A home run in the top of the ninth inning kept the Washington Nationals’ (34-35) hopes of staying above .500 alive, but a walk-off single by the Philadelphia Phillies (34-37) in the bottom half thwarted Washington’s plans for victory in their 5-4 loss.

The Nationals were down, 3-4, going into the ninth inning, and their chances of winning looked slim against Philadelphia’s closer Jonathan Papelbon, who had a 1.46 ERA and had secured 13 saves in 13 opportunities going into Monday night. However, Chad Tracy silenced a howling crowd at Citizens Bank Park when he hit a two-out, two-strike home run to tie the game for Papelbon’s first blown save since July 18, 2012.

Roger Bernadina struck out to end the top of the inning, so the Nationals turned to Fernando Abad to keep the game tied and carry them to extras. But, in only the second of 12 outings in which he allowed a run to score, Abad gave up three singles in the bottom half, including an equally dramatic two-out, walk-off single to Domonic Brown.

Brown, who went 2-for-4, and Ryan Howard, who went 3-for-3, were the players of the game for Philadelphia. Howard hit a leadoff home run off Dan Haren in the second inning, and batted in two of the Phillies’ five runs.

Haren had a decent outing in comparison to his recent performances, but he still left the game in line for the loss for the Nationals. Monday’s contest became the seventh straight game he has started that the Nationals have lost, though Abad was officially charged with the loss.

Haren threw six innings on 115 pitches, and gave up four earned runs, seven hits, three walks and one home run. This start marked the first time he had pitched into the sixth inning since May 30.

John Lannan did a fine job countering for the Phillies in his return from the DL, but he has yet to earn his first win for his new team. He threw 92 pitches in five innings, and allowed two earned runs on six hits, one walk and four strikeouts. Lannan was limited to a predetermined number of pitches in his first outing back since he was injured two months ago.

Jayson Werth, who is now hitting .333 off Lannan in 27 at-bats, got to him early by singling in the Nationals’ first run in the top of the first inning. Steve Lombardozzi and Kurt Suzuki, the seventh and eighth hitters in the lineup who combined to go 4-for-8, hit back-to-back doubles in the fourth inning to bring home the Nationals’ next run.

Lombardozzi was stranded at third base in the fourth, and the Nationals again left runners on base in the eighth inning, in what was probably their best chance to win the game outright. Ryan Zimmerman, who went 2-for-3, doubled, then scored on a two-out Ian Desmond single, but Adam LaRoche grounded out to end the eighth inning. LaRoche has gone 0-for-16 with six strikeouts in his last five games.

The fourth and eighth innings again highlighted the Nationals’ biggest struggle of late, which is not bringing home the runners who reach base. In total, they left six men on base, and went 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Until the Nationals can figure out a way to keep offensive momentum rolling through the lineup, they will likely continue to deal with frustrating losses such as Monday night’s anti-climatic defeat.

In a key series against their northern rivals, the Washington Nationals (34-34) will try to break out of an offensive funk to prevent the Philadelphia Phillies (33-37) from overtaking them in the standings.

The Phillies trail the Nationals by only two games in the National League East, and could again surpass the Nats into second place with a series sweep. However, the Phillies have not won a series against any team but the Miami Marlins since May 19, and have not completed a sweep against a team that isn’t the Marlins since taking three games from the New York Mets on April 28.

The Nationals won two of three against the Phillies in their first faceoff of the year and went 9-9 against them last year, so they have a history of success backing them up going into this series. But, the Phillies slash line of .250/.307/.397 bests the Nats’ line of .233/.292/.374 in every category as the Nationals continue to be befuddled by their inability to bring home runners the put in scoring position.

Leveling With Lannan

The Nationals will get their first shot at hitting the Phillies 4.25 team ERA on Monday night against none other than former-National John Lannan.

This will be Lannan’s first start since injuring his knee on April 17, as well as his first start against the team he spent eight years with after being drafted by them in 2005. He signed a $2.5 million, one-year deal with the Phillies this offseason, but has made only three starts for them due to his injury.

