Washington Nationals’ lineup for series opener with Los Angeles Dodgers...

A sweep would have been nice, yes. But taking two out of three from the current division leaders in Citi Field was a victory at least.

Now the Washington Nationals are out in sunny Los Angeles, CA, where they start a three-game set with the Dodgers with at least a little momentum coming out of New York.

“Everybody is playing really well,” Davey Martinez told reporters after the bullpen faltered in the series finale with the Mets, with the normally reliable Ryan Madson letting NY back into the game in what ended up being a nine-run eighth that turned the Nats’ 4-2 lead into an 11-4 deficit.

“We’ve got some momentum going forward, we’ve got a day off tomorrow, which we definitely need, we go to LA and play this weekend.”

Tanner Roark, who started the third of three in New York, talked afterwards about getting a series win before they headed out to the second stop on the three-city, nine-game trip.

“It was a great series,” he said. “We won the series, that’s all that matters. Nine times out of ten, you’re going to have [Ryan] Madson do what he does, it was just one of those games.

“We had that game the first night, now they had this night, so we won the series, we get a day off tomorrow, relax.”

Madson, whose ERA ballooned from 1.86 to 6.97 after he was charged with six earned runs in ²⁄₃ of an inning, was still happy to get out of Citi Field with the series win.

“That’s great,” Madson told reporters. “Two out of three every time, we win. Great series.

“[Ryan Zimmerman] tore the cover off the ball, so that was fun to see, like he’s been doing, but he’s actually gotten some to go in there, and nobody can catch them when they’re in the seats, so that was awesome.”

“Our goal is to win series,” Zimmerman added after his two-homer game in the third of three with the Mets.

“Sweeps are hard to come by in this league, and obviously a nice bonus when you get them, but it’s a good team over there, but very competitive series, first game obviously was big for us and then great game for us last night and then another back and forth tonight, so two out of three and get on the plane and enjoy a much needed off day.”

Now it’s back to work. The first of three with the Dodgers gets underway at 10:10 PM EDT.

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE SERIES OPENER IN L.A.: