Nats express disappointment after season-ending 3-2 loss

SAN FRANCISCO - They sure made things interesting.

From earning the best record in the National League to Jordan Zimmermann's no-hitter on the last day of the regular season, the Nationals became, to many, the team to watch in the postseason.

Who could beat their pitching staff, a rotation in which the postseason's odd man out pitched to a 2.85 ERA during the regular season? Beyond their rotation, the Nats bullpen shut down teams and Drew Storen had emerged as a lights-out closer.

However, in the end, it was the team's own lack of offense and a few miscues that sent the Nationals home to D.C., packing their bags after falling to the Giants three games to one in the National League Division Series, capped off with a 3-2 loss in San Francisco on Tuesday night.

"Really frustrating right now," first baseman Adam LaRoche said. "But we put ourselves in position, honestly. There's a lot of teams that can't say that. It hurts to get knocked out in the first round again. We just didn't hit. ... Hard to win games when you got two of the eight guys swinging the bats."

On Tuesday, the Nationals found themselves in a do-or-die situation, down two games to one in the NLDS after staying alive with a Game 3 win in San Francisco. And, as was the story for most of the series, the bats came up short.

"That was the story of the series right there. A lot of us didn't really play to our capabilities this series, and you know, they outplayed us this series, point-blank, period. We didn't swing the bat at all," center fielder Denard Span said. "That's it, man. It starts with me at the top, and I didn't do my job so, a lot of us didn't do our job so (it's) too bad."

The Nats were also plagued by early errors that ended up costing them. In the second inning, with a man on first, the Giants' No. 8 hitter, Juan Perez, reached on an error by starter Gio Gonzalez. What looked like a potential double play ball turned in to two men on with one out.

Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong then bunted his way on, Gregor Blanco worked a bases-loaded walk and Joe Panik recorded an RBI groundout for a 2-0 Giants lead in the second.

"I thought that ball was hit (by Perez) harder than it was. Kind of, it's almost like a changeup coming at you," Gonzalez said. "I saw it all the way to my glove and just picked it up just right at the end.

"The bunt down third, I couldn't hear Rendon, I swore he must have said, 'I got it, I got it,' but it was 'One, one, one,' so that's my fault, 100 percent. I should have done a better job getting those outs, and obviously, it's a different ballgame."

Gonzalez yielded two unearned runs, but still gave his team a chance to win, as he went on to pitch two more scoreless innings before Matt Williams elected to go to Tanner Roark.

And Bryce Harper did all he could to get the team back in the game.

In the fifth, he roped a double into left to cut the Giants' lead in half and two innings later, he deposited a ball into McCovey Cove to tie the game up.

"I thought it was going to blow foul," Harper said. "I wasn't sure, the wind was kind of swerving a little bit. ... (In a) 2-1 ballgame, you hit a homer, you know to tie it up in the seventh, you know, that's something you dream about, so (to) be able to do that my emotions are, I'm going crazy."

However, the lead didn't last long - the bottom half of the inning, to be exact. Matt Thornton entered the game, but after the left-handed recorded just one out and gave up two singles, Williams called upon Aaron Barrett.

Barrett walked Hunter Pence before throwing a wild pitch that plated Joe Panik, giving the Giants a 3-2 lead. Barrett then threw another wild pitch while attempting to intentionally walk Pablo Sandoval. However, the ball bounced off the backstop, and Wilson Ramos threw the ball to Barrett, who tagged out Buster Posey at the plate.

But that one-run lead was all the Giants needed. The only baserunner for the Nats in the last two frames was Harper, who drew a walk in the ninth.

The Nats offense once again fell dark for one more game before what will be a long offseason. They managed just four hits in the 3-2 loss and plated nine runs over the four games that spanned 45 innings.

"It's frustrating when you get to this point, and like I said, you know, we didn't play to our capability point-blank," Span said. "It's probably going to stick with me this whole offseason, knowing that I didn't, and the rest of the guys, we didn't play to our capabilities."