This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato’s Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SAN DIEGO – A three-city road trip presents a challenge in itself of playing nine games away from a team’s home ballpark. But in the first five contests alone, the Nationals have experienced a roller coaster of outcomes.

“I think that’s what we’ve been like all year – we compete, battle the whole game,” MacKenzie Gore said after Tuesday’s 9-7 loss to the Padres. “Some tough losses the last few days, but look, we’re still in a good spot. It is June, we’re OK. But we do need to figure out how to win some games here moving forward.”

The Nationals will wrap up the series at Petco Park on Wednesday afternoon before traveling to Tampa for an off-day Thursday and a three-game series against the Rays in St. Petersburg beginning Friday.

“Keep playing hard,” said manager Dave Martinez. “We lost two games, we’ve got a lot of baseball left. Let’s come out ready to play tomorrow, and let’s go 1-0 tomorrow.”

Let’s take a look at the first half of this back-and-forth road swing.

Friday: Offensive surge
Nationals 11, Rockies 5

The Nats opened the road swing by recording a season-high 19 hits. Their season-best 10 extra-base hits included a home run from both Luis García Jr. and Drew Millas. Lane Thomas also finished a homer away from the cycle as the bats were alive in the Denver altitude.

Saturday: The pitch-timer game
Rockies 8, Nationals 7

The Nationals led by one run after eight innings and turned to closer Kyle Finnegan to clinch the win. Finnegan, though, picked up the loss in the first game to end on a pitch-timer violation (since the rule was introduced in 2023). Finnegan’s violation was the fourth in the pitch-clock era with the bases loaded, and the first that resulted in a walk-off.

Sunday: Comeback finale
Nationals 2, Rockies 1

Although the Nats' bats were quiet as Jake Irvin dazzled with 10 strikeouts, the offense rallied with an RBI apiece from Thomas and Joey Meneses in the ninth. Finnegan bounced back less than 24 hours after his tough loss to earn his 22nd save of the season, and the team moved on to San Diego with its 11th series win.

Monday: Wild walk-off
Padres 7, Nationals 6 (10 innings)

The Nationals held the Padres scoreless after the first inning to force extras, and they put themselves in a position to win by scoring three runs in the top of the 10th. But with two outs and the bases loaded, Hunter Harvey gave up a walk-off two-run single to Jurickson Profar, marking only the second time in team history (2005-present) – and first since May 11, 2006 – the Nats surrendered a three-run lead and lost in extra innings.

Tuesday: Benches clear
Padres 9, Nationals 7

Catcher Keibert Ruiz took exception to Profar’s celebration on Monday, and Ruiz relayed that to Profar as he came to the plate in the first inning. When Manny Machado approached the conversation from the on-deck circle, both dugouts and benches cleared. This set the tone for a frenzied game that included Padres manager Mike Shildt being ejected, a two-run homer by Jesse Winker and a grand slam by Profar.