possibly able to do that. >> rob: going into yankee stadium the end of the week. can you get me tickets. >> johnny: anxious to see you get the response of homeruns flying out of that park, aren't they. >> rob: yeah. when you look at the pictures side by side on the internet, the old yankee stadium, big stadium. the new one is almost twice as big on the interior. so, it is the same size field inside, but the air, there's a lot more air in there. and balls are just jury rooming out of there. >> johnny: willie harris speaking of air, a shot to right field. >> rob: you build a $1.5.05-star hotel with a baseball field in the middle of it, you get -- $1.5.05-star motel baseball field in the middle of it. i watched h

corey patterson will make an appearance hitting for wil nieves. making his return to the major leagues after hitting .302 in 39 games at syracuse. corey has always been an intriguing combination of power and speed, but in my opinion much more on the speed side, and there have been times when he's fancied himself a home run hitter. he's hit 104 career homers. >> rob: everywhere he's gone, they've wanted him to be a lead- off top of the order type table setter. then he gets into a mental perception of i got to hit home runs. no, he's got amazing speed. you want high on-base percentage so you can get on for all the hammers in the middle of this line-up. in chicago, dusty baker was the manager, and they wait add few years for him to come around and he never did. >> bob: that ball is just foul down the right-field line. we talked about anderson hernandez, alberto gonzalez when he went back and came back. short chopping swings, put the ball in play. anderson hernandez has been fantastic tonight. tried to slap a hit by the pitcher. knowing what your role

usually, when you call for a right handed catcher, you have wil nieves. >> rob: give willie harris here credit. >> bob: i think the struggles of austin kearns might be the reason why manny did not make a move. bard will foul it away, right side. i think of austin cannes swinging the bat well, it's almost automatic that he pinch hits there. so first and third, two outs. long top of the 8th here. in a ballgame that's already over 3 hours old. bard will get under it and fly to center. the nationals strand two runners. they have left eight in the ballgame and it stays 3-3 into the bottom of the 8th. you don't do laundry at the beach. you salt-wash everything and let it breeze dry. knit, delicate, permanent press... the ocean doesn't care. so grab your bag. coors banquet has been brewed in one place... and one place only: golden, colorado. it's followed one tradition: use the best high-country barley... and only rocky mountain water. and it's been brewed under one motto: never compromise. now maybe this means we're a little set in our ways. but we know a few guys who will drink to that. coor

. >> orel: in some ways, with nieve, you think it's about time they started to hit him, he's been upere three starts, won every game, his e.r.a. is microscopic. >> dan: hardy sends mcgehee dob energy resources of the native americans and we talk about that in the book. >> i worked with immigrants mostly from latin america. this is a group of people like my family who came here looking for work because either they were driven out of their homes by war or in an wismar recent time the economy is worse than ours. incredible disparities in wealth, historically a disposable group of people. how you see the green in economy affecting them? how you bring them justice for their work and labor and give them a voice and not continue the cycle of this possibility? >> well, he raised the point of the two sides of it having to do with the global economy, the fact that i think we got sold a bill of goods from the united states that we could run our economy based on consumption and not production. and so we sent a lot of jobs overseas and god bless some of those that got those jobs and some won't re

and then your old friend, wil nieves, hits a sac fly. then in the 6th inning, an all doubles inning for the national. cristian guzman comes to the plate, strokes the ball down the line. rolen never moved on it. then nick johnson comes up and nick has been red hot at the plate. he doubles to deep right centerfield which, can, drives in guzman. they elijah dukes comes to the plate and he smokes the ball out there which was almost caught but, again, the guy got the glove on it, could not hang on to it. that's a two-base hit. and elijah was thrown out at third base. >> johnny: there is no question that willie harris has the hottest bat on the team but he has made some great dave plays. he had one tonight and then one against a-rod in yankee stadium. chavez hits one, harris goes after it: then against alex rodriguez, look at this. he slide on his stomach, armed stretched out like superman. then vernon wells last night, incredible catch. gets the applause from joel hanrahan. you do it every night, they're going to start expecting it every nigh

