With everything that has gone wrong -- and that includes injuries to the starting pitchers, an ineffective offense, a catching corps that can neither hit nor throw and an inconsistent bullpen -- the Padres were still only 9 1/2 games off the pace in the National League West.

"I've got a good feeling," Adrian Gonzalez said. "(Brian) Giles and I were talking about this (Monday night). Counting (Monday), we have 12 games going into the All-Star break. We're here and at Arizona on this trip, then return home to play the Marlins and Braves.

"If we go 8-4 to the break and get to within six out on Arizona ... we're not too far out. It doesn't sound great, but it's been done before. I think everything rides on these next 12 games. Six-and-six, we're done. Seven-and-five, tough. But 8-4? It's something to shoot for. We've created the start."

"When you look at this," Giles said, "somebody is going to get hot. What happens if it's us this week? When you look at the schedule, there's an opening here."

On Monday night, the Padres leapt through that opening, rallying to defeat the Rockies with season-high counts of 15 runs and 22 hits.

PADRES 15, ROCKIES 8: Down 3-1 and 8-3, the Padres batted around in the sixth to score five runs to tie and again in the ninth while scoring seven runs. The loss snapped an eight-game Padres losing streak while extending the Rockies' string of losses to eight. 2B Edgar Gonzalez had career highs of four hits, two homers and three RBIs. Brian Giles also had four hits, while Jody Gerut had four RBIs, including a three-run homer in the ninth.