LOS ANGELES — The Padres overhauled their roster at the Trade Deadline with designs on beating the Dodgers come October. But they can put that goal on the shelf for a while. Right now, they need to find their way into the postseason in the first place.
The Padres endured a humbling weekend in Los Angeles, swept by the Dodgers and having dropped eight of 10 to their NL West rivals this season. With Sunday’s 4-0 defeat, San Diego fell into the third Wild Card spot, 1 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee for the league’s final postseason place.
“At this point,” said Padres manager Bob Melvin, “we’ve got to fight our way to the playoffs.”
Indeed, the Padres have work to do following yet another disheartening weekend at Dodger Stadium. Afterwards, one of the newest Padres decided to move forward.
“Forget about it,” said Juan Soto. “We start another series tomorrow, and we’re going to be ready for that. … Don’t be surprised if you see all these guys going off next series.”
Nevertheless, it was this series that the Padres had eagerly anticipated as a litmus test of sorts. Just how much did they close the gap on the Dodgers after their Trade Deadline frenzy? Well, based on one weekend’s worth of evidence, not all that much.
It is, to be sure, only one weekend. But the results were all too familiar. The Padres have now dropped 17 of 19 games to Los Angeles over the past calendar year. They traded for Soto, Josh Bell, Josh Hader and Brandon Drury with the express purpose of contending in October — and the path to an NL pennant will almost certainly go through LA
Soto — who knows firsthand what it takes to beat the Dodgers in the playoffs — was unmoved by one series’ worth of results. He was insistent that, in reality, there’s no gap between the two teams. His new club simply picked a bad weekend to have a bad weekend.
“We both have really good teams,” Soto said. “They have really good pitchers, we have really good pitchers. They have really good hitters, we have really good hitters. … Just keep grinding every day.”
About those really good hitters… Soto isn’t wrong. In addition to the three the Padres traded for this week, Fernando Tatis Jr. is expected to return soon. This offense has to get better, right?
“It starts with one guy getting a big hit, starting a rally,” said Bell. “Things will continue from there.”
That big hit never came this weekend. Soto continued his strong start to his Padres tenure, having reached base in 10 of 21 plate appearances since his arrival. His two walks on Sunday gave him 469 in his career — a remarkable number that moves him past Ted Williams for the most by any player prior to his 24th birthday.
The rest of the San Diego offense struggled to support Soto. Manny Machado, defiant as ever, insisted there wasn’t any concern about the way the Padres have stacked up with the Dodgers this year.
“Concerned?” Machado asked, rhetorically. “Why would I be concerned? Not at all.”
Still, the numbers are stark. The Padres have spent the past decade-plus looking up at the Dodgers in the NL West standings. Lately, the rivalry has been particularly lopsided, even as the Padres have constructed what they feel to be a contending roster.
Earlier this weekend, Wil Myers, the longest-tenured Padre, said he thinks the team often makes a bit too much of its encounters with Los Angeles.
“You almost have to play this team like it’s another blue team,” Myers said. “Whether it’s the Royals or Blue Jays, it’s just another blue team that we’re going out there and playing.
“As we keep playing as a team, keep playing with this lineup, we’ll find ways to really get going offensively. It doesn’t matter what we do against this team here. Our main goal is to get into the playoffs. And at that point, if we’ve got these guys again, we try to take care of business in that series.”
The Padres are slated to return to Los Angeles in early September. Until then, they will play 19 of their next 21 games against teams with losing records. If all goes right, the Padres hope to return to Dodger Stadium in much better shape, with a bolstered offense and a healthy Tatis.
But at some point, if they want to get where they’re trying to go, they have to solve their Dodger problem.
“We still have some more games left with them,” Melvin said. “But we’re going to have to play better than this. … They’ve played better than we have across the board.”
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