Cesar Hernandez raced home on Victor Robles' two-out single in the seventh inning on a play that was overturned on video review in Washington's favor as the Nationals pulled out a 4-3 comeback victory against the visiting San Diego Padres on Saturday night.
The outcome evened the series and dampened the highly anticipated appearance in Washington of outfielder Juan Soto, who was traded from the Nationals to the Padres less than two weeks earlier. The Nationals won for just the second time in their last 10 games after losing the series opener a night earlier.
The game-winning run scored despite a strong throw to the plate from Soto in right field. Hernandez was called out, but the Nationals challenged the call, claiming catcher Austin Nola was blocking the plate, and they were rewarded for that decision to request the review.
Padres manager Bob Melvin was ejected for disputing the overturned call.
Yadiel Hernandez and Joey Meneses hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning for the Nationals.
Manny Machado and Trent Grisham homered as the Padres built a 3-0 lead through four innings.
Kyle Finnegan (4-2) was the winning pitcher in relief with one shutout inning.
San Diego starter Yu Darvish (10-6) took the loss after rolling through five innings. He surrendered Cesar Hernandez's leadoff single in the seventh inning before departing. He yielded seven hits and one walk while striking out nine.
Machado homered in the third inning and Grisham went deep for the second night in a row with a fourth-inning blast. Soto, who finished 1-for-3 with two walks, added an RBI single in the fourth.
Yadiel Hernandez smacked a two-run homer -- his ninth homer of the season -- in the sixth to put the Nationals on the board. Meneses followed with his solo shot.
Meneses, a 30-year-old rookie, has homered in five of the nine games he has played in the major leagues.
Cesar Hernandez led off the bottom of the seventh with his third single of the game. He stole second base before the first out was recorded, but it appeared he might be stranded there until Robles delivered and the Nationals benefited from the video review.
Meneses and Nelson Cruz both had two hits for Washington. Machado and Grisham had two hits apiece for the Padres.
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