Washington Nationals’ lineup for today’s series finale with the New York Mets...

Davey Martinez’s Washington Nationals finished last night eleven games under .500 at 19-30 after 49 games, with three straight losses in Citi Field, four straight losses overall, and losses in 14 of 21 games in May. How do they stop the bleeding? How do they try to turn it around before it’s too late ... if it’s not too late already?

“I tell them all the time, ‘Hey, this thing will turn around,” Martinez told reporters after the 6-1 loss to the Mets in the third game of the four-game set in New York.

“It’s going to turn around, but we have to believe that it will,” the second-year skipper said.

“We’ve got to will it. And it’s time that we just believe that we’re good enough to play here, because we are, and we’ve got to make it happen. We’ve got to make things happen and stay strong, stay together, stay strong, pull for your teammates, and this thing will turn around.”

With the losses piling up, and the mistakes happening in game after game, how do the Nats keep things from spiraling further out of control? How do they maintain the belief that there is a chance to turn things around?

“You’ve got to keep it,” Martinez explained. “We’ve got a lot of baseball left. That’s why we play 162 games. If you don’t believe that, then you’re in the wrong profession. I can tell you that right now. I believe every day, I come in every day knowing that we’re going to win a game. I mean that’s it.”

You’ve gotta believe? Do you believe it’s over? Do you believe there’s time to turn it around?

If you want to maintain some optimism, don’t do the math to see what it would take to get to the 90+ wins it’s taken to win the NL East in recent seasons.

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE SERIES FINALE WITH THE METS: