Brandon Belt went 4-for-5 and scored four times, and Ryan Vogelsong threw five shutout innings to lead the Giants to an 8-0 whitewash of the Nationals that, in a familiar refrain on this road trip, carried further ramifications than just one loss.

Already shorthanded due to Ross Detwiler‘s oblique strain and the spot start made by Zach Duke on Monday, the Nationals bullpen received another blow on Monday when it was revealed that Ryan Mattheus suffered a broken pitching hand after Sunday’s 13-4 loss to the Padres, an injury suffered after Mattheus, frustrated by a one-inning, five-run outing, punched his locker at Petco Park. Reinforcements are on the way from Syracuse, as Yunesky Maya and Fernando Abad will be joining the big club on Tuesday.

The situation the two newcomers are jumping into is one that Nationals fans have seen before — maybe in 2007. Between the injuries to key players, the inconsistent bullpen and the anemic hitting, this year’s Nationals would look right at home at RFK Stadium. Of course, the difference now is that the expectations for the club were so much higher coming into the year, thanks to 2012′s magical 98-win campaign.

Zach Duke leaves the hill in the fourth inning of his spot start against the Giants on Monday. (Image: Cary Edmondson, USA Today)

Right off the bat Monday, you knew it wasn’t going to be the Nationals’ night. Duke was getting hit, not overly hard, but very consistently. The lefty gave up seven hits in his 3.1 innings, and ended up surrendering four runs after Craig Stammen allowed a pair of inherited runners to score upon entering the game in the fourth inning. Oddly, the first batter Stammen faced was the San Francisco pitcher, Vogelsong, who promptly laid down a safety squeeze bunt to score Belt from third.

Vogelsong had been scuffling entering the game as well, sporting a hefty 8.06 ERA prior to the proceedings. But the struggling Washington lineup, which did include Bryce Harper for the first time since Friday night but was lacking the slumping Danny Espinosa, was just the tonic Vogelsong needed. He gave up three hits over his five scoreless innings and undoubtedly would have pitched longer had he not broken his hand swinging at a Stammen pitch in the fifth.

It was academic from there. Washington was able to put just one runner on base against four San Francisco relievers over the next four innings, while the Nats bullpen got taxed to the breaking point. Henry Rodriguez, who appeared for an inning in Sunday’s mess, needed to get through two innings on Monday and threw 68 pitches in the process, probably 64 or so more than most Nats fans can take from the erratic fireballer in any given game. All that made the double move for pitching necessary, with Eury Perez being sacrificed back down to AAA to make up the numbers.

For all the bad news Nationals fans have been waking up to over the duration of this road trip, it seems nonsensical to see that Washington is “only” 3-5 on the trip so far. The Nats have a chance to start a new streak on Tuesday, as Stephen Strasburg (2-5, 2.83 ERA) takes the mound coming off his longest start as a big leaguer, an 8-inning win over the Padres on Thursday. Facing him will be San Francisco’s Opening Day starter, Matt Cain (3-2, 5.43). Game time is 10:15 PM Eastern.

The Nationals lost both members of their battery, Ross Detwiler and Wilson Ramos, to injuries before the game was halfway finished and couldn’t get anything going against the Dodgers and Zack Greinke, who did enough to pick up a 3-1 win over Washington to earn bragging rights in the three-game series at Dodger Stadium.

While much of the national media attention will be on Greinke (2-0), making his return from a broken collarbone suffered in an on-field brawl in April, Nationals fans will be more concerned with the health of the two newest members of Washington’s battle-bruised battalion.

Detwiler (2-4) went down first. The lefty had given up single runs to the Dodgers in each of the first two innings, and each came with two outs. Adrian Gonzalez drove in the first run of the game in the first inning with a soft single to center that plated Matt Kemp from second base. One inning later, Detwiler watched as Greinke poked a single to right with Andre Ethier on third, doubling the L.A. advantage.

Ross Detwiler left Wednesday’s game with back spasms. (Image: Kirby Lee, USA Today)

The problem came in the third, as Detwiler scampered over to cover first on a potential 3-6-1 double play. Ian Desmond‘s throw was slightly behind Detwiler, who stretched to reach it but appeared to tweak something. He stayed in the game to finish the inning, but gave way to Craig Stammen in the fourth inning. After the game, Detwiler revealed he had suffered back spasms and was hopeful, although not 100 percent confident, that he would be able to make his next start.

