WASHINGTON -- In the two hours and 47 minutes played by the Nationals and Cardinals on Tuesday night, there were 12 runs, three homers, 22 hits and 16 strikeouts. Mixed in between the stats also was a momentary exchange in the Nats’ dugout during the second inning.

“They talked about it. We talked about it. It’s good,” manager Dave Martinez said after the Nationals’ 9-3 loss, their fifth straight. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s good. It happens. When you try to compete, it happens.”

In the top of the second with one out, with MacKenzie Gore on the mound, Jordan Walker lifted a curveball 323 feet into center field, where Victor Robles was playing back at a starting depth of 347 feet, 20 feet more than his season average. Robles ran toward right-center, and the ball dropped in front of him. Walker reached safely at first base.

Robles had a catch probability of 95 percent, and he covered 64 of the 68 feet needed on the play. Walker’s single had a 61 percent hit probability.

“Obviously, MacKenzie thought he should have caught the ball,” Martinez said. “I thought he should have caught the ball, but it was windy. I think he thought he was going to catch it easy, and the ball just died on him, and he couldn’t get there.”

The following at-bat, Dylan Carlson belted a two-run homer that soared 445 feet and landed in the batter’s eye in center field to give St. Louis the early 2-0 lead.

Between the top and the bottom of the inning, Gore and Robles exchanged words, as seen on the television broadcast. Ildemaro Vargas and Luis García stepped in between them, and Martinez -- who was closer to Gore in the dugout -- walked over to the southpaw.

“I just wanted to make sure that nothing was going to go crazy there in the dugout, so I just got in between them,” said Martinez. “It was good. A few words were said, and then it was done.”

Gore and Robles went to the Gatorade cooler at the same time without further conversation.

“Look, Vic’s a great outfielder. … We talked about it, we’re good. It’s over with,” said Gore, who allowed five runs off nine hits, two walks and a pair of home runs with eight strikeouts in six innings. “He had two hits tonight and made plays after that. Tough spot, but he’s a great outfielder. At the end of the day, I made some bad pitches today and gave up a lot of runs.”

Robles, a Gold Glove Award finalist in 2019 and ‘22, was on the same page with Gore.

“To be honest, I agree with him,” Robles said. “I think I should have had that ball. We both agreed on that, that normally I should be making that play. Right now, I’m a little uncomfortable in where I’m placed to play [deeper in the outfield]. It’s new for me, and I just have to get adjusted to it.”

Robles is less than a week into his return from missing over 30 games on the injured list with back spasms. He was sidelined on May 8 (retroactive to May 7) and reinstated on June 16.

On Monday, Robles took a hard tumble in the third inning of the series opener against the Cardinals. He made a backward, outstretched leap for a long line drive hit by Tommy Edman off Josiah Gray and slammed into the bottom of the center-field wall. He remained in the game and said he felt OK to play on Tuesday. Martinez planned to check in with Robles before the quick turnaround to the Wednesday afternoon game.

“I’m going to actually talk to him again here in a little bit just to see where he’s at,” Martinez said. “I’ll find out what he’s thinking.”

With the loss, the Nationals (27-45) dropped to 3-13 in June.

“I think us players are very frustrated about this month, and even the coaches, I feel like, are probably frustrated as well,” Robles said. “That’s probably one of the reasons why there was that little discussion in the dugout between myself and MacKenzie. Nothing personal at all. Obviously, it’s a part of our frustration in general, and I think we’ll be fine. We’re going to go out there and give it a hundred percent, and we’ll see our way out of this.”

Gore, who also described the month as “a tough one,” echoed Robles’ sentiments.

“We’ve got a bunch of great guys, and we all get along here,” Gore said. “We need something good to happen, we need something to get us going, and we’re working hard, we’re trying. We’re just going to keep doing that, and hopefully something clicks and we get rolling.”