Trent Grisham and Brandon Drury hit home runs and Manny Machado belted a two-run double as the San Diego Padres pounded the host Washington Nationals 10-5 on Friday night to open a three-game series.
The game’s overriding theme was the return of Juan Soto and Josh Bell to Washington barely a week after they were traded from the Nationals to San Diego.
Their new teammates did most of the damage, though Soto drove in a run with a single and finished 2-for-6. Bell was 0-for-5 with a walk.
Drury, who also came on board during a recent trade with the Cincinnati Reds, was 3-for-4 and scored three runs. He hammered his 23rd homer of the season, a two-run shot in the eighth, giving him three long balls in nine games with the Padres.
San Diego starter Mike Clevinger (4-4) gave up one run on three hits in five innings. He picked up just his second victory in his last six decisions.
The Nationals lost for the eighth time in their last nine games despite Maikel Franco’s solo home run to lead off the ninth inning. Washington starter Cory Abbott (0-2) surrendered three runs in four innings, and then reliever Victor Arano was charged with five runs, one of which was earned, while recording only two outs in the fifth inning.
Grisham’s three-run blast — his 14th homer of the season — gave the Padres a 7-0 lead in the fifth inning before Soto’s single provided another run.
It was 8-0 before the Nationals scored one run in both the fifth and sixth innings, the latter coming on a single from Ildemaro Vargas.
Luis Garcia, Joey Meneses and Vargas all had two hits for Washington.
After the Padres stranded two runners in the top of the first, the Nationals loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning. Meneses grounded into a double play to douse that threat.
This was the first meeting of the season between the teams.
–Field Level Media
