The Nationals lit up the scoreboard with a massive eighth inning, tagging Stammen for four home runs and forcing him out of the game. It started with Howie Kendrick grinding through a tough at-bat and blasting a breaking ball to left to give Washington the lead. Then came Trey Turner, who launched a fastball dead center for another homer. Strasburg threw up some excited fist pumps from the dugout and politely declined the dugout dance party.
Adam Eaton followed up with a deep shot to center, just barely clearing the wall. That made three straight bombs. Rendon stepped in next and Stammen served up yet another hittable fastball. Rendon didn’t miss and crushed it to right, making it four consecutive home runs. The dugout exploded. Scherzer became the center of celebration, possibly for predicting the outburst or just joining in for the sake of superstition, complete with teammates pulling on his beard for good luck.
Juan Soto came to the plate with a chance to make it five in a row but went down quickly in the count and struck out. He missed out on the post-homer antics, looking disappointed. Matt Adams came up next and smacked a single to right, marking five hard-hit balls in a row. That was enough for the Padres to pull Stammen. After giving up four home runs in one inning, his night was done.