Who’s Team in Last Place?

Ten days ago, the Dodgers consoled themselves after another loss by saying they were only three games behind San Francisco in the National League West and leading the wild-card race. Five days ago, the Dodgers found solace after another loss in the fact they were only 2 1/2 games out in the wild-card standings.

Tuesday afternoon, Manager Jim Tracy found this ray of sunshine through a haze of horrid at-bats: Despite ranking last in the NL in batting, runs, home runs, slugging and on-base percentage, the Dodgers actually have a better record than the St. Louis Cardinals, who lead the NL in batting, runs, slugging and on-base percentage and rank second in home runs.

But while the Dodgers continue to cling to this false sense of security, their season is quickly slipping away from them.

The Dodgers lost for the 13th time in 15 games Tuesday night, dropping an 8-5 decision to the San Diego Padres before 24,843 in Qualcomm Stadium, their fifth loss to the last-place Padres in eight days.

They scored as many runs Tuesday as they had in the previous four games combined and loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth off closer Rod Beck, only to have their top hitter, Paul Lo Duca, ground out to end the game, as the Dodgers fell 8 1/2 games behind the Giants and 3 1/2 games behind Arizona in the wild card.

And there appears to be little reason for hope on the horizon.

Cleanup batter and first baseman Fred McGriff could be sidelined for up to a month because of a groin tear. Left fielder and No. 5 batter Brian Jordan is expected to undergo season-ending knee surgery. Leadoff batter Dave Roberts will be out for at least another week because of a hamstring strain.

Barring a trade for a proven run-producer or a sudden surge from Shawn Green and Adrian Beltre, the Dodgers will pin their playoff hopes on the likes of Wilkin Ruan, Jolbert Cabrera, Mike Kinkade, David Ross, Chad Hermansen and Larry Barnes.

“There are right ways to bring young players to the major leagues, and it’s not to heap too much expectations on them too quickly,” Tracy said. “Due to our situation, we have to expose guys in certain instances where otherwise we would not.

“When you take a guy who is a solid role player and ask him to become a five- to seven-day-a-week player, I think you’re crossing the line. To expect more is unfair to the player. But that’s the fence you run into when you have injuries to key people.”

The Dodgers, though, aren’t the only team to hit such a wall. The Diamondbacks lost pitchers Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling and infielders Craig Counsell, Junior Spivey and Tony Womack, and they’ve cleared the hurdle.

“Look at Arizona -- they’re getting the job done, and they’ve had more injuries than anyone,” Green said. “There’s no excuses. We need to get it done. That’s why it’s an organization, not just one team. You have to use all your resources. We haven’t been playing up to our capabilities. It’s hard to evaluate what you need if you’re not playing well.”

Green had a rough night despite hitting his 10th home run of the season in the sixth, a solo shot. With a chance to give the Dodgers a lead in the seventh, Green grounded to second with two on and the Dodgers trailing, 6-4.

Heavily criticized for not diving for a bloop hit that broke up Odalis Perez’s no-hit bid in the eighth inning Saturday, Green left his feet twice in pursuit of fly balls to right field Tuesday night, but both times the ball squirted out of his glove, with the Padres scoring three runs on the plays. Green also made a throwing error in the third inning that contributed to the Padres’ two-run rally.

“It was just a bad night all around,” Green said. “We have to play better in all areas.”

For the second consecutive night, a Dodger starter failed to make it out of the fifth inning, as left-hander Wilson Alvarez, subbing for the injured Kevin Brown, was rocked for six runs and eight hits in four innings.

Padre second baseman Mark Loretta had four hits, three runs and two runs batted in, and third baseman Sean Burroughs added two hits and three RBIs.