WASHINGTON -- Three of the headliners from one of last season’s biggest trades converged at the plate just three batters into the Nationals’ 9-4 loss to the Dodgers on Tuesday night at Nationals Park.

On the mound, right-hander Josiah Gray worked a 2-2 count to batterymate Keibert Ruiz. At the plate, Trea Turner jumped on a 95.9 fastball from Gray and sent it soaring a Statcast-projected 400 feet out of center field at the park he had called home for six-plus seasons.

The two-run dinger set Gray behind in his shortest start of 2022. He exited after three innings having allowed seven runs, five hits, three walks and three homers while fanning five over 80 pitches.

“There were a lot of emotions, honestly. In being traded twice already, I guess this was my first opportunity to prove myself against a former team,” said Gray, who was drafted in the second round by the Reds in 2018 and traded to the Dodgers six months later. “I obviously let the emotions get ahead of me and didn’t control them from the first pitch on. But yeah, the emotions were there. [I] kind of just wanted to prove [to] them like, ‘Hey, like you guys are missing out.’ But unfortunately, the outing didn’t go my way.”

Although the Nationals fought behind Gray to out-hit the Dodgers, 10-9, Washington dropped the second game of the series. Turner’s early home run was his only hit of the game (1-for-4 with a walk), while Ruiz continued his hot hitting with a 2-for-5 night that included a double.

“I think that’s just the type of player I am,” Gray said. “In being sort of slighted, I guess you can say, since I’ve been in pro ball, I’ve wanted to prove my former organizations wrong and that they traded a guy that’s going to go out there and work his butt off.”

It has been nearly 10 months since Gray and Ruiz swapped clubs with Turner when the Nationals overhauled their roster at the Trade Deadline and sent Turner and ace Max Scherzer to the Dodgers for four prospects, including Gray and Ruiz, who were ranked as Los Angeles’ top two.

Since then, Scherzer hit free agency, signed a megadeal with the Mets and made his return to Washington on Opening Day -- his time with the Dodgers on an expiring contract was short. Gray, Ruiz and Turner, though, have settled in as key pieces to the teams to which they were traded.

After making 12 starts with the Nationals in the second half of last season, Gray (4-4, 5.44 ERA) was the No. 2 starter to open 2022. At 24 years old, he is a significant part of the team’s pitching future as he continues to learn through in-game experiences.

“Hopefully in his next outing, he does better,” manager Dave Martinez said. “It’s part of the growth, part of the youth. He’s been doing well, so we’re not going to beat him up. We’re going to love on him for the next five days and get him right back to where he needs to be.”

Ruiz, 23, already has shown the impact he can make with his game calling and his swing. In addition to being lauded by the Nationals pitching staff for his work behind the plate, Ruiz is one of the Nats’ best offensive players this season. He has hit safely in 11 of his last 16 games, ranks first among Major League catchers with 36 hits, and he has earned the No. 2 spot in the batting order to hit ahead of Juan Soto. Like Gray, he felt the significance of playing against the organization that signed him in 2014.

“It was a little emotional,” Ruiz said on Monday. “I had been with them since I can remember playing baseball, about six or seven years. It’s a little emotional seeing familiar faces, obviously. I wanted to thank them for the opportunity they gave me to play this sport. After that, it’s a game.”

With Washington’s acquisitions of Gray and Ruiz being about developing future young talents, Los Angeles’ trade for Turner landed an established veteran who had already proved he could win on the biggest stage. In his eighth season, Turner is batting .288 and is in the midst of a 16-game hitting streak. What set Turner apart in the blockbuster trade is that he is under contract through the 2022 season. It remains to be seen if he remains in L.A. when he becomes a free agent or, like Scherzer, signs elsewhere.

“I think every trade, at least for me, so far has caught me off guard, but I guess that's how it works,” Turner said. “There's a lot more baseball to come before then. We'll see what happens."

Regardless of where they have played before and where they will go in the future, Tuesday’s matchup was just as much about looking ahead as it was thinking about the past. The Nationals and Dodgers have one game remaining in this series before turning the page for the next opponent -- until they meet again in late July.

“Any bad outing, any pitcher’s glad to have it out of the way,” Gray said. “I’m glad to be able to come into work tomorrow and be able to get to work and get ready for my next start.”