Luis Arraez and Jurickson Profar both hit home runs in consecutive pitches during the fifth inning, helping the San Diego Padres to a 4-0 shutout victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.
Randy Vásquez pitched six innings to secure his first win since June 22 for San Diego, which has now won three consecutive games.
Despite Washington’s recent success with five wins in six games, they struggled against the Padres, dropping to 0-4 against them this season and suffering their 11th shutout.
Nationals starter DJ Herz, called up from Triple-A Rochester earlier in the day, cruised through three innings before working out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. However, he faltered in the fifth inning, allowing back-to-back home runs to Arraez and Profar.
Arraez hit his third home run of the season on a 1-2 slider, followed immediately by Profar’s 15th homer on a changeup that traveled 425 feet.
After retiring Xander Bogaerts to end the fifth, Herz’s night was over. He gave up five hits, struck out four, and hasn’t won in five starts since a dominant performance against Miami on June 15.
San Diego’s Jackson Merrill contributed with a two-out RBI single in the sixth inning and added a run-scoring groundout in the eighth.
In the seventh inning, Washington’s Juan Yepez doubled to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, ending Vásquez’s night. Vásquez allowed four hits, didn’t walk any batters, and struck out one over 68 pitches.
