The Nationals — trailing by three to start, leading by three in the 10th inning, one strike away from .500 and ultimately on the wrong side of an improbable walk-off loss — fell victim to Profar’s hit, which landed out of Lane Thomas’ reach and over the wall in right-center field.

Hunter Harvey offered no excuse after allowing four runs in the 10th inning (including the ghost runner), but he did offer an explanation.

“We tried to get in, got an early lead, just couldn’t hold him off, then I kind of gave him a gift by hanging my splitter,” Harvey said. “I didn’t get it down, I put it right where his batting lane was and he did what he was supposed to do.”

Harvey was asked to leave the game after closer Kyle Finnegan started in two consecutive games, including the 8-7 walk-off loss to Colorado on Saturday and the 2-1 win there on Sunday.

Before the Nationals (38-40) got their first out against the Padres (42-41) in the 10th inning on Monday, Harvey allowed a double, a two-RBI single and a walk. A sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third base, with the Nationals leading 6-5. Another pop fly, which landed just out of reach of a fan in foul territory, landed in the glove of third baseman Nick Senzel for the second out before an intentional walk to Luis Arraez loaded the bases.

Just like Finnegan two nights earlier, Harvey had two quick strikes. Just like Finnegan, he couldn’t finish the ball. After six consecutive four-seamers, the juiciest part of Profar’s bat hit the first splinter he threw to the outside edge of the plate. Harvey left the mound, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. Not ten feet to his right, Profar stood with his chest puffed out and his arms outstretched toward a noisy Petco Park.

“It’s definitely a tough pill to swallow,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “These guys played hard. … If we keep playing hard, we’re going to win a lot of games.”

As has been the case all season, the Nationals had only a spark of life left. With two outs in the 10th inning, Keibert Ruiz hit a double that landed just a few feet down the right field line to take the lead. Nick Senzel then worked a 10-pitch at-bat before his two-run shot hit the first row of seats in left field to give them a 6-3 lead.

And all this on a night when left-hander Patrick Corbin gave up three runs in the third inning to trail 3-0, then struck out 14 of the last 15 batters he faced and went seven innings for the first time this season; and when Joey Meneses, who had taken the lead with a single the day before, hit RBI hits in the third, fifth and seventh innings to tie the game.

“It’s baseball,” Senzel said. “This game is crazy. It’s a crazy game. … The last three games have been close, different situations, hyper-competitive, intense. Yesterday we were on the good side, but tonight we were on the bad side.”

Note: The Nationals brought back Harold Ramirez from Class AAA Rochester and sent third baseman Trey Lipscomb to Rochester in exchange. Ramirez, who played 48 games with the Tampa Bay Rays this season before being called up, was a pinch hitter and went 0 for 2.