Hoping to salvage a road trip that would determine whether the team would be buyers or sellers, The Padres left little doubt what direction Jed Hoyer would take as they were swept back into last place by the Dodgers.

The Padres offense was only able to produce one run the whole series, a solo homer by de-facto starting catcher Rob Johnson in the third inning of game three.

With the All-Star break beginning Monday, the Padres will resume play on Thursday with another four-game home stand against the hated Giants. Below is a game by game recap of the series sweep from their southern Californian rival, The Los Angeles Dodgers.

July 8^th, 2011 Dodgers 1, Padres 0

WP Mat Latos (5-10) 7.1IP 5H 1R 1ER 2BB 6K 0HR

LP Chad Billingsley (8-7) 8IP 4H 0R 0ER 5BB 4K 0HR

S Javy Guerra (3) 1IP 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 2K 0HR

Javy Guerra got himself in a heap of trouble, loading the bases with no outs after taking over for Chad Billingsley who left with a 1-0 after pitching eight shutout innings.

Cameron Maybin doubled to lead off the ninth before Guerra hit both Anthony Rizzo and Rob Johnson to put a Padre at every bag. But Guerra buckled down and struck out Kyle Phillips and Will Venable consecutively before Jason Bartlett hit a sharp line drive to center that was caught by Matt Kemp to end the game.

Mat Latos pitched as well as he had all year, going seven shutout innings allowing only two hits. But Mat gave up a leadoff single to A.J. Ellis to start the eighth. After advancing to second on a sac bunt, Ellis would score after consecutive ground ball singles by Tony Gwynn Jr. and Rafael Furcal, thus giving the Dodgers the lead and ending Latos’s night.

The Padres also left runners in scoring position in the first, fourth, fifth, and eighth innings, totaling eleven runners left on base for the game.

July 9^th, 2011 Dodgers 1, Padres 0

WP Blake Hawksworth (2-2) 1IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1K 0HR

LP Luke Gregerson (2-2) 0.2IP 2H 1R 1ER 0BB 6K 0HR

The Padres had two out in the bottom of the ninth, having not thrown a no-hitter in their 42 seasons in the Major Leagues. However the Padres having only one hit themselves, the Padres hadn’t scored, forcing them to need at least four more outs and a run of their own to achieve team history.

Neither would happen though, as Juan Uribe would dive a high slider by Luke Gregerson over the head of left fielder Chris Denorfia to break up San Diego’s no-hit bid. Dioner Navarro then hit his first pitch to centerfield, driving home Uribe to give the Dodgers’ staff a one-hit shutout over the hapless Padres offense.

Cameron Maybin singled in the fifth after a Denorfia walk to put a runner in scoring position with one out. Rob Johnson hit a short grounder to third to advance both runners witht Aaron Harang coming to bat. But Black let his pitcher hit, striking out to end the inning.

The Padres also loaded the bases the next inning before Chris Denorfia’s groundout ended that threat as well.

The loss was the Padres fourth consecutive loss in a one-run game, dropping them in a tie with Los Angeles for last place in the NL West.

July 10^th, 2011 Dodgers 4, Padres 1

WP Ted Lilly (6-9) 5IP 4H 1R 1ER 2BB 7K 1HR

LP Tim Stauffer (5-6) 6IP 3H 3R 2ER 5BB 1K 1HR

S Javy Guerra (4) 1IP 1H 0R 0ER 1BB 1K 0HR

Looking to avoid the sweep the Padres did a lot of the little things to start the game.

Tim Stauffer got out of a jam in the first of a scoreless ballgame with one out and a runner on third. Andre Eithier hit a comebacker right to Stauffer who looked back Tony Gwynn Jr. at third before throwing out Eithier at first for the second out. Still not out of the woods yet with Matt Kemp at the plate, Stauffer threw a wild pitch off the backstop causing Gwynn to break home from third. Catcher Rob Johnson slid to the ball and immediately fired a strike to Stauffer covering the plate who tagged Gwynn at home for the third out.

The Padres then took their first lead of the series in the top of the third when Rob Johnson deposited a high fastball into the left field stands for a 1-0 advantage.

The lead, however, was short lived after Tim Stauffer walked the bases loaded to start the bottom of the third. Matt Kemp then hit a hard grounder down the third baseline snagged by Chase Headley. Headley then threw the ball wide towards home plate, allowing two runs to score on the error. After Kemp stole second, James Loney hit a grounder to Anthony Rizzo who fired the ball home to get Andre Ethier at the plate for the second out. Juan Uribe then grounded into a 6-4-3 doubl-play to end the inning with minimal damage.

The Dodgers added another when Andre Ethier hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth.

Eithier would then hit another solo shot in the eighth to put the Dodgers up three.

Javy Guerra would come into the ninth and have a tough time again. He gave up a single to Orlando Hudson and A walk to Rizzo before getting Rob Johnson to pop up for the first out. Pinch-hitter Will Venable then took a fastball on the lower outside corner for strike three with a full count. Denorfia then popped up to end the game.