Needing a doubleheader sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday to clinch a post-season berth for the first time since leaving Montréal, the Washington Nationals couldn’t quite get the job done, mounting a splendid eighth-inning comeback to overturn a six-run deficit before finally falling 7-6.

The doubleheader split meant things got tighter on all playoff fronts. The Braves defeated Florida to move to within five games of the Nats in the National League East, while the Reds beat the Cubs and now trail Washington by only 1/2 game in the race for the NL’s best record.

The Nationals were dominated for seven innings by Josh Beckett, which combined with a poor start from John Lannan, had the Nationals in a 6-0 hole after four innings and prompted Davey Johnson to pull some regulars to give them a rest after a long day of baseball. But Washington wouldn’t go quietly, and a blatantly missed call by home plate umpire Alan Porter, which seemed innocuous at the time given the score of the game, turned out to be the deciding factor. It was a familiar feeling for Nationals fans, who saw a badly blown call come back to haunt the Nationals on Saturday in Atlanta as well.

Michael Morse doubled down on Beast Mode in the eighth inning of Thursday’s nightcap to no avail. (Image: Joy R. Absalon, US Presswire)

The play in question was the capper to the Dodgers six-run early game outburst. Lannan, who had pitched brilliantly in all three of his major league starts this season, surrendered three runs in the third after a pair of two-out walks loaded the bases for Hanley Ramirez. The shortstop, who so often hurt the Nationals when he played for the Marlins, did it again, driving in a pair with a single before Andre Ethier did the same, scoring the third run.

It didn’t get much better for Lannan in the fourth. Three more singles and a hit batter led to another run and signaled the end of the line for Lannan, to be replaced by Chien-Ming Wang. It was Wang’s first appearance in a major league game since June 30, and his rust showed immediately as his first pitch bounced past Jesus Flores for a run-scoring wild pitch.

Ramirez, that man again, hit a bouncer to third that took a funky hop and almost decapitated Ryan Zimmerman. The Gold-Glove third baseman somehow knocked the ball down and made a bare-handed tag of a leaping Adrian Gonzalez on his way to third for the third out of the inning. The fact that the bases were not loaded meant that the question was now, did Matt Kemp score before the out was recorded?

Clearly, he did not. Yet Porter, the home plate umpire whose call it was to make, somehow determined after a conference with the crew that Kemp’s run should count and the Dodgers were handed a 6-0 lead.

At the time, it may have looked like window dressing. Beckett was dealing, having faced only one batter over the minimum through seven sterling innings. On the other side, Wang and Zach Duke combined to keep the Dodgers off the board as well. Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche were taken out of the game as Davey Johnson appeared to be waving the white flag.

But then, the uprising started. Morse, who started both games of the doubleheader after recovering from his wrist issues, broke up the shutout with an opposite-field homer. After an Ian Desmond single, Steve Lombardozzi hit a homer of his own, and now the lead was cut in half.

An error and a single put runners on the corners for Bryce Harper, who beat out a dribbler to third to drive in the Nationals fourth run and bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Pinch-hitter Danny Espinosa singled, and after a Tyler Moore strikeout, Morse came up big again, singling to score two runs and give the Nationals a 6-5 lead tie the game.

Unfortunately for Washington, momentum remained her normal fickle self. Facing Tyler Clippard leading off the top of the ninth, Kemp swung the pendulum back in favor of the Dodgers by blasting an 0-2 pitch out of the ballpark to center. At that point, all of the air went out of the Nationals balloon, and they went meekly against Brandon League in the bottom of the ninth.

Champ of the Game: Michael Morse. His two hits in the eighth inning drove in three runs, a perfect way to come back from almost a week on the shelf. For the Dodgers, Kemp gets the nod for his second game-winning home run against the Nationals this season.

Chump of the Game: John Lannan. Lannan couldn’t continue the form he’d carried through his big league starts this season, getting tagged early and often and getting the hook in the fourth inning. For Los Angeles, Randy Choate faced two batters in the eighth inning and gave up hits to both, paving the way for the Nationals to eventually tie the game.

Next Game: The series concludes Thursday night at Nationals Park at 7:05 ET. It’s a battle of left-handers, with the Dodgers sending Chris Capuano (11-10, 3.60 ERA) to the hill against Washington’s Ross Detwiler (9-6, 3.16). Capuano stymied the Nationals in his only start against them in early May, while Detwiler can be the one to bring post-season baseball back to Washington if he can win his 10th game of the season on Thursday.

