Nationals have no answers for D-backs' Collmenter, 4-0

The Nationals' three-game winning streak has come to an end, thanks to a 4-0 victory Friday night by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Washington managed just three hits off Arizona right-hander Josh Collmenter, while Michael Morse, the team's hottest hitter, went 0-for-4, including striking out for the game's final at-bat. It was the first time Morse had been held hitless in 12 games.

Nationals right-hander Yunesky Maya made only a couple of mistakes, but it was enough on an evening when the Nationals could not get anything going. Arizona's Chris Young slammed a solo shot over the left field wall to begin the bottom of the second, his 10th homerun of the year, and gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead. Then, Stephen Drew's bases-loaded triple in the fifth off of Doug Slaten gave Arizona a commanding 4-0 lead that would never be challenged. The Nationals' first hit was a double by Ivan Rodriguez, while Ian Desmond and Laynce Nix also notched base hits, but that was it against Collmenter (4-1), who went seven innings, allowing no runs with five strikeouts and just one free pass. Collmenter threw 103 pitches, 67 of which were strikes, and never let the Nationals get much of a rally going on a night Jayson Werth sat out with a left elbow contusion. Maya (0-1) lasted four and 1/3 innings to suffer his first loss of the season. Livan Hernandez takes on his former club Saturday, opposed by Virginia Tech star Joe Saunders at 8:10 p.m.