Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the New York Mets may well have been a more fitting end to Livan Hernandez’s role as a Nationals’ starter than many Nationals fans believe. While Hernandez left the game with momentum shifting to the Mets, in what would turn out to be one of the less interesting games of the season, the standing ovation that greeted him was given not so much for his steadiness as a pitcher, as it was for his love of the city, the franchise and the fans.

Livo threw the first pitch for the Nationals, and the first pitch at home. And despite his journey in and out of Washington, he always made one thing clear: he preferred to play here. “I appreciate all the support. It’s very nice,” Hernandez said after the loss. “I left the bases loaded. I tried to get out of the inning, but it didn’t happen. I want to say thank you to the fans for supporting me this year.”

The Nationals loss to the Mets continues a sluggish end-of-season sprint to the finish. The Nationals are 4-12 over the last two weeks, and are struggling with (what else) trying to put runs on the board. Sunday was no different. The Nationals strung together only seven hits, while leaving sixteen on base. The big blast came off the bat of Lucas Duda (that tied the game), that preceded four singles and a sacrifice bunt. The Madoffs scored four in the sixth, then gave up just two hits the rest of the way.

The Wisdom of Section 1-2-9: There were six foul balls hit into the section yesterday, a veritable barrage when compared to previous games. One was caught by a Mets fan (in the air, no less) in Row DD, who waved the ball and saved it for his son — who was out getting a hotdog. “I knew I missed something,” the boy said when he returned. “I just knew it.”

Another foul ricocheted off an older woman’s head, and ushers scrambled to bring an ice pack. A sometime fan walked up from below to snap her picture. “Now that was weird,” a fan said when she returned to her seat. A young man over in Section 130, snagged a foul and smiled at his girlfriend — the hero of the hour. “Give it to a kid,” a fan yelled. He ignored that and gave it to beaming Suzy.

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Twelve hits and four home runs — one dinger each from Ryan Zimmerman, Michael Morse, Laynce Nix and Danny Espinosa — and the steady and solid pitching of Livan Hernandez provided Washington with a 9-2 victory in Atlanta. The win broke a six game losing streak and helped to erase the troubles the team had in Cincinnati, where they were swept by the Redlegs.

Starter Hernandez, who has been up-and-down all season, spun his magic against a tough Atlanta line-up; he threw seven complete innings of five hit ball, bringing his ERA for the season to 4.29. Both before and after the game, Hernandez (who threw his 50,000th career pitch during the game) talked about his desire to stay in Washington.

“I love to stay here. It’s not about the money because I know I can make more money,” he said following his win. “It’s about I enjoy every day that I am here. I enjoy playing baseball here. It’s where you feel comfortable. I lived before with no money. This is where you feel good.”

Nats’ skipper Davey Johnson was energized by the win. “I love games like that,” Johnson said from the locker room. “Guys were having good at-bats, good swings every time they went up there. That’s what made it real fun.” The Nats accumulated twelve hits during the victory, including three each from Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Morse. Laynce Nix was 2-4 and hit his 15th, the most he’s had in any season.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Eisler Livan Hernandez Carrera has had an unusually long career. He started with the Florida Marlins after defecting from Cuba in 1995, and played in the 1997 World Series, where he won two games and was awarded the series MVP. He’s played for the Giants, Expos, Nationals, Twins, Rockies and Mets and is acknowledged as one of the best defensive pitchers to play the game (he’s had only eleven errors in his pitching career) . . .

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Arizona Diamondbacks’ pitcher Daniel Hudson is the one who got away: back at the trade deadline in 2010, it was Hudson (then with the White Sox),who was dangled before Mike Rizzo in exchange for Adam Dunn, but the Nationals’ G.M. took a pass. Hudson ended up in Arizona, where he’s blossomed into a top flight starter.

It’s easy to see now what everyone saw in the righty — Hudson was brilliant on Wednesday, spinning a near shutout as the Nationals could not catch the D-Backs in the ninth, and dropped their second in a row to the Snakes, 4-2. Hudson scattered nine hits in a game that he exited with two outs in the ninth.

The downside of Hudson’s night came in the ninth inning, as Nationals’ boppers Laynce Nix and Jonny Gomes launched back-to-back homers to knock Hudson out of the game — denying him a shutout and a complete game. J.J. Putz came on to end the rally. Putz registered his 32nd save.

“He was pretty good, man, and I was surprised,” Arizona catcher Miguel Montero said of Hudson’s outing. “I was a little surprised, because in the bullpen, he looked like he had a little bit of a control problem. He got into the game and he was painting those corners, man. It was a shame he couldn’t get the shutout.”

The loss was notched by Livan Hernandez, who dueled Hudson all night. The crafty Washington righty threw 7.1 innings and gave up four — but he pitched much better than his numbers indicate. Two of those runs came with men on base and reliever Henry Rodriguez on the mound.

Nats’ skipper Davey Johnson blamed himself for leaving Livo in too long. “I take responsibility for that one,” Johnson said. “He was really pitching a great game and when he’s good, he’s really good. I had it in my mind that if he gives me seven, I’m getting him out of there. I balked. He got into trouble and couldn’t get out of it.”

The Washington Nationals outhit, outpitched, outran and outscored the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 on Friday night in one of the best showings from the team in weeks. Livan Hernandez was the major story for the Nationals: the aging righty not only threw 6.2 innings of four hit ball, he went 2-3 at the plate and drove in two runs.

