SAN DIEGO — Five days ago, the Dodgers finally seemed to be building some late-season momentum.

In the span of a week, however, they have once again squandered any real forward progress.

Coming off a sweep of the San Diego Padres at home last weekend, the Dodgers appeared to be in strong position for the stretch run. They’d built a two-game lead in the National League West. They had the last-place Colorado Rockies up next on the schedule. And even with a trip to San Diego looming after that, they were primed to potentially take a stranglehold in the standings.

Instead, the team split its four-game set in Denver, giving a game back to the Padres while San Diego took three of four from the San Francisco Giants in the same span.

Then, in Friday’s series opener at Petco Park, the Pad

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