There is no shame to losing to Roy Oswalt and his 2.41 ERA. He is a premier pitcher, and when he's on it's tough to hit him. Having said that, the Nationals again made the kind of stupid mistakes that have turned from a winning team into a losing team. If Carlos Baerga and Jamey Carroll don't both a throw from Brad Wilkerson on Oswalt's bunt, Adam Everett is out at third instead of scoring. And if Esteban Loaiza doesn't let Oswalt single in the sixth, he denies the Astros another run.
Loaiza got little run support, but that's to be expected when you're facing one of the best pitchers in baseball. It's in those games that you have to minimize your mistakes because runs will be so scarce. The Nats didn't go that, and that's why they lost.
The Nationals have now lost 11 out of their last 15, and they've lost sole possession of first place. They remain 4.5 games up in the wild card race, but that gap is going to close fast if they don't turn themselves around soon.
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