By Morris Phillips

In fashioning the best 63-game* start to a season in Major League Baseball over the last 10 seasons, a lot of things have gone right for the Giants.

With Ian Desmond and Steven Strasburg on top of their games, none of those wonderful things continued on Monday.

Strasburg shut down the Giants for six innings and Desmond contributed a career-best five RBI in the Nationals 9-2 victory over the Giants.

The loss—only the Giants fourth in the previous 18 games—allowed the Dodgers to cut into the biggest divisional lead in baseball which now stands at 8 ½ games.  Los Angeles won the opener of their four-game series with Reds in Cincinnati, 6-2.

Clutch hitting with base runners on, home runs a plenty and MLB saves leader Sergio Romo (converted 20 of 22) go a long way in telling the story of the 2014 Giants, who have surprised all the experts in compiling the best record in either league.  But on Monday none of those storylines factored in as Strasburg allowed few clutch situations to materialize, the ball stayed in the park and Romo didn’t get the call in a lopsided affair in which the Nats led 4-1 after three and put it away with a five-run seventh.

Ryan Vogelsong was coming off one of the best starts of his career but just didn’t have it on Monday.  Vogey struggled from the start, allowing six hits, two damaging walks and four runs in the first three innings.

The Giants look to rebound on Tuesday behind the red-hot Madison Bumgarner (6-0 over his last seven starts) who will face Doug Fister of the Nationals at 7:15pm.