willingham scores. guzman got him home and there's two on with two out. >> rob: well, right here trying to put the ball in play. you see cristian guess map slap it to -- guzman slap it to 3rd base. that will get at least one in. probably had a play at home on willingham. but hairston takes the smart plate. get an out any way you can. two outs. >> johnny: in the replay, looked like he could have maybe had a play at home. >> rob: john lannan, deep in thought right there on the bench. he did his job. he did a great job again today. >> johnny: 6 innings pitched. >> rob: and he has lowered his e.r.a. it is well under 3 now after that last start and with today. >> johnny: only one of the two runs earned today. gonzalez swings and flies it to center. willie tavarez hauls it in. top of the 7th and now it is a one run game. 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

reds and nationals with josh willingham in left field. it's a good one.t will help in josh can get on the board. coming up for game 2 at nationals park. we're ready for june baseball. it's coming up from nats park. stay there. - oh, it's on. - it's on. - it's on. - ( music playing throughout ) - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - totally on. jimmy, it's on. - it's on. - oh, yeah, it's on. affirmative, it's on. announcer: southwest airlines announces new service out of bwi airport, with three daily nonstop flights to new york laguardia for just 49 dollars one-way starting june 28th. grab your bag. it's on. - ( ding ) - book now at southwest.com. grab your bag. it's on. times may be tough today, but the things we all look forward to haven't changed. like owning a home. watching our children grow. and retiring with confidence. so whatever you're looking forward to, m&t bank is here to help you get there. m&t bank. understanding what's important.

and josh willingham's 1 for 2 tonight. that will be his ninth double of the year to go with nine home runs. so he has 36 hits, and half of them are extra-base hits. more than half. >> bob: an awfully quick bat. all of a sudden if you're jeremy guthrie you want to get the first batter out. you can't, you got to throw the ball more over the middle of the plate. willingham all over that high fastball. three innings out of four now, the nationals have had their lead-off man aboard. josh bard's job will be to move willingham at least to third base. >> jim p.: it's what you talked about, situational hitting. who better to do it than bard, and he does it. >> rob: that may not be deep enough to advance anybody. >> jim p.: watch this arm. look at this. yep. >> bob: he hit the cut-off man and he threw it so well it would have been a short hop at third base. >> jim p.: he came up a shortstop, and gary pettis was in town with the rangers. he said he could play shortstop, but they had signed betancourt, so watch this. you're right abou

they're giving willingham full support. said it puts the game and life in perspective and that willingham is a great guy and an outstanding teammate and they're thinking about him right now. >> bob: manny was visibly shaken this afternoon when he got together with the media. to give us the details of what had taken place, so our very best to josh, his wonderful family. and a very difficult weekend for them, losing josh's younger brother john. here's pat burrell, the dh. >> rob: our thoughts and prayers go out to the whole willingham family and the clubhouse. i've been in touch with a lot of guys from the angels when nick adenhart was killed earlier this year. that's the kind of thing that can really pull a team together. it's never easy when one of your own loses a young brother like josh. josh willingham is one of the nicest people i've ever met. number two, when you lose a family member that quickly it's difficult to even feel like you can do anything about it. >> bob: willie harris under that fly ball, and two outs. >> r

willingham foul tips it. and it's come down to the final strike. >> rob: this kid's got a great arm. 96-mile an hour fastball. this league combined hitting only .216 against nunez. >> bob: willingham getting time from bill welke. and willingham out to deep center field, but it's a big ballpark and the game is over. two hours and 30 minutes, a great pitching battle until the end. and the marlins beat the nationals again, this time it's 4-2. >>> you talk about one ball club having the nationals numbers. that's the florida marlins. >> what are they, 22 wins and 3 losses. >> eight straight now in miami. >> you can't explain that stuff. we're in the ballgame. we pitched well. all of a -- olsen, hat off to him. >> we will try to explain it as best we can when we come back. >> bob: johnny and ray always explain it to us. we wish we could come up with something of why the marlins continue to master the nats. for rob dibble and debbi taylor, tomorrow night 6:30 with "nats xtra," johnny and ray. then the nats and the m

as he steps off, willingham steps out.as been outstanding tonight. 6-1 career against the nats. eight straight since willingham's base hits. this little flair to right field will be caught by carroll. on saturday, first 20,000 fans receive mini usa flags. then sunday, family fun day. the kids run the bases after the game. or stop by the nationals park box office for tickets. here's anderson hernandez. offered bunt, he was tumbling out of the batter's box. >> rob: once again, when you look at nolasco's overall numbers career-wise, but 464 hits and 443 innings, i still think it's because he's goofing around with five, six, seven pitches instead of sticking to three, going through the line- up three, four times and trying to just get some w's for his ball club. >> bob: he has not walked a batter. struck out six. he has hernandez 0-2. >> rob: he's got great command. 110 walks in that 442 innings versus 358 strikeouts. >> bob: in his last three starts he has struck out 27 batters and walked just two. >> rob: very nice back door