Lannan does not have very good numbers at his new home ballpark – a career-worst 6.05 ERA in nine starts there – which the Nationals have the opportunity to take advantage of in the series opener at Citizens Bank Park.

Only four current Nationals have faced Lannan before: Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche, Ross Ohlendorf and Chad Tracy. Werth has the most plate appearances against him, and has gone 8-for-24 with four homers in his career against the lefty.

If the Nationals can make the most of the numbers that are in their favor, perhaps they can start the series off on a good note, despite countering Lannan with Dan Haren, who has a 5.79 ERA in five career starts against the Phillies and six Nationals losses after his last six starts.

In The Zone

Anthony Rendon (2B) .500 AVG, .524 OBP, .800 SLG, 1 HR (last five games)

Who’s Hot?

Ben Revere (CF) .464 AVG, .464 OBP, .536 SLG, 2 SB (last six games)

Ryan Howard (1B) .391 AVG, .481 OBP, .478 SLG, 2 2B (last six games)

Who’s Not?

Domonic Brown (LF) .136 AVG, .231 OBP, .136 SLG, 4 SO (last six games)

Freddy Galvis (2B) .130 AVG, .200 OBP, .304 SLG, 3 SO (last six games)

Probable Starters

6/17, Dan Haren (4-8, 5.70 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 59 SO) vs. John Lannan (0-1, 6.14 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 7 SO, 3 GS)

6/18, Ross Detwiler (2-4, 3.02 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 25 SO) vs. Cliff Lee (8-2, 2.55 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 89 SO)

6/19, Gio Gonzalez (3-3, 3.40 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 82 SO) vs. Kyle Kendrick (6-4, 3.76 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 56 SO)

The Washington Nationals (33-32) will take their season-long search for momentum to Ohio as they face off against the Cleveland Indians (32-33) for an interleague series.

The Indians are in second place in the AL Central, but recently suffered through an eight-game losing streak before taking two wins against the Texas Rangers this week. The Nationals also won their most recent two games, and have won four of their last five, so both teams are in a position to gain traction in the standings during this meeting.

The Indians are 18-12 at home, but Gio Gonzalez, who will get the ball in the series opener, will attempt to take away their home field advantage with his impressive stats there. Gonzalez has a 0.68 ERA with 27 strikeouts and a 4-0 record in four starts at Progressive Field.

The Nationals lost a series in Cleveland in 2010, putting their overall record against the Indians at 3-3, so they will be looking to attain their first road series win against the Indians in this faceoff.

The Indians have a solid offense, with a .256/.323/.426 slash line, and are tied for fifth-most home runs in the majors (77). However their pitching is not nearly as strong, which could be an opportunity for the recently resurgent Nationals bats to break out. Cleveland has the fourth-worst ERA in baseball (4.42), with the third-most walks (236) and a .251 batting average against.

Starting Strasburg

Stephen Strasburg will make his first start since May 31, when he lasted only two innings against the Atlanta Braves due to a lat strain. With Strasburg back in the rotation, all five of the Nationals starting pitchers will be healthy for the first time since May 15.

After a slightly rocky start to his season, Strasburg had begun to settle in before getting injured. In his last five starts, he had posted a 1.20 ERA with 29 strikeouts, lasting through the seventh inning or later three times. The Nationals will look for him to resume that level of dominance in his return, as their chase of the first-place Braves heats up with the summer.

In The Zone

Ian Desmond (SS) .404 AVG, .433 OBP, .579 SLG, 2 HR, 12 RBI (15-game hitting streak)

Who’s Hot?

Kipins (2B) .417 AVG, .481 OBP, .625 SLG, 1 HR, 3 SB (last six games)

Santana (C) .273 AVG, .333 OBP, .455 SLG, 4 2B (last six games)

Who’s Not?