wil nieves will be doing the catching tonight. he still has some time to sign some autographs as you can see. ♪ ♪ who's watching? ♪ tell me who's watching. (muffled music) ♪ who's watching... (announcer) it's right here. it's easy. ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ it's the money you could be saving with geico. . >> johnny:  well, phil, eve starter for the toronto blue jays has been injured this year. in fact, they are going with four rookies. we will see one of those tonight. he has some local ties with dematha, university of maryland, bret cecil. >> phil: i'm sure he is a johnny holiday fan,being in college park. last time out he allowed 8 hits, 4 runs in a loss to boston. otherwise, his e.r.a. is 2.38 on the season. ross detwiler, last time up, pitched well, until the 6th inning. he didn't have command of his fastball. he is pinning better at home this year. >> johnny: and bret cecil was scheduled to go against baltimore a couple of weeks ago and he had about 100 relatives coming to the ballgame. i imagine he w

we will see if wil nieves can pick up an rbi here.till with the pitcher on deck, but this is only one out. look at. >> rob: heads up baseball by willie harris. cecil never looked back. >> bob harris' fifth of the year, with only one caught stealing. >> rob: no one says a word. willie harris takes off. you have to tell your pitcher to step off when that happens. >> bob: that's the nats' 23rd of the year. >> rob: he started wil off with a change-up, hoping he would bite. so wil doing a great job of take that go --taking that first pitch. >> bob: way outside with that pitch. 2-1. >> bob: millar was already aboard when he robbed chavez into the gap. now, he has doubled, stolen third.

nats defense, zimmerman at third, guzman at fourth, hernandez at second base, nick johnston, will nievesl be behind the plate, catching detwiler, dunk and harrison dukes in the outfield. detwiler very, very good 2.8-1 strikeout to walk ratios. only walk a few in his starts. >> rob: it came to me he was the sixth overall pick. that's the number 6. he got here pretty quick. couple years. >> johnny: tavares will step into start the ball game after this rain delay. we're finally happy to get the first of three under way against the cincinnati reds. detwiler's first pitch in for a strike.  64 degrees, chance of  rain, yes. andy fletcher, angel hernandez at second and scott barry umpiring at second, scott mclellan down at third, 29-27 on the road, 15-13. haven't won a game in this park. 0-3 here in rfk stadium.  there's one quick out  first inning. >> rob: you bring up a great point. there was one year we went to san francisco, that's when you played the same team in your division 18 times, a nice play by ryan zi

. >> rob: and also give nieves and bard credit. they have been flip-flopping after finding out flores is done for the year and doing a great job as catchers. >> johnny: the 1-1 to rosales. breaking ball just inside. had a notion, didn't he. beimel born in st. mary's, pennsylvania. 31 years of age. and the count is 2-1. beimel delivers. swing and a fly to right. kearns should have it. ballgame is over! the nationals have won. they snap their three-game losing streak. they come from behind to do it and the final is 3-2 over cincinnati. >> rob: well, johnny, we stole one there and that is just what the doctor ordered. wonderful job by the pitching staff. john lannan, the bullpen and then scratching and clawing in the last three innings to get three runs. >> johnny: it is nice to see the guys standing there bumping fists together. joe beimel hands shake from bard. nats win it 3-2. you salt-wash everything and let it breeze dry. knit, delicate, permanent press... the ocean doesn't care. so grab your bag. (tucci) count on the nation's fa

he struck out nieves looking on three and he's been locating well.trikes here. >> jim p.: when you pitch an inning and 2/3 and give up five runs and seven hits, dave trembley talked about it, i watched the game, but the velocity was 96. he just made one real bad pitch. but they brought him out for the second inning after, and that just was a little too much. again, they were way behind in the ballgame. but this was a guy that three or four years ago is about as good as any young right-handed pitcher in baseball. had the tommy john surgery. it's taken a while to find his release point. >> bob: willie harris jacks one to right field, over the scoreboard and washington homers for the second time today and for willie harris, his third home run in the last two weeks. his fourth of the year makes it 4-1 washington. gets out of here in a hurry when it's in the middle of the plate, especially inside middle. >> rob: you talked about movement. his first few strikes were moving fastballs down and away. this is a fastball that just stays up in the zone. willie h

