Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Sean Casey (25) can't handle the errant throw from pitcher Roberto Hernandez as Washington Nationals' Alfonso Soriano arrives safely at first during the 11th inning of baseball action, Sunday, July 16 2006, in Pittsburgh. Hernandez was charged with an error on the attempted sacrifice and got the loss as the Nationals scored four runs in the 11th to beat the Pirates 8-4.

PITTSBURGH — The sacrifice bunt by one of the NL's hottest hitters surprised the Pittsburgh Pirates and led to Washington's decisive four-run 11th inning. Turns out it startled Nationals manager Frank Robinson even more.

Nick Johnson drove in two runs with a tiebreaking double in the 11th and the Nationals avoided a second consecutive series sweep by rallying to beat the Pirates 8-4 Sunday.

Washington ended a five-game losing streak and denied the Pirates their first three-game series sweep since they took three from the Reds on July 23-25, 2004. Pittsburgh did sweep a four-game series against the Brewers earlier this season.

Marlon Anderson started the 11th with a pinch-hit double off Roberto Hernandez (0-3), the seventh of Pittsburgh's eight pitchers. Hernandez then threw wildly on Alfonso Soriano's sacrifice bunt to put runners on first and third.

"I didn't expect him to bunt there, especially on the first pitch," said Hernandez, who rushed his throw on the play.

Two batters later, Johnson doubled down the left-field line for his third hit of the game. Jose Guillen later added a two-run double against Victor Santos.

Soriano hit his 29th homer and fifth in 10 games during a three-hit day, and the All-Star outfielder was not ordered to bunt by Robinson.

"I don't want to talk about that bunt. I haven't recovered from the shock yet," Robinson said. "He's trying to help the ballclub win and get that guy to third base. But he has to realize how tough it's been for us to get that guy in. ... I wanted him to take a shot there."

Soriano explained the Nationals were struggling — they had trouble hitting with runners on base the entire series — and he felt any run would be a big one.

"I'm trying to be a good teammate and help the team to win. I was trying to get the runner over," Soriano said.

Felipe Lopez struck out but, after Jose Vidro was intentionally walked, Johnson doubled on a 3-2 pitch after fouling off six pitches. Johnson hit .417 with eight RBIs against the Pirates this season.

The Nationals rallied from a 3-0 deficit on Soriano's homer and pinch-hitter Alex Escobar's tying two-run drive as starter Livan Hernandez and five relievers held the Pirates to a run over the last 10 innings.