cody ross hits a line drive shot right at josh willingham.ristian guzman is going to go towards third base, throw out ronny paulino. so a great 1-2-3 inning, the bottom of the fourth against the florida marlins there for scott olsen. >> bob: ricky nolasco having quite a night as well. he has a pitch count that could take him deep into this game. 69 pitches through five. olsen averaging 12 pitches per inning, his first four. here's brett carroll who got one of the big hits of the game. olsen and the nats were cruising along at 2-0 when carroll doubled leading off the third, that gave nolasco the chance to sacrifice. then they had three straight hits. rob: the ast at-bat, guy hit a  came akwith  fastball. very nice. oh, yeah, take something off the breaking ball. haven't seen a lot of change- ups. he's got ñ<ñúñúñúññññúñúñúñúñññ >> bob: saw him o tonight   dontrelle, a.j., dmpster, á rr?&tneó've go  0g0om rrjridpo we just ((ó,( r

. >> rob: willingham draws a two-out walk. two-run ballgame. bob carpenter back tomorrow night. here's a 2-1 game bottom of the 7th. austin kearns will step in. he walked in the second and struck out and popped out his last two appearances. >> rob: i don't think they wanted a whole lot to do with josh willingham. i think they wanted to attack austin kearns here, even putting the tying run on at second to do it. >> johnny: fisher walked two. walked zimmerman and willingham. and the pitch to kearns and it is 0 balls and two strikes.

willingham at 3rd. we need is a fly ball to the out field to send this into extra innings. >> johnny: hernandez will come up to pick -- >> rob: this is gonzalez. hernandez is waiting on deck. >> johnny: nats with runners on the corners now. gonzalez will take a pitch outside. 1-0. >> rob: he's got to hit this somewhere on the ground. >> johnny: cordero a little tight after the two hour rain delay goes behind in the count 2-0. david weathers who we saw last night in the cincinnati bullpen. 2-1 reds in the bottom of the 9 9th. >> johnny: gonzalez five hit appearances this year 4-4, 5 rbis and a walk. here's the 2-1. shot to right field. a base hit the game is tied. how about that? gonzalez with a base hit. willingham will score. we're tied at 2. the nats have a winning run at 2 2nd base. let's take a look once again. >> rob: now you know why. after an hour rain delay, you usually take a man out. hits it to right center field. great job alberto. that was worth the wait. >> johnny: gonzalez drives drives in

>> johnny: willingham batting .250. his average dropped tonight with the 0-2. 3-0 to josh willingham. nicely done. >> rob: you see the nice little extra battery pack it comes with it for these long nights. stay in touch. got pitching right now. macdougal, hernandez. >> johnny: 3-1. pops it up out of play down behind the nationals dug out. for those 85 fans still with us, it's 12:25 a.m. these are the die hards. a lot of folks bailed early, rob. >> rob: it rained for two hours. >> johnny: across the diamond, hernandez, one down. >> rob: belliard here, one out. bottom of the 11th inning. one away, 2-2 ballgame. .177 batting average. you have to make adjustments when you get older. i'll go back to the conversation i had today. he said as he got older, you know you're not swinging like you did when you were 25. he said your skill deteriorates with age. you always have to stand let in the count. >> johnny: not to say he doesn't have good days left because he does. great years with cleveland. .291 in 06. .284 in 05. >> rob: 1

willingham dunn, willingham and dukes ahead in the sixth. >> bob: get your red on, nats fans, five plans to choose from. pick your plan, your games, your seats, and get a free game. it's that easy. for more info on the all new grand slam flex plans, 202-657- nats. grand slam. that is what adam dunn did to the orioles the last time these two clubs got together at nationals parkment he is oh-fer two tonight with a hard line drive to right and a swinging strikeout. and a good sinker on the corner, low and away for a strike. >> rob: the one thing i do like about matt wieters is he is a huge target. i had joe oliver who was about 6'4", 6'5", 250. what is he about 6'6"? >> jim: 6 '5". he took a little bit off. >> jim: the location. >> rob: did you throw to shoulders, knees? because i threw to the whole square of the catcher, not just his glove. >> jim: rick dempsey used to have the orange ring about his glove, the day glow. >> bob: fastball up. wieters, by the way, listed at 6'5", 230. and rick dempsey, i talked to him before the game and he told me he is still trying to get comfortable back t

