They waited all week for someone to deliver the big hit that would snap the entire team out of its sudden offensive funk. They’ll still be waiting when they next take the field Tuesday night in New York, hoping success comes on the road, because it sure didn’t come at home.

The Nationals completed a disappointing series and a disappointing homestand this afternoon with a 4-2 loss to the Rangers, their scoring woes still the No. 1 factor at the end of a brutal week for their hitters.

The historic explosion that took place last week in Seattle and Arizona was nowhere to be found here in D.C. The same lineup that scored at least nine runs in four straight games out west scored a grand total of 11 over its last seven games, never scoring more than three in any individual contest yet still managing to win once a piece against the Cubs and Rangers (each time by the count of 2-0).

"It's hard to beat anybody," first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said. "It's hard to beat major league teams. It's hard to sweep a team. It's hard to win a series. At the same time, it can slip in a hurry. We're a couple breaks, I think, this week from winning two series against two pretty good teams. No sweat. It's still early. We've got a lot of good baseball in front of us. But, yeah, we obviously need to reevaluate, take stock, enjoy an off-day and get ready for a good week in New York."

They hoped something would spring them back into action this weekend against a Texas club struggling to score runs itself. But it never happened, not during Saturday’s shutout loss and not during today’s rain-delayed loss.

When it was all over, it was former Nationals reliever Robert Garcia (traded to the Rangers in December for Nathaniel Lowe) recording the game’s final four outs to secure his fourth save of the season, dealing Trevor Williams his seventh loss in the process.

"He's a very good left-handed pitcher," manager Davey Martinez said of Garcia. "I saw that in him. We used him in late innings here. We knew the potential. He threw the ball really well today. It stinks that it was against us, but that's his job and he threw the ball well."

The Nationals don’t typically count on more than five innings out of their No. 5 starter, but Williams has struggled to even make it that far in recent outings. In three of his last four starts entering today, the right-hander was pulled before recording more than one out into the fifth. The lone exception: his six scoreless innings in Seattle a week and a half ago.

Williams gave Martinez little reason to leave out there any longer this afternoon. After waiting out a 1-hour, 40-minute rain delay prior to first pitch, he put his team in an early 2-0 hole when he grooved an 87.9 mph fastball to Evan Carter and watched it sail to right-center for a second-inning homer.

Those would be the only two runs Williams allowed through the fourth, but with his pitch count already up to 72, he took the mound for the fifth on a short leash. Two batters later, Martinez was walking to the mound and signaling to his bullpen, Brad Lord asked to strand an inherited runner in scoring position.

Lord ultimately would allow that inherited runner to score, though that was made possible by an error charged to Lowe when the first baseman couldn’t handle Nasim Nuñez's throw from short for what should have been the second out of the inning. Nevertheless, the Rangers took a 3-2 lead on another short start by Williams.

"I got beat," Lowe said. "He threw it real hard, and I just didn't get my glove on it. I mean, I got my glove on it. But I didn't catch the ball."

Charged with two earned runs over his 4 1/3 innings, Williams now sports a 5.91 ERA in 13 starts this season. He doesn’t quite have enough innings to qualify for the league leaderboard, but if he did, that ERA would rank last among all major league starters. The fact he doesn’t qualify also speaks to a concerning issue: Williams isn’t making it deep into games, now averaging fewer than five innings per outing.

"All of our starting pitchers, every five days we take it serious," he said. "We expect to go out there no matter what and put up zeros. Unfortunately, I didn't do that today and it cost us a ballgame and it cost us a series."

Is Williams' spot in the rotation secure?

"Yeah, he's in the rotation," Martinez said. "He's gave up two runs when I took him out. It's not like ... it's just his pitch count gets up there."

The Nationals managed to give their starter two runs of offensive support today, but even that felt like a challenge. Facing a bullpen game from the Rangers, they sent the minimum to the plate through three innings against opener Jacob Latz, the left-hander striking out six of the nine batters he faced and wiping out the two batters who did reach with double plays.

Texas manager Bruce Bochy could’ve let Latz leave on a high note (not to mention 47 pitches), but he chose to send the lefty back to the mound for the bottom of the fourth. At which point Alex Call blasted a 93 mph fastball into the left field bleachers for his second homer of the season, only two days after he recorded his first.

"A couple days ago, I mentioned I feel a nice flow with my hands and rhythm," Call said. "I've just got to hold onto that going forward, stay in my routine and hold onto that."

Latz would depart a couple of batters later with an apparent blister or cut on his hand, leaving right-hander Jacob Webb to get out of the inning. The Nats found a way to push across the game-tying run when Josh Bell chugged out a potential 4-6-3 double play and narrowly beat the throw to first, allowing Amed Rosario to score from third.

But a lineup that had a whale of a time trying to plate runs all week still needed to find a way to plate a couple more before game’s end in order to win the series. The way things went all week, that wasn't going to happen.

Martinez and his coaches have been preaching the same message throughout: Quit chasing pitches down and out of the zone. Look for fastballs over the plate. If you don't get them, accept your walks.

What happens if that message doesn't get through?

"Look, if it doesn't get through, some of these guys, we're going to have to do something else," Martinez said. "We can switch the lineup. I can sit guys out. I might have to platoon guys. But when it does get through, you see the results. It's there. And they all can do it. I know it. I've seen it."

For what it's worth, the Nationals announced about an hour after the game ended they had optioned Nuñez to Triple-A Rochester. So they will have to add another position player before Tuesday night's game against the Mets. They don't typically have top prospects debut on the road, but perhaps they feel the time is now for 2021 first-round pick Brady House. Or perhaps they're ready to bring back Andres Chaparro, who is finally healthy and productive after injuring his oblique muscle late in spring training.

Whatever the decision, the first of potentially several changes designed to inject some life into a lineup that sorely needs it is coming.