WASHINGTON -- Before Friday's game, Nationals manager Manny Acta held a team meeting. The skipper was even keel and did all of the talking. The message was simple: pay attention to details.

During their seven-game losing streak, four of the seven losses had been by one run.

"I was making them aware that when you are losing games by one run, it's usually two or three mistakes during the game that would put you in that spot," Acta said.

On Friday night, left-hander Matt Chico made one mistake, and it proved costly as the Nationals lost to the Braves, 3-0, at Nationals Park.

Washington has now lost eight consecutive games and dropped its record to 3-8 for the season.

Despite the loss, Chico appeared to turn the corner with his impressive effort. He pitched the best game of his career, going eight innings and giving up the one run on five hits.

"He was nasty tonight," Braves left fielder Matt Diaz said. "We think we threw the best pitcher [Tim Hudson] in baseball out there tonight, and [Chico] matched him pitch for pitch."

Chico's high leg kick appears to be the difference maker. His fastball was clocked in the high 80s and he walked only one batter. Control was a problem for Chico last year, but that wildness appears to be a thing of the past. Chico has walked only four in 19 1/3 innings this season.

"He had good pop on his fastball," Acta said. "From inning one until the eighth, he kept up his velocity. He pitched ahead the whole time. He used his breaking ball very well. I'm just proud of the young man. It was a tremendous outing."

Chico agreed that Friday was his best game, and it helped that his sinker was working for the most part.

"I felt better every time out. I still have some pitches I need to fix," Chico said. "There were some balls I threw today that could have been hit pretty hard. It's slowly getting where I want to be. For the most part, I threw where I wanted them."

The only time Chico had problems throwing a pitch was in the sixth inning. With two outs, Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar hit Chico's first pitch over the right-center-field wall for his second home run of the season.

"I gave up that run and we lost," Chico said. "It was a terrible pitch. It was a sinker that stayed right down the middle of the plate."

The Nationals had no answers for Hudson, who pitched eight shutout inning, while giving up three hits.

The Nationals' hitters haven't been patient all year, but in the case of Hudson, Acta didn't mind his team swinging at the first pitch, because it's rare when Hudson walks a hitter. In fact, he has allowed only two walks in 21 innings.

Washington had runners in scoring position only once against Hudson, in the fourth inning. With a runner on second with one out, Ryan Zimmerman struck out and, after Nick Johnson walked, Austin Kearns grounded out to Kelly Johnson to end the inning.

Washington tried to hit-and-run against Hudson and it didn't work, as Kearns was caught stealing with Ronnie Belliard at the plate in the seventh.

"Phew, [Hudson] was tough," Acta said. "He had his usual stuff. He had a lot of movement on his pitchers. The slider was very tight, a very sharp rotation. The guys had a tough time picking it up. He located it perfectly. He kept it in the strike zone, when he had to.

"It doesn't bother me when guys [swing at his pitches], because he had no walks until he walked Nick, and he walked Nick because he wanted to. He basically didn't want that matchup in the situation. He is a guy you can't wait around too much."

It's going to be even tougher for the Nationals on Saturday as they face right-hander John Smoltz, who is 20-11 with a 2.60 ERA against the Nats/Expos during his career.