It's got to get better in a little while

ATLANTA - With the Nationals mired in a five-game losing streak and staring seven more games remaining on this road trip, it's hard to find reasons for promise. They've lost 12 games in 12 different ways. Injuries have certainly played a part, but shouldn't be recognized as the main problem.

"I can tell you this: When you start the season and you're missing your one, two, three hitter, you're at a disadvantage in that regard," manager Matt Williams said. "But the other parts of the game, we can take care of. It's the first 19 games. We did start a little bit slow last year defensively and came out of it. I fully anticipate that will be the case again."

Expectations are nothing new for left-hander Gio Gonzalez in his fourth year in D.C. He's been part of teams that have won National League East titles in 2012 and 2014, while also realizing the disappointments of 2013. After taking the loss yesterday, Gonzalez could only leave hope for his team making a turnaround when it finally gets to full strength.

"It's tough," Gonzalez said. "We're battling. Some guys are coming back from injury. They're making their adjustment. Baseball does take a little toll on you, but hopefully we make the adjustment soon and enough and make a turn for the better. I think that soon we should be getting (Anthony) Rendon back. Some guys feeling a little healthier and we'll see the results. We're making the adjustment and still fighting through it."

Rendon could potentially return later this week after spending the most of the first month on the disabled list with a sprained left MCL. He is 2-for-4 through two games of his minor league rehab stint at Double-A Harrisburg. After a scheduled day off yesterday, Rendon is set to play seven innings tonight and then a full nine tomorrow in Harrisburg followed by a full evaluation.

Rendon's eventual activation injects a lethal bat into a Nats lineup that is craving runs.

"It stretches us, it makes us deeper," said Williams. "The problem is, I would not anticipate Anthony coming back being full-Anthony. We've seen that with Jayson (Werth). We've seen that a little bit with Denard (Span). Anytime you have that extended layoff, you're just not full as if you would be after six weeks of spring training and 20 games."

"But it will certainly be nice to have him back in our lineup. He's an integral part of it. He extends our lineup. He gives us great at-bats. It does a lot during the course of a game to have a guy that has extended at-bats against an opposing pitcher. All of those things help. He's a vital part. We're anxious to get him back when he's ready to play."

Werth has played 11 games since he came off the disabled list after a lengthy rehab from offseason shoulder surgery. Werth hasn't come away with much success at the plate so far. He's only 7-for-41 (.171) with 10 strikeouts.

"I don't feel bad," Werth said. "I'm squaring balls up, having good at-bats. I gave away a couple (yesterday), but for the most part, I'm hitting the ball hard, recognizing pitches. I feel like that portion of finding your swing should be over with. I don't know how many balls I've hit hard this year for outs. I flipped one in there yesterday. I might just try to start flipping balls over the first baseman's head and stop hitting them so hard."

"What are you going to do? It is what it is. It's got to turn for us, that's the bottom line. You don't have any luck, you've got to make your own luck. Hopefully, we can start doing it tomorrow."

Most of Williams' daily media sessions are filled with injury-related questions. Undoubtedly, he's spent countless hours, probably many in the middle of the night, trying to come up with lineups that may trigger production. But he knows that the game doesn't wait on excuses.

"Early, mid, late, if we don't execute, then we will get beat," Williams said. "If we don't do things right, then we will get beat. That's simple baseball, so regardless of what month it is - granted, we do have some guys coming back from injury, that takes time to get in the flow - but we still have to get things done on the baseball field. Nobody cares if we have guys coming back off the disabled list and haven't had a whole lot of at-bats. The other team certainly doesn't care. We need to grind and make sure that we're doing it right."