Time running out for Nats after 6-4 loss

The Nationals got off to a rough start on their final homestand, suffering a costly 6-4 loss to the Marlins. Certainly the Nats will point to dropping six straight to the first-place Mets if they fail to make the playoffs, but they have also lost three of four to the Marlins over the last week. At 19 games under .500 for the season, Miami holds a 9-7 record over Washington this year.

Right-hander Tanner Roark was done in by the longball in his third straight start. Martin Prado blasted a two-run homer in the first and Justin Bour broke the game open with a towering three-run shot to right in the fifth.

"Gave up six runs," Roark said. "As a starter, you're not supposed to do that. You're supposed to limit the damage done, and I didn't do my job today. Honestly, that's the best I felt, coming out, throwing everything, all my pitches felt very good. But you know, a couple pitches I didn't execute and they hit 'em."

Bour, the Westfield (Va.) high school product, has killed the Nats with four homers and 11 RBIs this season.

"He's a powerful guy," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "If he gets the head of the bat on it, it can go a long way. He's been playing regularly and getting more and more at-bats at the big league level. A pretty good hitter."

Meanwhile, Marlins right-hander Jared Cosart, who entered the game with a 4.58 ERA, only allowed a two-run homer to Ian Desmond in the second to gain his second win over the Nationals in the last six days.

"It looks like he's getting back to form," Desmond said of Cosart. "I know he's only got like 60-something innings this year. I remember thinking back when they got him that he was going to be a nice addition to their rotation. He's got good stuff. He throws a 95 mph cutter, a curveball and an occasional changeup. He also throws the ball down on a good plane. It's hard to barrel that cutter up when it's cutting through the bottom of the zone. He also works quick and he lets his defense play. They've got a good defense over there and he trusts them."

Desmond had been one of the Nationals hottest hitters for much of the second half of the season, drilling six homers and driving in 26 runs in 42 games. But tonight was Desmond's first tater in September, ending an 18-game homerless streak.

After flying out to end the sixth with two men on, Desmond delivered with the bases loaded in the eighth. His two-out two-run single drew the Nationals within two.

Wilson Ramos then walked causing Marlins manager Dan Jennings to go to his closer A.J. Ramos with the bases again loaded and Michael A. Taylor at the plate. The threat ended quickly with Taylor seeing three straight sliders and whiffing on the last.

The Nationals went quietly in the ninth as they fell eight games behind the National League East-leading Mets with just 16 games remaining.

"The Marlins got a great staff," Bryce Harper said after going 2-for-4. "They can play. They hit the ball well. They play us pretty well. I think Bour ... that guy is pretty incredible against us. Prado, him, Dee Gordon - they all hit pretty well against us. We just gotta keep fighting, keep rolling and win some more ballgames and see where we're at."