Dodgers' rotation, current mojo portend worrisome vibes for Padres showdown

The Dodgers' weekend series against the Rockies should've been a sweep for LA. Despite clear flaws, this team still has the best record in baseball and Colorado has the third worst, and although there are too many factors that go into a baseball game to ever say with complete certainty that a win should be in the bag, no one would've guessed that the Dodgers would struggle so much against the Rockies.

Despite two wins and a series victory, the Dodgers did struggle plenty along the way. In the opener, they went back and forth through six innings before taking the game by two runs. In the second game, Walker Buehler put on a decent 5 1/3 inning showing, striking out nine batters, but he still gave up four runs, and the usually reliable Daniel Hudson surrendered two more to cement the win for the Rockies.

Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts went back-to-back with solo homers to get the Dodgers a walk-off win, but the finale wasn't very reassuring, either. Yoshinobu Yamamoto struggled across three innings of work, the offense had to battle back from a 5-1 deficit, and almost every hitter outside of the first four batters were unproductive.

After a Monday break, the Dodgers will host the Padres again for their second-to-last series of the regular season, and the Pads are only three games back of the division lead.

Oh, and the Padres have been the hottest team in baseball since the All-Star break and they just enjoyed a sweep. Do the Dodgers really look like they stand a chance against them right now?

Dodgers head into their final series against the Padres on the back foot after a Rockies series that was too close for comfort

Against the Rockies, the Dodgers turned to a bullpen game in the opener, then Buehler, and then Yamamoto, which means we should be looking at Jack Flaherty, Landon Knack, and then another opener against the Padres. Flaherty being on the mound is a little more reassuring, but Knack and potentially Ryan Brasier against a team with the best collective batting average in baseball? Less so.

The Dodgers need to recognize that, unfortunate as it is, the Padres are just a more complete team right now. From the rotation to the bullpen to the lineup, everyone in San Diego has been humming at full power since the All-Star break. It's maddening, to say the least, but it's true.

LA survived their series against Colorado thanks to late-inning heroics by their two best hitters, but almost everything else about the team didn't make the Dodgers look like winners who will be able to make a deep postseason run. We'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge that the Dodgers haven't been having a bad second-half either — they're winning at a .627 clip since the break — but if they struggled against a team like the Rockies, how do they stand to perform against a team they're already 3-7 against this season?

We're begging for the Dodgers to prove us wrong this week. If they take a series win and put more distance between themselves and the Padres for the division lead, then we'll gladly eat our words. Right now, though, there's a lot to worry about.