Nationals can't overcome early deficit, lose 3-1 to White Sox

CHICAGO - A three-run first inning off Gio Gonzalez put the Nationals in an early hole. And even though the left-hander recovered nicely from that inauspicious first frame, his teammates couldn't duplicate their recent offensive exploits in their series finale against the White Sox, losing 3-1 to wrap up their longest road trip of the season.

Miguel Gonzalez, the former Orioles right-hander now trying bounce back with the White Sox, carried a perfect game into the fifth inning and departed after the sixth having allowed only three baserunners. The Chicago bullpen then finished it off for him, holding a Nationals lineup that had scored 31 runs over its last three games to minimal output in this one.

Daniel Murphy's leadoff homer in the fifth represented the Nationals' lone run off Miguel Gonzalez, who had retired all 12 batters he faced prior to that point.

Gio Gonzalez's night didn't begin in nearly as effective fashion. The left-hander gave up three first-inning runs via a pair of walks and back-to-back doubles by Melky Cabrera and Brett Lawrie.

On the heels of two straight shaky outings, Gonzalez appeared as though he might be headed down that same path. But he recovered nicely after that, retiring 19 of the last 22 batters he faced, nine of them via strikeout. He righted his ship so well, manager Dusty Baker let him retake the mound for the seventh inning with his pitch count at 104, then retired the side on 12 pitches to keep his team in the game.

The Nationals never could get much of anything else going against the Chicago pitching staff. They had two runners in scoring position with nobody out in the sixth, but Jose Lobaton was thrown out trying to score from third on a grounder to short, and Jayson Werth grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Though they couldn't pull off a sweep in Chicago, the Nationals did enjoy a successful 6-3 road trip. They swept the Phillies, lost two of three to the Reds and then took two of three against the White Sox to complete this 11-day jaunt.