dunn to third, willingham to second. and the nationals have the tying run at third base immediately here in the sixth. >> jim p.: lead-off walk, then the 2-0 count to a guy that can pulverize the fastball. >> rob: and he gets it up and in instead of maybe down and in. check out the x-mo, 500 frames per second. shows you the bad location as gregg zaun goes up to try to catch it. josh was out on bereavement, his younger brother was killed in a car accident. >> jim p.: i read about that. that's a horrible story. >> rob: this kid has come back and been amazing. >> bob: he has more extra-base hits than singles now, doubles and home runs combined. here's josh bard. if you're manny acta, who would you rather have up in this situation than this switch hitting catcher. >> jim p.: it's a perfect hitting situation because of the 1-1 orioles lead. they're going to play the infield back. as matt albers will get loose again. >> rob: i might even walk bard to get to belliard. >> bob: they might be about to do that, 2-0. >> rob: no, uni

josh willingham scoring one of those runs last inning. time out to greet some of his former teammates and coaches and josh told me he really enjoys coming back here. there are a lot of people here that he cares about and he went to war with a lot of these marlins players, but he said he definitely wants to beat them. >> bob: that's the way you've got to feel and that's the way he went up there, debbi taylor, with his first at-bat in the ninth. he hit that ball 400-plus out to left center. what a big presence he is. he's another reason this line- up is starting to click. uggla, ross and paulino for the marlins against scott olsen. dan uggla typical season for him, low batting average, good power numbers. he is often and all or nothing hitter in his major league career. signed by mike rizzo originally for $1,000 with the diamondbacks out of the university of memphis. memphis state at that time. and that's a good fastball outer half. >> rob: so far so good for scott olsen. he looks free and easy. is he just comfortable in letting the ball go

josh willingham, good to have him back in the lineup.ver the last six games, hitting .444 with three home runs. he was out a week way viral infection. >> johnny: he's never played right field before. it's been an unusual experience trying to get used to it. >> rob: i find it hard to believe a little bug took this guy down. he's been tough on our team. >> johnny: a terrific young man too, biology man in college. >> rob: very smart. >> johnny: hernandez is out. foul territory, two out. >> rob: i think he hit the catcher with his back swing. check it out. he may have hurt his hand on this play. watch him come back. no. slips out of his hand. i think the bat hits hanigan's hand. you don't make a lot of friends when you do that to the catcher. >> johnny: two quick nationals retired. they are getting the start at 2 2nd. didn't play last night. went 73, couple of home runs. >> rob: one of the things i like about aaron harang. he might not have overpowering stuff, he attacks the strike zone and works quickly, keeps the defense involved and throw

willingham is on first. kearns popped out to the 1st baseman. >> rob: i think man in acta probably senses if the nationals don't get something going soon, they will be facing david weathers, arthur rhodes and francisco cordero here at the end of the ballgame. one of the best bullpens around. >> johnny: line-drive to left field. nieves got a base hit. the nats catcher moves willingham to second. 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 p

.: willingham in on it as it hung up. orioles down to their final out. >> jim p.: that is why your bullpen coaches with a young pitching staff is constantly saying, hey, be prepared, watch the game, pay attention. because when you come in, it's usually in clutch situations, especially when you're trying to win ballgames. the late l. rod hendricks, he was here for 38 years, 39 years, he would just make the guys pay attention and focus. >> rob: what's your bread and butter. whether a change-up, curveball, fastball, but what is your bread and butter. if you're going to get beat, get beat with your best pitch, not second or third or i don't want to throw this pitch and you've got second thoughts. >> jim p.: i think that's just a cut fastball. >> rob: he didn't try to cut but it threw it so well, it just did. >> jim p.: a lot of the scouts said his spine angle, head angle maybe changes his release points. >> jim h.: outside 1-2. want to thank you for all of your insights here, jim and i have enjoyed working with you and bob ca

. >> bob: josh willingham with a base hit over the glove of salazar. and willingham is two for three. it's more than hot over there right now. elijah dukes coming up.   >> bob: seven washington hits, hernandez had given up the same number of hits through five that guthrie did last night. i think you'd have to say one guy today is pitching better than the guy did last night, but the guy last night got the win. >> jim p.: well, a lot of it has to do with run support. the one thing, you do miss melvin mora at third base. melvin, hadn't hit a home run in over 150 at-bats but he's playing sparkling defense. salazar is a good hitter, but he's not the glove guy. >> bob: elijah dukes, he's not a guy that hits the ball the opposite way a lot. but even when he does it a little, he's much better than he is now. >> rob: if you're going to stand in the middle of the box and not step in towards the plate or try and go the other way with t. then they're going to have a field game against you. you've got to go towards the ball. >> jim p.: he should

you've got to find a way to get willingham in however he can get on base. and applause] >> johnny: i'd love to see josh get a hold of one now. he takes a strike from cordero. 13 of the hits were extra bases, 5 doubles, 8 home runs. fouled off. 0-2. [cheering and applause] >> johnny: going back to last season, cordero converted 29 -- takes the pitch low. 14-14 this year. the 1st base umpire -- the announcer will bring the tarp on here in the bottom of the 9th. a rain delay here at nationals park. >> rob: just a passing shower. they're not going to melt. >> johnny: it appeared to me, we

