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 home run.

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 Padres player this season and the longest by Tatis since 2021, was a glorious moment a season in the making.

EL NIÑO!!! pic.twitter.com/b3ElpWGvHx

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 30, 2026

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

Then the afternoon turned.

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 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.

Manny Machado had broken a 1-1 tie with a home run pulled down the left field line and off the foul pole. Xander Bogaerts had 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 to get one out into the sixth inning.

His efficiency was unprecedented for the Padres this season.

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 King still appeared firmly in control when the seventh began.

But CJ Abrams lined King’s first pitch of the seventh into center field, and José Tena followed with a groundball 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 Xander 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.

That is when the inning slid from bad to off the rails.

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

The play was reviewed and upheld based on what the replay official said was a lack of evidence to determine whether Bogaerts was in contact with the bag.

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

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

Luis Garcia’s single scored 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.