SAN DIEGO – A mistake in the field coupled with rude returns from familiar faces put the San Diego Padres behind in a 10-6 loss to the Washington Nationals on Monday night at Petco Park.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a three-run home run in the ninth for the Padres (42-36), to go with solo shots by Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth. However the biggest damage came off the bat of Nationals (33-46) left fielder James Wood, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored.
"This is a really nice park, great fan base and it was the team I got drafted by, so I definitely did take a little second today and it was a great park and great atmosphere," Wood said.
He wasn’t the only one of the six players San Diego traded to Washington in exchange for Juan Soto and Josh Bell on August 2, 2022, to cause the Padres pain. CJ Abrams also went 3-for-5 with three runs and Bell also added three RBIs and a solo home run.
With the Padres within striking distance, trailing 6-3 in the eighth, Wood mashed a three-run home run off the foul pole in right field off Yuki Matsui for his 22nd of the year to put the game out of reach. Bell’s 10th home run came off a letter-high fastball that he bashed into the second deck in left field in the ninth.
"We usually play three outcome games: we play games where we either really take it to somebody and open it up, we play a close game and sometimes don't get to come out on the good side, or play a close game and win. We don't play many games that don't get away from us," said manager Mike Shildt. "But because of how we fought tonight is why we don't play many (games that get away from us)."
Coming in having split their last four — after an 11-game losing streak from June 7 to June 18 — the Nationals scored 19 runs on 30 hits with nine home runs and five doubles in their 2-1 series loss at the Dodgers.
Stephen Kolek needed 50 pitches through the first three innings, recording four of his five strikeouts and allowing a walk to Daylen Lile, who was caught on an attempted steal by Elias Díaz. But the San Diego starter committed his first Major League error, which cascaded into a 4-0 deficit.
Shildt characterized the performance as "good early, missed locations, ball wasn't going where he wanted it to, a little self infliction to start the big inning in the fourth with the leadoff error...
"Early was really good, looked like he was heading for a really strong six, maybe even seven, but got some balls out over the plate and (they) made him pay."
Despite holding opponents to a .208 average the second time through the line for the season, Kolek created his own monster in the fourth inning with the one-out miscue. CJ Adams hit a short chopper that Kolek fielded and sidearm threw wide of first base.
The next three Nationals recorded hits, started by James Woods’ RBI knock, added to by a Luis García Jr. double and closed with a Nathaniel Lowe RBI single. Josh Bell hit an RBI sacrifice fly, then Brady House singled until Kolek got out of the inning with a strikeout and flyout.
Machado followed up by hitting his 13th home run of the season, crushing a letter-high curveball 410 feet out to dead center field, but Washington was able to answer back in the fifth.
Adams cracked a one-out liner to left field for a single to end Kolek’s night, then reliever Wandy Peralta stepped into a buzzsaw as the first four Nationals batters he faced knocked base hits. Garcia Jr. and Bell had RBI singles, then Peralta got out of the inning with consecutive strikeouts and the Padres trailing 6-1.
Kolek finished with 4 ⅓ innings, five runs (four earned) and five strikeouts to go with a walk in his third loss of the season. It’s the third consecutive start where an opponent has had an inning of three-or-more runs against him, with four such innings for the season.
Bryan Hoeing made his 2025 debut for the Padres, spelling Peralta with two outs in the sixth inning. He retired all four batters he faced, getting a pair of strikeouts with 91.5 MPH sinkers.
"Good to have him back, good to see what he does and get out of traffic and go get the next inning," Shildt said after noting Hoeing's return as a bright spot.
Peralta finished allowing five hits in 1 ⅓ innings with a run against, four strikeouts and a walk. David Morgan was charged with a run after allowing a hit in ⅔ inning in the eighth to go with a strikeout, as Matsui pitched the final 1 ⅓ and allowed four hits and three runs with a strikeout and a pair of home runs.
The Nationals finished with 15 hits, one off their season high and tied for the most that Padres pitchers have allowed in a game this season.
Nationals starter Mitchell Parker pitched six innings to earn his fifth win, allowing six hits and three runs alongside a pair of walks and a strikeout. Reliever Brad Lord notched a hold with two innings of work, while Zach Brzykcy allowed the Tatis home run in the ninth after allowing three hits with a walk and a strikeout before Zach Finnegan got the final out.
Game two will feature Ryan Bergert (1-0, 1.88 ERA) starting for San Diego against righty Trevor Williams (3-8, 5.54 ERA) for the 6:40 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday at Petco Park.
This story was updated at 10:29 p.m.