Washington Nationals (55-103) at Atlanta Braves (86-72), 7:10 p.m.

Sports Network | October 1, 2009

(Sports Network) - The Atlanta Braves nearly pulled off an incredible rally to keep their playoff hopes alive. Instead, they are now on the brink of elimination.

Atlanta begins a season-ending four-game series with the Washington Nationals at Turner Field this evening four games behind National League Wild Card- leading Colorado with four to play. That means a loss by the Braves tonight, or a Rockies victory over the Brewers, would eliminate Atlanta from postseason play for a fourth straight season.

The Braves nearly rallied in a big way on Wednesday to keep pace with the Rockies, who won on Wednesday. Trailing the Florida Marlins by three runs, Atlanta plated a pair of runs in the ninth inning and had the bases loaded with two outs.

Florida reliever Brendan Donnelly came on in relief and threw his first pitch into the dirt. The ball got away from catcher Ronny Paulino, and Atlanta's Matt Diaz raced halfway down the third-base line before changing course back to the bag. Paulino fired to third in time to get Diaz for the last out, and the Braves suffered a 5-4 defeat.

The loss also eliminated Atlanta from NL East contention, as the Phillies claimed their third straight division title with the Braves' setback.

Javier Vazquez (15-10) couldn't extend his winning streak to five straight starts, allowing five runs -- three earned -- on eight hits in six innings for Atlanta, which had won seven straight games prior to the back-to-back losses to Florida.

Adam LaRoche went 2-for-4 with two RBI in the loss.

Atlanta's Tommy Hanson continues his case for NL Rookie of the Year tonight. The 23-year-old is 11-4 with a 2.98 earned run average, and beat Washington on Saturday after giving up four runs on four hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over seven innings.

The right-hander, 7-2 with a 3.34 ERA in 10 home starts, improved to 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA in three starts versus the Nationals.

Washington managed to pull off a rally of its own on Wednesday, as Justin Maxwell hit a grand slam off Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez to cap a five-run ninth inning and give the Nationals a 7-4 victory.

Maxwell hit the second grand slam of his career and Ryan Zimmerman also homered for the Nats, who swept the three-game set after losing four in a row.

"I think we played for the most part pretty good baseball in the second half," Zimmerman said. "We're excited about what we have. We just want to go out, have fun and hopefully win. You don't quit, just keep on going."

Washington went 4-5 on its nine-game homestand, its final one of the season.

Garrett Mock starts for the Nationals and is 0-5 with a 7.03 ERA over his last six starts. His latest setback came to the Braves and Hanson on Saturday, as Mock was charged with six runs -- four of those earned -- on seven hits and four walks over five innings.

The 26-year-old righty is 3-10 with a 5.91 ERA on the year and 1-2 with a 3.97 ERA lifetime versus the Braves. Saturday marked his first-ever start against them.

The Braves have won five straight over Washington and 10 of 14 versus the Nationals this year.