First, Manny Machado had Jurickson Profar’s back.

Then Profar took matters into his own hands.

In a back-and-forth game that began with beef over the way Profar celebrated Monday’s walk-off, the Padres’ left fielder provided the last laugh on Tuesday, a grand slam to punctuate a 9-7 win over the Washington Nationals.

“I don’t care about that stuff — always,” Profar said about all early drama. “I like to play baseball. That’s me. I don’t care about that stuff.”

A novella could be written about all that set the stage for Profar’s dramatic, sixth-inning blast as a sellout crowd of 40,825 chanted MVP.

There was the Nationals’ starting catcher having words with Profar about the way he celebrated in front of their dugout a night earlier.

There was the benches emptying as Machado broke up that conversation.

There was the warning that didn’t seem to matter when MacKenzie Gore hit Profar with the next pitch and stayed in the game, the home run that Machado hit on the pitch after that, the one that Jesse Winker blasted in the third inning to give Washington the lead and the seven runs that the Padres poured on over the fifth and sixth innings, none as important as the four that crossed the plate on Profar’s second grand slam this season.

“A lot of emotions,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “A lot of fireworks came early tonight. … That’s how you ultimately compete. You do it on the field. You take care of your business on the field. We’re not a group that’s going to instigate anything. People have their own interpretation of what that looks like. I’ve never had a club … that has had any bench-clearing issues in my history. We just show up and play baseball. … We’re not going to start it, but we’ll finish it.”

A first-inning lecture tipped it all off on Tuesday.

At least that’s what appeared to take place as Profar walked to the mound for his first-inning at-bat.

There, Keibert Ruiz lifted his mask to address Profar. The Nationals’ catcher tapped him on the shoulder and pointed at Profar’s chest as he spoke, a conversation that only stopped when Machado walked from the on-deck circle to step between the two as the benches and bullpens rushed to home plate.

No punches were thrown. There didn’t even appear to be a lot of pushing or shoving or even shouting during the brouhaha.

“He didn’t like the celebration yesterday,” Profar explained. “They told me that he was one of them talking on the top step. And (Ildemaro) Vargas and Winker. But I had no idea.”

Even without outward hostility, the commotion was still enough for crew chief Adam Hamari to issue warnings to both dugouts.

Yet somehow the ensuing 98 mph fastball that struck Profar in the shin was not enough to get former Padres top prospect MacKenzie Gore ejected, and that Shildt heated enough to get tossed.

“We did not feel that it was intentional,” Hamari told a pool reporter. “ … In order to eject a pitcher in that situation, we have to deem it intentional. That was not the case.”

Gore’s next pitch: a 97 mph fastball that Machado yanked over the wall in left, sending Petco Park into a frenzy.

Machado pounded both of his shoulders as he looked into the Padres’ dugout as he began his jog around the bases. As Profar rounded third base, he gestured toward the crowd behind home to get loud, much like he did toward the crowd near the Nationals’ dugout after his walk-off hit on Monday. At the plate, Profar mimicked brushing dirt off Machado’s shoulders as almost the entire team spilled out of dugout to greet their third baseman.

“That’s how you (expletive) lead,” center fielder Jackson Merrill said. “I’m not saying he had to hit a homer, but right there off the bat, (expletive) first pitch, ready to go. That’s how you (expletive) lead right there. …

“That’s (expletive) electric.”

The first lead did not last long because Winker — who was caught on video in a back-and-forth with a Padres fan after Profar’s walk-off on Monday — capped a four-run rally off rookie Adam Mazur in the third with a two-run homer to right. In fact, it appeared that several Nationals took exception with Profar’s antics after a walk-off hit that was preceded by the Nationals choosing to pitch to Profar instead of Luis Arraez.

“I felt disrespected,” Profar said Monday night.

So Profar let them know with the walk-off drive into the right field alley on Monday night.

Then he continued to let them know with his gesturing toward the crowd on Monday — and perhaps chirping at their dugout, as it was perceived by the Nationals — and again in the sixth inning Tuesday with a grand slam off Derek Law inside the foul pole.

This time as he rounded third, Profar patted his chest and pointed to the sky, all without so much as a glance into Washington’s dugout.

What he did on Monday, however, had nothing to do with the Nationals, he said.

“No, no, it was for the fans,” Profar said.

The Padres’ seven runs over the fifth and sixth innings — including Donovan Solano’s go-ahead single in the fifth — allowed Mazur to collect his first big-league win despite his shaky third inning

Mazur did not strike out a batter, but he walked just one and allowed four runs in five innings.

Two unearned runs were charged to Stephen Kolek in the eighth inning, but Wandy Peralta and Jeremiah Estrada turned in scoreless frames and Robert Suarez earned his 20th save despite allowing an unearned run in the ninth.

Gore allowed five runs in five innings in the start for Washington.