Mark Reynolds (3B) .174 AVG, .208 OBP, .174 SLG, 9 SO (last six games)

Nick Swisher (1B) .125 AVG, .222 OBP, .125 SLG, 9 SO (last six games)

Probable Starters

6/14, Gio Gonzalez (3-3, 3.59 ERA, .206 BAA, 74 SO) vs. Justin Masterson (8-5, 3.68 ERA, .223 BAA, 92 SO) 

6/15, Jordan Zimmermann (9-3, 2.00 ERA, .205 BAA, 61 SO) vs. Scott Kazmir (3-4, 5.33 ERA, .299 BAA, 53 SO)

6/16, Stephen Strasburg (3-5, 2.54 ERA, .216 BAA, 73 SO) vs. Corey Kluber (4-4, 4.08 ERA, .265 BAA, 57 SO)

The Washington Nationals (33-32) were powered to a 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies (35-32) behind a strong offensive effort led by Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond.

In his first start since coming off the disabled list, Ross Detwiler set the table for the win. He threw 77 pitches in five complete innings, and allowed three earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts.

Detwiler gave up a single to Dexter Fowler on the first pitch he threw since he was injured on May 15. Tyler Colvin, who had to enter the game on short notice after Carlos Gonzalez was injured by a foul ball that hit him in the on-deck circle, hit another single to score Fowler. But that was the lone run of the first inning, and Detwiler settled in until the fourth inning when he allowed two more runs to score.

The offense brought the run support for their starter, though, with fantastic offensive performances by both Zimmerman and Desmond. Zimmerman went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, two of which came off a home run in the third inning after Detwiler notched his first hit of the year. Desmond went 4-for-4, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games. Anthony Rendon also added to his career-high hitting streak of eight games by going 1-for-3.

Desmond starred in an unusual seventh inning, when the Nationals were awarded 180 feet of free bases on two balks by Rockies’ reliever Wilton Lopez. Desmond led off the inning with a single, then stole second base. During a four-pitch at-bat to Steve Lombardozzi, Lopez was called for balking twice, sending Desmond to third base and then home to tie the game.

The Nats followed the two-balk inning with some real offense in the eighth. Roger Bernadina and Zimmerman hit back-to-back doubles to give the Nationals the lead. After Adam LaRoche walked, Desmond singled to bring home another run. Rendon walked to load the bases, but Kurt Suzuki grounded out to end the inning, his third inning-ending at-bat of the day.

It seemed Suzuki was playing the role of rally killer through all four of his at-bats. He went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, and was responsible for leaving seven men on base, three of which were in scoring position.

Since Wilson Ramos’ second hamstring injury, Suzuki is batting .203/.247/.232 with just four walks in 73 plate appearances. Ramos was batting .250/.308/.438 with four walks in 52 plate appearances.

Though Ramos’ stats are not exponentially better than Suzuki’s, an offense that struggles to score runs as frequently as the Nats’ offense does could use the boost from a healthy Ramos. Unfortunately, that boost will not come until likely after the All-Star Break, after Ramos suffered a setback in his rehabilitation process three days ago.

With Thursday’s victory, the Nationals won their second consecutive series and moved one game over .500. The Nats have an opportunity to break their trend of being unable to secure more than two consecutive wins as they take the momentum from winning the final two games of the series to Cleveland.

The Washington Nationals (31-32) were in a perfect situation to create some momentum on Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies (35-30).

They had just put together 24 hits and 12 runs in one day during a doubleheader sweep on Sunday, and they were taking that impressive offensive effort to a ballpark that is notoriously kind to hitters.

But as they have struggled with all season, they just weren’t able to make that momentum stick. The Nats continued their five-week long trend of being unable to win more than two games in a row with their 8-3 defeat by the Rockies.

They had at least one man on base in seven of nine innings, but went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.

The beginning of the game favored the Nationals. They scored first on a Denard Span two-run double, and Dan Haren was dealing through the first four innings. He gave up just two hits and struck out five batters on 56 pitches with two 1-2-3 innings.

But it would have been a miracle if Haren had escaped Coors Field without allowing a single home run, and in the fifth inning he gave up two, a two-run homer to Tyler Colvin and a three-run shot to Carlos Gonzalez. The Rockies batted around in that inning, and Haren gave up a total of six hits and one walk to allow Colorado to score five runs and take the lead.

Haren now leads all Major League pitchers with 17 home runs allowed, and according to Amanda Comak of the Washington Times, 63% of the 46 earned runs Haren has given up this season have come by way of home run.

