Without Dukes, Nats fall in finale

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By Mark Zuckerman

CINCINNATI — Manny Acta sat down Sunday morning to fill out his lineup card, a daily act that usually doesn't take much effort but on this occasion required a serious brainstorming session.

"It was kind of tough just to put it together," Acta said before his Washington Nationals went out to face the Cincinnati Reds in the finale of a four-game series.

With Washington's roster decimated by injuries - Elijah Dukes became the latest casualty Saturday night when he suffered a right knee injury trying to catch a fly ball - the task of assembling nine healthy players to take the field has become a significant hurdle.

The unconventional lineup Acta drew up Sunday, with All-Star Cristian Guzman batting third for the first time in his career, tried its best to overcome all the obstacles and escape Great American Ball Park with one win in four tries. But a spirited ninth-inning rally came up short, and the Nationals suffered a 6-5 loss to complete a demoralizing 1-6 road trip.

Unable to take advantage of a laboring Edinson Volquez, Cincinnati's 25-year-old right-hander with electric stuff, Washington wound up blowing an early three-run lead and then was forced to try to storm back late.

The Nationals and their makeshift lineup put a scare into Volquez, scoring three times in the third and watching as he walked two straight batters with two outs to load the bases. But Paul Lo Duca grounded into an inning-ending double play, spoiling an opportunity to add to the lead, and that wound up costing Washington.

"We should have won the ballgame," Acta said. "We caught Volquez on one of his bad days. We should have scored at least eight runs off of him."

Instead, the Nationals managed nothing else against him and then watched as their own prized young hurler gave the lead back. Collin Balester, making his second career start, retired the first 11 men he faced, but a costly two-out walk to Ken Griffey Jr. in the fourth set in motion a Reds rally that ended with Adam Dunn crushing a three-run homer to right.

Balester (1-1) surrendered two more runs in the fifth en route to his first loss, which offered some lessons for the 22-year-old starter.

"Just be more smart and just hit your spots a lot better," he said. "If you make a mistake, they're going to make you pay, and [Dunn] did."

Of course, the Nationals were merely happy Balester emerged from this game in one piece after getting drilled in his pitching hand by one of Volquez's fastballs while trying to bunt in the third inning. Balester went down in a heap - "I thought the kid probably had a broken hand," Acta said - but emerged unscathed.

The same couldn't be said for a couple of Washington veterans who added to the absurd nature of this injury-plagued season by coming down with ailments late in the game. Dmitri Young had to depart with tightness in his back after singling in the eighth. The man who pinch-ran for him, Aaron Boone, then strained his left calf running the bases. Both players are day-to-day.

Already without mainstays Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Johnson, Lastings Milledge, Chad Cordero and Shawn Hill, the Nationals now have lost Dukes for at least four to six weeks.

The dynamic outfielder, who had become the club's best all-around player over the last month and a half, will have arthroscopic surgery Monday in Tampa, Fla., to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee. He also has a partially torn patellar tendon and a slight crack of the kneecap, which Cincinnati orthopedist Tim Kremchek believes will not require surgery.

Dukes will return to Washington following the procedure and remain with the club while rehabbing and attempting to get back on the field to help his ailing mates.

"That's the disappointing part," he said. "I really wanted to be able to be on the field when we had everybody back and healthy again, and now I've kind of slowed up that process."

Dukes' bat might have come in handy Sunday, particularly when the Nationals tried to stage a ninth-inning rally against Reds closer Francisco Cordero. They scored twice with two outs to draw to within a run, but with two on, pinch hitter Wil Nieves struck out looking to send Washington home with another stinging loss in the books.

"I know the fight is there," Acta said. "I can see it because back-to-back days you come back against one of the top closers in the league. But the execution and the results are not there."