Below-.500 Nats air it out in private

WASHINGTON — As the Red Sox celebrated a 3-0 victory Wednesday to complete a sweep, the Nationals held a players-only meeting to discuss a fifth consecutive loss and the precarious spot they’re in beyond the halfway point of the season.

Done in again by small mistakes that get magnified in a stretch such as this, the preseason NL East favorites lost for the 17th time in 22 games to fall below .500 for the first time this late in the year since being 60-61 on Aug. 21, 2015.

This time it was a throwing error by Adam Eaton on a sacrifice fly in foul territory and a wild pitch by Ryan Madson in a disastrous seventh inning that dropped the Nationals to 42-43.

“We’re a good team, and we’re going to go out there and compete with anybody,” said Bryce Harper, who went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. “We just have to keep grinding and keep doing our thing, and good things will happen.

“We’ve never been in this position before, and I think it’s an exciting time for us. In years past, we’ve won the division by a lot of games. We’re behind right now, and I’m excited to get there and test it.”

The Nationals have lost four series in a row, a slump that led to the postgame meeting.

“It’s, ‘Let’s get this thing going,’ ” Nationals infielder Trea Turner said. “We all know we’re capable of playing better baseball. It’s time we do it. It’s do or die now.”

Powered by struggling Jackie Bradley Jr.’s two RBIs on the sac fly and a ninth-inning double and a strong start by Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3), the Red Sox moved 30 games over .500. The Red Sox now have the first pair of 10game winners in the majors with Rodriguez and Rick Porcello.