by David O'Brien; Staff , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Their season finale Sunday lasted 15 innings and nearly 4 1/2 hours and ended ingloriously in a 2-1 loss against the Washington Nationals at Turner Field, leaving the Braves with a six-game losing streak as the final act in a season that crashed from a promising peak six days before.

In under a week, the Braves went from a 15-2 tear that brought them to within 2 1/2 games of wild-card leader Colorado, to finishing third in the National League East behind Florida.

The Braves lost all four games in the series, the first time they were ever swept in a four-game home series against the Montreal/Washington franchise --- despite strong performances from starting pitching in three, including Tim Hudson's seven innings Sunday (seven hits and seven strikeouts).

"We just didn't do much with the bats the entire homestand," said manager Bobby Cox, whose club scored just nine runs in 44 innings against the NL's worst pitching staff and a Nationals team that came to town with a major-league most 103 losses --- and left with 103.

"Hated to end the game with a checked swing," Cox said. "I didn't think he went."

That was Cox being Cox, feisty and competitive right to the end. For the record, replays left some room for debate about whether Brooks Conrad checked his swing on the final pitch from Logan Kensing, with runners at second and third after two-out hits by Omar Infante and Martin Prado.

But the strike call was made on an appeal to third base umpire Ron Kulpa and that was that. Season over for the Bravos, who finished 86-76, out of the postseason for a fourth consecutive year, though 14 wins better than last season and with a different vibe in the clubhouse.

"It's frustrating to lose," said center fielder Nate McLouth, whose sixth-inning homer provided the Braves' only offense Sunday. "But there's a lot of good things [to look forward to]. We've got good pitching. If you've got good pitching, you're going to win."

"[The loss] was not the way you wanted to end it," said third baseman Chipper Jones, who snapped an 0-for-19 skid with a pinch-hit single to start the eighth inning. "To the guys' credit, it's kind of hard to come out here and play the last day of the season with nothing riding on it.

"But everybody's excited about next season. I can honestly say that if we don't make the playoffs next year, it'll be disappointing. Haven't been able to say that for a while."

Hudson made his seventh and arguably best start since elbow surgery. He threw 61 strikes in 93 pitches and didn't give up a run until allowing three consecutive singles in the seventh inning.

The Braves have a $12 million option on his contract for 2010, but might try to sign him to a multiyear deal at a lower salary. He's eligible for free agency if they don't pick up the option and has made it clear he wants to stay with the Braves and would take a lower salary.

"I don't think today's start at all is going to determine whether the Braves bring me back," he said. "But I felt pretty good and threw the ball pretty well. It's something to build on for next year."

As much as the Braves supplied reason for optimism during their recent surge, including a seven-game winning streak, they provided reminders of their shortcomings while losing the last six games.

Their offense is still too dependent upon catcher Brian McCann, who was banged up and out of the lineup for the finale, and Jones, who hit third all season despite batting .173 with three homers in his last 42 games and just .229 with 10 homers and 40 RBIs in 95 games since June 10.

But considering how general Frank Wren completely rebuilt the starting rotation in one offseason, the Braves seem confident he can add a right-handed power hitter and come up with a quality closer.

"We have a good core of young players and veteran guys for next year," Cox said. "Frank and the guys will tweak it as much as they can and we'll go get 'em next year."

Nationals 2, Braves 1, 15 innings

Washington AB R H BI BB SO AVG.

Maxwell cf 4 0 0 0 3 4 .247

Desmond ss 7 0 2 0 0 2 .280

Orr 3b 7 0 1 0 0 1 .253

Dukes rf 5 1 1 0 2 1 .250

Morse 1b 7 0 1 0 0 1 .250

J.Bard c 5 0 1 0 0 0 .229

Nieves c 1 0 1 0 1 0 .260

Alb.Gonzalez 2b 6 1 2 1 1 0 .265

J.Padilla lf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .120

Willingham ph-lf 4 0 1 0 0 3 .260

J.Martin p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .160

A.Dunn ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 .267

Clippard p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

C.Guzman ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .284

Villone p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---

Bergmann p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

S.Rivera p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333

Zimmerman ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .292

Kensing p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 54 2 13 2 7 15

Atlanta AB R H BI BB SO AVG.

McLouth cf 6 1 1 1 0 3 .256

Infante rf-lf 7 0 3 0 0 1 .305

Prado 3b-rf 6 0 2 0 1 0 .307

G.Anderson lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .268

Gorecki lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .200

Conrad ph-3b 2 0 0 0 0 1 .204

Ad.LaRoche 1b 6 0 1 0 0 1 .278

Y.Escobar ss 6 0 2 0 0 1 .299

K.Johnson 2b 6 0 1 0 0 1 .224

Sammons c 6 0 1 0 0 1 .182

T.Hudson p 2 0 1 0 0 0 .333

Moylan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

C.Jones ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .264

R.Soriano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---

Medlen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Norton ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .145

Kawakami p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .098

McCann ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .281

O'Flaherty p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Acosta p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Logan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---

J.Vazquez ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .176

Totals 55 1 13 1 2 10

Washington 000 000 100 000 001 --- 2 13 0

Atlanta 000 001 000 000 000 --- 1 13 0

LOB: Washington 15, Atlanta 12. 2B: Desmond (7), Morse (3), J.Bard (18), Zimmerman (37), Infante 2 (9), Prado (38). HR: McLouth (20), off J.Martin. RBIs: Alb.Gonzalez (33), A.Dunn (105), McLouth (70). CS: Maxwell (1). S: S.Rivera, McLouth.

GIDP: Morse, Alb.Gonzalez, K.Johnson.

DP: Washington 1, Atlanta 2.

Washington IP H R ER BB SO ERA

J.Martin 6 6 1 1 0 2 4.44

Clippard 2 1 0 0 0 2 2.69

Villone 1 (TM) 1 0 0 1 2 4.25

Bergmann fl 0 0 0 0 1 4.50

S.Rivera 3 2 0 0 1 1 6.10

Kensing W, 1-2 2 3 0 0 0 2 8.92

Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO ERA

T.Hudson 7 7 1 1 2 7 3.61

Moylan 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.84

R.Soriano 1 0 0 0 1 1 2.97

Medlen 1 1 0 0 0 1 4.26

Kawakami 2 2 0 0 0 1 3.86

O'Flaherty 1 0 0 0 0 1 3.04

Acosta 1 1 0 0 2 2 4.34

Logan L, 1-1 1 2 1 1 1 2 5.19

T: 4:18. A: 36,307 (49,743).

Season over: Nationals 2, Braves 1 (15 innings)

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