The consistently inconsistent Nationals offense

No question Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner was lights out yesterday, just as Dodgers aces Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw were in their blanking of the Nationals earlier in the week. But how monotonous has that cop out become for the Nats scuffling offense? The season has reached the point where simply "tipping your cap" to the guy on the mound is unacceptable.

"We gotta grind ... we gotta grind at-bats," Nationals manager Matt Williams told reporters after yesterday's 5-0 shutout loss. "We've gotta make sure we get a good one to hit if we can. If not, we got to battle."

Bumgarner is all-world, but not invincible. The Nationals torched him for six runs back on July 4 in a win in D.C. That seems inconceivable now with the current state of Washington's lineup. According to ESPN, the Nationals missed on 46 percent of their swings against Bumgarner yesterday. The reigning World Series MVP's previous career high for swings and misses in a game was 29 percent.

Michael A. Taylor and Bryce Harper had launched first-inning homers off Bumgarner on the Fourth of July. On Sunday, the dominant left-hander exacted his revenge by whiffing the two Nats hitters a combined seven times. Taylor and Harper accounted for half of Bumgarner's strikeouts. It was the second time in the four-game set that Giants pitchers fanned 14 Nationals.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo passed on adding offense at the trade deadline, instead betting that injured stars Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman would return to provide the missing pop in the Nats lineup.

That hasn't come close to playing out as Rendon is 1-for-14 over his last four games, and hitting just .208 with one homer and two RBIs since rejoining the team on July 25.

The 36-year-old Werth has collected only one hit in his last 16 at-bats and is slashing a meager .145/.203/.242 over 19 games after missing over two months with a fractured left wrist.

And Zimmerman, who showed flashes driving in runs in eight straight games, is now hitless in his previous 15 at-bats.

After the third shutout in seven days, reporters questioned Williams on whether he anticipates outside moves to be made to add life to the lifeless offense.

"No," Williams told reporters. "At this point, we have our everyday guys back. They would certainly like to be doing better than they are right now. But they will. And we'll try to get the other guys in there as much as we can to keep them as sharp as possible."

The Nationals have batted .179 as a team over this six-game skid and their .222 club average since the All-Star break ranks dead last in the majors. With 45 games remaining, there is still time to make up the 4 1/2 game deficit to catch the Mets for the National League East crown. But that won't even be a thought unless the veterans start swinging their bats.

"It's human nature (to be pressing)," Williams told reporters. "That being said, we have to look at where we're at and what the big picture is. The big picture is that we win some games and jump right back in this thing. We do have a lot of games to go. We gotta start on Tuesday, play a good game and get that W and go from there."