BASEBALL: Padres strive to pick up steam in opener vs. Diamondbacks

The San Diego Padres' longest losing streak since 2013 is history.

After their 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday ended an eight-game skid, the Padres probably need a long winning streak at some point over the final 73 games of the year to earn a third straight postseason berth.

They'll try to build off the slump-busting victory on Monday night when they welcome the Arizona Diamondbacks to San Diego for the opener of a four-game series.

At 44-45, San Diego will have to jump four other teams just to get into the wild-card round. It also will have to overcome a spate of injuries that has left its starting rotation in tatters while taxing an overworked bullpen. And an offense that's struggled all year has to come around.

Perhaps feeling the giddiness of snapping the losing streak, manager Craig Stammen said he still has faith in his team.

"It just shows that this team still has that fight in them," he said after Sunday's victory. "I think it bodes well for the rest of the season."

Manny Machado's continued production at the plate would help. While he's still hitting a career-low .189, he did launch his 18th homer Sunday, a three-run blast to provide the margin of victory.

Machado said his swing on the three-run homer might have been his best of the year.

"We just have to keep playing productive baseball," he said. "This series didn't go as planned, so hopefully, let's flip that around and get the (wins)."

Right-hander Walker Buehler (5-4, 4.61 ERA) will try to flip things around after a disastrous outing Wednesday in a 23-3 loss at the Chicago Cubs. He allowed nine runs on seven hits and four walks in four innings. Buehler has dominated Arizona in 14 career outings, going 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA.

The Diamondbacks counter with right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (1-1, 5.40), who's coming off an 8-2 home win Tuesday night against San Francisco. Pfaadt breezed through 5 1/3 innings, yielding only three hits and a run with a walk and two strikeouts. In his career against San Diego, Pfaadt is 3-3 with a 4.64 ERA in 10 outings.

Arizona closed out its weekend series with Milwaukee by losing the finale 3-2 on Sunday, dropping it to 44-45. This is the start of a seven-game road trip for the Diamondbacks that will also match them with the Dodgers next weekend.

Right fielder Corbin Carroll said the team must play with more urgency.

"I think kind of scuffling would be the word I would use," he said. "We're not playing the way we need to play if we want to be in a position where we're going to do something with this season.

"I think it's frustrating for everyone in here because we know there's a lot more than that in this room and we just need to play better."

The teams split a two-game series in Mexico City in April.

-Field Level Media/Reuters