Well, Congress did its part.

The congressional baseball social organized by Reps. David B. McKinley, R-W.Va., and Diana DeGette, D-Colo., attracted the interest of hundreds of members and staffers to Nationals Park for a bipartisan Hump Day chance to hang out. It’s not easy to get that many people from Capitol Hill in one spot, especially when you are competing with a brutal floor schedule, a senator’s funeral and the glitzy Radio & Television Correspondents’ Association dinner. Shuttles even ran from Rayburn to the stadium, which is only a few blocks away.

Then the Washington Nationals, on a beautiful Wednesday night, perfect for baseball, went on to lose to the New York Mets, 10-1.

After the loss, in a column for Bleacher Report titled “Washington Nationals: Flatitude,” Tom Natali wrote: “This couldn’t have happened at a worse time either. Right when the Nats were developing a passionate and loyal fanbase, they test the new faithful with mediocrity.”

The loss dropped Washington to 29-30 and third place in the National League East. Yeah, everyone’s hurt. But everyone’s hurt on the New York Yankees, too, and they’re 34-25.