The Nationals know that Haren has this tendency, though, and were likely even more aware of it coming to Coors Field, where baseballs are very prone to leaving the park. Yet they were not able to score enough runs to overcome the deficit their starter had created.

They scored one more run in the eighth inning, when Jayson Werth walked and then scored on an Ian Desmond single, which extended his hitting streak to 13 games, but that was it for the offense.

The Nationals’ pitching staff did a decent job of shutting down the Rockies’ best hitters. Gonzalez struck out four times, but redeemed himself of his Golden Sombrero with his home run in the fifth, which was his team-leading 18^th of the year. Troy Tulowitzki, who came into the game batting .353, also struck out twice and had zero RBIs, but went 2-for-4.

Erik Davis and Fernando Abad combined for two scoreless innings, keeping Abad’s ERA at 0.00 through 10 outings since being called up by the Nationals.

Drew Storen had his own streak of seven scoreless outings coming into Tuesday night, but when he came in to pitch the eighth he made a mess of the inning quickly. He gave up four consecutive hits – two singles, a double and a home run, Colvin’s second two-run shot of the night – before walking Dexter Fowler to load the bases with no outs. Storen induced a double play, but one more run scored before he struck out Gonzalez to end the inning.

The Rockies got a total of 14 hits off Nationals pitchers, and the Nats offense was unable to match the Rockies’ effort. With the loss, the Nationals fell below .500 for the fifth time, and will again find themselves searching for something to inspire momentum as they try to avoid a series loss on Wednesday. 

The Washington Nationals (31-31) are heading west to face the Colorado Rockies (34-30) after just completing a doubleheader sweep in what was possibly one of the most encouraging displays of offense they have put together all season.

They will now have the opportunity to keep their bats hot and their winning streak rolling in the hitter-friendly home of the Rockies.

Offense Inspiration

In their most recent series against the Minnesota Twins, the Nationals took a more aggressive approach, which resulted in a more confident, healthier-looking offense, and Colorado could be just the place to keep that spark glowing.

As Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post pointed out yesterday, the Nationals were hitting a mediocre .238/.304/.387 going into their first faceoff with the Rockies last year, but saw their offense come alive in Colorado. They scored 12, 11 and 10 runs in each game of the series, and they continued to dominate offensively through June and the remainder of the season.

For a team that has struggled all season with keeping offensive momentum going, there are few better places than Colorado for them to visit at this point in the season to try to repeat history.

Trouble With The Long Ball

The home run ball has been dilemma for Dan Haren this year, and it is about to challenge him in probably the last ballpark Nats fans would choose to see him pitch: Coors Field.

In 12 starts this season, Haren has given up 15 home runs, which leads the National League. As a team, the Rockies have hit the third-most home runs in baseball (83), and have hit 16 already in June. Over half of their home runs have been hit out of Coors Field, which is a park renowned for its tendency to let baseballs escape the confines of its walls.

Needless to say, the series opener when Haren faces off against Jhoulys Chacin, who has given up only two home runs all season, could be an interesting one, and Haren will certainly not want to leave any balls up in the zone for a team that knows how to hit them, and hit them far.

Injury Update

Although it has not been officially announced, pitcher Ross Detwiler is expected to be back in the starting rotation on Thursday after making his final rehab start at Class A Potomac. Detwiler has been on the disabled list with a strained oblique, retroactive to May 16, and his return to the rotation will do nothing but help the injury-riddled Nationals.

In The Zone

Ian Desmond (SS) .340 AVG, .354 OBP .553 SLG, 2 HR, 7 RBI (12-game hitting streak)

Who’s Hot?

Troy Tulowitzki (SS) .480 AVG, .552 OBP, 1.040 SLG, 4 HR, 8 RBI (last six games)

Carlos Gonzalez (LF) .240 AVG, .321 OBP, .800 SLG, 3 HR, 12 RBI (last six games)

Who’s Not?

