New York ? The Philadelphia Phillies found an effective leadoff hitter just in time to avoid a costly sweep.

Shane Victorino scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning after working out a key walk, and Brett Myers won for the first time in more than a month, leading Philadelphia to a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Thursday.

“Today is big because it’s the Mets,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “They’re in first place in our division and we’re trying to stay with them.”

Victorino batted leadoff because slumping shortstop Jimmy Rollins was dropped from the top spot for the first time this season. Filling in for injured Aaron Rowand, the speedy center fielder reached base twice and is hitting .349 in 83 at-bats.

Chase Utley had four hits for the Phillies, who won for only the second time in nine tries and trimmed New York’s lead in the NL East to four games. Bobby Abreu and Ryan Howard each homered and drove in two runs.

“It was a pretty exciting series. The first two games were nail-biters,” Utley said. “Today was very important.”

Tom Gordon got his first save since May 14 at Cincinnati and Utley went 4-for-5 in his first career four-hit game, disappointing an announced crowd of 51,365 packed with kids on school trips.

“We wanted to sweep them. It didn’t happen,” said Carlos Beltran, who went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts after hitting a homer in each of the first two games.

Philadelphia pitcher Brett Myers delivers against New York. Myers won for the first time in more than a month in the Phillies' 5-3 victory Thursday in New York.

Jose Reyes hit a three-run shot, a double and a single for the Mets, who had played five straight one-run games – going 4-1. They were looking for their first three-game sweep of the Phillies at home since 1997.

Myers (3-2) threw 119 pitches in seven innings, allowing eight hits and striking out six. Betrayed by poor run support and some shaky defense, the right-hander hadn’t won in five starts since April 23 against Florida.

Nationals 8, Astros 5

Washington – Jose Vidro hit a three-run homer, and the Astros fell despite stealing seven bases.

Tony Armas won his fifth straight decision, Nick Johnson broke an 0-for-16 slump, leadoff hitter Alfonso Soriano scored three runs, and rookie Ryan Zimmerman had three RBIs.

Except for the fact that they almost ran out of catchers, everything seemed right for a Nationals team that has won five of six, including back-to-back series against Baltimore and Houston, and is playing by far its best baseball of the season.