One sweet swing later, Belliard and the Nats had finally taken the lead. That RBI single in the eighth and the bases-clearing double by Cristian Guzman that followed were the difference in a wild, 9-7, victory at Nationals Park.

It was a rough loss for the Phillies (76-64), who fell three games behind the first-place New York Mets (79-61) in the National League East title chase. The Nats (54-86) left immediately after the game for a nine-game, 11-day road trip winners of eight of nine. With the nine runs, the offense quickly shook off a 4-0 shutout loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday. Washington has now scored 74 runs in its last 12 games.

“Right now, I think we’re just playing like that,” Belliard said. “We don’t mind the score. We just keep coming.”

The Phillies took leads of 2-0, 3-2 and 5-4 heading into the late innings. Slugger Ryan Howard mashed a pair of two-run home runs — the first with a languid flick of the wrist on a breaking ball from Nats starter Odalis Perez in the first inning.

For Howard, they were homers No. 38 and 39. Add in a third-inning RBI triple by Chase Utley on a ball misjudged by Nats center fielder Lastings Milledge and the Phillies appeared in good shape to keep pace with the Mets.

But the Nats refused to quit. They answered Howard’s first homer with an RBI double from Ryan Zimmerman and an RBI single from Kory Casto in the bottom of the first.

Milledge made up for his misplay in center by driving in a run on a fielder’s-choice grounder in the fifth that tied the game at 3. Moments later, Milledge’s forceful slide into second base wiped out Utley as the Phillies tried to complete a double play. That allowed Elijah Dukes to reach first safely and Guzman to score the go-ahead run.

It was interesting to see Utley flat on his back this time. On Tuesday night, his hard collision with Jesus Flores on an attempted steal of home left the Nats catcher with a severe ankle sprain. Nats manager Manny Acta and multiple players said afterwards that Utley’s headfirst dive was a clean play. Yet Nats starter Odalis Perez had already drilled Utley in the hip with a pitch in the first inning even before Milledge’s hard slide.

“You’ve got to go hard anyway,” Milledge said. “Any second baseman when I’m breaking up a double play I’m going in hard so I’m not thinking about Utley. But it was good we broke up that double play because it was a key run.”

The Nats’ 4-3 lead lasted about five minutes. Jayson Werth beat out an infield hit against rookie reliever Marco Estrada and Howard then blasted his second homer of the night to right-center. Just like that Philadelphia was back ahead, 5-4.

But again it wouldn’t last. With two outs in the seventh, Zimmerman — as he did in a 7-4 win over the Phillies on Labor Day — smoked a line-drive homer to dead center field. It was a solo shot, but tied the game at 5 and erased Philadelphia’s third lead of the night.

The Nats escaped trouble in the eighth when Pat Burrell singled off reliever Saul Rivera and pinch runner Greg Golson stole second base with two outs. But Guzman tracked down a hard grounder up the middle by pinch hitter Greg Dobbs and fired a throw to first just in time. That effort earned Rivera (5-5, 3.52 ERA) the victory.

Casto then opened the bottom of the eighth with a single off Durbin. After Wil Nieves failed on a bunt attempt, Durbin uncorked a wild pitch to move pinch runner Pete Orr to second. Rookie Roger Bernadina smacked a hit to left to put runners at the corners. And that was when Acta called upon Belliard. He lined a shot over Jimmy Rollins at shortstop to drive in Orr and give the Nats a 6-5 lead.

“You just have to go out there and be aggressive. They’ve been throwing first pitch fastballs for strikes for the last couple of days,” Belliard said. “I said if he gave me another pitch to hit I was going to swing.”

Emilio Bonifacio drew a walk to load the bases and Guzman, the National League Co-Player of the Week for his exploits on this homestand, delivered again with a double into the gap in left-center.

With a pair of singles and his three-run double, Guzman is batting .538 with eight runs scored, five doubles, a triple, a homer and 10 RBI over his last eight games. He has posted at least two hits every night during that stretch, a new franchise record. Has he ever been this hot?

“Um….,” Guzman paused for a beat and then smiled. “No.”

Closer Joel Hanrahan struggled to put the game away. Matt Stairs doubled home Shane Victorino and Utley belted a sacrifice fly to left to cut the lead to 9-7. But Hanrahan recovered to strike out Werth and complete an 8-1 homestand.

“I think we’re playing well. We’re confident and we’re doing the little things right,” Zimmerman said. “I can’t explain it. There’s nothing that we did different. It’s just that you’re rolling and you want to keep it going.”

Nats notes


» RHP Collin Balester has been scratched from his scheduled start Friday in Atlanta because of a strained left glut. Balester will next start on Sept. 9 at the New York Mets.

» In place of Balester, RHP Shairon Martis makes his major-league debut tonight. Martis, 21, was acquired in July of 2006 from San Francisco in a trade for reliever Mike Stanton. In 21 minor-league starts at Triple-A Columbus and Double-A Harrisburg this season, Martis was 5-6 with a 3.64 ERA in 116 1/3 innings. He also pitched in the Olympic Games for the Netherlands last month.

» That means a rotation shakeup for the four-game Atlanta series. Jason Bergmann will now pitch Friday with Tim Redding set for Saturday and John Lannan on Sunday. Each pitcher’s turn was pushed back one day.

» Teams across Major League Baseball on Wednesday honored Hall-of-Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente. The former Pittsburgh Pirates star was known for his charity work during a brilliant 18-year career and died in a plane crash on Dec. 31, 1972, bringing supplies to Nicaragua after a major earthquake.

Prior to last night’s game with the Phillies, the Nats presented a video tribute to Clemente – with player and coach commentary – on the HD scoreboard. Pitcher Joel Hanrahan, the team’s nominee for the annual Roberto Clemente Award, had a $7,500 check donated in his name by Chevy to the Walter Reed Society, a non-profit group that helps wounded soldiers and their families at Walter Reed Medical Center. Luis Clemente, Roberto’s son, made a brief speech before the game and threw out the ceremonial first pitch.