It was Myers' second start for the Phillies since being demoted to the minors for four appearances to try to revive his confidence and shake a season-long funk. The right-hander threw seven-plus innings and didn't allow an earned run Tuesday, improving to 4-9.
Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth for his 25th save in 25 chances.
Utley, meanwhile, provided all the offense Philadelphia needed by driving a 1-0 pitch from Collin Balester (1-3) over the wall in right after Jimmy Rollins singled in the third inning.
Utley's 26th homer was his first since July 7, snapping a 14-game drought. That was part of a stretch in which he hit only four homers over 44 games after opening the season by hitting 21 through 59 games.
Tuesday afternoon, before facing Washington, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was asked if he thought Utley looked healthy. Maybe Utley's hip was bothering him? Maybe some other ailment?
Nope, Manuel assured everyone. Sometimes the homers don't come. And sometimes they do.
A few hours later, Utley provided an important one for the Phillies, who entered the day a half-game behind the first-place New York Mets in the NL East.
Philadelphia didn't advance a runner past second in any other inning. But that was OK, because they were facing a Nationals team that hadn't had a runner cross the plate since Friday. Washington lost to the Dodgers 6-0 on Saturday, then 2-0 on Sunday, then had Monday off.
The Nationals have lost seven straight games overall - and their last 14 that were decided by one or two runs.
They have scored a majors-low 389 runs, about 3.7 per game, and have a total of three runs in their past five games.
They managed to repeatedly stall their own efforts Tuesday. Paul Lo Duca earned a leadoff walk in the third, but was tagged out after getting caught in a rundown between first and second when the next batter, Felipe Lopez, grounded to first.
In the fourth, Myers hit Ronnie Belliard to again put the leadoff man on, but the next batter, Ryan Zimmerman, grounded into a double play.
In the seventh, it was Zimmerman who got caught in a rundown between second and third after he led off with a walk.
Finally, in the eighth, Washington scored, thanks in part to Utley's fielding error on Lopez's grounder. The Nationals pieced together a single by Lo Duca, the error, a sacrifice bunt and Willie Harris' RBI groundout to get within 2-1.
Myers departed after the error and tipped his cap as he left to cheers from the thousands of Phillies fans in the announced crowd of 34,039. His line: seven-plus innings, one unearned run, four hits, a walk, two strikeouts.
And his first win since May 30.
Notes: Nationals LF Harris jumped into the wall to make a nice catch on a deep shot by Shane Victorino in the eighth. ... Phillies 3B Pedro Feliz (lower back) went on the 15-day DL before the game. ... Nationals SS Cristian Guzman (bruised left thumb) missed a third consecutive start, but he entered as a pinch runner in the eighth and played defense in the ninth. ... Nationals OF Wily Mo Pena, who had season-ending surgery last week, said his left shoulder had been bothering him for about two years.
