Finally! Fernando Tatis Jr. crushes a 451-foot drive for his first home run of the season

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. finally connected for his first home run of the season — and boy was it a blast.

Tatis slugged a 451-foot solo shot to left field in the fifth inning against Washington on Saturday, although the San Diego Padres went on to lose 9-4 to the Nationals. Tatis, who has five 20-homer seasons in his career and hit 42 in 2021, had not gone deep in 240 plate appearances before this game — the longest drought in the major leagues.

He then singled in the first inning and struck out in the third before his fifth-inning drive off Foster Griffin gave San Diego a 3-1 lead.

“I just knew right away,” Tatis said. “About (expletive) time."

Tatis flipped his bat with his left hand and received a joyous welcome from his San Diego teammates after rounding the bases. It was his first homer since Sept. 27 against Arizona.

“It was very exciting for everybody," manager Craig Stammen said. "He’s been carrying that burden. The team has been carrying that burden.”

For a while it looked like the Padres would be able to celebrate a victory as well. They led 3-1 before the Nationals scored six runs in the seventh.

“There's no off days over here man," Tatis said. "This game will find a way how to still punish you.”

Still, it had to be a relief for Tatis to hit a homer, especially such a prodigious one. The wind was blowing in from left field at 10 mph on Saturday, but Tatis' drive carried well into the seats in left, landing a few rows short of the concourse.

“Bet you he'll sleep a little better tonight, knowing that he has a little ‘one’ on his numbers. He has a lot in his career, but it's different," teammate Xander Bogaerts said. "Everyone knows what the deal is here. Everyone knows he has zero, so I think getting that kind of pressure off his back is nice."

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San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. hits a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrates after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. hits a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrates with his teammates after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the U.N. health agency is hailing “encouraging signs” in the fight against an Ebola outbreak in one part of eastern Congo, while warning that case counts are rising fast in another as officials race to tamp down the virus.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that signs of gaining ground against the Bundibugyo virus, the rare species behind the outbreak, have emerged in Ituri province. But he said that the situation is one of “many outbreaks in many places.”

“We are now starting to see encouraging signs that we are gaining ground. In the most affected parts of Ituri province, transmission is going down,” Tedros told reporters at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva.

South Kivu, he said, has reported no new cases since May.

“But make no mistake, the epidemic continues to grow and continues to kill,” Tedros said. He said more than 7,200 cases and more than 3,500 deaths have been reported across seven provinces.

In North Kivu, “cases are rising fast,” Tedros said. The number of weekly cases has nearly doubled over the past two weeks, from about 100 to more than 200. “The area is so vast that it’s hard to speak of a single epidemic. It’s many outbreaks in many places.”

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director for epidemic and pandemic management, said that “we can be cautiously optimistic about what is happening, but I think we need to be realistic about the road that’s ahead of us. Looking at trends takes time.”

Last week, officials in Congo said that the world’s fastest-growing outbreak of the disease on record had now spread to seven provinces in the African country, and was showing no signs of slowing down.

Health workers who are members of the safe and dignified burial team prepare to bury Abineno Justine, a 38 year old woman who died of the Ebola virus, in Bunia, Congo, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole)