"The Washington Nationals were veering toward another loss, playing inside a near-lifeless stadium during a near-hopeless situation. Ivan Rodriguez stood at the plate in the eighth inning with the Nationals down by two runs, two outs, the count 0-2, the season long lost.

Rodriguez told himself to stay back, see the ball. Felipe Paulino , a picther he once caught with the Houston Astros, threw him a curveball. And then all hell broke loose, the last thing you expected.

Rodriguez unleashed a swing that drove the ball high into the night and off the left field foul pole. The home run tied the score and, without warning, ignited a seven-run, two-out rally that lifted the Nationals to an 8-4 trouncing of the Astros before an announced 11,893 at Nationals Park. As eight consecutive men reached base in the eighth, the Nationals snapped a four-game losing streak and revealed for the smattering of fans present that they still have a pulse.

"We're going to get tested," said reliever Tyler Clippard, who earned his 10th win. "We're in last place in the standings. We only have a couple more weeks left in the season. It's going to be good for this club to see what we're made of. We've been going through some tough times lately. Everybody in this clubhouse is kind of looking around and seeing who's going to step up and who isn't."

The furious rally gave the Nationals their 63rd victory this season, a milestone for what it ensures: The Nationals, for the first time since 2007, will not lose 100 games. It is easy to forget in their slog of a season - "It felt like we already had 100," shortstop Ian Desmond said - but the Nationals at least made that slice of improvement.

"Certainly we want to raise the bar higher than that," Nationals Manager Jim Riggleman said. "But it's a step, I guess. We certainly aren't happy about the number of losses. The number of losses, if it's got a 9 in front of it or 1-0-0 in front of it, it's not good."

The Nationals had not scored more than six runs in a game in two weeks. And then Tuesday, they scored seven in one inning. After Rodriguez's home run, seven more Nationals reached with two outs, all on either a single or walk, as the Astros cycled through four relievers in the inning. After Justin Maxwell walked, Adam Kennedy provided the hit that gave the Nationals the lead for good, a single that scored Roger Bernadina. "