Nationals lose ground after 5-0 shutout loss

Rookie right-hander Joe Ross labored through the shortest outing of his young career and the Nationals failed to score against Dodgers ace Zack Greinke for the second time this year, falling 5-0 to slide 2 1/2 games behind the Mets in the National League East.

Ross had displayed pinpoint control through his first seven starts, walking just four batters while striking out 47 over 45 innings since making his major league debut on June 6. But on Tuesday night, the 22-year-old had to battle out of the second after issuing back-to-back walks to start the frame.

"I think his command with his backdoor breaking ball wasn't as sharp and got him behind in some counts," Nationals manager Matt Williams told reporters. "But he made adjustments when he needed to. He went out there and gave us a chance again, so I like the way he's going about it."

Andre Ethier led off with a triple in the fourth. Moments later, Ross hung a slider and Yasiel Puig deposited it deep into the seats in left-center field for a two-run homer.

Consecutive singles from Jimmy Rollins and Alberto Callaspo to start the fifth followed by a two-out walk to Yasmani Grandal set up another big stage for Puig.

Ross attacked with a sinker that ran inside, but Puig managed to get enough of the barrel on it to flare it to right. Clint Robinson, starting for the injured Bryce Harper, hurried but his sliding, backhanded attempt was unsuccessful. The ball bounced and skipped away, allowing all three runners to score on Puig's triple. That ended Ross' evening after surrendering five runs on six hits with four walks and one strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings.

"(Ross) made two really good pitches on Yasiel," Williams explained to reporters. "The first-pitch fastball that he swung through and then he threw it again and jammed him, but he fisted it in there."

The play emphasized the absence of Harper, who most likely uses his speed and experience to make the play.

"(Robinson is) not our normal right fielder, for sure," Williams told reporters. "He gave it every effort. He almost got it, just out of his reach."

Obviously, the Nats also missed Harper's bat in the lineup. Despite coming up with six hits against Greinke, the Nationals never had a base runner reach third base as they were shut out for the seventh time this season. Greinke is now 2-0 against the Nats this year without yielding a run over 14 innings.

"He's a good pitcher," Williams said to reporters. "He makes quality pitches when he needs to and he did that again (Tuesday night). We couldn't do much against him period. We had some opportunities."

Harper was a late scratch just over two hours before first pitch with soreness in his left knee. The Nats slugger was injured attempting two diving catches in Monday's 8-3 win.

"It's day-to-day right now," Williams told reporters before the game. "We'll just have to see how it is (Wednesday). On occasion, he bangs that knee. That's the side that he's had some issues with and when he hits it hard, sometimes it swells up on him. He doesn't have any issue structurally as we can see. It's just swollen. We'll get him out of there and hopefully he's ready to go (Wednesday)."

A stellar pitching battle is set for Wednesday's rubber match. The Nationals send right-hander Jordan Zimmermann to the hill against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.