Baker and Murphy liked the offense Monday despite late-inning loss

Despite the loss, the Nationals offense showed some promise with 10 runs on 17 hits in the 11-10 series-opening setback to the Braves.

The Nationals had seven extra-base hits with three homers in Monday's game. Trea Turner, Brian Goodwin and Bryce Harper all hit round-trippers.

Turner, Adam Lind, Michael A. Taylor and Brian Goodwin all had three hits. Taylor finished with two doubles on a 3-for-5 night.

Daniel Murphy went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. He said the Rangers series was tough on the club, so it was nice to see the Nats score nine runs in the first four innings. They had managed only six runs in 29 innings against Texas over the weekend. He was asked if the four-game losing streak is frustrating for the club.

"I think we just came out of a series where we didn't swing the bats well either. And so the pitching staff, especially starting pitching, has done a great job for us," he said. "So this is the ebbs and flows of the season. I guess, to answer your question, I think the best medicine would be to come out tomorrow and try to score more runs than the Braves. I'd be pretty excited about that."

Manager Dusty Baker was, of course, disappointed in the loss. But he did take some solace in the way his team battled. Down 3-0, they came back to take a 4-3 lead. Down 6-4, they fought back to make it 9-6. Then, down 11-9 after a heartbreaking ninth-inning homer, Taylor's double and Turner's RBI single cut the deficit to one run in a desperate rally that felt just a bit short.

"I like the fight big-time," Baker said. "We're kind of under water during this streak. Every team's going to go through it, but it just seems like we're getting beat by the homer. I don't how many homers we've given up, but we've given up a lot. Especially late innings, when there's a lot of crooked numbers on that board up there.

"We need some help. We need some help, big-time. We've been knowing that all along. But I like the fight from our team."

The Nationals called up reliever Trevor Gott on Monday, one day after closer Koda Glover went to the disabled list with lower back stiffness.

But it is obvious that that move won't be the last for this bullpen. The Nationals will need to add one or two relievers in the next month and a half to shore up a part of the team that has not performed well.

This offense has also been without the hot-hitting of Ryan Zimmerman (sore back) and Jayson Werth (left foot contusion, 10-day disabled list since June 4). Baker said during Monday's pregame that he expects Zimmerman to return for Tuesday night's matchup against Braves knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

And Baker said Monday's loss wasn't on the offense, even with the 10 men left on base.

"When you score 10 runs, you expect to win," he said.