The Atlanta Braves fell to the Washington Nationals 5-1, missing a sweep and ending their strong home series on a high note. They head to Minnesota with another winning streak, but the timing cost them another game in the standings as the Phillies won.

A solo shot by Matt Olson was all the offense managed today.

Add to that another bad night from reliever Luke Jackson, who allowed three runs in the seventh inning, and a strong performance from Reynaldo Lopez for nothing, and nothing about this new signing looks good in any way.

He was used in the seventh inning in place of usual pitcher Jesse Chavez. He hadn’t pitched in 10 days, and manager Brian Snitker chose Jackson anyway. It’s a difficult decision to understand unless you can see if it works this time.

To make matters worse, Michael Harris II took a pitch from his left hand. He didn’t have a fracture, but the result is that he has to live day by day, so the Braves may have to go a few games without him again.

There was one piece of positive news on Sunday: Marcell Ozuna had ice wrapped around his shin. However, he is expected to remain in the lineup and play on Monday. Since he is the cornerstone of this lineup, they avoided a major threat.

If there is one thing to take away from this, it is that the team looks much better overall, but still has its moments that have been troubling them all season.

That puts them six games behind the Phillies again – they just beat a strong Royals team 11-3 in Kansas City. It feels like that five-game deficit is a huge hurdle for them to overcome. Fortunately, they still have time to overcome that hurdle. They just need to use it. Despite Sunday’s loss, they are slowly starting to do that.

The Mets lost 3-2 to the Padres, giving the Braves ground for the No. 2 wild card but keeping the Mets 2.5 games out of a playoff spot.

The Braves return to action on Monday when they begin a road series against the Minnesota Twins. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. EST.