Hernandez was nearly flawless in his outing against Philadelphia — after three rough outings in a row (against the Rockies, Braves and Marlins). Livo threw only 89 pitches, but 51 of them were strikes, as his curve and slider baffled Philadelphia hitters, including traditional Nats’ swatters Hunter Pence and Raul Ibanez, who were a combined 1-6. Tyler Clippard notched his 30th hold, while Drew Storen registered his 31st save.

Hernandez admitted that, in his previous outings, his curveball was, as he said, “all over the place.” That wasn’t true on Friday. “Tonight, the curveball was working perfectly,” Hernandez said after the victory. “I felt really good. In Colorado, it’s a little difficult for a pitcher like me to throw the curveball and slider. I felt really good today. Everything was working perfectly.”

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano was ejected from Friday night’s game against the Braves after throwing at Chipper Jones . . . twice. Following his ejection, Zambrano cleared out his locker and said that he was retiring. Those close to Zambrano say that he was undoubtedly embarrassed by the incident — but that it would be difficult, given his previous behavior, for the Cubs to welcome him back. G.M. Jim Hendry blew Zambrano a good-bye kiss: ‘‘We will respect his wishes and honor them,’’ Hendry said, ‘‘and move forward.’’

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Respectability? Forget about contending for the N.L. East championship (not even the Braves can do that), or the Wild Card (the Braves might not be able to do that either), but Washington’s 3-2 victory in Colorado on Sunday brought the Nats to within four games of .500. While Nats’ fans might think their team is already “respectable,” a .500 record would make it official. Then too, while Nats’ fans are anxious to see some kind of flag waving from somewhere in Nationals Park, an 82-82 finish would be a stunning success — and an amazing improvement over 2010, when the Nats finished 24 games under .500. But can it be done?

If we look at the Colorado series (and not all that closely), the answer is yes . . . and no. Washington lost game one of the match-up, 6-3, because Ross Detwiler was just so-so in his five inning outing, though the game was decided in the eighth, when the usually reliable Ryan Mattheus gave up three runs in a single inning. Game three was more of the same: except that Washington’s Livan Hernandez was less than mediocre, while the Washington bullpen collapsed. Washington actually hit well in both games — breaking the mold for the year.

Washington’s wins, on the other hand, came as a result of solid (not superb, but solid) pitching from its starters: Jordan Zimmermann provided a steady outing in game two (5.2, four hits, two earned runs), John Lannan in game four (6.0, six hits, one earned run). And in each game the bullpen came through to hold the Rockies. That said, the common theme for all of the games was that Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen were the only two bullpen arms who were consistently steady — while Henry Rodriguez (please, please, throw a strike) and Todd Coffey & Company were downright frightening.

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It’s quite possible that finally — five months into the 2011 baseball season — the Nationals have finally found their leadoff hitter. Batting in the first slot in the line-up last night, centerfield veteran Rick Ankiel blasted two home runs in leading the Nationals to a 5-3 victory over the Braves at Nationals Park. Ankiel’s homers allowed Livan Hernandez (six innings, six hits and three strikeouts) to walk away with his sixth win of the season.

Ankiel’s homers were only his fourth and fifth of the year and came in the first and the fifth inning — both off of usually reliable Braves’ starter Jair Jurrjens, who registered his fourth loss. Ankiel, who has been in and out of the line-up all year (and has struggled at the plate) seems finally to be swinging with authority. “You just look for a pitch to drive. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you make it happen, sometimes you don’t,” Ankiel said after the victory. “Lately, I’ve been making good contact and good things are happening.”

It’s too soon to tell whether Ankiel’s Monday night performance means that he will be an every game feature at the leadoff position, but Nats’ skipper Davey Johnson liked what he saw: “Now he [Ankiel] is [playing] and he has cut down on his strikeouts, his swings are better,” Johnson said. “That comes with playing. In the last couple of years, I don’t think he has played much.”

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: If either Pittsburgh or Cincinnati are to have a chance in the N.L. Central, they’re going to have to beat the teams behind them. Last night they didn’t. Newest Ahoy Derrek Lee celebrated his arrival in Pittsburgh with two home runs, but the Pirates couldn’t beat the no-account Cubs, suffering their fourth loss in a row by a 5-3 score. Catch ‘em while you can; they’re fading, and fast . . .

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The Nationals mounted a furious rally against the visiting Florida Marlins during the ninth inning last night at Nationals Park — but it wasn’t furious enough to top the Hanleys, who snagged the Nats, 7-5. As in his previous most recent starts, Nats’ righty Livan Hernandez was inconsistent — as opposed to the normally shaky Javier Vazquez, who was able to hold down Nationals hitters through seven innings of competent, if not brilliant, work.

The Nationals’ bottom-of-the-ninth rally came on a triple from Ian Desmond, a Jerry Hairston single, an Alex Cora walk, a Ryan Zimmerman triple, a Michael Morse single — and a Laynce Nix fly ball to the warning track in right field that was just feet away from being a game-tying home run.

The Nationals have reached the dog days of the season in the doldrums: Livan Hernandez pitched only four complete innings, reliever Todd Coffey gave up three hits and a run in 1.1 innings, and Drew Storen gave up a two run home run in the ninth inning to newly arrived Marlin Mike Cameron. “The bats just woke up too late,” Nats’ manager Davey Johnson said after the loss.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Carlos Beltran is going to the Giants, in exchange for wunderkind-to-be Zach Wheeler. While everyone is talking about how Beltran is going to help the McCoveys (providing a big bat in the middle of their anemic hitting line-up), the Mets were able to get a young and formidable arm. This was a good trade for the Metropolitans.

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