Bryce Harper's bound to impress in a Home Run Derby one day, just not this year. (Image Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE)

Captain of the National League team, Matt Kemp, revealed to Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today that he’s made his decision on who the NL’s four participants will be in Kansas City. Kemp, however, did not reveal the names, only mentioning that he plans to compete and that much of his thought process was based on the league leaders list.

Kemp did explain some of his reasoning for leaving Harper off the roster, and I can’t say I disagree with his line of thinking:

It’s not because he’s a rookie. It’s just that there are other guys out there that are capable. I’m not saying he wouldn’t do a good job in the Home Run Derby. He’s going to have plenty of time to participate in many Home Run Derbies. Just not this year. Nothing against him. I love watching him play.

Kemp’s right. There are other players more deserving to compete this year. And Harper will have his chance, in time.

A quick scan of the NL home run leaders, heading into Wednesday’s games, Carlos Beltran and Ryan Braun were tied for the league lead with 20. Carlos Gonzalez, Jay Bruce, and Giancarlo Stanton come next, tied with 17.

Kemp has 12, but spend some time on the DL already this year. Harper has just 7, for comparison.

My guess – Kemp will be joined by Stanton, Bruce, and Beltran. Braun won last year’s NL MVP over a more-deserving Kemp, so maybe the ‘retribution’ is leaving Braun out of the Derby.

April 27, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Washington Nationals pitcher Ross Detwiler (48) throws a pitch in his start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers won the game 3-2. Mandatory Credit: MARK J. TERRILL — AP Photo

The loss made it the second time this season in which the Nationals have dropped consecutive games, the other being April 8-9 against the Cubs and the Mets (also both on the road) respectively. The Nats now sit at 14-6 through their first 20 games, boasting a sensational 70% winning percentage thus far.

For the Nationals LaRoche sent a 2-run shot out to right field in the sixth inning, helping the Nats to pull within 1 with only a few innings remaining, and, despite getting the loss, Ross Detwiler (2-1) pitched 6 solid innings recording 4 strikeouts.

But, the Nationals once again learned tonight that you have to get the offense going. It was Andre Ethier that taught the lesson this time, when he sent a 2-run homer to right in the bottom of the first, giving the Dodgers the 2-0 early lead. The pitch was one of the few mistakes that Detwiler made tonight, a hanging 1-0 curveball that should’ve never been thrown. The homer gave Ethier his 23rd and 24th RBIs on the year, and he leads the National League in that department, sitting 1 ahead of Dodgers teammate Matt Kemp, who also scored on the 1st-inning bomb.

Kemp got in on the action once again in the 4th inning, scoring what would be the game-winning run on a Juan Uribe infield single to Ian Desmond, and that was all the Dodgers would need. But it came down to the wire for sure…

The bottom of the 9th saw Danny Espinosa come to the plate after a Mark DeRosa fly out, but he wasn’t looking to just get on base. Espinosa hit a shot of his own that flirted with the right field foul pole, but was ruled foul. It appeared the ball would have hit the right side of the pole had a fan’s hand not gotten in the way, but unfortunately there was nothing Espinosa could do about it.

But the inning wasn’t over just yet. The inning’s never over when the name Chad Tracy is involved. Tracy came in to pinch-hit for left fielder Xavier Nady with 2 down, but he wouldn’t get a chance to perform his usual late-inning superhero routine. Tracy got absolutely drilled by Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen with an upper 90′s fastball right in the forearm, and was pulled from the game. Because the Nationals called up hitting phenom Bryce Harper today from AAA Syracuse, the team played with only 24 guys today, meaning there was one less bench bat available, and Edwin Jackson was forced to pinch-run for the injured Tracy so that final bench option Rick Ankiel could pinch hit in the pitcher’s spot if the inning got that far. However, Jansen would end up striking out Jesus Flores in the next at-bat, and the game would be over.

Though the Nationals have been in every game this year, injuries to offensive stars Michael Morse and now Ryan Zimmerman have really hurt the production of this lineup.

Champ of the Game: LaRoche brought the Nats back into this with his 6th-inning 2-run homer.

For the Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw was absolutely untouchable on the mound.

Chump of the Game: Desmond, who went 0-4 with a strikeout in the leadoff spot.

For the Dodgers, shortstop Dee Gordon did the exact same thing, going 0-4 with a strikeout in the Dodgers’  leadoff spot.

Unsung Hero: LaRoche’s shot was probably the most memorable Nationals moment of the game, so Detwiler’s solid performance on the mound gets the nod here.

For the Dodgers, it’s Kemp, who scored 2 runs. Easy to overlook Kemp with the huge days by Kershaw and Ethier.

Next Game: April 28 at Los Angeles Dodgers, 9:00 p.m. Stephen Strasburg (2-0) vs. Chad Billingsley (2-1).