In the middle of June, it looked like the Nationals were poised to make a serious run at the NL Wild Card spot. Now, just about a month later, those hopes appear to have vanished. Even just two weeks ago on the first of July the Nats were 6.5 games back, but after dropping two of three to the Braves over the weekend, they are now nine games behind Atlanta.
The Nationals are 5-5 in their last 10 games, while the Braves have bent a 7-3 run around the All-Star Break to start pulling away. In fact, the Braves are starting to gain a little bit of ground on the Phillies who have the best record in the NL. They trail Philadelphia by 3.5 games. If they were in either of the other divisions in the NL, the Braves would have pretty comfortable leads themselves. Just bad luck of the draw, I guess.
We'll be following the standings in this stream, but for more on the Nationals, head over to Federal Baseball.