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In three hours and 38 minutes of baseball on a muggy afternoon at Nationals Park on Thursday, the Nationals managed to pull everything they've been doing wrong for the last week into one nine-inning stretch.
John Lannan let the Marlins start rallies with walks, and paid for them with runs. He failed to look Mike Cameron back on a bunt, letting him score when he threw to first. Ian Desmond got caught stealing third base for the third out of an inning. And the Nationals still couldn't hit, despite stacking eight right-handed batters in a lineup against a starter (Marlins lefty Brad Hand) who'd made six major league starts.
The 5-2 loss to the Marlins was an appropriate end to their worst home series of the year. The Nationals got swept at home for the first time this season, and have now lost nine of 12 since the All-Star break.
Ryan Zimmerman had four hits, but all of them were singles. And Jayson Werth had two singles with a combined five men on base, but they only scored two runs. The rest of the day, the Nationals had just one other hit.
They'll try to get things going again tomorrow when Chien-Ming Wang faces the Mets. But they haven't been this low in a long time.
More from the clubhouse in a little bit.
