Turner goes deep in long-awaited Petco Park debut (Nats win 8-5)

SAN DIEGO - Padres fans always expected to watch Trea Turner do something special in his first game at Petco Park. They just wish it didn't happen wearing a visiting team's jersey.

Turner, the former San Diego first-round pick dealt along with Joe Ross to the Nationals in the controversial 2014 trade, connected for a first-inning homer tonight to give Washington an early 1-0 lead and remind everyone around here what they gave up 3 1/2 years ago.

Turner connected off Tyson Ross, Joe's older brother, who is enjoying a nice bounceback season following major arm injuries, to give the Nats a quick lead in the opener of a three-game series.

It was the speedy shortstop's third homer of the season, and it came in the first at-bat he's ever taken at Petco Park. Though he appeared in seven games previously against the Padres, all came at Nationals Park because he was either injured or in the minor leagues when the Nats played in San Diego each of the last three seasons.

Turner's homer into the bullpen in left-center allowed Stephen Strasburg to take the mound for the bottom of the first with a lead already in hand. The San Diego native, starting his fourth career game in this park, cruised through his first three innings, facing the minimum while throwing only 41 pitches.

Strasburg, though, watched as the Padres manufactured a run in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game 1-1. After Travis Jankowski singled and stole second to lead off the inning, Eric Hosmer and Franchy Cordero each advanced him with ground balls to the right side, ultimately bringing him home with the tying run.

Update: Unable to do much their first two times through the lineup against Ross, the Nats certainly made the most of their third opportunity to hit against the right-hander. It began with Bryce Harper's scorched ground ball that required a diving stop by second baseman Jose Pirela to end the top of the fifth. It then continued in rapid-fire succession in the top of the sixth. Turner walked, then scored on Anthony Rendon's 110-mph double off the left field wall. Matt Adams launched a two-run homer down the right field line (his ninth of the season, only three behind Harper). Howie Kendrick ripped a double down the left field line. And Matt Wieters drilled an RBI single to right-center. Put that all together, and the Nats now have a 5-1 lead. And the Padres now have reason to wonder if they shouldn't have let their starter face this lineup a third time.

Update II: This just in: Adams is really good. He just homered for the second time in as many innings, this time a three-run homer off left-hander Matt Strahm. It's his seventh homer in seven games to begin the month of May, which is pretty good. Nats lead 8-2 at the stretch.

Update III: That's a final. The Padres scored once more off Strasburg in the seventh and then twice off Carlos Torres in the ninth, but that's all they got and the Nats cruised to an 8-5 victory to begin this road trip. They've won eight of their last nine, are two games over .500 for the first time since they were 4-2 and - despite still being stuck in fourth place - are only 1 1/2 games out of first place in the National League East.