For Nats, Victory Just Out Of Reach

"That's the play that started everything," Acta said.

Rivera got Lee to fly out to center, but with Pence up, Berkman swiped third. When Pence walked, Rivera was in a bit of a tight situation. With the count 2-2 on Astros third baseman Ty Wigginton, Acta -- aware of Pence's speed -- wanted to see if he might figure out whether Pence would steal. He called for Rivera to fake to third, then turn to first.

"It's a great play," Acta said.

But in this case, it failed the Nationals. Home plate umpire Brian Runge ruled that Rivera stepped toward the plate, not straight at third base. The balk brought Berkman home with the tying run.

"It's frustrating," Rivera said, "especially in that moment right there."

But more of that was to follow. With the game tied yet again, Kearns drilled a fastball from Houston reliever Doug Brocail into the Crawford Boxes, his third of the year, and the Nationals led 5-4. The formula at this point is simple: Luis Ayala in the eighth, Jon Rauch in the ninth.

But with two outs in the eighth, disaster. Miguel Tejada fought off an 0-2 pitch from Ayala and blooped it into center, where it fell in front of a Washington outfield that was playing deep to prevent doubles. Berkman followed with a single to center, putting runners on first and third.

Then came Ayala's key mistake. He got ahead of Lee 0-2. "Luis didn't execute," Acta said. Lee got a pitch he could work with, and he drove it to right. Kearns, aware of all that could happen, broke in.

"The situation dictates itself," Kearns said. "You know what to do, not to do, the consequences of it."

The most important part: He thought he could catch it. He didn't. Tejada trotted home to tie it, Berkman followed with the game-winner. And when Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman drilled a ball to left off Houston closer José Valverde, and watched José Cruz Jr. secure it in his glove, the Nationals had suffered a loss that might well have been a win.