It was a big day for the Padres as Blake Snell took the mound looking to propel himself even closer to the Cy Young award. He was presented with a big opportunity against a struggling Rockies team and made the absolute most of it. Snell would shut down the Colorado offense completely as they failed to generate any sort of offense whatsoever. The game would end up remaining close as the San Diego offense had their own struggles to help the team get on the board. Eventually, the game would head to the bottom of the ninth deadlocked at 0-0 before Xander Bogaerts blasted the winning home run to make it 6 wins in a row for the Padres.

Here are three takeaways from the walk-off win:

Padres fall 3 outs short of a no-hitter

With the Padres in the midst of an impressive win streak and momentum on their side, the team was almost able to make history. After Blake Snell’s dominant outing, it was left to the San Diego bullpen to step up and get through 2 no-hit innings to seal the deal. Ranger Suarez was able to take care of business in the 8th inning, as he prevented a hit and struck out 2 during his performance. It was all up to Josh Hader, who needed 3 outs to give the team their 2nd ever no-hitter and their 1st ever combined no-hitter. Unfortunately, the valiant effort would fall short in the ninth as Brendan Rogers hit a single to lead off the inning. For now, Joe Musgrove will get to keep his spot as the only Padres no-hitter in franchise history. While the team was unable to achieve the ultimate goal in the end, the performance of the pitching staff was still nothing short of dominant. It turned out to be much needed, as the offense was not able to generate any runs for the first 8 innings of the game. The true display of resiliency and determination from Snell, Suarez, and Hader kept the team in the game as they gutted out a big win to clinch the series over Colorado.

Xander Bogaerts calls game with a clutch homer

After a complete pitcher’s duel saw an intense game head to the bottom of the ninth in a 0-0 tie, Xander Bogaerts stepped up to the plate with 2 outs and a runner on first base. Bogaerts was 1-4 on the day as he stepped up looking to keep the rally going and send the crowd home happy. He was able to work himself into a good battle, as on the payoff pitch he smacked a ball down the left field line that was able to stay just fair and sneak over the wall.

The crows absolutely erupted as the first runs of the entire game finally came across to seal the deal for San Diego and keep the win streak alive. For Bogaerts, it was his 19th home run of the year, and possibly his biggest. He was able to provide the team with a signature moment to bring the energy level right back up after the Rockies prevented the squad from making history just minutes earlier. While the Padres might not be headed to the postseason, they have played some inspired baseball recently and shown a flash of what the team can look like next year at full force. Bogaerts will certainly be a part of that movement going forward.

Blake “CyZilla” Snell does it again with magical start

The race for the NL Cy Young has been going full force in the month of September, and Blake Snell got his newest chance to add to his 2023 resume. It was clear from the start that he was dialed in, as he looked simply unhittable. Through 7 innings and 104 pitches, Snell was in cruise mode and did not allow a single hit. He struck out 10 Rockies in the process and left their lineup begging for his start to come to an end. Snell was able to lower his ERA to 2.33 on the season, and seemingly took even more momentum his way in the effort to bring home the Cy Young.

His start had the crowd rocking all night long as he set a tone for the night of greatness. His inspiring performance helped to lift the team to a dramatic victory on one of the most memorable nights of the season. The Padres have now won 6 games in a row, and have a record of 12-5 so far this month. With series ahead against the Cardinals, Giants, and White Sox, the squad will have a great chance to keep piling on the wins while potentially playing spoiler to one of their division rivals. If they end up finishing the month strong, Snell will certainly be at the center of it all, and hopefully, he ends up with a nice new piece of hardware to show for it.

The Padres will face off against the Rockies in the final game of the series on Wednesday afternoon as they look to make it back to back series sweeps. Seth Lugo will get the start.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. PT.