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. >

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: 

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

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 looking

austin kearns up against owings and then wil nieves and john lannan. reds with a 2-0 lead. one in the second and one in the fourth. nats having deeped both games of this series. 4-2 in that marathon that ended this morning a limit before 1. two-hour 10-minute rain delay. nats have lost three straight. 12 of their last 14. having tough times but every day is a new day, right rob? >> rob: absolutely. >> johnny: comes to the ballpark with the same feeling, this is going to be the day we start something nice, something good. fouled back out of play. the count is two balls and two strikes to austin kearns with a .211 batting average. he walked his first time up today. last homerun against the mets, that was april 26th at new york. swing and a miss. kearns is gone. >> rob: i wanted to give you the final numbers on sandy koufax's last year when he retired. pitched 323 innings, 27-9 and a 1.73 e.r.a. no left handed starting pitcher has demy kated that since -- duplicated that since 1966. the game hasn't chained. the fields -- changed. the fields are smaller and sandy koufax was ama

. >> 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

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

wil nieves batting 8th. he makes coffee nervous [ laughter ]. >> bob: wil cannot sit still. 2-1. target outside. he pants at the letters and willie does not like it. willie harris says, man, i'm 5'9". >> rob: a high strike he set early in the game. it's been a high strike zone. keep it consistent. >> bob: runner going. strike 3. it's a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play and elijah dukes is gunned down for the second time in 9th steal attempts this year.  . >> debbi: a beautiful nigh the district. we are scoreless and we move to the top of the 3rd inning. combined, nats starters have a 2.02 e.r.a. here is more from manny acta on that. >> overall, when you play good defense, it gives guys confidence that they don't have to strike anybody out. that they don't have to be making the perfect pitch that if they are a sinker ball pitcher, they can sink the ball over the plate instead of trying to make guys chase. so that's a confidence booster to know that if guys put the ball into play, guys will make the plays. >> debbi: and it goes both ways, when pitchers are making good

time for a quick trip to the mound as wil nieves goes out. >> rob: steve mccatty out. he has noticed something in the delivery here in the last 6 pitches of john lannan. probably, you know, one of the things pitching coaches are known for is taking inventory. what are you doing right here. get yourself back in focus. get yourself back into where you were the first four innings. it is kind of mind-numbing pitch after pitch and you sometimes get lost in what you are doing out there and you need somebody to snap you book in -- back in. >> johnny: of the managers you played for who was the most emphatic -- swung on and popped up. gonzalez will have a play on it. 1 pitch, steve mccatty comes out and whatever he said to john lannan worked. we go to the bottom of the 5th. it seems i've got three times the bills i used to. and they're getting in the way of things i'd like to do. with the money bar, i can move my money around instantly, so when there's more bills than usual, it's no problem. and i use the wish list to put any extra money aside for anything i want. being in cont

willie harris doubles, steals and then wil nieves drives him home. 1-0 into the 6th. i operate my entire business from my phone. i need a network with great coverage, because for every pair of shoes that we sell, we give a pair away to a child in need. it would be impossible for me to do this without a network that works around the world. (announcer) more bars in more places. at&t. the best coverage worldwide. boss: come on in, i had some other things you can tell people about geico - great claims service and a 97% customer satisfaction rate. show people really trust us. gecko: yeah right, that makes sense. boss: trust is key when talking about geico. you gotta feel it. why don't you and i practice that with a little exercise where i fall backwards and you catch me. gecko: uh no sir, honestly... uh...i don't think...uh... boss: no, no. we can do this. gecko: oh dear. vo: geico. fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. . >> bob:  the world's most refreshing beer is coors light. here is our grease guam coors light. willie harris robbing alex rodr

here is wil nieves. >> rob: i'm sure anderson's hands kind of reverb rated after that hit.ttle bit. >> bob: breaking ball away. if it gets by the mound, there's a chance. nieves is safe and the nationals pick up a two out run. it was do or die for uggla with the glove. and the nats get a break on an infield chopper, 2-0. >> rob: we saw this happen to us up in baltimore. they were going over the infield. this one, perfect. >> bob: wil has good speed for a catcher. >> rob: and he's getting down that line. the only chance log had on this play was to try to take it with his glove and scoop it and throw it to first base. never had a chance. >> bob: that accomplished a couple of things. got a run home and it gets scott olsen up here. scott olsen can handle the bat. he is 0 for 8 on the year, but he's a .154 career hitter. for nieves, his 12th rbi. >> rob: don't overswing right here. you just came off your rehab. you're nursing the sore wing. you don't want to do anything bad to re-injure that shoulder. >> bob: good point. >> rob: that's how andy pettitte hurt his elbow one night

wil nieves guns him down, inning over. ♪ ♪ who's watching? ♪ tell me who's watching.ed 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. 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 tools for the next generation. or making a 10 year, $100 million investment in kids. it's how we've always done business. and will for a very long time to come. pnc. leading the way.  >> bob: tocchet second, o score. nats outhitting the marlins 2-1 and two washington errors in the first inning. if you just joined us, maybe you just finished up dinner, got home, new additions. nyjer morgan and and sean burnett. nationals have a center fielder they've been coveting a while with speed, 18 steals and a left-hand reliever that gives them a -- landed reliever that gives them a triple barrel option from that side of the bullpen. you might be surprised

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. >

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.

