The San Diego Padres went into last weekend's three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a one-game lead in the NL West, and they left down two games after being swept.
San Diego had momentum heading into the series against the Dodgers after the Padres swept the San Francisco Giants, while Los Angeles was swept by their crosstown rival, the Los Angeles Angels.
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Moreover, the Padres made several moves before the MLB trade deadline, so they looked new compared to the last time they played the Dodgers earlier in the season. Nonetheless, it didn't matter.
Were the Dodgers just better than the Padres?
On Monday, Padres manager Mike Shildt was on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM and shared his thoughts regarding the challenging series for his squad.
"We just couldn't put it together as consistently as we needed to this past weekend over in LA," Shildt said. "Did get the [Ramon] Laureano homer against [Clayton] Kershaw — that was our only lead. After that, they got the lead back right away, 2-1.
"We played from behind the whole way, got in the hole in games two and three, and dug out yesterday to tie it. But they got right back on top. Overall, it wasn't our best baseball. They played well — credit to them."
Mike Shildt on Dodgers series: "We just played from behind the whole way."#Padres | @Padres
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) August 18, 2025
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San Diego will have an opportunity to lessen the gap and try to sweep the Dodgers themselves at home when Los Angeles visit Petco Park this weekend. Furthermore, it will be the last time that these two sides meet in the 2025 MLB season unless they cross paths in the postseason like they did last year.