This one's gotten ugly (Nats lose 9-5)

You could tell Davey Johnson was throwing in the towel on today's ballgame when he let reliever Craig Stammen hit for himself in the fifth inning. Johnson really waved the white flag when he had Mark DeRosa take over for Ryan Zimmerman at third base in the top of the sixth. This one hasn't been pretty from the Nationals' perspective, as they trail 9-2 through six innings. And Johnson's decided to rest a couple of his starters, including Jesus Flores, with the game seemingly out of reach. Gio Gonzalez gave up a season-high six runs in his shortest outing of the year. He worked just 3 1/3 innings, and gave up six hits and three walks (one intentional) over that span. Stammen hasn't been much better in relief, as he's allowed three runs on four hits so far. Yet again, R.A. Dickey has held the Nats in check, limiting them to two runs in six innings. The righty worked seven scoreless innings June 7, and he's had his knuckler dancing again today. The Nationals have earned a series win, but another shot at a sweep appears to have slipped away. Update: The Nats made some late noise, putting the potential tying run in the on-deck circle in both the eighth and ninth innings, but they just dug themselves too big of a hole today. They end their three-game series with the Mets by dropping the finale 9-5. Gonzalez falls to 12-5 on the season with the loss. Ian Desmond, battling a sore oblique, delivered a pinch-hit single in the eighth and Drew Storen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth. But the Nats fall back to 3 1/2 games up on the Braves with today's loss.