Home not so sweet for Nationals after series loss to lowly Rockies

The Nationals blew a prime opportunity to gain ground on the New York Mets by dropping two of three to the lowly Rockies with this afternoon's 6-4 loss. After being swept out of the Big Apple last weekend, the Nats looked to take advantage of seven games in D.C. against the sub .500 Diamondbacks and the Rockies, who live in the basement of the National League West.

But the Nationals managed to take only three of the games during the disappointing homestand. The Rays had beaten the Mets earlier today, leaving a chance for the Nats to pull within a 1/2 game of in the NL East. However, Max Scherzer lost a one-run lead in the sixth, and then after the Nats tied it, Drew Storen allowed two more runs in the eighth.

"It's just unfortunate the way this series turned out and how we lost this series," Scherzer said after surrendering three solo homers. "It leaves a sour taste in our mouth because we know we are able to win all three and we lost two of three. That's what we gotta do is play better baseball and do the small things just a little bit better, and all of a sudden, we're going to go on a roll."

Ryan Zimmerman continued swinging a hot bat, smacking solo homers to deep center in the second and third innings. It was Zimmerman's 13th career multi-homer game of his 10-year career. The veteran first baseman has now delivered RBIs in seven straight games, the second longest such streak in Nationals history.

"We're a 1 1/2 games or a 1/2 game behind (win or lose) honestly," Zimmerman said. "I don't know if anyone even knew the Mets already lost. We really don't pay attention to that, yet. I mean, we know now obviously after the game, but we're not sitting there watching the scoreboard in August. It's always nice to win a game when the team you're chasing loses, but it's 1 1/2 games. It's one sweep and one team going 0-3, and then you got a two-game lead."

Zimmerman also drew a walk in the ninth to load the bases with one out and the Nationals trailing by two. But Jayson Werth struck out and Ian Desmond grounded out to end the game.

"When you lose, people start to nitpick and look at where you could have taken advantage or where things went wrong," said Werth, who hit back-to-back homers with Zimmerman in the second. "It's simple. You win the games, we're not sitting here talking about it. You lose, we are. It's part of it. Again, we're right there. We got a great club. We believe in each other. We got a long, hard road ahead of us, and I feel like we're up for the task."

Meanwhile, Nationals manager Matt Williams continued to look to the upcoming West Coast road trip as a new day for the Nationals, saying this 3-4 stay at home is already behind them. Williams got a bit heated when challenged by a reporter, who asked how the team can get better without looking back at losses.

"That's what you would think," Williams shot back. "What I would think as the manager of this club is that we must play tomorrow, and if we don't win tomorrow or have the plan to win tomorrow, what the hell are we doing here? That's what I think. So for me, it is in the past. There's nothing we can do about it right now.

"Of course we want to get better. Of course we want to win games. And what we do right now is jump on that plane with a good attitude and go get the Dodgers and see what we can do. What other choice do we have? Pretty much none. So we'll go do that."

Storen owns both losses to the Rockies this weekend, giving up Carlos Gonzalez's game-winning grand slam in the eighth on Friday and then surrendering the two late runs today.

"It's gonna be a tough road trip, but it's gonna be a good test for us and obviously with some of the adversity we've been facing here," Storen said. "So it's a good opportunity for us to really play some good baseball."

In what could be a defining moment for the disposition of the team, the Nationals embark on an 11-day, 10-game journey out west, which begins in L.A. tomorrow and then moves to San Francisco on Thursday before finishing up in Colorado next week. Along the way, they'll face the likes of Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner. There will still be plenty of baseball left when they return. How meaningful it will be could be determined by whether this veteran filled roster can maintain their composure and play at their expected level.