WASHINGTON — He swung, and he knew. He let his bat go one way as he stepped the other direction. And even before the baseball cleared the left-field wall and then the bullpen and then a dozen rows of seats, Fernando Tatis Jr. looked to the sky and held up his arms. A home run hallelujah. On his 239th trip to the plate in 2026, Tatis hit a homer. He had gone longer than he ever had at any point ...

Washington Nationals second baseman Nasim Nunez the throws the ball to first base after retiring the San Diego Padres' Gavin Sheets at second base in the third inning at Nationals Park on Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Washington, D.C..

Samuel Corum/Getty Images North America/TNS

WASHINGTON — He swung, and he knew.

He let his bat go one way as he stepped the other direction.

And even before the baseball cleared the left-field wall and then the bullpen and then a dozen rows of seats, Fernando Tatis Jr. looked to the sky and held up his arms.

A home run hallelujah.

On his 239th trip to the plate in 2026, Tatis hit a homer.

He had gone longer than he ever had at any point in his previous six major league seasons and longer than any player in the major leagues had this season without one.

The 451-foot blast in the fifth inning, the longest by a San Diego Padres player this season and the longest by Tatis since 2021, was a glorious moment a season in the making.

“That was nice,” Xander Bogaerts said. “Him, his family, baseball people, everyone knows what the deal is with him. Everyone knows he has zero. So getting that pressure off his back is nice.”

It was, indeed, practically possible to see the weight lift from Tatis, as his teammates exulted in the dugout while he rounded the bases for the first time since Sept. 27.

“About (expletive) time,” Tatis said later. “I’m just happy and disappointed at the same time.”

The mixed feelings came about because the afternoon turned. Hard.

Michael King, who entered the seventh inning having allowed a run on four hits while throwing just 64 pitches, would not get another out.

And the Washington Nationals would score six runs off him and Bradgley Rodriguez.

And Craig Stammen would be ejected for the first time.

The 9-4 loss that ensued was a jolting result after Tatis’ long-awaited home run had extended their lead to 3-1 in the fifth inning.

“There’s no off days over here,” Tatis said. This game will find a way to still punish you.”

After Bogaerts put the Padres up 1-0 with a homer in the second inning, the Nationals had tied the game 1-1 on Drew Millas’ homer in the bottom of the third.

King retired the next nine batters he faced in getting through the fifth inning, and Manny Machado got the Padres back on top by yanking a home run down the left field line and off the foul pole.

King threw nine pitches in the first inning, nine in the second, 12 in the third, eight in the fourth and nine in the fifth.

The Nationals got two singles in the sixth, but he still appeared firmly in control when the seventh began.

“He was kind of cruising,” Stammen said. “… Happened kind of quick. Just unraveled for us there in that seventh.”

CJ Abrams lined King’s first pitch of the seventh, a changeup at the knees but over the middle of the plate, into center field for a single.

José Tena followed with a ground ball that Tatis dove to stop and chose to throw to second for what would have been a spectacular out, only to have his low throw skip past shortstop Bogaerts. King then issued his first walk of the day to load the bases.

His next pitch would be his last, as it hit Dylan Crews to bring in a run.

“Bad pitch to Abrams,” King said. “Three-ball count, walk, hit by pitch. Just bad execution.”

The inning slid from bad to off the rails after King departed.

Rodriguez got a ground ball to the right side from Millas, but second base umpire Dab Bellino called Crews safe at second, ruling Bogaerts was not on the base.

The play was reviewed and upheld based on what the replay official said to be a lack of evidence to overturn.

Stammen came out of the dugout to talk to Bellino and was given his say for a while before Bellino tossed him.

“I think his foot was on the base,” Stammen said. “… If we’re gonna have review, you’d like to think we get the call right. My eyes may be different than someone else’s.”

All Bogaerts would say to repeated questions was, “They said I didn’t touch it.”

Rodriguez proceeded to walk in another run before striking out James Wood for the first out.

Luis Garcia’s single drove in the innings’ final two runs, as Rodriguez got the next two outs.

The Padres did score a run and load the bases in the eighth inning before Ty France grounded out. The Nationals added two runs in the bottom of the eighth against Wandy Peralta.

It was what happened in the fifth inning and the seventh that stuck with the Padres as they departed Nationals Park with the series tied.

“I mean, what a relief for everybody,” Ty France said of Tatis’ homer. “Felt like we were going through it with him. But, at the end of the day, it’s a loss. It sucks. But just one bad inning.”

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