Eric Young (RF) .136 AVG, .174 OBP, .136 SLG, 5 SO (last six games)

Wilin Rosario (C) .133 AVG, .133 OBP, .400 SLG, 5 SO (last four games)

Probable Starters

6/11, Dan Haren (4-7, 5.45 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 53 SO) vs. Jhoulys Chacin (3-3, 4.59 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 43 SO)

6/12, TBA vs. Jorge De La Rosa (7-3, 3.38 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 48 SO)

6/13, Ross Detwiler (2-4, 2.76 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 23 SO) vs. TBA

In this penultimate episode before Craig leaves on his honeymoon, we have a lot to talk about since last week. We talk about the moves made around the Danny Espinosa DL trip, the walkoffs, the wins and losses, and everything in between. We also heap praise upon Jordan Zimmermann some more and add MLB draft talk into the mix, along with the usual shenanigans.

The Washington Nationals (31-31) did, in fact, save some offense for the second game of their day-night double header against the Minnesota Twins (27-33) in an impressively offensive day for a team that has been struggling to score runs.

After blowing out the Twins in a 7-0, 14-hit victory in Game 1, the Nationals notched 10 more hits in their 5-4 win in Game 2.

By scoring 12 runs in the sweep of the double header, the Nationals scored more runs in one day than they had previously scored in the entire month of June, and overcame a three-run deficit for the first time all season.

Jayson Werth went 2-for-4 in the second game with two RBIs, going 4-for-7 over both games, as he continues to illustrate how instrumental having a complete, healthy lineup is for the Nationals to win games. Werth is batting .300 (6-for-20) with four RBIs since his return from the DL on June 4.

On the pitching side, the Nationals were less impressive than they were in the first game, but got the job done, nonetheless. 

Nathan Karns didn’t last long in what was probably his last start with the Nationals before being sent back down to Triple-A Syracuse. He threw 74 pitches in three complete innings, and ran into trouble in each of them.

Karns allowed four earned runs on five hits, one home run and three walks, with two strikeouts. His abbreviated outing made Jordan Zimmermann’s seven-inning effort during the day game even more crucial to the Nats bullpen, which employed six relievers to pick up where Karns left off.

Craig Stammen did a fine job in relief of Karns, pitching two shutout innings, facing the minimum six batters and striking out one. He would have gone deeper in the game, but a 12-minute rain delay interrupted his outing and he was pulled in favor of a fresh arm.

Erik Davis followed Stammen, and got into a jam right away, giving up a leadoff triple to Eduardo Escobar. He got Pedro Florimon to ground out before Davey Johnson brought in Fernando Abad to finish the inning.

Abad’s appearance was highlighted by Anthony Rendon’s phenomenal leaping catch on a liner headed for the right centerfield gap, which saved a run and ended the inning. With Rendon’s help, Abad has not yet allowed a run to score, including four inherited runners, in nine relief appearances for the Nationals.

Tyler Clippard earned the win, and he and Drew Storen each pitched a scoreless inning to set the table for Rafael Soriano to earn his 16^th save. Although he did it in a dramatic fashion, allowing a two-out walk to Chris Herrmann in front of a Joe Mauer single, Soriano got former-National Josh Willingham to pop out to end the inning and clinch the win.

The win for the Nationals offense was a multi-inning endeavor, as they scored one run apiece across five different innings.

Werth’s singles in the first and the third brought in two runs, capitalizing on two singles from Roger Bernadina and a walk and a single from Ryan Zimmerman. A sacrifice fly from Adam LaRoche in the fifth brought home Denard Span, who had walked to lead off the inning.

Span batted in a run of his own in the sixth inning by ripping a triple down the right field line to tie the game after Rendon had opened the inning with a single. Span’s triple tied him for second-most triples in the majors with six.

Finally, LaRoche and Ian Desmond hit back-to-back doubles in the seventh to give the Nationals the lead. Desmond’s double extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.

Every high point of the game had its downside though, as almost every time the Nationals scored, they were in a position to score more than just one run, but failed to keep the momentum going. They left nine runners on base, and went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

However, the offensive performance in each of the games of the double header were a much more encouraging display of potential than what the Nationals have been showing recently. If they take Johnson’s advice and stay in “attack mode” at the plate, they should be able to keep their offense rolling as they head to hitter-friendly Coors Field in Colorado.