Nats rally, tie D-Backs, then collapse 11-4, OR cooling off in the desert night

The Washington Nationals, who were on a white-hot 6 game winning streak at home to begin the month, have begun to cool off on this road trip. After splitting their series with the Giants in San Francisco 2-2, they arrived in the Arizona desert to take on the Diamondbacks, and former teammate Livan Hernandez, on Friday evening.

They fell behind early, 4-1, with starter Matt Chico having one of his worst outings of the season as he lost command of his pitches. But they rallied mightily in the 6th, victimizing their fold friend Livan on 3 solo home runs to tie the game. Unfortunately, the bullpen couldn't hold on, and the Diamondbacks tacked on 5 runs in the 7th and 2 runs in the 8th to ruin the Nationals chances.

An ugly game, to be certain for Nats fans. With the exception of that wonderfully exciting 6th inning, the Nats bats cooled off and the bullpen was uncharacteristically generous, giving up 4 walks which, with Chico's 6 walks was their single-game season high of 10.

Ryan Report: Church went 0 for 3 with a walk, Zimmerman went 1 for 4 with a homerun, Langerhans did not play, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 2 for 4 with a homerun.

Not a terribly engaging game. Either that, or the week's exhaustion is getting to me and I can't get truly interested in a game like this one.

The Diamondbacks aren't pushovers, they lead their division, unlike the cellar-dweller Giants who the Nats could only manage to grab 2 of 4 games from. The Diamondbacks are a team on the come, and a sure force to be reckoned with in October of this year.

I was hoping that the Nats would win this one, off of Livan Hernandez, who they know so well, because I don't like their chances against Brandon "Cy Young" Webb on Saturday night.

I'd like to be proved wrong.