The unfamiliar sounds of mission bells filled the air of Petco Park Sunday Afternoon, followed by One Republic’s “Good Life” playing over the P.A. system, signaling a Padres victory. The win was San Diego’s first since August 23^rd, before the team dropped nine straight until today’s day game in San Diego.

The season high nine-game skid was eerily similar to last year’s 10-game meltdown that ultimately cost the Padres the NL West division title to the eventual Word Series champion, the San Francisco Giants. The Padres will begin a three-game series against thos same Giants on Labor Day with a 1:05 game on Monday.

Below is the recap of the series won by Colorado over the last weekend.

September 2^nd, 2011 Rockies 3, Padres 0

WP Kevin Millwood (2-1) 7IP 7H 0R 0ER 0BB 8K 0HR

LP Aaron Harang (12-5) 7IP 5H 3R 4ER 4BB 7K 0HR

S Rafael Bentancourt (5) 1IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 2K 0HR

Aaron Harang pitched well, allowing three runs on five hits but got zero runs as he failed to collect his thirteenth win in two tries, losing to the Rockies 3-0 on Friday.

The Padres were shutout for the major-league leading 18^th time, also extending their season high losing streak to eight.

Dexter Fowler led off the fourth inning with a triple to left field. Jonathon Herrera then singled to center and took second when Will Venable failed to hit the cutoff man. Two batters later with Herrara on third, Troy Tulowitzki grounded out to Jason Bartlett to put the Rockies up a pair.

Herrara also singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch with one out in the sixth. Tulowitzki would knock him in again, this time with a line drive to left field to give Colorado a 3-0 lead.

Rafael Bentancourt earned his fifth save of the season, striking out two without allowing a baserunner, preserving the shutout.

September 3^rd, 2011 Rockies 5, Padres 4

WP Alex White (2-1) 5IP 5H 4R 4ER 3BB 6K 1HR

LP Cory Luebke (5-8) 4.1IP 8H 5R 5ER 1BB 5K 0HR

S Rafael Bentancourt (6) 1IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1K 0HR

Will Venable and Jesus Guzman each had two hits apiece, knocking in three runs but the Padres fell short on Saturday night, losing 5-4 to the Rockies. The loss extended the Padres losing streak to nine, almost coinciding to the game with their 10-game free-fall that coat them the division title in 2010.

Colorado jumped on the board first when Carlos Gonzalez’s RBI single scored Dexter Fowler from second after he led the game off with his 27^th double of the year.

Will Venable tied it back up when he launched the ball 398 feet into the right field stands with his sixth homer of the year.

After a Jason Bartlett groundout, Guzman then singled and advanced to second on a walk by Kyle Blanks. Nick Hundley then would knock Jesus in with a single to right, giving the Padres a 2-1 lead.

The Rockies came back in the fourth when Troy Tulowitzki doubled (36) on a grounder of the glove of a diving second baseman Orlando Hudson. Todd Helton then singled up the middle just past Hudson to tie the game. Kevin Kouzmanoff then singled before Ryan Spillbroughs doubled (8), scoring Helton from second and advancing Kouzmanoff to third. Chris Ianetta then hit a sacrifice fly, putting the Rockies ahead, 4-2.

Dexter Fowler added the Rockies fifth run after he singled and then stole second base before Tulowitzki knocked him a RBI single, totaling him at 97 runs batted in this season.

Aaron Cunningham drew a pinch-hit walk and then advanced to third on Will Venable’s double (13) to right field.

Both men would score on Guzman’s double down the right field line, cutting the Rockies’ lead to one.

But the Padres never were able to score again, putting up goose eggs in the last four frames, giving starting pitcher Alex White his first victory since being traded for Ubaldo Jiminez in July.

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August 31^st, 2011 Padres 7, Rockies 2

WP Mat Latos (7-13) 7IP 5H 2R 2ER 1BB 8K 0HR

LP Aaron Cook (3-9) 4IP 4H 3R 3ER 4BB 2K 0HR

The Padres held a one-run advantage for eight innings thanks to Mat Latos and Jeremy Hermida, before Will Venable blew it open in the ninth with a three-run triple, leading the Padres to a 7-2 victory on Sunday. Latos pitched brilliantly for seven innings, striking out eight Colorado hitters while only surrendering two runs, both in the fourth inning.

Jeremy Hermida collected his first hit as a Padre, a two-out RBI single in the first, scoring Orlando Hudson.

Hudson got plunked in the back on a full count, in the third before advancing to third on Jesus Guzman’s two-out double (18). Both runners would score on Hermida’s grounder up the middle to give the Padres a 3-0 lead, after three innings.

Dexter Fowler led off the fourth with a triple and then scored on Mark Ellis’s groundout to put the Rockies on the scoreboard.

Latos then struck out Carlos Gonzalez looking on a low and away fastball for the second. He threw the same pitch to the next batter, Troy Tulowitzki, with a full count. But home plate umpire John Hirschbeck called the pitch low for ball four. Latos then gave up back-to-back singles to Jason Giambi and Seth Smith, scoring Tulowitzki and cutting the lead to one. After a coaching visit from Darren Ballsley, Latos got Kevin Kouzmanoff to fly out to right field to end the inning.

Chad Qualls got out of trouble in the eighth despite a leadoff single by Fowler.Fowler got all the way to third on a sac bunt and groundout before Qualls got Tulowitzki to ground out to Jason Bartlett to end the inning with the Padres still up 3-2.

Guzman led off the eighth with an opposite-field single for his third hit of the game. Cameron Maybin came in as a pinch runner, his first action since August 26^th in Arizona. Maybin then stole second and advanced to third on passed ball on Hermida’s swinging third strike.

After pich-hitter Kyle Blanks struck out for the second out, Jim Tracy chose to walk Andy Parrino to face pinch-hitter Nick Hundley. Matt Lindstrom then hit Hundley, loading the bases for Alberto Gonzalez. Gonzalez hit a slow hopping grounder to second that was misplayed by Mark Ellis, allowing everyone to reach base safely, including Maybin to give the Padres a much needed insurance run for closer Heath Bell, who was warming up in the bullpen.

But Will Venable gave Bell the day of when he cleared the base with a triple to the gap in right-center over the head of Carlos Gonzalez, blowing the game wide open.

Joe Thatcher came in and pitched a perfect ninth, snapping the nine game losing streak and giving the Padres the win.