It began with the highest of hopes for the Washington Nationals, in the bottom half of the fourth inning Sunday.
The Nats were not only ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies, they’d scored the third run that has been eluding them for three previous games.
But what unfolded in that part of the Nats’ 12-6 loss to the Phillies might be the Nats’ ugliest half-inning of the season, one where the team’s most reliable reliever was betrayed by his defense and the muggy summer air, and the Nats allowed the Phillies to score seven runs — five unearned — without an extra-base hit.