Bogaerts Falls Short of Cycle in Padres Win

San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts fell a single short of the cycle, and the surging Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 9-2 at Coors Field on Thursday. Field Level Media via Reuters logged the board: Bogaerts homered and tripled in a seven-run second inning, doubled later, then struck out in his final two at-bats while needing only a single.

San Diego improved to 84-69 and has won 10 of 11. The win pushed the Padres' lead to four games over idle Arizona for the third and final NL wild-card berth. They sit a game behind the Chicago Cubs for the top wild-card seed and a half-game back of Philadelphia for the second berth.

How the second inning exploded

Bogaerts led off the second with his 12th home run of the season against Tanner Gordon. San Diego loaded the bases, Dustin Harris drove in two with a single, Manny Machado added a sacrifice fly, and Ty France kept the line moving. Rockies right fielder Zac Veen had two fielding mistakes that turned into back-to-back triples for Jackson Merrill and Bogaerts, making it 7-0.

Gordon lasted three innings and allowed seven runs on 10 hits. Michael King (12-9) threw six solid innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts, and he ended his day by striking out Troy Johnston with the bases loaded. Ty France and Harris each had three hits. Jake Cronenworth and Samad Taylor added two apiece. San Diego finished 11-2 against Colorado this season.

Wild-card heat in September

Fantasy managers who started Bogaerts just got a multi-hit, multi-extra-base stamp even without the cycle. The Padres' October path is about holding the wild-card cushion and chasing the top two seeds. Colorado has dropped 10 of 11 and is pacing toward a fourth straight 100-loss season. For San Diego fans, Thursday was another loud night in Denver with Bogaerts in the middle of every big swing.

Homer. Triple. Double. One single short, and the Padres keep rolling.