[jg2977]

San Diego Padres 9, Colorado Rockies 5
October 6, 1938 — PETCO Park

There is something almost efficient — almost businesslike — about a sweep in October.
No lingering suspense. No tortured bullpen choreography in a winner-take-all. Just clarity.
And with San Diego’s 9–5 victory over Colorado on a clear Southern California afternoon, all four Wild Card Series in Major League Baseball have ended the same way: swiftly. Decisively. Two games, and done.
The so-called “second season” wasted little time sorting itself out.
For the Padres, the tone was established early.
Miguel Peña, who would earn the victory, navigated the early Colorado traffic with a composure that belied the moment. The Rockies nicked him for single runs in the second and third — Jordan Watson driving in one, opportunistic baserunning producing another — but Peña never allowed the inning to avalanche. He worked 7⅔ innings, struck out six, and — perhaps most importantly — kept the game from quickening.
October baseball is often about tempo as much as talent.
The true inflection point arrived in the second inning.
Manuel Rico singled. George Effinger followed. Cesar Morin doubled. And then Chris Perkins — the series’ quiet metronome — lashed a triple into the outfield gap, driving in two. In a flourish that felt almost cinematic, Perkins would later steal home in the same frame.
Four runs. A 4–1 lead. Control.
Colorado would hang within reach — trimming it to 4–2, then watching as Steve Schleicher’s fifth-inning triple stretched it to 5–2. But the decisive blow came in the seventh.
Perkins homered to right. George Setton answered with a towering drive of his own. Danny Speigel doubled. Rico tripled. Four runs in the inning, and the scoreboard read 9–2.
By then, the game felt settled in spirit if not yet in arithmetic.
The Rockies did muster one last gasp in the eighth — Tony Ramirez launching a three-run homer 444 feet into the San Diego afternoon — but it was an echo, not a shift. Don Kantorski recorded the final four outs without further disturbance.
Final line:
San Diego, 9 runs on 14 hits.
Colorado, 5 runs on 7 hits.
The Padres move on.
And at the center of the series stood Chris Perkins.
He hit .500. Reached base half the time. Homered. Tripled. Drove in three. Scored four. Stole a base — and even stole home.
He was not flamboyant. He was relentless.
October often reveals the player most comfortable within himself. For two games, that was Perkins.
So now, with all Wild Card Series concluded by sweep, the stage clears quickly for the Division Series.
San Diego advances to meet the National League powerhouse, the San Francisco Giants — rested, formidable, and waiting.
Elsewhere, the American League Division Series will soon feature the 118-win New York Yankees and the 112-win Cleveland Indians, each beneficiaries of a first-round bye. And in the other National League Division Series, the 93-win St. Louis Cardinals will begin defense of last year's pennant.
The preliminary sorting has been brisk.
Now, the margin narrows.
The stakes elevate.
And the postseason, having dispensed with pleasantries, moves into its more exacting phase.
In October, time can feel elastic.
This year, it has moved with purpose.