Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.

With 20-year-old rookie Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., it has become a matter of repeated excellence both offensively and defensively.

Thursday night was the latest example.

Defensively, he made a pair of stops-and-throws up the middle that were worthy of what is now several volumes of highlight reels.

And he opened the bottom of the first with his 22nd homer of the season ... which was significant on so many levels.

• The home run was Tatis' sixth game-opening home run of the season, breaking the old Padres record of five set by Will Venable in 2011. It was also his fourth game-opening homer in a span of nine games and marked the second time in those nine games that he opened back-to-back games with home runs.

• Tatis’ sixth game-opening homer came in his 79th game. The only other player since 1900 to hit six game-opening homers in the first 79 games of his career was Ronald Acuña Jr. last season.

• Thursday’s homer also gave Tatis homers in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.

• And the homer extended Tatis' hitting streak to 12 straight games, matching the longest streak of his career (the first 12-game streak was April 11-26). Tatis is 17-for-52 (.327) during this streak with a double, six homers, 10 RBIs, 10 runs scored and four walks for a .386 on-base percentage, a .692 slugging percentage and a 1.078 OPS.

• And II, Tatis has hit safely in 18 of his last 19 games, going 27-for-79 (.342) with three doubles and eight homers for 18 RBIs, 13 runs scored and six walks -- a .395 on-base percentage, a .671 slugging percentage and a 1.066 OPS.

Notebook
• Infielder Greg Garcia has reached base in six straight games. While that might not seem like a long streak, three of the six appearances in the streak were as a pinch-hitter (2-for-2 with a double, a walk and two runs scored). During the six-game on-base streak, Garcia has gone 5-for-5 with two walks, a double, a RBI and four runs scored.

• Catcher Francisco Mejía has had at least one hit in each of his last five starts with four multihit games, including three straight multiple-hit games with Thursday’s 2-for-4 against the Rockies at Petco Park. He is on an 11-for-21 run (.524) with a double, his fifth homer, four RBIs and four runs scored to raise his batting average from .222 to .263.

• Second baseman Luis Urías had a double in three at-bats Thursday and scored two runs. The rookie is 7-for-22 over the last eight games with a double, a home run, two RBIs, four runs scored, two hit-by-pitches and four walks. He has a .318/.464/.500/.964 slash line during the run and has raised his batting average from .063 to .143.

• Center fielder Manuel Margot homered in the ninth Thursday night. It was his third homer in the last five games.