Petco Park – San Diego

The San Diego Padres returned to Petco Park to play game two of a three-game series against the Washington Nationals.

The Padres took game one against the Nats in a close 3-2 victory.  Nick Pivetta returned to the mound in that game, where he two-hit the Nats. Pivetta hadn’t touched a major league mound since April, but somehow, it felt like he never left.

Casey Mize certainly could use some of that fire. Lately, he hasn’t been what the Padres were hoping for. Three of his seven total starts for the Padres ended as losses for Mize.

The Nats struck first with a solo home run against Casey Mize. Whereas Michael King got over his homer streak, Mize worsened. Including today’s start, he’s surrendered a homer in 4 of his last 5 games. Two of which were multi-homer games. With the Detroit Tigers, he only allowed 5 total homers in his 16 starts. Since joining the Padres, he’s allowed almost double that in half the starts.

The Padres were no-hit by Nationals pitching until Luis Campusano broke it up in the fifth inning. Since returning from injury, Campusano has certainly surged in power. He’s one of the Padres’ strongest bats, often getting the DH treatment if he’s not catching.

A wild pitch put him in scoring position, but the Padres couldn’t capitalize.

Mize allowed two base runners in the sixth, ending his night. Randy Vazquez entered after Mize and cashed in both runners.

Despite this, Casey Mize still had a solid night on the mound. By the numbers, Mize went 6 ⅔ innings, surrendering three runs, striking out seven, and walking only one. It’s one of his more successful nights as a Padre. In fact, it’s the most strikeouts he’s recorded in the brown and gold.

The Padres got on the board after a sac fly from Jackson Merrill in the seventh inning. However, they couldn’t add any more following this surge.

The Nats responded with another solo homer, adding back the deficit.

As soon as they let things go, they got something going in the eighth. Three straight walks loaded the bases with the Padres. Austin Hays came out to pinch-hit against the lefty Erik Tolman. He knocked in the second Padres run of the game on another sac-fly.

Then Manny Machado, on two strikes, hit a gapper up the middle that scored two Padres and tied the game 4-4.

Some eighth inning magic. pic.twitter.com/GXRXwmIsLy

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 9, 2026

The Padres took the lead after Campy hit a ball that fell fast into shallow right-center field. This brought the game to its final score of 5-4.

The Padres take game two against the Nationals. They return Wednesday afternoon for the series finale.

Walker Buehler (8-6, 4.56 ERA) takes the mound for the Padres. Meanwhile, the Nats send out Jackson Kent (1-3, 5.55 ERA)

Fabian Garcia