Washington Nationals fall to St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2

On Friday night, the Washington Nationals' offensive impotence produced another loss and provided an indirect measure of hope. For 51/3 innings, they flailed at the pitches of Jaime Garcia, the potential National League Rookie of the Year who, at age 22, had the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow replaced.

On the day the Nationals lost Stephen Strasburg for at least one year, they were shut down in a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals by Garcia, who showed the 22,871 in attendance at Nationals Park first-hand that there is life after Tommy John surgery.

The Nationals didn't score until the eighth, but then they scared the Cardinals in the ninth. They scored one run in the inning off Ryan Franklin and then sent Roger Bernadina - who had launched a game-tying, ninth-inning home run off Franklin the previous night - to the plate as the tying run. Bernadina walked, and so Ivan Rodriguez walked into the batter's box as the winning run. When he rolled weakly to second, though, it was over.

The Nationals had nearly toppled the playoff-chasing Cardinals for the second straight night. "We're giving a good battle every night," Manager Jim Riggleman said. "That and a couple dollars will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks nowadays. That's not satisfactory."

Garcia, now 24, was anything but dominant. The lefty allowed eight hits and four walks before he left with the bases loaded. His ERA fell to 2.33, in part because the Nationals stranded 11 men on base in the first six innings and 14 for the game.

The Cardinals took the lead when Albert Pujols clobbered a home run for the second straight game, a solo shot in the first inning off of Scott Olsen. Olsen, who threw 105 pitches over five innings, would not allow another earned run, but he came undone by a pair of errors in the second.

First, Adam Dunn bobbled a bounding groundball and then rushed a throw to Olsen that bounced into the camera well. Rodriguez attempted to pick off the runner at second base, but his throw skipped past Ian Desmond into center field. By the time the debris cleared, the Cardinals had taken a 3-0 lead.

"We made him throw way too many pitches," Riggleman said.

The Nationals' best chance to make it a game came in the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, pinch-hitter Adam Kennedy roped a line drive down the right field line that was ruled foul by first base umpire Dan Bellino. After Riggleman trudged out to discuss the call, the rally fizzled. Kennedy flared weakly to shortstop, and Desmond ground sharply to first to end the inning.

In the eighth, Willie Harris crunched a pinch-hit home run - the Nationals' second of the season - so they would not be shut out for the third time in six games and 11th time this season. It could have been a two-run blast had Nyjer Morgan not been picked off at first base immediately before the pitch.

Desmond tacked on another run in the ninth, doubling to lead off the inning, moving to third on a deep fly out by Ryan Zimmerman and scoring an a wild pitch. Desmond's dash around the bases helped for posterity. But it couldn't keep the Nationals from suffering their second, if much easier to swallow, loss of the day.

Nationals note: Morgan's hearing to appeal the seven-game suspension handed down by MLB will take place Sept. 7.