Brian Schneider (left) and Luis Ayala were left arguing with Bruce Dreckman after a four-pitch walk ended their run atop the NL East. AP

His team has "collapsed" -- that's his word -- in the past three weeks, but Jim Bowden, the always-on general manager of the still-surprising Nationals, doesn't seem distressed.

A little baffled maybe. Perhaps a little stunned, you'd have to expect. His players sure are.

But freaked out? Worried? Panicky? Noooo. No way. Of course not.

Well, not for the record, anyway.

"It's just a slump," Bowden said with a shrug of his shoulders Tuesday before the Nationals played the Braves at a "sultry" -- that's Billy Crystal's word -- Turner Field in Atlanta. "What place are we in? [The answer, after Tuesday's painful loss to the Braves, is a game behind Atlanta in second place in the National League East.] How many games over .500 are we? [Ten, if anyone's still counting.] I'm fine with that.

"So, we haven't hit since the All-Star break. We've got a good ballclub. We got a chance to win."

That's, of course, the optimistic view. The Nationals remain one of the biggest surprise stories of the season. They've drawn more than 1.6 million fans to dusty old RFK Stadium in their first season in Washington. They have -- at least until recently -- been uncommonly handy in one-run games. They've been in first place every day since June 5.

Well, until Tuesday night, that is.

As always, there's a flip side to all that rosy-eyed optimism, and Bowden and the Nationals have been turned on their tails by it. On July 3, after polishing off a sweep of the Cubs in Chicago, the Nats had a 5½-game lead in the East. In a stunning reversal, the Nationals have gone 5-14 since then and seen their lead go the way of Montreal baseball.

Before this recent D.C. downturn, the Nationals were riding high and living right, going a baseball-best 22-7 in one-run games. During it, they've gone 2-8 in those one-run games.

If the Nationals are not done now, they're certainly a good ways past medium well. If they're not toast, they're getting browner every second.

If the Nationals are not out of it, out of it's just around the corner.

"We couldn't close the deal," manager Frank Robinson said of Tuesday's loss, though he could have been talking about the season. "And that was it. There's not a whole lot else to say."

A lot of people will look at this team's recent dive and figure that the Nationals' time, finally, is up. After all, this is a team with a weak lineup that has been propped up all season long by a pitching staff that has performed brilliantly. The Nationals have the fourth best ERA in the NL (3.83) and have been even better in July (3.43).

But they're last in the league in OPS, last in runs scored, last in homers, second-to-last in batting average and they've been outscored, overall, by 21 runs this season.

To be 10 games over .500 with numbers like that -- especially giving up more runs than they've scored -- goes against every statistical bone in baseball's body of statistics.

Instead of seeing his team's record as a statistical fracture, though, Bowden sees his team as a bunch of underachievers that could be doing -- should be, he says -- much better than they are. Of his eight regular starters, he says only two are playing up to capabilities. He wouldn't name them, but it's pretty safe to assume that Jose Guillen, who leads the team with 19 home runs, and catcher Brian Schneider, whose numbers (.278, six homers, 28 RBIs and a .334 on-base percentage) are about what you'd expect, are the two in question.

The Nationals, for sure, are getting lackluster seasons from outfielder Brad Wilkerson and third baseman Vinny Castilla, and they've been hurt by injuries to first baseman Nick Johnson and second baseman Jose Vidro. Outfielder Ryan Church has been a nice surprise (.313), though a strained ligament in his rib cage has derailed him. Shortstop Cristian Guzman, one of the team's prime offseason signings, has been outright awful (.183, a .226 on-base percentage).

Still, given those numbers from the offense, the Nationals also could be a lot worse off in the standings than they are. Given this recent slump, they could be buried at the bottom of the NL East.

"I've never seen a team slump like this with this pitching," Bowden said.

Tuesday night, the Nationals got another stellar starting performance from the dead-eyed Livan Hernandez, who left with a 2-1 lead after eight innings. They had some marvelous defensive plays, too, notably left fielder Wilkerson stealing a home run away from Chipper Jones in the seventh inning and Guzman making several nice grabs at short.

But they hit into three double plays, too, and their money closer, saves-leader Chad Cordero (he has 34), blew his fourth save on three straight pitches in the ninth -- a double, a single and a sacrifice fly. Then relievers Mike Stanton and Luis Ayala gave away the game (and the NL East lead) in the 10th with a leadoff single, a pinch-hit sacrifice bunt, an intentional walk, a hit by pitch and a four-pitch walk to Andruw Jones (by Ayala).

Ayala and catcher Schneider were left arguing with the home plate umpire over the last pitch as the Braves celebrated their move into first.

"Three-and-oh," Robinson said of the last pitch, with a tinge of disgust as he wiped his face with a towel. "Throw the ball down the middle of the plate. You think he was swinging there?"

So the Nationals go into Wednesday's game -- Esteban Loaiza against the Braves' Tim Hudson -- reeling but still hopeful, breaking but not quite broken, down but not yet out.

Though, clearly, out is not far away.