Lawrence Jackson, Associated Press photos Craig Wilson walks away from home plate after striking out against Nationals closer Chad Cordero in the ninth inning yesterday in Washington. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Pirates Notebook: Bautista gets his shot, and it might count Smizik: Desperate Pirates sinking Game Statistics Provided by Forecaster Pirates vs. Nationals box score Game play-by-play TOMORROW: Game: Diamondbacks (Miguel Batista 3-1) vs. Pirates (Ian Snell 1-2), 7:05 p.m. Where: PNC Park TV/radio: FSN Pittsburgh/KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network.

WASHINGTON -- So glaring, so uncharacteristic was Zach Duke's five-run, third-inning collapse that it would be easy to finger it exclusively for the Pirates' 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals yesterday at RFK Stadium.

It also would be misguided.

Ask Jose Hernandez.

"You just can't leave men on base like we did, including myself," he said after his team stranded 11 and batted 3 for 12 with runners in scoring position. "The guys in front of me were getting hits, and we had the chance to score a lot of runs ..."

He shook his head and trailed off, but no elaboration seemed necessary after his long afternoon.

Filling in for injured Jack Wilson at shortstop, Hernandez faced Washington's Mike O'Connor with bases loaded in the first inning. O'Connor, making his third major-league start, already had given up a run and was wild, having hit a batter and walked two others, including Craig Wilson right before Hernandez.

Hernandez swung at the first pitch. Popped out.

Third inning, men at the corners, Hernandez took one pitch. Popped out.

Fifth inning, Wilson was hit by a pitch, and Hernandez swung at the first pitch. Popped out.

Seventh inning, Wilson was plunked again, and Hernandez waited one pitch. Popped out.

By the time he grounded out to end the game, he had gone 0 for 5 on eight pitches to drop his batting average to .167.

"I tried to get something going all game, but I just wasn't able to do it," Hernandez said. "That was the game, probably."

To be sure, it was not the offensive model manager Jim Tracy had sought.

Tracy had preached all spring about patience at the plate, about applying pressure to the opposing pitcher by getting on base. And, with improvement in those and other areas in mind, he predicted, time and again, that the Pirates would improve on their 15-28 record in one-run games of last year.

LOST CAUSE

.299

Pirates on-base percentage is the lowest in the National League

86

Pirates walks are fewest in the National League

.234

Pirates batting average is the second lowest in the National League

None of it has happened.

The Pirates' 86 walks are fewest in the National League, the most tangible indicator of a lack of patience.

Their on-base percentage of .299 is lowest in the league. As a result, they have applied little to no heat, even to the unaccomplished likes of Taylor Buchholz, Zach Day and now O'Connor.

And the record in those one-run games: 4-9.

All three figures are worse than the 2005 Pirates at the same point.

Asked if he has been satisfied with his hitters' approach, based on those spring expectations, Tracy replied: "It would be a stretch for me to say I've seen it on a consistent basis. You look at the number of games where we've basically limited ourselves to one offensive inning. And we sometimes haven't even cashed in on that."

Asked his thoughts on Hernandez's approach yesterday: "I think he got good swings at balls. I didn't see swings where the ball was lamely hit somewhere. I saw swings where he saw pitches he could drive, and he popped them up."

Duke's third inning had an almost surreal feel, given his history of poise.

With two outs, Washington had runners on second and third when cleanup man Nick Johnson's flare landed in shallow center to put the Nationals ahead, 2-1.

It should have been no big deal. Duke had thrown Johnson precisely the inside fastball he intended, and Johnson got only a few threads of it.

Evidently, though, it rattled him.

Two pitches later, Jose Guillen smashed Duke's elevated fastball high over the left-field fence, and it was 4-1.

Next, Ryan Zimmerman and Matthew LeCroy crushed back-to-back doubles to the outfield corners, and it was 5-1.

Pirates starting pitcher Zach Duke delivers to the Nationals' Alfonso Soriano in the first inning. Click photo for larger image.

"I let it get out of control. I just didn't bear down," Duke said. "If you look at all the great pitchers, they don't allow the big innings. That's what I allowed today, and it's pretty unacceptable on my part."

Still, Tracy stuck with Duke, and Duke rewarded that by putting up three more zeroes in finishing with six innings.

The Pirates scored twice in the fourth to pull within 5-3.

After two outs, Jose Bautista tripled, Nate McLouth walked, and Freddy Sanchez, in a 13-pitch at-bat, tripled each of them home.

But Bay, almost always patient, followed Sanchez's epic plate appearance by swinging at O'Connor's first pitch and popping out.

There were other chances.

With one out and a man on third in the fifth, Ronny Paulino was robbed of extra bases when center fielder Marlon Byrd leaped to make a sensational catch high up against the fence.

With men at the corners and two outs in the eighth, after the Pirates had closed within one on Bautista's RBI single, Washington manager Frank Robinson summoned closer Chad Cordero to face Sanchez. He grounded into a fielder's choice at third.

"It's so important for us to do more to get the other team's pitcher out of games, to have more quality at-bats," Sanchez said. "That's on me, too, believe me."

The Pirates finished their seven-game trip 2-5.