Runs hard to come by for Nats lately

The Nationals have now dropped seven of their past nine games after the offense was non-existent for much of today's 4-2 loss.

Cubs starter Jason Hammel, a Nats killer, ran his career record against Washington to 9-0 after allowing just two solo homers to Wilson Ramos and Bryce Harper while striking out seven over eight innings and a batter.

It has been a while since Nats manager Matt Williams has appeared as frustrated as he was when meeting with the media after the loss.

"Strikes, quality strikes are important for us to hit," Williams said. "If we swing at balls out of the zone you don't get hits. He pitched well. He has pitched well against us. He went out there about his business and pitched well against us. We couldn't muster much against him."

Williams wasn't interested in expanding on whether poor discipline at the plate has led to his team's recent offensive struggles.

"We're not gonna make too much of it, OK," Williams said. "Today we swung at balls out of the strike zone and didn't give ourselves as much a chance as we wanted to. So we have to go get 'em tomorrow."

Harper's homer and an earlier single were two of the five hits the Nats managed against Hammel, who improved to 5-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.76.

"I mean, he's one of the best guys in the Central right now," Harper said. "His stuff's been great all year. You can see that by the way he pitched today and his ERA and what he's been doing all year. He really had command of his curveball and his heater, and was all-around good today."

Ian Desmond had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and Ramos on second. Facing Cubs right-hander Pedro Strop, Desmond whiffed on a filthy slider, striking out to end the game. After, Desmond had his own ideas for why the Nats weren't effective against Hammel today.

"It could be a number of variables," Desmond said. "12 o'clock games are pretty brutal. That combined with his slider and just that he's good. Sometimes the pitcher wins, and he did a good job today."

The problem for the Nats is that the opposing pitcher has been winning a lot against them lately. The Nats have dropped seven of their past nine, scoring just 15 runs combined in the losses.

Harper reclaimed the major league lead with 19 homers on his solo blast in the ninth that ended Hammel's afternoon.

"I thought he was gonna pound me in," Harper said. "Truly. I thought he was gonna pound me in and throw that curveball again. He made me look pretty funny in the third at-bat with that first-pitch curveball. I was sitting first-pitch curveball again. He threw sinker away. I thought, 'There's no chance he's coming back sinker again.' And he did and caught it out front and caught enough of it where the wind didn't knock it down. I was trying to get us going a little bit and trying to get that W. But Strop came in and shut the door."

Harper has been one of the few bright spots in the Nats lineup during this 2-4 homestand. He is hitting .350 (7-for-20) with one homer, three doubles, three RBIs, four walks and two runs scored.

Nationals rookie Joe Ross allowed three runs on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts over five innings while taking the loss in his major league debut.