Ramos’s condition appears to be more severe. While running to first on his second hit of the game, the catcher pulled up lame, leaving the game immediately and being replaced by Kurt Suzuki. Ramos has already spent time on the disabled list this season with hamstring issues, and Nats manager Davey Johnson said postgame that the hamstring struck again, likely meaning a return trip to the DL for Ramos and a call-up for Jhonatan Solano.

As for the rest of the game, it was not the breakout offensive affair Nationals fans have been hoping for. In fact, it was pretty much the opposite.

Still missing Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper, the lineup once again scuffled, with the exception of Adam LaRoche, who accounted for the Nationals’ only run with a solo homer to center in the fourth inning that extended his hitting streak to 12 games. The Nationals entered the day’s games ahead of only Miami in team OPS, and finished the three games in L.A. with a paltry .125 batting average (3-for-24) with runners in scoring position.

The best chance for the Nats to bust out came in the eighth against Kenley Jansen. Steve Lombardozzi singled to lead off the inning and was promptly replaced by pinch-runner Eury Perez. Ryan Zimmerman then followed with a single to left that advanced Perez to third with no outs. But the Nationals could not capitalize, as Adam LaRoche popped out to shallow left and Ian Desmond went down swinging. With two outs, Suzuki finally hit the fly ball Washington needed, but it came too late. Brandon League worked around a leadoff single in the ninth to record his ninth save of the season for the Dodgers, retiring a pinch-hitting Harper along the way.

The Nationals will look to welcome Harper back to the lineup on Thursday night at 10:10 PM Eastern in San Diego, while Werth is scheduled to be back in time for Saturday’s game. The opener of a four-game set at Petco Park sees Washington’s Stephen Strasburg (1-5, 3.10 ERA) pitching in his hometown for the first time as a pro. He will square off with the Padres’ Edinson Volquez (3-3, 5.15).

May 14, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Dan Haren (15) returns to the dugout following the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Nationals played the second game of their three game series with the LA Dodgers Tuesday night. It was Clayton Kershaw vs Dan Haren in a game that turned into a pitchers duel. Haren pitched very well, but Kershaw was better, throwing eight and 2/3 shut out innings to stifle the Nats. The Dodgers won 2-0.

With Bryce Harper out of the lineup the day after forgetting he can’t run through fences (eleven stitches in the face) and Kershaw the left hander on the mound, Davey Johnson elected to start with the outfield combination of Steve Lombardozzi in left, Eury Perez in center and Tyler Moore in right, all of whom can or do bat right handed. Danny Espinosa also batted from the right side of the plate, batting leadoff.

The Nationals had their golden opportunity to score runs in the first inning, when they had Kershaw on the ropes but let him wiggle out of a bases loaded jam. With two outs, the Nats started getting to Kershaw. Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond singled, and Adam LaRoche walked to load the bases. Tyler Moore struck out on four pitches, leaving the bases loaded.

Dan Haren pitched seven innings and only gave up two runs. In the bottom of the third inning, Haren grazed Kershaw on the toe with a pitch, putting him on first. Matt Kemp singled, then Haren threw a wild pitch that advanced both runners. Haren struck out Adrian Gonzalez, but Andre Ethier singled, scoring Kershaw and Kemp. This was the only offense the Dodgers produced all night, but with Kershaw on the mound it was enough.

Ryan Mattheus pitched the bottom of the eighth inning for the Nats and was perfect, allowing no hits and no walks.

The Nats threatened again briefly in the ninth inning. Kershaw was tiring, as evidenced by Zimmerman and Desmond hitting deep fly balls for the first two outs. Zimmerman missed a home run by a couple of feet. LaRoche singled, and Don Mattingly had seen enough. He lifted Kershaw for reliever Kenley Jansen, who promptly struck out Moore to end the game.

Ryan Zimmerman proved he owns Kershaw as perhaps no other batter in the majors does. Zimmerman went 3-4 for the night. Adam LaRoche had a hit and drew the only walk Kershaw gave up all night. Other than Desmond’s single, the rest of the Nats offense was O for–no hits and no walks.

Next Game: The final game of the series is played on Wednesday, May 15th. Ross Detwiler (2-3, 2.53 ERA) pitches for the Nationals, while Zach Greinke (1-0, 1.59 ERA) makes his return to the Dodgers after breaking his collarbone earlier in the season in his one round fight with Carlos Quentin.