DENVER -- The Padres have matched a season high with eight straight victories, and, ultimately, that’s the important part.
Wins are wins. At this point in the season, the Padres will take them however they can get them. On Monday, they jumped out to an early five-run lead, then held on for an 8-7 victory over the Rockies at Coors Field. It followed largely the same script as each of their victories in San Francisco over the weekend -- a big early lead and a final score that was closer than it needed to be.
No, the Padres haven’t made it easy on themselves. But … so what?
“It’s just the time of year where you’ve got to win,” said Ty France, who went 3-for-5 with a crucial two-out RBI single in the seventh. “Especially with the position that we’re in, being in this tight of a race -- wins are all that’s important. And it doesn’t matter how you do it. You’ve just got to win.”
Playoff implications
With the win, the Padres maintained their 2 1/2-game lead on the Diamondbacks for the National League’s final Wild Card spot. The D-backs rallied for an 8-7 victory of their own over Miami on Corbin Carroll’s walk-off two-run home run.
That lead is three in the loss column -- and right now, the Padres should be smelling blood. For much of the summer, it felt as if that final playoff spot might be decided on the season’s final weekend, with a three-game series between Arizona and San Diego at Petco Park.
But if the Padres can gain one more game of separation, the Diamondbacks would no longer control their own destiny. Which is to say: If the Padres are one game better in the loss column than Arizona over the next 10 days, they would clinch before they even reach that final weekend.
In the meantime, the Padres are just one game back of the Phillies and 1 1/2 games back of the Cubs for the top two Wild Card spots (though Philly and Chicago have already secured tiebreakers over San Diego this season).
What a year France is having
France was activated from the paternity list on Monday afternoon. He picked up right where he left off. France went 3-for-5. He delivered a crucial RBI single in the seventh after the Rockies had rallied to cut the Padres’ lead to one.
No other way to put it: France is one of the signings of the season. He inked a Minor League deal with the Padres and has been one of the best hitters in baseball, while playing a Gold Glove-caliber first base.
That’s not hyperbole, either. Among hitters with 400-plus plate appearances, France entered Monday ranked 11th with a 142 wRC+, just ahead of Shohei Ohtani. He was 12th in OPS, ahead of Elly De La Cruz and Kyle Schwarber.
And while his name doesn’t pop up on those leaderboards just yet, it still might! France spent the first month and a half of the season as a platoon player. As such, he doesn’t qualify for those leaderboards. Yet. He needs about 4 1/2 plate appearances per game the rest of the way to get there.
But whether he qualifies or not, this has been an outstanding season from France on every level.
Holding on for dear life
The Padres poured it on early. Manny Machado launched the 397th home run of his career. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit one 449 feet to the forest in straightaway center field. San Diego led 6-1 after three.
But it’s never easy in Colorado. The Rockies, somewhat predictably, made things interesting.
“Coors Field special right there,” said manager Craig Stammen.
The Padres did just enough. France’s two-out tack-on single gave them a cushion. When the Rockies pulled within one again, Dustin Harris’ two-out double in the eighth gave them another cushion.
Again, Colorado again cut the deficit to one. On came Mason Miller for the ninth.
The Padres briefly held their collective breath when Miller took a comebacker off his calf. But he stayed in the game and said afterward that he felt OK. But Kyle Karros reached on the play, bringing the winning run to the plate.
With two outs, Adael Amador hit a very high chopper to third. Machado, in a split second, fielded the ball, transferred and threw a missile to first base for the final out.
“That was a sick play,” Miller said. “I thought there was no chance. But when you’ve got an arm like his, always possible.”
Another winning season in the books
It says an awful lot about where the Padres are as an organization that they clinched another winning season on Monday -- and that’s hardly enough. They have much bigger goals.
Still, it’s worth pausing to note the franchise history the Padres made with their 82nd win. They’ve now posted five straight winning seasons for the first time.
“We’re proud to be a part of something like that, where the expectation is to play playoff baseball,” Stammen said. “Part of that is playing over .500 every year.”
But there’s another franchise first in the Padres’ sights: a third straight trip to the postseason. And with every win -- no matter how they get it -- they move a little bit closer.