but how about josh willingham, he's been outstanding lately. in his last 17 games he's raised his batting average 65 points, he's now hitting .278. i talked to him about that and also about facing some familiar faces on the marlins. >> absolutely. you know, there's a lot of people that i care about here, that i spent a lot of time with. went to war with, and playing a lot of games with. so it's nice to come back and see people, but i want to beat them tonight. >> you're hitting .454 since june 20. what's been the key to your consistens iscy at the plate? >> i think just getting pitches that i can handle, and just trying to hit them hard. i'm not trying to do too much with them. trying to hit the ball hard. luckily when i have hit the ball hard, they found holes. they've been finding holes for me, so i'm thankful. >> i know you continue to work hard in the outfield as well. marques grissom said you're very dedicated to getting better. just your thoughts on playing right field? >> this is i think my third start out there, and it's different. it's

willingham seeing a fastball he thought he could lift. and the count's even 2-2. >> rob: last pitch after an elevated breaking ball. an elevated fastball. probably going to go way down and away. willingham lifting the ball short left center. that will not score the run. carl crawford on the run. gonzalez taking about five stems and came back. two outs. it will be up to willie harris. by the way, willie harris had dropped his bat in the on deck circle and he was running to home plate to serve as a possible traffic cop or base coach for alberto gonzalez. sew the rays will go to the left hander here. j. p. howell has been running up. a runner at third, two outs in the 8th in a tie game here at the trop. 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 control of my money feels good. introducing the virtual wallet

willingham got a hit on a 2-0 fastball. he hit a grand slam against the orioles in the exhibition game right before the start of the season. so you're out there, you're pretty defenseless. you can't get your breaking ball over. >> rob: when he's throwing the breaking ball, he's throwing it down in the zone. hitters aren't going to swing at that. so you have to just lay it in there and trust your stuff. trust that the hitter is going to make an out. >> jim p.: when he did get ahead of willie harris, he didn't make a good pitch with his breaking ball and he singled into right field to start this. >> bob: 17 home runs, that is tied for the american league lead. we talked about you want to eat sliders, don't hang them. >> rob: is there a reason why zaun's catching guthrie tonight? >> jim p.: no. >> jim h.: wieters has caught nine of the last 10 games and zaun has not caught since last saturday in philadelphia. >> rob: i'm just thinking maybe he's more a little older, maybe he can try to calm down guthrie if he gets in a jam lik

willingham in left, dukes and bard a switch-hitting catcher. hair nighs center and anderson hernandez at second base. >> rob: let's take a look another brad bergesen, only 23 years of age. he loves to pitch here at camden yards. again, the orioles over .500 at home. you can't steal on him. they have attempted to steal a base twice, and they're oh-fer two. again, the orioles, you know, kind of a up-and-down month. but for brad bergesen, 2-07 in the month of june with a very, very low earned run average. >> bob: he misses outside to christian guzman. 1-0. christian guzman, of course, the orioles know more about him than most players in this lineup because of his years in minnesota. there's a strike. and rob dibble with us for this series and the thing about guzman that i like about him, switch hitter, he hits to the gaps and he has a lot of speed. he really bothers you if he gets on base. >> rob: he has been fantastic. he has within hitting the ball all over the park. for the most part, he just does his best to get on base and set the table for t

he guilty ahead of willingham.t time he got behind him and hit a single into left and part of that one-run inning, which should have been more. of course dukes saw, what, four straight breaking balls, hit the fourth one into left field, a soft base hit. >> bob: and elijah dukes, in all honesty, has been a little reckless on the bases this year. he has been picked off three or four times off of first. and i agree with you guys. the replay showed he was safe. the nats and hunter wendelstedt don't seem eye to eye. there's always it seems one umpire that has a hard time with certain ball clubs or vice versa and this all started a couple of years ago when he tossed john lannan out of his major league debut. two balls and a strike. here is i lee gentleman waiting and taking one. >> rob: a hard sinker. >> jim: it looked a little bit to me that hunter got blocked out. it looked like he had time. he could have run around the pli and probably seen it at a little better angle. i'm sure manny acta thinks that. there is your ge

willingham has it. two outs.t will be aubrey huff now. >> jim p.: remember ron, it's an interesting thing about slow breaking balls. it appears that you just look for it. kind of big and looping. i used to watch him and i go, why didn't he just look for that. then i got to hit off him, it was big but it was going straight down. hard to, that a ball can break that much and still, cuellar had one. the big overhand curveball. >> rob: like mussina, for many years had that knuckle curve. >> jim p.: with the spin it's just incredible. >> bob: i've had hitters tell me the pitch may not be coming in that fast, but it's spinning real fast. >> jim p.: he could kind of snap his fingers and flip the ball up. incredibly strong forearms and hands. >> bob: aubrey huff hits one to right, that ball is out of here and the orioles continue to hit home runs. all of their runs driven in with the long ball tonight. it's 5-3 baltimore. >> jim p.: the opposite of last night when you have 11 on the board and don't get a home run. this is

