DENVER -- Xander Bogaerts got the hard half out of the way in one inning.
But he fell agonizingly short of becoming just the fourth Padre to hit for the cycle on Thursday afternoon. Bogaerts homered, tripled and doubled in San Diego’s 9-2 victory over the Rockies at Coors Field, and twice he came to the plate needing only a single. He struck out in both at-bats.
Bogaerts did make a small bit of history nonetheless. He launched a leadoff homer on the first pitch of the second inning, then, after the Padres batted around, capped a seven-run rally with an RBI triple. He became the first player in franchise history with a homer and a triple in the same inning.
Bogaerts tacked on a double in the fourth. But he couldn’t quite join Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and Jake Cronenworth as Padres who have hit for the cycle. Kemp and Myers, the first two to accomplish the feat, did so at Coors Field.
Bogaerts was attempting to join a very short list of players who have hit for a “reverse cycle.” Pete Crow-Armstrong accomplished the feat for the Cubs earlier this season and only four other players have done so in the expansion era (since 1961): Rajai Davis in 2016, Carlos Gomez in 2008, Luke Scott in 2006 and Jim Fregosi in 1968.
But more importantly, the Padres extended their lead in the National League Wild Card race to four games over the Diamondbacks -- and Bogaerts, who has struggled for much of the season, appears to be heating up.