PHILADELPHIA -- As the Angels, returning to the days of yore, took the train south to Washington, D.C., after a weekend sweep of the Phillies, Vladimir Guerrero doubtless reflected on how far he's come from a village in the Dominican Republic to fame and fortune beyond the imagination.

It was in Montreal where Guerrero made his mark, starting in 1997, with an Expos team that now exists in the form of the Nationals. They await the arrival of the great slugger, who has been on one of his familiar tears in June, destroying any and all forms of pitching life.

Nationals Park will be the 39th Major League stadium Guerrero has graced, and while this is his first visit to Washington, he has faced his old club.

In 2005, in their first season in their new home, the Nationals came to Anaheim and took two of three games from the Angels. Guerrero treated them like any other team, going 5-for-11 (.455) with a homer and six RBIs in the three games.

"I haven't seen anybody with Vlad's bat speed, hand-eye coordination, his ability to cover balls eight inches off the plate ... neck-high to shin-high," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "This guy is as dangerous a player as has ever been in the batter's box."

Those words, it should be noted, come from a measured man not given to hyperbole.

Of his voluminous statistical achievements, none stand out more than the distinction of batting .300 or higher with at least 25 homers for 10 consecutive seasons. Only Lou Gehrig, who did it from 1927-37, did it more often, by one season. Guerrero's recent surge certainly has him in position to match the "Iron Horse."

Guerrero was in the throes of an uncommonly long slumber, his average at .246, when June arrived and his senses awakened as his knees began to feel stronger. Since the calendar turned, he has batted .433 with six homers and 14 RBIs.

What he did to the Phillies, bashing three homers with five RBIs and going 6-for-12 in a three-game sweep, was not unfamiliar to their fans. Guerrero has been torching this club since his Expos youth, when he was stealing 37 and 40 bases in consecutive seasons (2000, '01) while also producing 34 and 39 homers, respectively. By one homer in '01 he missed joining the 40-40 club.

Guerrero has 31 homers and 84 RBIs in his career against the Phillies, his best power numbers against any club.

He doesn't run the way he used to run -- frequently and with stunning speed for a man carrying 235 pounds on a 6-foot-3 frame -- but he still crushes balls. His hitting streak is at 13 games, featuring 23 hits and six homers.

What's more, Guerrero has not committed an error in 52 games in the outfield this season, with four assists, and continues to run the bases like a runaway train. He takes immense pride in playing the total game, explaining why he frowns on any mention of those dreaded initials: DH.

"I'm still having as much fun as I ever have playing the game," Guerrero said, adding, with a smile, "but I miss stealing bases."

Not that it matters much, but Guerrero doesn't have much familiarity with the Nationals pitchers he'll be facing this weekend. He's 1-for-4, a double with an RBI, against Tim Redding, Wednesday's starter.

Asked to explain why Guerrero is able to hit anybody when he's in a groove, Scioscia said: "His bat stays very flat through the zone. It creates better timing to be able to square balls up. It's a gift, and he's worked at it.

"He wasn't just showing up when he was hitting .250. This guy works on his swing. His batting practice is scientific. He works on his swing. All through that time when he was struggling, he was still getting some big hits."

Guerrero, 32, brushed aside any notion that age is catching up to him.

"Everybody gets old," he said, quickly adding that he's definitely not in that category.

Scioscia thinks too much is made of Guerrero's injury history.

"I don't think his knee is as much of an [issue] as people make it out to be," the manager said. "It's one part of this. As his knee has felt better, it's one piece of it. He's no different than any player in that room. He's played a long time ... there are going to be aches and pains. I've seen him when he's banged up. He's fine.

"He's had stretches of 200, 220 at-bats over his career where he has struggled. What was difference this time was it was at the start of the season, so there was a lot more focus on it. It's not like a light switch you can turn on. It's everything from timing to a comfort level in the batter's box. There's ebbs and flows."

Guerrero is clearly carrying a nice flow into D.C.

Pitching matchup
LAA: RHP John Lackey (4-1, 1.73 ERA)
There hasn't been a more consistent pitcher in the game than Lackey since his return May 14 from a triceps injury. He went 7 2/3 innings in his latest gem, holding the Mets to a run on a pair of ground-ball singles and a double play. He struck out seven and walked one man, the final hitter he faced. Lackey has yielded one earned run in five of his seven starts, surrendering two and three earned runs in his other appearances. Lackey has faced the Nationals once, giving up four earned runs in six innings of a no-decision. He is 13-3 with three complete games, two shutouts and a 1.95 ERA in last 16 road starts. For his career, he's 9-3 with a 2.81 ERA in 19 Interleague appearances, 18 as a starter.

WSH: RHP Jason Bergmann (1-5, 5.03 ERA)
Bergmann turned in another solid start for the Nationals against Minnesota. He surrendered just three runs -- only one of them earned -- over six innings. Bergmann struck out two and threw 106 pitches, 61 of them for strikes. However, he picked up the loss, as the Twins pitching staff shut down the Washington lineup in an 11-2 defeat.

Tidbits
Setting the record straight: Scioscia has been identified with a number of townships and cities around Philadelphia, but he calls Morton, in Delaware County, his hometown. Its population was 2,715 in the 2000 census. He was born in Upper Darby because that's where the nearest hospital was, he said, and attended nearby Springfield High School. According to Wikipedia, Morton is named after Sketchley Morton, son of John Morton, signer of the Declaration of Independence and the delegate who cast the decisive vote in favor of the Declaration of Independence. ... Reggie Willits ended an 0-for-22 tailspin with a single in Sunday's eighth inning, then made a sensational diving catch in the bottom of the inning in left field. ... The Angels appear to have emerged from their long offensive slumber, averaging 5 1/2 runs over their past six games. They outhomered the Phillies, 5-1, in the three games at hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park.

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Up next
• Tuesday: Angels (Jon Garland, 6-4, 4.06) at Nationals (Shawn Hill, 1-4, 5.22), 4:10 p.m. PT
• Wednesday: Angels (Ervin Santana, 9-3, 3.17) at Nationals (Tim Redding, 6-3, 4.12), 4:10 p.m. PT
• Thursday: Off-day