willingham, slicing away from gabe gross.is is one of the few ballparks where the bullpen is on the field of play. he did not have to contend with the mound but he was not far from it. >> rob: you see that warning track right there that's like crushed rubber, higher sneakers, et cetera. that's the warning track around the entire field. this is kicking up a little bit. one thing about being out here for the world series, that stuff is loose and it could kick up more like it does. you need that advantage when you are going towards the wall or towards the foul wall or anything to slow you up before you maybe run right over the wall. >> bob: 2-2 to josh willingham. that's ball 3 i 3 iwillingham may be about to add more to that batting average. rob, i know that you think it's unusual to have a turf field and then the full infield? >> rob: the only time i had seen that was during a tour -- there is a strikeout by garza, second out of the inning. that will bring up willie harris. but there is the edge. >> bob: you had some interesti

the ball hit to left field on the line and willingham juggles it out.here huff would not have scored on that bam. he was charged with an error. mora then comes up and a shot single and mora sing ts to right. wieters walks, an then andino finally grounds into a double play. none of those balls were rockets, except the ball to left field. the hardest hit ball in that inning was a ball that was hit by huff. but finally get the double play there. the fifth inning, cruised through that. sixth inning, base hit. reimold up the middle. a ball hit fairly sharply. and then scott singles to left. and blooping it over to shortstop. nine hits, and five of them were of the soft variety, but they count and he ended up with an early shower, five innings, five earned runs and i'm going to let you handle the rest of it, thanks a couple of walks and three strikeouts. 35 for balls. the bottom line he loses his fourth game of the year, and the orioles really had it going as far as hitting is concerned and pitching, and they win this ballgame 11-1. >> a pretty interesting gr

. >> johnny: drifting back is guzman calling off willingham and willingham calling off guzman and makes the catch. >> rob: that is the right play. cristian has to keep coming and so he called off willingham. >> johnny: nats xtra post game coming up in just a couple of minutes. hopefully they will be talking about a nationals win tonight. 3-2 they lead with two outs in the top of the 9th. beimel has retired jay bruce and alex gonzalez and will face the 1st baseman, adam rosales. >> rob: nice. josh bard behind home plate. he wanted that pitch low and beimel hit his spot perfectly. >> johnny: beimel going scoreless in 17 of his 24 appearances overall. the veteran left-hander, breaking ball for a strike. fans on their feet. >> 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 shou

a good ballgame tonight for josh willingham. got some good news about a good friend of ours and a guy who is trying to work his way back up to the big club. garrett mock, some interesting news when we come back. ♪ ♪ (tucci) count on the nation's fastest 3g network. at&t >>> many nats fans are saying what's happening down on the farm. you can see there. justin maxwell goes deep again, home run number 10 for the former maryland terrapin. >> he's swinging it. he has a home run about every second day now. >> in carolina league action, potomac knocks off winston- salem, that's a final. >> we had a little feature on him as he went to the all-star game and he's picking back up where he started left off. >> perfect time. that's the final. more from hagerstown, a couple of rbi's. we told you about garrett mock. he's been named, he won a bear of games, his e.r.a. was 0.60, a league best 15 innings pitched. options from the nationals earlier this year. he becomes the chief's player, first player to earn player of the week honors this seaso

over to third goes josh willingham. nick's onbase streak is over at 10. nice round of applause. they realize what has happened here and it will be a right handed, right handed match-up here as cito gaston will make a switch here. usually one of the last guys to bat in the previous inning which would be lind or rios in left or right. we'll see what he does. >> rob: and if this game does go into extra inning, we were told that there's only three pitchers available in the blue jays bullpen. they already burned one here. >> bob: joe england has come out of the inning. he is also listed as an infielder. i've never been all that great with my money. probably because i've never had much. but now that i'm making more, it's time to be a little smarter about how i manage it.. with the calendar, i can schedule all my payments. and when funds are low, danger days help me stay out of the red. i can also transfer money with just a click and a drag. so maybe i'm better with money than i thought. introducing the virtual wallet from pnc, a high-definition, online view of

a lot of them are newcomers here like josh willingham. just a fabulous kid. adam dunn's coming over here from cincinnati. they all try the do as much as they can off the field. ryan zimmerman. not going to meet a nicer kid than zimm. >> johnny: ball bounces off the bat. and a foul ball. i think it all starts at the top. when you look at the great philanthropic activities of the lerner family and what they do in this community, what they have done over the years. you and bob emceed the national gala. wonderful presentations that they had with mark lerner and his dad and his family. wife in charge. 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

