DENVER -- The Padres tied a season high on Monday night with their eighth straight victory -- though it certainly hasn’t come easy.

San Diego jumped out to an early five-run lead, then held on for an 8-7 win over the Rockies on Monday night. And, yes, this was Coors Field. But the game followed largely the same script as all three games in San Francisco over the weekend.

But, hey, wins are wins. At this point in the season, the Padres will take them however they can get them. They finished the game three games up on Arizona in the race for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. The Diamondbacks’ game against the Marlins was still in progress late Monday night.

Here’s some instant reaction from Coors Field:

What a season France is having

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.

Manny nears a milestone

Mike Piazza is the only player to hit career home run No. 400 as a Padre. He’s about to have company.

opened the scoring on Monday night with his 28th home run of the season, a no-doubter off Rockies right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano. It was the 397th of his career.

With 12 games remaining, it might be a race to the finish line. Or, if Machado gets really hot at Coors Field -- as he’s done before -- he might hit that number by the end of the week. Machado’s homers tend to come in bunches, and this was his second in as many nights.

Among active players, only Giancarlo Stanton (456) and Mike Trout (425) have more.