Jun 23, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder James Wood (29) and CJ Abrams (5) celebrate after the Nationals beat the San Diego Padres 10-6 at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
San Diego, California – On a night that felt like a flashback and a foreshadowing all at once, the Padres were reminded just how much they gave up in the Juan Soto blockbuster.
James Wood, the crown jewel of that 2022 trade, made his first appearance at Petco Park a memorable one — and a painful one for Padres fans. The 6-foot-7 outfielder launched a three-run homer off the right-field foul pole in the eighth inning, part of a monster performance in which he went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored to lead the Washington Nationals to a 10-6 win over San Diego on Monday night.
CJ Abrams — another former Padre and trade piece in the Soto deal — added three hits and scored three times, twice on Wood’s hits. Josh Bell, who came to San Diego with Soto and is now back in a Nationals uniform, hit a towering solo homer in the ninth and drove in three.
The trio — Wood, Abrams, and Bell — combined for eight hits, eight RBIs, and seven runs in a game that felt like a long, slow exhale of frustration for Padres fans still trying to reconcile the fallout of one of the most seismic trades in recent franchise history.
Soto, of course, was flipped again this past December, this time to the Yankees. What remains in San Diego is a team still trying to live up to the massive expectations the original trade helped ignite — and now, grappling with the ghosts of prospects past.
It wasn’t all bad for San Diego. Manny Machado homered in the fourth, Jake Cronenworth added a solo shot in the seventh, and Fernando Tatis Jr. crushed a 435-foot, three-run bomb in the ninth to cut into what had ballooned into a seven-run deficit. But the late fireworks weren’t enough to undo the damage done by Washington’s relentless offense.
Starter Stephen Kolek (3-3) struggled, allowing four runs — two earned — in 4 1/3 innings, and the bullpen didn’t fare much better. Yuki Matsui gave up Wood’s eighth-inning blast, which broke the game open.
Washington starter Mitchell Parker (5-8) kept San Diego in check through six innings, allowing three runs and six hits with little drama.
For the Nationals, it was a glimpse of a promising future led by the very players San Diego once hoped to build around. For the Padres, it was a harsh reminder: sometimes, the prospects you trade away come back swinging.
