WASHINGTON — It was a move Charlie Manuel was loath to make, but Brad Lidge left him with no choice. As manager, it’s Manuel’s job to do whatever he feels needs to be done to win games, so he did what he had to do.

He pulled Lidge with one out and the bases loaded in the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s 5-3 Phillies victory over Washington at Nationals Park.
“That was a tough thing for me to do,” Manuel said after the Phils ended a four-game losing streak with five solo home runs and became the 12th team in major-league history to have four players with 30 or more homers in a season.
“I have all the respect in the world for Brad and, believe me, I know how good a closer he is and I know how great he can be, and I’ve still got all the confidence in the world in him.
“But I’m sitting there and I didn’t have a real good feeling about the game and I made up my mind I wanted to try (Ryan) Madson. It was real tough.”
The queasy feeling struck Manuel after Lidge hit Willie Harris with one out and a runner on. After a wild pitch, Lidge walked Cristian Guzman to load the bases. Then, for the first time in his nearly two seasons with the Phillies, Lidge, who threw the final pitch of the Phillies’ World Series championship run, got the hook.
Facing the Nats’ most dangerous long-ball hitters, Madson struck out Ryan Zimmerman on three pitches and retired Adam Dunn on a grounder to shortstop. Madson threw six pitches, all for strikes.
Afterward, Lidge, who is pitching with a blister on the index finger of his right hand, faced the music. His jaw clenched, he said, “We won the game, and that’s the bottom line. Madson did a great job coming in and picking me up. When I pitched out of the stretch, my control wasn’t there and Charlie said, ’Hey, I want to get him in there.’
“You know, Chuck’s been awesome. He had a feeling about that one and Madson came in and did a great job.”
Lidge, who did not blow a save all last season, blew his 10th Saturday in Houston after converting three consecutive save opportunities. But he’s been inconsistent all season as Manuel remained intensely loyal to him, saying over and over again that Lidge was his closer.
But Tuesday night, Manuel had seen enough, although he said he hasn’t given up on the righthander.
“When I say he’s my closer, I don’t tell lies. And I don’t like to go back on nothing,” Manuel said. “But the team and the game is bigger than my heart, and bigger than anything else. Winning a game is what comes first and that’s why I manage. That was real tough for me to do.
“But I’m definitely not going to get away from him. We’re going to work with him and get him back to where he becomes consistent and he can save games. I look at him as a closer. Not a seventh-inning guy or eighth-inning guy.”
Lidge said Manuel told him he would send him out again to try to close out games.
“He said if there’s a save situation (tonight), he’s going to bring me in,” Lidge said. “I have to keep grinding.”
Except for Lidge, the Phillies once again received superb pitching. Pedro Martinez gave them his second straight quality start. He was one strike from completing seven innings when Harris homered to bring the Nats within 4-3.
Brett Myers, who could become the closer if he continues to progress and Lidge continues to struggle, held the Nats scoreless in his 11/3 innings.
The Phillies needed a series against the dreadful Nationals to heal their ailing bats. For the second straight game, Raul Ibanez showed signs that his prolonged struggles at the plate may be finished. He had three hits, including two homers, to bring him to 30 for the season. He also homered and had two hits Monday in Houston. Chase Utley also hit his 30th. Three Phils homers were hit in the seventh inning, including back-to-back blasts by Jayson Werth (his 32d) and Ibanez.
But a troubling pattern continued. Ten of the Phillies’ last 11 runs have been scored off solo homers.