This entry was written by DCist contributor Benjamin Kabak.

For seven innings on Sunday, it looked like the Nationals would come away from the weekend with a two-game sweep of the rain-shortened series with Atlanta. But over the space of three batters on Sunday night, Gary Majewski and the game fell apart. In the end, a three-run home run by Braves shortstop Wilson Betemit highlighted a night of futility for the Nats offense.

The Nats’ evening started out well. Back-to-back doubles by Nick Johnson and Jose Guillen gave the Nats an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. But that would be it for the Nationals offense. They banged out eight hits and managed five walks over the next eight innings. But the big hit never came. The Nats loaded the bases in the fourth and fifth innings and had two runners on base in both the 8th and 9th innings. But nothing came of it, and the Nationals left 11 men on base.

Possibly more of a concern for the team, though, was the attendance. As the Washington Times noted, Sunday’s crowd of 21,569 was the smallest in the team’s time at RFK. On Friday, they drew just 24,597, and I wonder if Nationals fans will stay away if the team doesn’t improve. Maybe it was just the weather.

Photo taken by Flickr user blacknell