Nationals now two games over .500

WASHINGTON - This is the date that general manager Jim Bowden pointed to, the date by which the Washington Nationals would know where they stood.

Well, with three weeks left in the season, there are plenty of reasons for the Nationals to relinquish any thought of reaching the playoffs - trailing too many clubs by too many games, sitting two games above.500 after a 4-6 showing on a key homestand, a pitching staff in total disarray and internal squabbling.

"There's still hope. We're not mathematically eliminated," manager Frank Robinson said. "But we're in a pretty good hole now."

Who knows how much deeper Washington would be if not for a remarkable spring, opening 50-31 thanks to solid starting pitching, a phenomenal bullpen led by All-Star closer Chad Cordero, strong defense and barely enough offense.

At one point, they were 23-7 in one-run games. They're 6-22 since. At one point, they were 29-10 in front of raucous crowds thrilled to have baseball back in D.C. They're 11-22 at home since. At one point they led the tough NL East by 5 1/2 games. They entered Monday's off day fourth in the division, 10 1/2 games back, and fourth behind Houston in the wild-card standings, four games out.

And at one point, there was a whole lot of talk, from Bowden, from Robinson, from veterans such as Vinny Castilla, about how unusually good the clubhouse chemistry was.

Now listen to outfielder Jose Guillen, speaking after Sunday's 9-7 loss to the Atlanta Braves, a game Washington trailed 6-0 in the sixth inning, led 7-6 after eight, then let slip away with Cordero on the mound and two outs in the ninth.

"It's not even close to the team we had in the first half," Guillen said.

What changed? "What's changed? What do you think? Everything."

Attitude? "Everything."

"Lots of times, you really need guys for motivation, guys trying to help your teammates. Lots of times, you see a lot of guys, they don't really care," Guillen added. "But what can you do? It's a long season. Probably, a lot of guys here are tired, probably want to go home."

The Nationals have won only 23 of their last 63 games, betrayed by a string of injuries (they're down to three starting pitchers, and one, John Patterson, might have to skip his turn Tuesday because of a sinus infection) and the majors' worst offense.

Still, Washington is considered alive enough that Major League Baseball included it in Monday's coin flips to determine sites for a wild-card playoff if teams finish tied. Robinson acknowledges that it's thanks only to mediocre showings by clubs such as Houston and Florida that "Washington" and "wild card" could even be mentioned in the same breath lately.

"Seemed like just yesterday we were having fun," Robinson sighed last week.

Some players have said they think a new owner should tweak things.

"Obviously, we're not doing a good job out there on the field, consistently," said Jose Vidro, the All-Star second baseman limited to 76 starts because of injuries. "Probably, at the end of the year, I'll express myself, because there's a lot of changes that need to be made. But I don't want to go into it right now."

That part about speaking after the season is a common refrain: Guillen, Livan Hernandez and Robinson all have made similar statements.

Guillen wondered aloud Saturday why Robinson would allow his pitchers to give Atlanta's MVP candidate, Andruw Jones, anything to hit. In the three-game weekend series, Jones hit four homers.

"We just need to be smart enough to know which players to pitch around," Guillen said. "Frank is the manager, and he needs to step up and make those moves."

In truth, Robinson has tried pretty much anything to cajole his team to its better-than-expected performance. He could write a book called "How to Win Games and Influence People" about the ploys he's employed, from lineup tinkering (four rookies started Sunday), to team meetings, to what seemed like a last-gasp gambit: banishing the stereo, TV shows, card-playing, and hangers-on from the clubhouse.

Coincidence or not, Washington won three of its next four games, prompting someone to scribble, "THE FUN HAS BEGUN!" on the grease board outside the clubhouse.

That optimistic message was erased by the time players were packing for the road trip that starts Tuesday against the Mets.

"We still have a chance, and we'll keep battling until someone tells us, 'You're out of it,'" Robinson said.

"And then we'll relax a little bit and play the schedule out."