San Diego PadresvsWashington Nationals
SD 4/WSH 9
Things to say
Nationals beat the Padres 9-4 at Nationals Park on Saturday.
01
opener
Nats took it to San Diego at home, 9-4. Padres never really got into their stuff after the middle innings. Felt over early.
02
key player
Washington's bats did the work up and down the order — heart of the order kept turning the lineup over and the Padres pen couldn't find the zone.
03
hot take
San Diego's supposed to be the better team and they're sitting at 32-25 letting a sub-.500 club hang a nine on them. That bullpen is a problem.
04
deep cut
Getaway day in DC and the Padres manager went to the pen too early — once that southpaw was out, the game flipped.
05
exit
Anyway, we'll see if San Diego can stop the bleeding next series.
The recap
Nats jumped on the Padres and never looked back, rolling to a 9-4 win at home that nobody really saw coming against a San Diego club sitting seven games over .500. Washington's bats did the heavy lifting early and forced the Padres manager to go to the pen way too soon, and once that bullpen door opened it was a parade.
Five-run cushion by the late innings meant garbage time in D.C. and a quiet flight back to the coast. Padres still look like the better team on paper, but this one was all Nationals.