HOUSTON – Ronnie Belliard capped a five-run first inning with a two-run homer, and Austin Kearns had three hits as the Washington Nationals hung on to beat the Houston Astros 7-6 on Thursday night.

Washington roughed up Astros rookie Juan Gutierrez in his first major league start, tagging him for another run in the third. The Nationals took three of four in the series against the Astros after losing five of their previous six games.

Carlos Lee hit a pair of two-run homers, the second with two outs off closer Chad Cordero in the ninth to make it 7-6. But Cordero got Orlando Palmeiro to pop out for his 28th save in 36 chances.

Lee also hit an RBI single in the seventh off Luis Ayala, as the Astros lost for the sixth time in nine games.

Rookie John Lannan (2-2) worked in and out of trouble, giving up three runs, five hits and five walks while winning for the first time in four starts. He picked up his first victory on Aug. 1, his first start after he was thrown out of his debut for hitting the Phillies’ Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in consecutive at-bats.

Gutierrez (0-1), who had made two prior relief appearances with the Astros, yielded six runs and 11 hits in five innings. A Double-A All-Star in 2006, Gutierrez struck out four and needed just 16 pitches to get through the first seven batters – even though five of them scored.

Ryan Zimmerman, Dmitri Young and Kearns hit consecutive RBI doubles in the first. Two batters later, Belliard belted his eighth homer on the first pitch for a 5-0 advantage.

The Astros had their chances early on, leaving two runners on in the second. In the fourth, Lannan walked the first two batters, but struck out Chris Burke and then raced to first base to catch the relay throw on an Eric Munson double play ball.

Lance Berkman drove in Houston’s first run in the fifth inning with a groundout, and he scored a pitch later when Lee hit his 25th home run to cut the deficit to 6-3.

Ryan Church added a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Notes: RHP Brandon Backe (right elbow surgery) and RHP Chris Sampson (right elbow sprain) both had rehab outings with Triple-A Round Rock rained out in Omaha. … Lee had gone 55 at-bats since his last home run on Aug. 6. … Young had two doubles. Six of his last nine hits have gone for extra bases. … Ayala allowed a run for just the second time in the last 14 outings.

AP-ES-08-23-07 2318EDT