Zimmerman and Turner react to failed sixth-inning rally

The Nationals' best chance to put a big inning together in Thursday's 8-2 loss to the Mets came in the sixth inning.

Having seen Mets starter Jacob deGrom two times through the lineup, the Nats found themselves down 4-2.

The top of the lineup was the only part of the Nationals offense that clicked all day. In the sixth, Adam Eaton led off with a single and Anthony Rendon and Bryce Harper walked.

Suddenly, the Nats had the bases loaded and the sellout crowd of 42,477 sensed this was the home team's opportunity to wrestle back control of the game.

But Ryan Zimmerman flew out to shallow right field for the first out. Howie Kendrick's hotshot line drive was caught by Mets shortstop José Reyes. Then Trea Turner was called out on strikes by home plate umpire Doug Eddings. Turner argued the call and was ejected from a major league game for the first time in his career.

In the end, that opportunity turned out to be the Nats' best chance.

"We had an opportunity to score some runs right there and we just couldn't pull it off," said Nationals manager Davey Martinez. "In Howie's defense, he hit a rope to shortstop. We just couldn't get it done."

Zimmerman was unable to deliver in the clutch and watched as his batting average has fallen to .136. But Zimmerman maintains he still feels strong and healthy at the plate.

"Really good. Obviously, the production hasn't been there," Zimmerman said. "I've hit some balls hard at people. Today, I had a pretty good pitch to do what I wanted to do against Jake with that curveball and didn't execute. But body feels great. Obviously, everyone likes to get off to a good start, but, yeah everything feels good."

Even with Zimmerman struggling, Martinez doesn't think it's time yet for the slugger to be moved out of the cleanup spot.

"I'm very committed," Martinez said of Zimmerman in the No. 4 spot. "His at-bats haven't been bad. He's hit a couple balls hard over the past week. I like him hitting fourth."

Turner's frustrations have carried over from the series in Atlanta. The shortstop faced a called third strike in each of the last two games in Atlanta. Then, after two strikeouts in a row on Thursday, Turner got called out in a crucial situation with the bases loaded to end the threat.

Was his ejection the culmination of all that frustration this week or just this particular rally attempt?

"I would say a little bit of both," Turner said. "Like you said, the last few days' calls haven't really gone my way. Looking back at the video, we kind of get everything, so you can kind of make a good judgment whether you were right or wrong, whatever it may be. I felt like that was a big spot in the game. It kind of turned after that. Unfortunately, I had the bat taken out of my hands there. But that's baseball."

Turner let Eddings know he didn't appreciate the call and was tossed. The pitch appeared outside, close to the edge of the strike zone.

Martinez went out and asked Eddings for an explanation of the call.

"He said he'll take a look at it," Martinez said. "Look, I'm never going to criticize the umpire. It is what it is - they got a job to do. For the most part, they're good at their job. They really are. Trea felt differently, so we've just got to move on from that."

In the season's first four games, the Nats outscored their opponents 29-13. The Nats won all three games. The last three games the Nats lost, they have been outscored 28-9.

"As a team, you go through those ups and downs," Turner said of the losing streak. "Obviously, you want to play consistent baseball. You don't want to win four in a row, then lose three in a row. You kind of would like to have a steady climb or whatever you want to say.

"Last three games, (we) have played some tough teams in Atlanta and we kind of ran into DeGrom today. Their lineup is pretty good, as well. So we'll try to bounce back."