Dodgers might've been gifted NL West as Padres rocked by season-altering injuries

The Dodgers have maintained a tenuous narrow lead over the Padres in the NL West since Aug. 24, but they haven't been able to stretch it further than two since Aug. 9. They've been tied four times and the Dodgers fell behind twice, but LA has squandered multiple opportunities to put more distance between themselves and their rivals.

The Padres weren't supposed to be much of a concern. The Dodgers had a nine-game lead over them going into Fourth of July weekend — all of which was slowly whittled away at during the rest of LA's horrendous July.

The battle for the NL West might come all the way down to the wire as neither are playing exceptionally good baseball as of late, but the Padres were just hit with two massive injuries that could turn the tides for LA.

Jason Adam, San Diego's All-Star reliever who has a sub-2.00 ERA through his entire season, collapsed on the mound on Monday after giving up an infield single to the Orioles' Gunnar Henderson and was carted off the field. He was diagnosed with a tendon rupture after the game and ruled out for the year. Xander Bogaerts sustained a foot fracture on Aug. 27 and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season, at least.

Padres' Jason Adam, Xander Bogaerts' injuries should help Dodgers run away in standings

On the flip side, the Dodgers are getting help back exactly when they need it. Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, Michael Kopech, Hyeseong Kim, and Kiké Hernández's return over the last week and a half means that the Dodgers' roster is almost at full strength again. They're still waiting on a handful more — Alex Vesia, Roki Sasaki, Brock Stewart, Max Muncy, and Tommy Edman — but it feels like it's the least-injured the Dodgers have been in a long time.

The Padres are 3-7 over their last 10 while the Dodgers are 5-5. LA's lead remains at 2.5 games, but SF has an easier schedule the rest of the way.

The Dodgers have been playing frustrating, mediocre baseball as of late, which is made more unacceptable when accounting for all of the injury returns that were supposed to provide a boost the fans haven't seen yet. Still, at least there's room for the Dodgers to keep improving heading into the postseason, whereas the Padres are missing an elite reliever and an everyday player until further notice.