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

. >> 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

. >> 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

. >> 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

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

all tonight wil nieves has been on the same page with jordan zimmermann, pumping him up, bring it to me, bring your best stuff. with jesus flores maybe gone for the season, backup guys have been doing a great job in his place. >> bob: 6 for 6 in steals in this series including number 21 earlier tonight by b.j. upton. he did that while carl crawford was in the process of walking back in the first inning. zimmermann didn't give him his best move there. outside, one ball, one strike. >> rob: my first catcher in the big league, when he was my catcher, he would come out to the mound and grab you by the shirt and tell you to bring your best stuff to him. that's what your job is as a pitcher and a catcher. >> bob: great jump. 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 ta

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

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.

get 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

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

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'

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

josh willingham and austin kearns and wil nieves will see what they can do. willingham in left field, out six games because of the stomach virus. went 0-3 last night and 0-4 his last two ballgames. josh playing right field for the first time in his career last night. i'm sure if you were to ask him, he would say it is a different experience in right field. wide open stance for the left fielder. line-drive and phillips has it. one quick out. there's five different flex plans to choose from. enjoyibility national flexible -- enjoy ultimate flex blth. for more information -- flexibility. for more information call 1-888-632-nats or visit nationals.com/grand slam. called strike one to austin kearns. catches the outside corner of the plate. kind of waiting for kearns to break out too, rob. >> rob: yeah. austin has been battling himself all year. trying to change stances and stuff like that. it is hard to carry that over into the game when you are working on making adjustments. just kind of let everybody get out of his head, go back to what got him to the major leag

. >> 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

adam dunn will be the dh today hitting fifth behind zimmerman, elijah dukes in right field and wil nieves duties today catching john lannan against the baltimore orioles. for the o's, second baseman ty wigginton, six game hitting streak, he's 13 for 26 during that streak. what a game he had against the braves on june 14. he'll be hitting in the number two hole, because adam jones leads off for baltimore, he'll be in center field, wigginton the second baseman, nolan reimold in the cleanup spot who homered last night in left, the dh is luke scott for the birds, third base oscar salazar, matt wieters will catch and robert andino at shortstop. ty wigginton, nine of 18 his last five ballgames for the birds. let's see what they can do today against john lannan. lannan is about due to get back on the winning track? been pitching as good as anybody on this ball club. >> in his last seven games he has a 2.65 earned run average. over his last 14 starts, take away the first start, he's at 2.98. he can't pitch any better. he's only yielded more than three runs in one of his starts over his last 13, s

. >> the catching committee by committee which is jesus flores went down, has been shared by wil nieves and josh bard and all of a sudden bard was catching yesterday. he is going to catch again tonight. the reason being he is swinging a pretty good bat. >> we have been working hard every day and i give him a lot of credit. he has been really challenging me to just not think so much about my mechanics and just get in good pitches to hit. i feel like it has freed my mind up a bit and i give him a lot of credit. he's -- you know, he is the best hitting coach i've had in my career and he works relentlessly with all of us and he really wears it on his sleeve when we don't do as well and he's doing everything that he can and, you know, it's great that we're able to produce some runs because he is working really hard. >> boy, how about josh bard this month of june, one of the hottest hitters in the national league. >> johnny, he could always hit he was a two-time all american at texas tech. he is one of the best hitters in all of the united states. he hit .285. he hit .338 in san diego two yea

wil nieves has the plate tonight. all the regulars are out there besides those guys, but for the first time in a long, long time, the nationals do not have the most errors in the national league. >> rob: i don't know if you saw any of that d-backs game today. >> bob: ugly. >> rob: a runner coming from second and they hit him in the chest. he didn't even get a glove on it. he hit him in the chest. how does that happen at this level? >> bob: he's a former teammate of ryan zimmerman's down in charlottesville. hanley ramirez was sitting dead red and his former teammate pull the string on him. hanley ramirez has four homers, including two grand slams in the last seven games. his .333 batting average, fourth in the league, and i'm surprised he's only hitting .330 against washington. well, .330-plus now. gashes that ball up the middle. he's aboard with two outs for jorge cantu. back on may 10, scott olsen only pitched four innings, and he really sucked it up for his team. >> rob: looked like it was a bad back, but then we fo

it is working with these pitchers, wil nieves and you have to. when you starting catcher goes down like a jesus flores with the broken bone in his shoulder injury, somebody has to step up and take over the pitching staff. and our two guys have. >> jim: and their e.r.a., when you talk about the nats, it is down almost two runs, a little more than two runs since april and may as star as -- far as the starters. anytime you can have a starting staff, especially a young one, you're going to win some ballgames. >> bob: and i think our staff, jim sjust so happy to look at the major league stat sheet and see somebody else, in this case, cleveland wa higher e.r.a. >> jim: we're routing for them, too. >> bob: you're second worst to them. >> jim: yes. >> bob: cleveland 5.23 and the o's 5.06. but at least now the nationals know somebody else is struggling more mightily than they have. >> jim: yes, but i don't want to get you depressed, bob. it is bob, isn't it? yes, bob. okay okay. [ laughter ] but you don't have the d.h. over there all the time. >> bob: of