For the longest time, Will Venable looked like he was destined to be the first Padre to hit for the cycle.
Nine times, the Princeton alumnus flirted with the feat, including on this date — May 15 — in 2012 in a 6-1 win in Washington.
In the leadoff spot, a 29-year-old Venable was only missing a home run in a four-hit game. He doubled off San Diego State’s Stephen Strasburg to open the game, tripled off the right-hander in the second and added a fourth-inning single to get within striking distance of the franchise’s first cycle.