Nats lament another night of missed chances

Four runs, with Stephen Strasburg on the mound, probably should have been enough for the Nationals tonight. It would've been enough in any of his final 10 starts last season.

This season, it's been a slightly different story. Three times in six starts, Strasburg has allowed four or more runs, including the five he surrendered to the Diamondbacks in 6 1/3 innings tonight.

So you could pin the Nationals' 5-4 loss on the right-hander, who twice was handed a lead by his teammates and twice gave that lead right back in the following half-inning. But you also could pin this loss - yet another one-run loss by a team that has dropped seven-of-eight of those contests to begin the year - on a lineup that had countless opportunities to score a whole lot more than four runs off Arizona starter Zack Godley and give Strasburg a whole lot more breathing room.

"He kept us in the game," manager Davey Martinez said of his starter. "We left 10 runners on base. That's tough. We had 11 hits, but ... leadoff hitter was on base almost every inning. We just have to capitalize and cash in."

The Nationals haven't been doing that with any regularity through the season's first four weeks, and they certainly didn't do it tonight in the opener of a 10-game homestand.

They put 13 runners on base in five innings against Godley, who was practically begging them to deliver a knockout punch. They went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, but neither of those hits - a bloop single and a bunt single, each to load the bases - actually drove in a run. They instead scored all of their runs via Howie Kendrick's two-run homer, Matt Wieters' ability to beat out a would-be double play and Wilmer Difo's sacrifice fly.

"Right now, not everybody's really swinging the bats the way we're capable of," said Kendrick, whose .303 batting average stands out like a sore thumb in a lineup loaded with guys hitting .250, .200 or even worse. "We've been kind of up and down with the bats a little bit. But guys are going to get it rolling. We've been hitting balls hard all year. We're just hitting into some bad luck. Those things are going to turn around.

"Like I said, the pitching's been doing a really good job of giving us opportunities to win. Hopefully we'll be able to do our part as position players."

The Nationals can point to the prolonged absences of lineup stalwarts Adam Eaton, Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy as a valid reason for their struggles. And they wouldn't be wrong. But the few proven healthy hitters they currently have in their lineup aren't delivering in big spots enough, either.

Take the bottom of the fourth tonight, when the Nats were presented with as opportune a situation as they're ever going to get: bases loaded, one out, Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman at the plate. The Diamondbacks had no choice but to pitch to Harper, and Godley was able to fool him with four straight curveballs before a fastball down and away that got him swinging.

"He gave me one pitch to hit - first-pitch curveball - then everything else was off the plate," Harper said. "There's a fine line of trying to stay awake in those at-bats and not let them lull yourself to sleep (with repeated off-speed pitches). Trying to have good at-bats and see what happens."

With Harper out of the way, Godley then zeroed in on Zimmerman, whose struggles in such situations have become too well known. When the veteran first baseman grounded out to end that inning, he fell to a staggering 2-for-29 with the bases loaded since 2016.

"I don't think they're pressing," Martinez said of his 3-4 hitters. "My big thing with Harp is that, hey, take your walks. If they're going to walk you, take your walks. Zim's been hitting the ball hard. ... We preach about being a better teammate. That's part of it. Take your walks for the next guy. Count on the next guy to try and drive you in, and Harp's been good with that."

Trust in teammates may be all the Nationals have to lean on right now during an 11-15 start that might be testing clubhouse resolve. On nights they pitch well, they don't hit enough. On nights they hit enough, they don't pitch well.

Add it all up and you've got a team that isn't getting blown out but is losing a whole lot of close games that would easily turn with just one key hit or one key pitch at the right moment.

"I think the biggest thing is, as long as we fight til the end," Strasburg said. "If we do that, then whatever. We give it everything we've got, and that's it. I gave it everything I had today, and it wasn't good enough. I'll live with that, and it's a new day tomorrow. If we can get 25 guys to do that, that's going to be huge."