walked zimmerman and willingham. and the pitch to kearns and it is 0 balls and two strikes. >> rob: austin's last ten games, 4 hits. no extra base hits. >> johnny: behind in the count now. fisher steps off that rubber. zimmerman, the tying run at second. and the 0-2. fouled out of play down the reefld line -- right field line. >> rob: again they are going fast slow, fast slow. 95 miles an hour fastball from fisher. 83 miles an hour curve ball. >> johnny: and there's no activity in that cincinnati bullpen. here's the pitch to kearns just outside and low. it is one ball and two strikes. >> rob: jesus colome. >> johnny: picked by the reds in the 11th round of that june 2005 first-year player draft. the 1-2 to kearns. checked swing. did he go through, yes he did. and that is the end of the inning. and the nationals threaten but can't get that tying run across. we go to the 8th at nationals park. >> johnny: welcome back. johnny holliday along with rob dibble. the nationals still trying to get back in this ballgame

there's the walk to willingham and kearns chases. as we talked about earlier, 12 runners left on base. the only real big inning there i thought was when dunn and dukes struck out with runners on second and third after they advanced on a wild pitch. >> byron: something we noticed at the patience at the plate, making the pitchers try to get the strike. got a couple of balls in there. not going for first or second pitch like they did maybe last night. >> ray: we have been pretty patient most of the year. i didn't think micah owings had tremendous control today. threw the ball pretty well but he walked four guys early and he hit a couple of guys, that set up those innings. it wasn't that we were swinging the bat. we had a lot of runners on base via the base on ball and hit batters. >> byron: josh willingham of the nationals had the flu, that viral bug a couple of weeks ago. yesterday talked so much about it. today very impressive performance for josh at the plate and in the field. >> ray: he is swinging the bat well. he hit the ball real

. >> 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, that's what you're paid to do. >> johnny: so he'll pitch for jason bergmann, takes a breaking ball outside, willingham two homers, driven in 12 in the last 15 games he has played going back to may 16th he has been very productive, .448 on-base percentage. hardrd to be all of

josh willingham looking for that home run by reimold. couldn't find it. it was two rows deep. >> martis's numbers tonight, he throws 98 -- 98 pitches, throws five innings, gives up the six hits, the four earned runs, three ground outs and 8 flyouts. what is the difference with them now than when he started out like a house afire. he did does have five of the nationals wins but he doesn't seem to be in that groove like he was earlier this season. >> in his mind, he doesn't know what pitch to use to put hitters away. he's got a good fastball, he has a good slider and he has a good change-up. he'll get one and two, but so many times it ends up being 3- 2, 2-2. picks here, picks there as opposed to getting a guy 1-2 and making up your mind what pitch you're going to go with and go with that pitch. try to get an out on a 1-2 pitch so you use only 3 and 4 pitches in that at-bat. he hasn't struck out very many people so that indicates he's not going to miss a lot of bats. that tells you his late movement doesn't surprise anybody. his change-up is his most effect

we'll see josh willingham up

willingham stays hot. his third hit. three hits for josh willingham. time now for you to text in your vote for the at&t player of the game. john lannan has hell the orioles to one run through seven innings. or oscar salazar who has the rbi. john lannan on the bench. >> rob: you don't know how happy that makes me feel when i see couple of national names up on that list and not three orioles guys. >> jim h.: it's all one big family here. >> rob: and if we do win today, it will be 12-12 in the beltway series a lot riding on this game. >> jim p.: if you really want to go, they would have won nine out of the last 16, too. make yourself feel better if you're a national fan or a national broadcaster. >> rob: there you go. >> jim h.: this is the final game of the interleague. the completion of the six interleague series. the orioles won five of the six interleague series. >> rob: that's going to be long flight now to marlinville. >> jim p.: no, it won't. on southwest it's 2:10 every time. always scheduled 2:25. they never leave late, but you might have some ai

you've had a chance to visit with a couple of guys josh willingham and adam dunn. they have their sons here with them at the ballpark. >> first of ail, happy father's day to all the dads out there. the nationals have a very, very family oriented organization, and a lot of times we see the sons and daughters of the players in the clubhouse, on the field. we'd got to spend private time with them. through the eyes of our photographer. >> it's just a good experience for everybody. >> he's going to have that camera on you, look. hold your bat and hit it that way, okay. show them how you can hit it. run, run! come back and slide into home. hit the ball. there you go! that one boy. there he goes. >> just being able to spend some time with him and seeing him enjoy himself in the batting cage down there when we play baseball is special. >> i hope that they got a chance to see the youngsters, because i think willingham who's two and brady dunn who's two and a half might have a future. let's keep dad in the game, prostate awareness day, and the players will be wearing blue br

