Los Angeles Dodgers

Nationals' Werth struggling to find swing since return from injury

Published Aug. 13, 2015 1:17 p.m. ET

foxsports

Trying to chase down the New York Mets doesn't faze Jayson Werth. Trying to find his swing is another matter for the Washington Nationals left fielder.

Werth's struggles at the plate continued in Wednesday's 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a setback that dropped the Nationals 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Mets in the National League East.

Werth was 1-for-12 in the series against the Dodgers and is 8-for-53 since returning from a 2 1/2-month stay in the disabled list due to a pair of small fractures in his last wrist.

“The results are just not there,” said Werth, who has made no secret that he feels Washington is the team to beat despite its second-half slump. “I’m surprised because I feel so good. I’m expecting good things but so far I haven’t had the results."

Neither have the Nationals. They owned a three-game lead in the division entering a weekend series at the Mets on July 31 and were promptly swept, triggering a 4-9 slide that has left Washington facing its biggest deficit since May 10.

"I’m very aware of what’s at stake and what I mean to the lineup and to the team," Werth said. "I want to be good. I want to be the player I can be more than anybody. I’m not frustrated because I feel like it’s coming and it’s going to happen."

(h/t Washington Post)