Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Austin Kearns' single to right scored Cristian Guzman with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth frame, leading Washington to a 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh in the initial contest of a four-game set at Nationals Park.

I was just trying to get a pitch to hit and try not to do too much," said Kearns. I'm feeling better at the plate and it's nice to get some results."

The suddenly red-hot Nationals have won four in a row, six of seven and seven of nine. Luis Ayala (1-1) pitched a flawless frame for the victory and Jon Rauch closed the door for his sixth save.

Kearns finished 2-for-4 and Wil Nieves drove in a pair of runs for the Nationals, who improved to 6-2 on their 11-game homestand.

John Grabow (1-1) was saddled with the loss for the Pirates, who have dropped five of their last seven games. Freddy Sanchez and Ryan Doumit homered.

Guzman led off eighth with a base hit to right then moved to second when Nick Johnson was plunked by a pitch with one out. With two outs, Kearns drove a first-pitch change-up into right field at the strong arm of Xavier Nady. His throw was on target, but Guzman slid around the tag for the go-ahead run.

A pitching duel broke out between two hurlers looking for their first wins of the season. Both Odalis Perez and Zach Duke threw plenty of strikes, each giving up just a pair of runs over seven frames.

Perez, still a hard-luck 0-3 on the season, lowered his earned run average to 3.18 while allowing three hits with four strikeouts.

"What he has done for us has not gone unnoticed, despite the fact that he doesn't have a win, we are very satisfied with what he has given us so far," said Washington manager Manny Acta.

Duke surrendered five hits with two walks and a strikeout, slicing his ERA to 4.79 in the process.

The Nationals opened a 2-0 advantage in the second. Lastings Milledge and Kearns each singled and moved up one base on Wily Mo Pena's soft roller out in front of the plate. Nieves came through in the clutch with the two-run single.

Pittsburgh cut the deficit in half in the fourth on Sanchez's first home run of the campaign, a blast to left. The Pirates again played long ball in the seventh, tying the game on Doumit's long home run to left-center field.