and willie harris is on top, guzman, johnson, zimmerman, dunn, then josh willingham. so josh's numbers up to .278. >> rob: he went back to the minor leagues for a little bit, bob, maybe that attitude adjustment process or maybe just working on his pitches without the watchful eye of the major league media and everybody else might have helped him. give you the pnc bank scouting report on nicks. he's a big boy, don't lose that number, at the end of may, had a 9.07 e.r.a. since that a 1.8 in june. good command of all of his pitches, versus the washington nationals, he is captain destructive. >> bob: the marlins are the third worst defensive team in the national league. they've made 59 errors. they have a new left fielder chris coughlin who is also their lead-off man. emilio bonifacio is struggling, he's made 13 errors at third base. you know all the other guys. we see them a lot. rorntionz the former pirates catcher. >> rob: we got a good scouting report on carroll that he's an excellent right fielder. >> bob: first pitch of the ballgame is at 7:47, a delay of 47 minutes

willingham first career start ever in right field. batting 7th josh bard. on the mound tonight aaron harang for cincinnati in his 12 12th start. 89 hit, 76 and 2 third innings. >> rob: he will go out and give you a ton of innings. >> johnny: out of san diego state, right hander. >> rob: he's big and tall. >> johnny: quickly ahead of guzman. 2-4 night last night. r bi. dukes are a home run, his 6th. ryan misses out side. when you compare umpires and look at hernandez, he's not one to take a lot of lip off batters. >> rob: no he's not. he's been consistent coming into the major league. that's what a lot of umpires try to do. i'm going to be consistent whether i'm lenient, tough, a little more reserved. he's always been tough and consistent at that. i think, you know, you might not like him, but you respect him. >> johnny: line drive to left field. base hit for cristian guzman to lead off the bottom of the 1st inning. >> rob: last start 200th of his career, 201. derrick lee was the one thousand strike out victim. >> johnny: guzman kind of getting back in the s

full count to josh willingham. eight home run, 9 rbi, at the time last 25 games he's. >> rob: 50 home runs in 1987, 46 home runs, won 50 games. the point i'm trying to make is this, you're going to give up home runs. it's going to happen. you don't have to be embarrassed by it. you don't have to try to pitch away from contact a lot of times. we have guys guys with great stuff, great accountability. the biggest thing is getting over the hump. hit this one and hit the next one. it's repetition. >> johnny: joel getting up and loosening up in the bullpen now. ronny belliard will see what he can do here in the 6th. >> rob: you've got a good power hitter on deck. you can get on possibly with a base hit and make this a 2-1 game, put bard in a position to get us a lead or at least tie the score. >> johnny: as you look down the batting order, bard next and then martis will be hit four. belliard fouls it back. last night out of the bullpen all three guys were terrific. >> rob: execution out there. now we're in a little bit o

he was visibly shaken when he told us in his briefing about the willingham family yesterday. a double play by willie harris and johnson. detwiler is out of the 2nd inning.  >>> today's telecast celebrating the birthday of u.s. army on masn. we serve today for a safe tomorrow. panasonic computers. navy federal credit union. we serve where you serve. >> bob: well some clouds in the sky today. some cloud cover this morning made it pleasant on the way to the ball park. detwiler, the double play saving him pitchers against the good offensive ball club. >> bob: he's done things i said in the report, finish them off, be economical with the pitches. you've got to come right after them. so what if they hit it. >> bob: in contrast, zimmermann threw two innings last night. 4 strikeout, 37 pitches. >> rob: this is a double contact there. you can't bunt it twice even if you're that good. watch this. bunt. >> bob: did you see the angle of that ball coming off of home plate? it went out straight toward fair territory. that was interesting. i like it when the litt

welcome back, josh willingham from bereavement. great to have you back. tonight, the nationals trying to run their winning streak to 4, facing the blue jays. i'm johnny holiday along with mr. baseball in d.c., phil woods. great to have you with us. and a great crowd on hand as the nats extend a winning streak. happy you are along with us tonight to enjoy this ball game on a perfect night in washington. and there is a great buzz in the city about this ball club. they won three straight. we can't say they have quite turned the corner yet but they are closer to that point than they were a month ago. >> johnny: hard to believe, last night, the first extra ening victory for this ball club after going 0-for-8. when you talk about heroics, how about the 11th inning the way they battled and battled to get that run across. >> cristian guzman comes to bat in the 11th anding and knocks the ball back to the pirchtion nothinging his glove off. and then bases loaded, dunn comes up and he shows you he does not always hit a homerun. looks like a world series 7 game with

willingham coming in. josh will call off, cristian makes the catch end of the top of the first. we go to the bottom of the first. - it's on. - ( music playing throughout ) - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - totally on. jimmy, it's on. - it's on. - oh, yeah, it's on. affirmative, it's on. announcer: southwest airlines announces new service out of bwi airport, with three daily nonstop flights to new york laguardia for just 49 dollars one-way starting june 28th. grab your bag. it's on. - ( ding ) - book now at southwest.com. how far can you see? at pnc, taking the long view is how we help you take the right path. even to change it when conditions demand. keeping you on the road to achieving your goals. it's something we've been doing for over 150 years. let our strength and stability be the basis for yours. pnc. leading the way. ♪ 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: reds don't score

