The San Diego Padres have been extremely effective this year at recovering from losses and preventing any serious skids from developing -- until now. Through August 25, with the exception of being swept by the L.A. Dodgers in a three-game series from May 14-16, the Padres had never lost more than two games in a row (game-by-game log).

Now, however, they have lost seven in a row, heading into tonight's game against Colorado. The Padres' lead over San Francisco in the National League West standings, which recently had been as much as 6.5 games, is now down to 3 (day-by-day standings tracker). San Diego's recent cold streak really stands out visually, as seen in the following graphic I created. You can click on the figure to enlarge it.

For three of the games in the Padres' current malaise, they faced one of the best teams in the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies. However, the other four losses were to the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks. In a long season -- 162 games for each team in Major League Baseball -- fairly long streaks of winning and losing are virtually inevitable. The current slide, which could stretch even longer, really seems out of place with how the team has done thus far in the season, however.

(The ticket stub is from a game I attended, while in San Diego for the recent American Psychological Association convention.)