WASHINGTON(AP) -- Showing some late-inning life, the Washington
Nationals prevented the possibility of a Los Angeles Dodgers'
celebration and put off a dubious achievement of their own.

Andre Ethier booted pinch-hitter Pete Orr's fly to right field
in the ninth inning, allowing Justin Maxwell to easily score,
and the Nationals averted their 100th loss of the season with a
5-4 victory over the Dodgers on Wednesday night.

"It was bizarre, but at the same time, you've got to win those
games," Orr said. "Those are the games that if that slips away
from us and we don't win right there, it's a pretty big downer."

Maxwell started the decisive rally with a single down the
left-field line off James McDonald (5-5) to open the ninth.
Alberto Gonzalez bunted Maxwell to second and Maxwell stole
third on a curveball before Jorge Padilla walked.

Nationals interim manager Jim Riggleman said Maxwell had the
green light. Maxwell wanted to catch the Dodgers off-guard.

"I thought it was a good time to go," Maxwell said. "I figured
(McDonald) wasn't really worried about me after us moving the
runner on the bunt."

Orr, who was 2 for 13 as a pinch hitter, hit a fly to medium
right and the ball bounced off Ethier's glove as he backtracked,
scoring Maxwell. Orr was credited with a sacrifice fly and
Ethier was given an error on the play.

The Dodgers' magic number to clinch a spot in the postseason
remained at two, but its magic number to clinch the NL West
title for a second straight season, a feat last accomplished in
1977-78, dropped to six with Colorado's 6-3 loss to San Diego.

"Just because they're however many games out don't mean they're
just going to roll over and let everybody come in and stomp
them," said Dodgers second baseman Orlando Hudson, who left the
game with a jammed left wrist after reaching on an error to open
the ninth.

The Nationals, who lost a major league-high 102 games last year,
temporarily avoided reaching triple figures in losses for a
second straight year.

"Are we at 99?" asked Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman,
who reached 100 RBIs for the second time in his career. "We just
try and win every game. I think we made some strides in the
second half. The young guys that have come up in September have
looked pretty good and I think that's more important than
anything. All of are obviously disappointed in this season, but
we're excited about what we have coming in the future."

Saul Rivera (1-3) got two outs for the victory after the Dodgers
had tied it 4-all against Mike MacDougal.

Dodgers right-hander Chad Billingsley had a no-hitter for 5 2-3
innings before Zimmerman hit a tying three-run homer, his 31st.
Billingsley, who retired the first 14 Nationals before
consecutive walks to Adam Dunn and Zimmerman in the fourth,
allowed three runs on one hit over six innings, walked four and
struck out nine.

"Just that one pitch, if you take away that one pitch, it's a
gem," Dodgers catcher Russell Martin. "You give up one hit, you
make one mistake and pay a price for it."

Ethier had an RBI grounder and Martin a bases-loaded single in
the first to make it 2-0 and James Loney's RBI single in the
sixth chased Nationals starter Ross Detwiler.

Detwiler allowed three runs on six hits, walked three and struck
out none.

The Nationals finally got to Billingsley in the sixth. With two
down and Cristian Guzman on first after a fielder's choice, Dunn
drew a walk and Zimmerman blasted Billingsley's up-and-in,
first-pitch curveball into the Dodgers bullpen in left-center.

Guzman gave the Nationals a 4-3 lead in the eighth, racing home
from second base when Orlando Hudson's throw on a potential
inning-ending double play by Dukes pulled first baseman Loney
off the bag. Guzman kept running, sliding home ahead of Loney's
late throw.

But Guzman's two errors in the ninth allowed Los Angeles to tie
it.

The Dodgers loaded the bases off MacDougal on Guzman's first
error, a pinch-hit single by Jim Thome and a walk to Furcal.
Belliard hit a high chopper to short, but Guzman, who was
playing in, threw offline, pulling catcher Josh Bard off the
plate and pinch-runner Jason Repko scored to tie it.

NOTES: Hudson tripped over Dunn's leg at first and went
sprawling, hurting his wrist when he broke his fall. His last
two seasons have been shortened by left wrist surgery. ... 3B
Casey Blake was held out of the Dodgers lineup Wednesday with a
left leg injury. ... When LHP Clayton Kershaw starts Sunday at
Pittsburgh, he'll be on a to-be-determined pitch count, Los
Angeles manager Joe Torre said. ... Dukes has a team-high 12
outfield assists.