The Nationals would go on to compile a respectable 13-11 record at the end of the first month. The Nationals would remain hot over the next two months and led the NL East by 5 and half games over the Atlanta Braves entering the 4th of July with a record of 51-30. However, hosting the New York Mets for a 4-game series the Nationals began to sputter as the Mets took 3 of 4 games as the Nats went into the second half losing 5 of 7 at RFK Stadium to division opponents. After the break the Nationals struggles continued as their grip on first place quickly slipped away, as by the time they entered a 3-game series with the Braves in Atlanta the lead was gone. The Nats would be swept in the series and would never see first place again. The Nationals continued to struggle in August as they ended losing a total 24 of 32 games over a 5 week period ending on August 11th. The Nationals would stop the sinking with a 3-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies to keep them in the Wild Card Race as all 5 NL East teams had .500 or better records and were in thick of the playoff chase heading into September. However, the Nats would quickly fall off in the race as they began to slip further in the NL East Standings as a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Mets dropped them to .500, and into last place where they would post an 81-81 record. Among the individual highlights for the first year Nationals were Chad Cordero who won the NL Fireman Award with 47 saves, while Livan Hernandez led the team with a 15-10 record. At the plate homers were scarce in cavernous RFK Stadium as Jose Guillen led the team with 24 homers and 76 RBI.