 over the Nationals bullpen in left-center field. Soto also singled.Soto's homer traveled an estimated 442 feet at Nationals Park. He earned a standing ovation from the crowd and the teenager responded by taking a curtain call. Per Baseball-Reference.com, Soto became the first teenager to hit a home run in a major league game since Harper on Sept. 30, 2012.Called up to Washington on Sunday, Soto became the first 19-year-old to make his major league debut since Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias in 2016. He entered that game in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter and struck out.Washington's starting left fielder began the season at Class A Hagerstown. He hit a combined .362 with 14 homers and 52 RBIs in his three minor league stops.Gio Gonzalez (5-2) allowed two runs and two hits in seven innings.San Diego's Franmil Reyes, playing in his seventh career game, also hit his first career home run.Trea Turner hit a pair of RBI doubles for Washington. Reynolds had three hits.Erlin surrendered six runs and seven hits over four innings in his third start of the season. San Diego had won three in a row.Reyes connected for a two-run homer in the fourth inning, but the Padres' lineup generated little else against Gonzalez, who allowed one run over six innings in a no-decision at San Diego on May 9.TRAINER'S ROOMPADRES: OF Hunter Renfroe (right elbow) and C Austin Hedges (right elbow) were both scheduled to play nine innings Monday during rehabilitation assignments for Triple-A El Paso. Renfroe is hitting .118 (3 for 17) in four games with El Paso, while it is Hedges' first rehab game since going on the 10-day disabled list May 1.NATIONALS: INF Howie Kendrick was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. Left-hander Tim Collins was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. The 34-year-old Kendrick tore his left Achilles tendon during the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against the Dodgers. Collins replaced Gonzalez and went one inning in his first big league game since 2014.MAKING MOVESSan Diego recalled LHP Tyler Webb from Triple-A El Paso and optioned INF Carlos Asuaje to El Paso. Webb was 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA in two games earlier this season for the Padres. Asuaje hit .193 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 109 at-bats for San Diego.UP NEXTPADRES: Rookie LHP Eric Lauer (1-2, 8.14 ERA) owns a 9.24 ERA in three road starts.NATIONALS: RHP Jeremy Hellickson (1-0, 2.20) allowed one earned run over his previous three starts.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Padres, Nationals go opposite ways since last meeting 4h ago• 2 min read When the Washington Nationals visited San Diego on May 7-9, they won the first two games of a three-game series to move within 1 1/2 games of the National League West lead.At the time, the Nationals were on a bit of a run and the Padres were reeling with a 13-24 record.Two weeks after that series, the Padres and Nationals meet again in Washington, D. C. And the fortunes of the two teams have changed a bit.Since winning that series finale at Petco Park to avoid being swept by the Nationals, the Padres have gone 7-4 and are riding a three-game winning streak.The Nationals have gone 4-4 and just lost a third straight game to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday in Washington to slip four games off the lead in their division.The Nationals are the home team this time for a three-game series that opens Monday night with a matchup of left-handers -- Gio Gonzalez (4-2, 2.36 ERA) going for Washington with Robbie Erlin (1-2, 3.46) making a spot start for San Diego.On paper, the pairing clearly favors the hosts.Erlin, 27, has met the Nationals twice in his career. Both games were at Nationals Park. Erlin is 0-2 in the matchups with a 16.39 ERA.In Erlin's two previous outings in the nation's capital, Erlin has given up 17 runs, 19 hits and six walks with six strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings. The Nationals have hit .413 against Erlin, who has a 2.68 WHIP against Washington.This will be only the second start of the season for Erlin, who returned this year after having Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery midway through 2016.Thirteen of Erlin's 14 appearances this season have been out of the bullpen. His one previous start was April 16 against the Dodgers. He gave up six runs (five earned), seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts in three innings.Erlin is filling the vacancy created when rookie left-hander Joey Lucchesi went on the disabled list with a slightly strained glute. The Padres are hoping Lucchesi will miss only one start, although it looks like it could now be two or three.Gonzalez is no stranger to the Padres. He started the May 9 game that the Nationals lost 2-1. Gonzalez allowed one run, five hits and three walks in six innings. Afterward, he said he struggled with his command.Gonzalez was not involved in that decision. During his career, he has made seven starts against the Padres and has a 3-2 record with a 3.21 ERA, a 1.357 WHIP and a .253 opponents' batting average. Against the Padres, Gonzalez has given up 19 runs (15 earned), 41 hits and 16 walks with 41 strikeouts in 42 innings.When the Nationals were in San Diego, first baseman-left fielder Matt Adams went 3-for-8 with a double, two homers, six RBIs and three runs scored -- although he got the third game off.Since leaving San Diego, Adams has hit only .143. Washington's Bryce Harper is hitting .125 in the last eight games with a homer and three RBIs.Another key player in the first Padres-Nationals series was Howie Kendrick, who was 5-for-12 with a double and two runs scored. But Kendrick has been lost with a ruptured Achilles tendon and on Saturday the Nationals promoted a 19-year-old prospect from Double-A.
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