The Washington Nationals fell to the New York Mets on Tuesday, despite two home runs and a 3-4 night from rookie catcher Wilson Ramos. The 6-4 loss was the fifth for the Nats in six games — as the team seems to lack spark. Ramos collected three RBIs in the Nats’ loss. “You hate to have a guy hit a couple of homers in a losing cause, but it was a real good night for him,” said Nationals manager Jim Riggleman. “He’s a good player. You’re going to see more of that.”

Jordan Zimmermann collected his fourth loss of the year, giving up nine hits in 5.1 innings. But the Nats did not so much lose the game as the Mets won it. The streaky New Yorkers won their fifth game in a row — a resurgence that follows (two weeks ago) a streak of seven straight losses. The New Yorkers’ hero last night was Mets’ backstop Josh Thole, who drove in three.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: You have to wonder how serious Ryan Zimmerman’s injury really is, and whether it’ll heal up completely anytime soon. The centerpiece of the Nationals is still rehabbing, and the Nats aren’t saying a whole lot about when he’ll return. Zimmerman was placed on the DL on April 12, and worked out a bit yesterday. This is one of those slow-healing, nagging (“abdominal strain”) thingies. The Nats need him, badly . . .

And . . . and you also have to wonder how long the team can go with Alex Cora or Jerry Hairston, Jr. (or perhaps even role-of-the-dice Brian Bixler) as fill-ins for Zim. If it’s going to be awhile, we might see Mike Rizzo looking for a more permanent replacement — and someone who can fill in in the outfield; preferably a player with a history of bringing a bat. Word on the street (well, from Ken Rosenthal via MLB Trade Rumors) is that Mark DeRosa is available in San Francisco, and it might not take much to get him . . . we’ve always been partial to DeRosa and he would come comparatively cheap . . . a rental, for sure, but perhaps a valuable one . . .

Ian Desmond is on paternity leave, and Roger Bernadina is back with the team. The Nats soured on Bernadina in the spring, sending him down to Triple-A and putting Laynce Nix on the bench. We agree: he’s probably not going to be the spark the Nats need. But you never know. The Nats have to keep shuffling, as Nats’ bloggers are tired of wondering when the Anacostia Nina will get their bats going. Last night Adam LaRoche, Danny Espinosa and Michael Morse were a combined 0-12.