WASHINGTON -- Right before Sunday’s matinee, Jazz Chisholm Jr. exclaimed in the clubhouse that he would have a three-hit game. Saying his goal out loud, he was ready to make it a reality.

He fell just short of that prediction, though his two hits were among the positives of Miami’s 3-1 loss to the Nats. Frustrations among the offense continued to grow against left-handed pitchers following a tough weekend series at Nationals Park in which they were swept at the hands of three straight southpaws.

“They’re not happy when they’re getting one run or shut out, that type of thing,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “It was a tough road trip, no questions. It’s not a lack of effort, lack of preparation, just lack of execution right now, but we’ll keep going.”

Chisholm was the first to show an improved effort against left-handed pitchers; he stepped up for the first at-bat of the game and swung at Nats starter Mitchell Parker’s first offering of the day for a single into center field. The 26-year-old extended his hitting streak to five games and his on-base streak to nine games in the process.

Josh Bell, who entered Sunday’s game hitless in his last 22 at-bats, the longest active drought in the league, ended his drought in the fourth with the Marlins’ second hit of the night. He went 2-for-4 with two singles in back-to-back plate appearances.

“There's only eight guys standing in front of you. There's one guy behind you trying to get you out,” Bell said. “Sometimes it feels like whatever ball you put in play, there's not gonna be anybody but it seemed like at least most of my outs here were quality contact.”

Chisholm’s second hit, an RBI single in the fifth inning, tied the game at 1 before the Nationals extended their lead thanks to Jacob Young’s solo home run off a 92.9 mph fastball from Jesús Luzardo.

Luzardo only gave up two runs -- both solo homers -- off five hits over five frames despite waking up with a stiff back. After talks with Schumaker and the coaching staff, he was determined to go out onto the mound for his second consecutive Father’s Day start.

The southpaw had to make some adjustments to pitch around his stiff back, finding different ways to attack and getting certain players out in a different manner than what he is used to. He was able to get some double plays to get out of innings quickly, even with his fastball velocity dropping three mph.

“Frustrating, not having my best stuff,” Luzardo said. “[Also] somewhat kind of content that I was able to keep the team in the game.”

The Marlins were able to notch some more hits to get runners on the basepaths, but the “big hit” never came. After facing three consecutive southpaws, the Marlins scored just two runs over the series.

“[Luzardo and Trevor Rogers] were lights out. It stinks that we were unable to have the runs for them,” Bell said. “Seems like we strung together some good at bats, just weren't getting balls to fall for them. It's tough watching starters go five six innings, only a couple of runs on the board and not getting them the [win].”

The team will now return to Miami on a five-game losing streak and is scheduled to face three consecutive righties. According to Luzardo, once the offense clicks -- and the pitching remains the same -- the Marlins will soon go on a run.

For now, the goal according to Schumaker is to simply get the offense hot again.

“We have some guys struggling in the middle of the order that we need to get hot again, it’s part of the season for a couple of these guys,” he said. “You know, there’s peaks and valleys. We’re just trying to get them out of the valley and try to get back up where they are supposed to be. They’ll get there, we’re just in a rut right now.”