There was a time when this was the norm, but anyone who jumped on the Nats bandwagon this season doesn’t know this team.  This team is on…dare I say it…a losing streak.  The Nats have lost four straight, including being swept by the Dodgers, their first series loss of the year.

It is a long season, and a losing streak was bound to come about sooner or later (though we were all hoping it would be later, or, ya know, never) but it is the way in which they lost all four of those games that is telling.

Including the 2-1 loss to the Padres to let the sweep slip away, the Nats didn’t allow too many runs.  They allowed 3 in game 1 of the Dodgers series, 4 in game 2, and 2 in game 3 (in which they got shut out).  This is no longer the defensively porous team that used to occupy Washington.

It is, however, the team that can’t seem to buy an offense.  Jayson Werth was out with a migraine yesterday, and with Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Morse out of the lineup with injuries, the offense is becoming scarce.

Ian Desmond has cooled off a little from his hot start, and Adam LaRoche can’t carry the offense by himself.  Danny Espinosa is still slumping, and one of the Nats’ best offensive weapons in the last two games has been a 19 year-old kid from Las Vegas playing his first two MLB games.

As it has been all season, the pitching is there.  The defense is there.  That is what has gotten the Nats this far in the season.  It’s time for the bats to catch up and put this team over the edge.