For perhaps their most important game of the season, the Nationals turned to a journeyman pitcher who posted an ERA of 8.56 last season with the Mets and had made just 10 big league starts in two years.
The results caught up with Tommy Milone and the Nationals on Wednesday night, as the veteran lefty allowed three homers and seven runs as the Atlanta Braves defeated Washington 8-3 at Nationals Park.
The third-place Nationals (58-56) remained six games back of the first-place Phillies, who lost 6-0 earlier at Arizona. But Washington is now 5 ½ games behind second-place Atlanta (62-49), with the series finale Thursday at 1:05 p.