The Arizona Diamondbacks kept up their recent streaky play in a 4-1 loss to the Washington Nationals on Monday. The Diamondbacks, who have now lost six games in a row, had won seven consecutive contests before that.
Arizona simply didn't generate enough offense night to keep up with the Nationals. Washington claimed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning behind Jonny Gomes' single. The Nationals piled on more runs in the bottom of the fifth as Jayson Werth punched in a three-run home run. Arizona got one run off of Henry Blanco's homer in the seventh inning, but unfortunately the strike turned out to be the team's entire offense for the evening.
Joe Saunders (8-11) gave up six hits and four runs over six innings. He has been struggling lately, giving up no less than five hits in each of his last eight starts and sporting a 3.98 ERA overall.
The Diamondbacks fall to 69-59 and are just one game ahead of the San Francisco Giants in the NL West. Arizona will look to snap its losing streak and regain some momentum at the top of the NL West on Tuesday night, when they will send pitcher Ian Kennedy (15-4) to the mound to face the Nationals in Game 2 of the series.