Josh Bard was the only National who really got a hold of the ball on Tuesday night, though he had difficulty corralling this one. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Padres 4, Nationals 1: Washington’s bats could barely muster a whimper last night — generating but one run for the second straight evening — and the Nationals lost their fifth straight. Only Josh Bard, who bashed a solo home run in the seventh inning, could manage to undo Padres starter Clayton Richard (8-4), who exited after a sterling 6.2 innings. The dinger was of little import, really, as San Diego proceeded to get fantastic relief work from three pitchers to nail down the victory. Nats rookie pitcher J.D. Martin (3-4) continued to show improvement, allowing only two earned runs over six full innings, and picked up where a solid August left off. But the wilting offense gave Martin no chance to go over .500 on the season — Josh Willingham struck out four times, and Elijah Dukes was thrown out on the basepaths twice. The Nationals finish their series with the Padres tomorrow, when John Lannan will certainly be hoping for more than one run of support.