Stick a fork in the Nationals: They’re done

And that, friends, what you saw Tuesday night in Nationals Park, was the 2015 Washington Nationals season in microcosm.

A Michael A. Taylor Little League grand slam chased New York Mets ace Matt Harvey in the sixth in putting the Nats up 7-1. Game over, and with Harvey on an innings limit, that moment may have been a key turning point in the National League East pennant chase.

All the Nationals needed to do was get through three innings with a six-run lead, and the Mets’ lead in the East is back down to four.

They wouldn’t get three outs with that six-run lead.

Six walks – six walks! – led to a six-run Mets seventh, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a pinch-hit homer off Washington closer Jonathan Papelbon in the eighth, and the NL East race was over.

OK, so it’s technically not over. The Mets, now having taken two straight in the weekday series, both after Nats bullpen meltdowns, have a six-game lead, but there are still 24 games left, and anything can happen, right?

Anything can indeed happen. A team chasing a playoff spot can blow a six-run lead giving up three hits.

Saw that happen tonight. Can’t wait to see the next anything that can happen.

– Column by Chris Graham