On Thursday, the Lerners took in their first game as the official to-be-owners of the Nats, and it was a stinker. The Nats’ poor play has left them in last place, and has local scribes taking a long view toward the Lerner/ Kasten team building a contender.

The Nats started the week with a quick two game series in New York with the first-place Mets. And they had to do it while desperately shorthanded and under the cloud of more political wrangling over selection of an owner and the ongoing Comcast/ Angelos saga. On Monday, the team struggled to a 2-1 loss without Ryan Zimmerman (in Detroit attending his grandmother’s funeral), Ryan Church (still battling the flu), and reliever Felix Rodriguez (beginning his three game suspension). Still, the Nats had a chance to send the game to extra innings, going to the 9th with a 1-1 tie before Gary Majewski threw away a possible double play ball, allowing Endy Chavez to scamper home with the winning run. Ramon Ortiz had his strongest outing of the year, allowing just a Delgado homer in his six innings, but was matched by Victor Zambrano’s own breakout game, allowing just a Schneider RBI single in the 4th.