josh willingham moving to left field.ngs and john lannan as the nationals get ready for the cincinnati reds. trying to get one out of this series before they head to tampa bay. we are going get this one in. johnny holliday and rob dibble have the play-by-play next. enjoy the game. at pnc, taking the long view is how we help you take the right path. even to change it when conditions demand. keeping you on the road to achieving your goals. it's something we've been doing for over 150 years. let our strength and stability be the basis for yours. pnc. leading the way. for the next minute, i'm gonna show you what it's 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 a

willie harris in center, elijah dukes a lot more speed in right field today, josh willingham getting the start in left field. hernandez is over there at second now, nick johnson back at first base, guzman at short. a lot of speed out there. zimmerman at third base over there. getting the start today, john lannan, from new york. >> jim h.: born on long island. went to college at ciena which is up near albany. >> rob: had a chance to talk to his high school baseball coach when he was up in new york. he's a leader, he's got a big heart. i love watching this kid pitch. doesn't have the best stuff, but he's got the best approach. >> jim p.: but 88 to 93, that should get a lot of guys out if you can command your stuff. we all know he's got a good change-up. >> jim h.: looking at his numbers from last year, he went 9 and 15 and an e.r.a. of 3.91 and not seeing him all the time, the first wonder is how the heck can you go 9 and 15 with that impressive an e.r.a. markakis lifts it to left field. it hung up there just long enough for him and two men down. so markakis is retired and two away. he

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 leagues. relax and put some good at-bats together. >> johnny: and when you

. >> bob: josh willingham batting. the 1-0 pitch. t it is too tight.bergesen, really no bad innings, he allowed three consecutive hits and that led to a run and that was it. three up, three down first. he lad a two-out single in the third, a two-out walk in the fourth and a two-out in the fifth. >> jim: and really elijah dukes, maybe he showed the way the inning was going, but nolan reimold did his b.j. surhoff where he made an impression, he went down in the corner and made a perfect throw, otherwise elijah dukes just roars into third base and it looked like he was safe anyway, but the reimold throw made it close enough to get the call. >> bob: 3-1 the count on josh willingham. >> bob: albers has allowed two singles in this inning. the nationals now with seven hits. it is inside, ball four. and he has loaded the bases. so bergesen went six innings, baez one and now albers, and albers has allowed three base runners now with two men down. >> jim: i was watching him the other night, jim, and for a guy, one, he starts below his belt and then goes all the

. >> when josh willingham came to the ball clon, willingham -- ball club, he made it clear, i came here he's producing at maybe the right time as they head back down to florida tomorrow to start a series against his former ball club as well. >> josh has always been a hitter. you look all the way down to the minor leagues, he's been a guy that led his team in hitting, run production. when he plays every day and gets 500 at-bats, he hits 25 home runs. josh bard, very similar, he hit .338 one year for san diego, the next year he came back and hit .285 and drove in 51 runs in only 300 plate appearances. these two guys add a veteran presence in the line-up. they both are hot, swing the bat extremely well. josh bard, he's taken up a lot of that slack now that he's gotten his batting eye and getting good balls to hit that we lost when flores went out. >> it looks like the florida tooning of bard and nieves is working so 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

willingham, the base hit. zimmerman that got hit by a pitch by johnson, but he is in the lineup tonight and bards, a clutch base hit to right field and then arthur andersen hernandez ends up with a two- run single to left center field scoring two more runs. four big runs to give jordan zimmermann something to work with and we were never ahead as the offense was able to tack on in three other innings and get clutch base hits all night long and willie harris, the big home run after bard doubled in the seventh inning to put the ballgame away. >> you know the nationals 5-4, ray, and that run against the blue jays, the yankees, and the boston red sox, in fact, one time last week they had won four straight ballgames. might there be the turning point of the season for this club? >> i think it is a turning point because i believe these young pitchers believe they can pitch in the lig beg -- big leagues. and every time they go out and jordan zimmermann was nails. we have just gotten good pitching. martis strucked the o

our condolences to the entire willingham family. the ball club today to go down this morning to be with his family and just tragic news. manny acta, bob carpenter and rob dibble were talking about it. you can imagine, if you as a manager had to go through something like this during your days, how absolutely torn apart the entire organization is. >> johnny, there's i did have it a couple of times, when members of our family, someone close to them passed, one of our players passed, in spring training, a minor league player. words just aren't enough to express the sadness and the condolences and you know the pain that a little 27-year-old young man is just ripped from us. adenhart gone, and josh, such a sensitive guy, we've seen him so many times with his little son rocco and close family. just terrible. >> manny acta a few minutes ago kind of puts things in perspective when you think about baseball and how fragile life is. let's go back down to tropicana field, manny acta was talking about this loss tonight, talking in particular abou