Padres history (Aug. 14): Matt Kemp’s first cycle

Matt Kemp provided a bright side to a disappointing stay with the Padres on this date — Aug. 14 — in 2015 when he slid into third base to complete the first cycle of his career. The 30-year-old outfielder had no idea it was also a first for the franchise.

Third base coach Glenn Hoffman was happy to deliver the news after Kemp’s ninth-inning triple at Coors Field in a 9-5 win over the Rockies.

“Hoffy says, ‘That’s the first one,’ ” Kemp told the Union-Tribune. “I said, ‘Yeah, that is my first one.’ He said, ‘No, that’s the first one for the Padres.’ And I was, like, ‘Wow.’ It’s hard to believe, all those great hitters that have been here, like Tony Gwynn and all those guys, haven’t been able to get a hit for a cycle. I’m just glad I was able to do it.”

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Coors Field was certainly an optimal setting and Kemp took advantage with a first-inning homer off Yohan Flande.

Kemp added a third-inning single, grounded out in the fifth and doubled in a run off Rafael Betancourt in the seventh.

In the ninth, with Justin Miller on the mound, Kemp drove a high fly ball to right-center that carried all the way to the wall. He got the bounce he needed when the ball hit off the top of the padding halfway up the wall and kicked away from Charlie Blackmon and into center field.

It was the first cycle in 7,443 games for the beleaguered franchise.

“I got goose bumps,” Hoffman, who was in his 10^th season and had seen his fair share of near misses, said afterward. “It was so awesome.”

Added Kemp: “Any time you can make history, it’s special.”

Kemp went on to hit 23 homers and drive in 100 runs while hitting .265/.312/.443 that first year in San Diego. He was traded away the next year after 23 homers, 69 RBIs and a .262/.285/.489 batting line through 100 games.

On this date …

1988: C Mark Parent, Benito Santiago’s back-up, hit the first two homers of his career in a 6-1 win in Houston. Parent had 16 homers and a .197 batting average in five seasons in San Diego. He went on to hit 53 homers in a 13 year big-league career as a backup.

1991: 1B Fred McGriff became the first Padre to hit grand slams in back-to-back games after adding a second in a 4-1 win over the visiting Astros. He hit a grand slam the previous day in a 12-9 loss.

1999: RF Tony Gwynn logged the last of his four two-homer games in a 6-4 win over the visiting Marlins. Gwynn drove in four runs on the two blasts.