Belliard's 10th-inning single gives Nats win over Padres

Nationals 4, Padres 3 (10 innings)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Dmitri Young pleaded with reporters to bypass his locker, nodding toward the stall soon to be occupied by Ronnie Belliard.

"Talk to somebody else, seriously," said a superstitious Young, hardly basking in the glow of a four-hit night that matched a 24-year-old franchise record.

Belliard's pinch-hit single drove home Cristian Guzman in the 10th inning to give the Washington Nationals a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday night.

After watching Young and Guzman notch four hits apiece, Belliard said he was inspired to deliver the well-placed single that provided the Nationals' first victory in seven games against the Padres since relocating from Montreal before the 2005 season.

"Cristian Guzman got four hits and Dmitri got four hits. It's pretty impressive," said Belliard, who nudged the game-winner on a sinker off the end of his bat. "It made me want to go out there and do my job."

Guzman started the decisive rally with a one-out single to left off Cla Meredith (2-3). Ryan Zimmerman's liner to right sent Guzman to third before Belliard deposited an opposite-field bouncer between first and second. Second baseman Marcus Giles, playing back for a potential inning-ending double play, gloved it in short right field but could not make a play.

Jon Rauch (3-1) got the victory with a scoreless 10th inning.

Young, who had two RBIs, has hits in eight straight plate appearances over two games, matching the franchise record set by Montreal's Andre Dawson from June 4-7, 1983.

But Young didn't want to talk about his streak, for fear of jinxing it, and the accolades were left to others.

"He's locked in," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "You can tell by the way he's taking pitches. He's hitting everybody -- hard throwers and soft tossers. ... Right now, he's in a zone. Don't go talk to him, please."

San Diego catcher Josh Bard, who was suspended for three games Friday by the commissioner's office for "aggressive actions" and making contact with umpire Ed Rapuano in Pittsburgh on Thursday, played after appealing the disciplinary action. He had four hits, equaling his career-high, and two RBIs.

Bard said the possible suspension -- the result of an argument after Bard's apparent home run was changed by umpires into a double, leading to the ejections of Bard and manager Bud Black -- had no bearing on his breakout Friday night.

"Nope. We'll appeal it and we'll go through the process," he said. "We'll just go through the process."

The Nationals went up 2-0 in the first. With one out, Guzman reached on an infield single, then scored when he ran through third base coach Tim Tolman's stop sign on Zimmerman's double to right-center. Zimmerman advanced when Bard forgot to throw to third after the play at the plate and scored on Young's single to center.

Consecutive doubles by Mike Cameron and Bard made it 2-1 in the second.

Young delivered a one-out RBI single in the third after Guzman singled and stole second.

Bard doubled home Adrian Gonzalez in the sixth and the Padres tied the game on a fluke play two batters after Matt Chico was pulled for Winston Abreu in the sixth. With two outs and runners on first and second, Termel Sledge hit a bouncer to the right of the mound that glanced off second base umpire Bob Davidson and settled in short right field for a run-scoring double.

Chico gave up three runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Jake Peavy, bidding for a victory in his sixth consecutive start, allowed three runs and 10 hits over seven innings for San Diego. Peavy has not lost since April 30, when the Nationals beat him in San Diego.

"Just didn't feel good out there -- just didn't have good, electric stuff. … Just couldn't really get it going out there," Peavy said.

Game notes
Guzman's infield single in the fifth was his 1,000th hit. ... The Padres activated RHP Clay Hensley from the DL Friday and optioned him to Triple-A Portland. IF Oscar Robles was optioned to Portland to open a roster spot for OF Hiram Bocachica, claimed off waivers from Oakland on Thursday. Bocachica started and went 0-for-4. ... Young broke the Nationals record for consecutive hits set by Brad Wilkerson on April 6-7, 2005, at Philadelphia.