Washington, D.C. — The Braves had built a lot of goodwill beating the Nationals twice this weekend. However, things took a turn for the dour on Sunday when Tom Glavine strained his right hamstring in the first inning.

Glavine faced only four batters and did not record an out, setting the Braves on course for a 5-4 loss to the Nationals. What's on course for Glavine's next scheduled start Friday against Los Angeles is yet to be seen.

AP (ENLARGE)

Braves manager Bobby Cox watches starting pitcher Tom Glavine, 42, depart Sunday's game against the Washington Nationals with a strained right hamstring in the first inning.

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"I'm not concerned that it's going to be a long time, but I really don't have anything to go on to know whether I'm going to be throwing in five days either," said Glavine, who said he's never had any leg problems. "We just have to wait and see."

The Braves wanted to wait to make a decision whether to disable Glavine based on how he feels in the next day or so. The 42-year-old veteran has never been on the disabled list in his 21-year career.

"Tomorrow, if it's really sore, obviously that'd be an indication I might be in some trouble," said Glavine, who was making his third start since his return to the Braves. "If it doesn't feel any different or any worse tomorrow, then Tuesday would be a good test of getting out and throwing."

He said he felt the hamstring grab when he released a fastball to Wily Mo Pena. He said he threw the pitch like he always does, so it wasn't anything he did mechanically or anything he did during his pre-game routine.

"I felt comfortable up to that point in time; I felt good," Glavine said. "It's strange. I did everything today I always do. And even when [strength coach] Frank [Fultz] was stretching me [before the game], he made the comment, 'Man you're loose today.' So I don't know what the deal was."

It had been almost 20 years since Glavine had to come out of a game without retiring a batter. He left with nobody out in a 1989 game at Wrigley Field after spraining his ankle.

On Sunday, Glavine gave up a run on a walk and three hits — including two on the infield — before leaving the game.

His replacement, Jeff Bennett, got him out of the bases-loaded jam while allowing only one other run to score. However, he created a jam for himself with four consecutive walks in the second inning. He walked Ryan Zimmerman and Austin Kearns with the bases loaded. And when he left the mound after four innings, he'd given up three runs of his own and the Braves were down 5-0.

Chipper Jones homered for the first time since the season-opener here two weeks ago to start a four-run comeback, but the Braves (5-7) had to settle for their sixth one-run loss of the season.

Jones' two-out double in the ninth helped bring Brian McCann to the plate with the bases loaded. But McCann, who was 0-for-8 against Jon Rauch, just missed hitting a first-pitch fastball into the gap for extra bases. Kearns corralled it after a long run in right center.

"This one was tough for me," said McCann, who said he shouldn't have tried to pull that pitch. "I've got to come through in that situation. I'm seeing the ball well. I want to be in those situations. To not come through is disappointing."

With that, the Nationals broke their nine-game losing streak, and the Braves headed for Miami and a three-game series with the Marlins that begins Tuesday. They have a 2-4 record on this trip and some concerns now about Glavine.