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.)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday dismissed a criminal complaint against two former FBI officials accused of falsely downplaying their knowledge of a laptop the Justice Department says belonged to Hunter Biden.

The decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui followed a dramatic hearing in which he scolded prosecutors for their unorthodox maneuvers and an FBI agent who worked the case testified that he had been concerned the investigation would be seen as “political.”

The Justice Department may still have an opportunity to pursue a grand jury indictment against the two former officials, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, whose lawyers had pressed for dismissal of the charges. But the judge's ruling nonetheless represents an unmistakable setback for the Justice Department, particularly given the difficulty it has had in persuading grand juries in the nation's capital to return indictments in politically charged prosecutions like this one.

The judge's concerns about the case were apparent almost immediately, when he raised questions about why the Justice Department had charged the case through a criminal complaint — which is more typically done when investigators have a pressing need to take a defendant into custody — as opposed to an indictment that requires a grand jury's approval.

Then, at a preliminary hearing last week, he criticized the Justice Department for filing overnight an amended complaint with an additional criminal charge straight to the docket instead of first clearing the new charge with the court — something he said he had never seen before.

The hearing also featured testimony from an FBI agent who worked the case, who said that the investigation had been opened hours after President Donald Trump gave an election security speech last July and that it had been mandated by FBI Director Kash Patel, who kept close watch on it.

The case accused the two former FBI officials of misleading Congress in 2023 about their involvement in, and knowledge of, efforts to investigate a laptop the Justice Department says was dropped off by Hunter Biden, former President Joe Biden's son, at a Delaware computer repair shop in 2019.

But it also sought to echo longstanding grievances by Trump and his Republican allies that the FBI attempted to suppress information during the 2020 presidential campaign that was seen as potentially harmful to the Biden family. Candidate Joe Biden, a Democrat, ultimately defeated Trump, the Republican incumbent, in the 2020 election.

The Justice Department's case noted, for instance, how Floris and Benavides had given lawmakers in 2020 a “defensive briefing” that Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin have said was used to undermine their investigation into the Biden administration and link it to Russian disinformation.

FILE - An FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the field office in Portland, Ore., Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

FILE - Hunter Biden steps into a vehicle as he leaves federal court, Sept. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)

FILE - Deputy Assistant Director for Counterterrorism at the FBI Nikki Floris, testifies before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - Hunter Biden arrives for a closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 28, 2024. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)