catch by willie harris, then a double, stole third and then a sac fly by the number 8 hitter, wil nievesthat lasted five minute and then wells hit a homerun. and then the nationals came roaring back. if willie hit it down the first baseline, you have a left handed throwing first baseman in lyle overbay who can flip that thing to the shortstop. so this will not be an easy bunt if willie has that in mind. he pulls the bat back. can't bunt a pitch that up and away. that's ball 1. the switch hitter follows in josh bard. then you have the pitcher's spot and the only player available is ronnie belliard. runner going. down the line but it's hooking foul. and willie harris flirting with a long ball for the second time tonight. >> rob: willie harris. >> reporter: it looked good for a while and then it had that big hook. >> rob: there is a huge whole between first and second and a great swing right here with the toronto defense and richardson. he laid a fastball down broadway. >> bob: now, he shows bunt early. a throw to first base not even on the bag. that's ball 2. 2-1, good running count. willi

pitch track spoke to vice president development of player about catching and what josh bard and wil nieveshave been doing lately. they're not setting up as far off the plate as they used to because the umpires are no longer calling that. they may set their target up. the glove. they physically are sitting more behind home plate. we talked about the strike zone. it's withered away. if you stay around the plate with your glove or body, the catcher, maybe the umpire will get you a few more calls. >> gary: so, -- >> bob: so, pitchers make adjustments, hitters make adjustments and so do catchers. >> rob: well, bob boone caught 225 games in his career third on the all-time list that rodriguezhas passed carlton fisk. >> bob: jammed on. here is our interleague updays. american league won 67, national league 58. so, national league picked up four wins more than the american league did yesterday thanks in part to the nats. and a breaking ball popped up straight back. interleague numbers, american league 46 more home runs, e.r.a. better. look at that. national league has a better average with the dh'

. >> rob: i like what wil nieves is doing right off the bat.pounding on the dirt saying put this ball down low. >> jim p.: there's your fastball in. i think you really have to command both sides of the plate. let's give lannan some credit. anybody who throws 87 to 93. >> rob: no, he's not a soft tosser. but we have zimmerman, detwiler can rush it up there at 95. he's not afraid to attack any hitter. >> jim p.: that's going get a

wil nieves will be catching and scott olsen on the mound tonight as the nationals try to get their 23rd win of the season against 51 losses. how about florida, 38 and 39. shortstop hanley ramirez, four home runs over his last seven games. he's hit in 28 of his last 35, 50 of his last 62. his 12 home runs leads all major league shortstops and ramirez will be batting third as you see in that florida line- up tonight. chris coughlin leads off, he'll be in left field, emilio bonifacio at third, then ramirez, cantu will be at first and uggla at second base, ross will be in center field, robs catching, brett carroll will be in right field, and ricky nolasco who has had major success against the nationals, he'll be on the mound tonight. ramirez the guy you've got to keep off the bases. i think you just mentioned, pitch around him. don't even pitch to this guy. >> you've got to pitch one guy tough in the line-up and he's good night that when you look at all the charts, he's just hammered us with 37 rbi's, 15 home runs, steals bases. so you can afford to, with two outs, pitch him tough, let him

great release and throw by nieves. we turn and get him easily. the daylight play as a shortstop moves in behind him and just nips him right there. right in front of the corner of the bag. see you, out. >> who is making the call on that play. catcher? >> it could be directed from the catcher, it could be directed from the dugout or it can just be guzman flashing his hand. when the pitcher cease daylight, he throws and it's a timing play. >> because that timing was perfect. >> i imagine it was just a daylight play showing the glove, getting close. making a good throw and getting him out. >> tough night for the nationals bullpen. the nationals had a lead. he only lasted five batters in this ballgame. no innings credited for jason. four hits, five earned runs and home runs flying out of the ballpark. >> the ugliest line i've seen all year from our bullpen. forget early in the year. but eight hits, seven runs? mercy. >> zobrist the three-run homer and gross a two-run homer. seven runs had scored in that sixth inning. time for the stay in the game hold