Picking off a win

CHICAGO — The first-place Washington Nationals found yet another way to win yesterday.

Ace Livan Hernandez was in danger of losing for the first time in 11 decisions when the Chicago Cubs staged a rally in the eighth inning. Jeromy Burnitz, after a potential game-tying home run was overturned and ruled foul, doubled home a run and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly.

Hernandez’s first pitch to Todd Hollandsworth was a strike, and catcher Brian Schneider noticed Burnitz straying too far off third. Schneider signaled third baseman Vinny Castilla and set up on the outside of the plate for a pickoff at third base — something the Nationals practiced in spring training but hadn’t tried since.

Hernandez went outside with a fastball, and Schneider snapped a perfect throw to Castilla, who just held his glove out and tagged Burnitz trying to slide back to third.

“We put a sign on, Brian made a perfect throw and we were able to get him,” Castilla said of perhaps the biggest play in Washington’s 4-3 victory. “It was a tight one-run game — we had to take a chance.”

In a matchup of two of the National League’s premier pitchers, Hernandez outlasted Chicago’s Mark Prior as the short-handed Nationals defeated the Cubs before 38,973 at Wrigley Field.

Hernandez improved to 12-2 and tied Dennis Martinez’s franchise record with his 11th consecutive victory. The Nationals (48-31) improved to a season-high 17 games over .500 and won for the seventh time in their last eight games to maintain a 4-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.

Beating Prior (5-2) might not have been possible if it weren’t for Schneider’s heads-up play.

“That was huge,” Nationals manager Frank Robinson said. “It was probably the ballgame right there. It was a terrific play, and that’s why you work so hard in spring training on those pickoff plays and [other] things for just one occasion like that.”

The Nationals were cruising with a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning when Cubs slugger Derrek Lee belted his 24th home run with no one on. When Hollandsworth also hit a solo homer off Hernandez in the inning, the Nationals’ lead was down to one.

Lee led off the eighth inning with a towering fly ball that turned into a triple when right fielder Jose Guillen lost it the sun.

“I had my sunglasses on my hat, and I didn’t put them down,” said Guillen, who gave the Nationals a 1-0 lead in the first inning with his 16th home run to straightaway center. “I should have my glasses on, so that was a rookie mistake right there.”

Lee scored on Burnitz’s double to left, which narrowed the Cubs’ deficit to 4-3. But just moments before it seemed Burnitz had tied the game. His line drive just outside the right-field foul pole initially was ruled a home run by first-base umpire Brian O’Nora.

Second baseman Junior Spivey, first baseman Wil Cordero and Hernandez protested to home plate umpire Tim Welke. After the umps huddled, the call was changed.

“It wasn’t even close. I don’t know how the first-base umpire can make that call, but they got it right, and that’s the good thing,” Guillen said. “It missed by like five feet.”

Even though Burnitz nearly tied the game, he also cost the Cubs with his base-running blunder.

“That was a big mistake in a big situation,” Burnitz said. “I wish I could take it back. I got too far [off third].”

Reliever Hector Carrasco came on for Hernandez in the ninth inning to pick up his second save of the season. Closer Chad Cordero, who leads the majors with 28 saves, was given the day off after getting saves the three previous games. With just a one-run lead, Carrasco struck out two of three batters and lowered his ERA to 1.93.

Jamey Carroll, who started at shortstop for the injured Cristian Guzman and batted eighth, went 2-for-4 with two RBI. He gave the Nationals a 2-0 lead in the second inning with a single to left-center that scored Schneider and two innings later flared a single over shortstop Neifi Perez that scored Marlon Byrd.

The Nationals scored their fourth run in the seventh when Brad Wilkerson led off with a double into the gap in right-center and scored on Castilla’s two-out single to left.