The Los Angeles Dodgers' late-season winning streak came to an end with a 4-2 loss to the San Diego Padres on Thursday. This defeat highlights concerns about how the team performs against strong competition, as they are just 25-28 this season and 2-14 in their last two months when facing playoff-bound teams. Despite clinching the NL West division title and securing a first-round bye, the Dodgers struggled to capitalize on scoring opportunities, going 4-for-25 with runners in scoring position during the series against the Padres.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-25,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is expected to return from the injured list on Wednesday after spending two weeks nursing right arm and left knee injuries. Manager Dave Roberts confirmed this, stating that unless something changes, Ohtani will be in the lineup. Although Ohtani's health has improved significantly since he went on the IL on September 11th, concerns remain about his full recovery before the postseason begins less than two weeks later.
In a match-up against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, Ohtani made a strong return but was still not at his best form. He hit a single and drew a walk in four plate appearances during a 5-1 loss to San Diego that ended the Dodgers' 11-game home winning streak.
The Padres clinched their franchise-record third consecutive postseason berth on Thursday, beating the Dodgers 4-2 with help from RBI singles by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ethan Salas in the seventh inning. This victory narrowed the gap between the two teams for a top NL seed heading into October.
Written for “Dodgers Playoff Race Concerns” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.
Entering this week, the Dodgers seemed to be rolling toward the postseason.
asserted
Dodgers → enter → postseason
They had won 14 of 17 games.
asserted
They → win → games
They had clinched the National League West division crown.
asserted
They → clinch → crown
They separated themselves for a top-two NL seed.
asserted
They → separate → seed
And they had finally gotten the entirety of their roster –– from a previously slumping offense to a once-scuffling bullpen to a star-studded rotation –– synced up and playing well at the same time.
asserted
entirety → get → time
The team had gotten an exceedingly soft late-season schedule, having not faced a fellow contender in almost a month.
asserted
team → get → month
Thus, this week’s visit of the San Diego Padres felt like something of a pre-October test, if not a preview of a potential postseason matchup.
asserted
visit → feel → matchup
And with a 4-2 rubber-match loss on Thursday night at Chavez Ravine, it was one they concerningly failed in their last true tune-up before the playoffs.
asserted
they → fail → playoffs
The Dodgers, of course, will downplay the significance of this week’s results.
asserted
Dodgers → downplay → results
They won 7-0 with a bullpen game on Tuesday night.
asserted
They → win → night
They felt Wednesday’s 5-1 defeat was closer than the final score reflected.
asserted
score → feel → ?
In the big-picture, Thursday’s setback didn’t hurt them either –– especially after they clinched a first-round playoff bye pregame thanks to the Atlanta Braves’ loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
asserted
they → hurt → Reds
There was also a matter of motivation, with the Padres clinching their own postseason spot by winning each of the last two games.
asserted
Padres → be → games
Nevertheless, dropping this series continued an increasingly troublesome trend for the two-time defending champions.
asserted
dropping → drop → champions
On the season, the Dodgers are just 25-28 against above-.500 teams currently on track to make the playoffs this year (excluding the sub-.500 Astros and Rangers, who are currently tied atop the AL West).
asserted
who → make → West
In the last two months, that mark includes an eye-popping 2-14 rut in such matchups.
asserted
mark → include → matchups
And still, no outcome felt more foreboding than this one.
asserted
outcome → feel → one
After a four-run rally in the bottom of the second on Tuesday, the Dodgers’ once-resurgent lineup scored just six more times over its next 25 innings –– even with Shohei Ohtani returning from the injured list on Wednesday, and recording a multi-hit effort Thursday that included a consolation RBI double in the ninth.
asserted
that → score → ninth
Though they manufactured plenty of traffic and prevented each of San Diego’s starters from completing even five innings, they wasted countless opportunities by going 4-for-25 with runners in scoring position.
asserted
they → manufacture → position
It didn’t matter that the team got a pair of quality, though hardly dominant, starts out of Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Wednesday (six innings, two earned runs –– albeit with two more unearned) and Tyler Glasnow on Thursday (6.1 innings, three earned runs –– the last of which scored after he left the game).
asserted
he → matter → game
Or that their own bullpen was, by and large, excellent; only done in during a three-run seventh-inning rally from the Padres on Thursday that was aided by some shoddy Dodgers defense (another area where the team suddenly regressed against a higher level of opponent).
asserted
team → do → opponent
Instead, their red-hot offense reverted back to its mediocre mid-summer form.
asserted
offense → revert → form
And now, after several weeks of increasingly auspicious form, the Dodgers have renewed questions to answer about their inability to beat other playoff-bound teams.
asserted
Dodgers → renew → teams
If it doesn’t change soon, it could portend an unexpectedly short October.
uncertain
it → change → October
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