The bad news is that the Padres and Dodgers are both 3-7 in their last 10 games. The good news is that somehow they've finagled this so that the Padres are a game out of first while the Dodgers somehow look like the bigger losers.
That's really the thing. Both these teams have lost serious leverage, and neither are as strong as they were in earlier points this season. But the Dodgers, as the bigger team, have fallen harder. Sure, the Padres have lost some big games, but did the Padres lose a game they were no-hitting their opponent through 8 and 2/3rds? No. They may have been swept by the Orioles, but at least none of those losses were nearly a no-hitter. And thus, as the underdog, and as a team with great strength and recent heroes like Ramon Laureano and Gavin Sheets, they keep the leverage.
...over the team that has Shohei Ohtani. I know, it's weird.
I think it's also because the Padres have crafted a great team without Joe Musgrove or Michael King, whereas the Dodgers aren't a runaway without half their rotation. And that's the issue. Going into this season, the Dodgers got Snell, Sasaki and more Hernandez, and we kinda all went 'well there's no use playing this out'. Then everybody got hurt and that evened them out. If you spend crazy money and the same thing happens, that's the great equalizer. So now the Dodgers are merely a 'great' team, rather than a fantastic one. They can bleed, and they have.
The Padres are a great team trying to make the leap. And it's admittedly very hard to do so with a messy back half of the rotation, messier now that Cortes is hurt again and Sears and Darvish haven't exactly solved the problems. The bullpen keeps falling off, and now that Jason Adam is gone for a bit they're really gonna have to work hard to keep from blowing saves, even WITH Mason Miller. Arraez is not elite this year, and neither is Merrill. Even Machado, in the midst of another fantastic season, is down defensively. This is a ferocious team whose imperfections are clear, and need to figure out how to win despite them.
That's why Ramon Laureano bringing this x-factor with him from Baltimore has been a great thing for the Padres. So far he's hitting .322 with 7 homers and 24 RBIs, plus a .951 OPS, essentially picking up where he left off with the O's. That O'Hearn is taking longer to return to Baltimore levels is surprising but not insurmountable, and at the very least he's got 3 homers and 11 RBIs. He could get hot, that's definitely something he's done this year.
The Padres have a chance to do the unthinkable and dethrone the Dodgers. It's not definite unless the Padres go on a tear that rivals even their late July/early August one, and ensure the Dodgers now have to catch THEM. 2022 we saw what happens when a Padres team outfoxes a Dodgers team, and it can always happen again.
Coming Tomorrow- In New York you want people to remember your name. So score for that I guess.
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