Road trip winds down with huge opportunity

FLUSHING, N.Y. - The Nationals are nearing the end of their long 10-day journey through three National League East cities. After being swept by Miami and starting the trip 0-3 last weekend, the Nats have battled back to give themselves a chance to return to Washington with a respectable 5-5 split on the road.

"To bounce back from a tough series in Miami, this is a resilient group," Ian Desmond said. "We're gonna keep our heads up and keep pushing forward."

This afternoon's game also allows the Nats the opportunity to pull within four games of the division-leading Mets with a win.

"Just the way be been playing, to take three of four here would be huge," left fielder Jayson Werth said. "I hate to say that a game on May 3 is a big game but I would say that it is."

Lefty Gio Gonzalez put the Nats in this position with nine strikeouts in seven scoreless innings to grind out a 1-0 victory last night.

"As long as Gio throws the ball where he wants to throw it and gets ahead in counts, then he's really effective," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "When he gets in trouble, the ball is off the zone and getting behind. He didn't do that."

The Nats have experienced a myriad of problems leading to their 14 defeats already - from unlucky injuries to sloppy fielding to poor situational hitting to late-inning bullpen flops. They've all played a part in the Nats' baffling start. But what's been most surprising has been the inconsistency of Williams' highly-touted rotation.

"Obviously, they've been throwing a lot and things haven't necessarily gone their way every night," closer Drew Storen said.

But Storen secured yesterday's shutout win for Gonzalez, and the Nats now have received four consecutive quality starts from their imposing hurlers.

"They have the ability to do that," Williams said. "We would certainly like to score more than one to help 'em out. They can keep another team down and give us opportunities. That's great. It gives guys confidence on the offensive side if the guys are gonna pitch well and keep us in a game."

Catcher Wilson Ramos has masterfully called all four of those games. The six-year veteran extended his hitting streak to eight games with two more singles last night. He's 13-for-32 over that period, and his seven multi-hit games are tied for the team lead with right fielder Bryce Harper. Overall, Ramos is batting .300, and only Harper and Ryan Zimmerman have more RBIs than Ramos' 11 as he continues to pound the ball back up the middle in clutch situations.

"It feels great," Ramos said. "Behind the plate ... in front of the plate. It feels good right now. I've been trying to do my job. If I stay like that, I'm 100 percent sure I can help my team to win a lot of games."

So as this Jekyll and Hyde road trip winds down, we're left wondering if this Nationals team that's gone 4-1 starting with Tuesday's miraculous comeback in Atlanta is more indicative of the way they will play from here on out.

"I think you'll continue to see that," Werth said. "I don't expect us to play like we played in April all year. The pitching, the defense, the offense, timely hitting, all that stuff is gonna have to come. End of the year, we expect to be in the playoffs one way or the other. So one way or the other that stuff's gonna have to change."