Victories like this one have been few and far between

Perched on risers set on the grass in center field, the Dodgers lined up for their annual team picture Wednesday in the late-afternoon sunshine at Chavez Ravine.

Told to say “cheese” or “wild card” or whatever magic phrase could inspire them to smile, they obliged. Once the shutter clicked, their recent dour expressions returned, reflecting the reality of a season winding down toward an unsatisfactory conclusion.

The tension that clenched their jaw muscles and muted their voices before the game was lifted, at least temporarily, by their 6-1 victory over the Padres.

It was a gritty effort, fueled by power -- a two-run home run by James Loney in the fourth and a leadoff homer by Jeff Kent in the sixth -- and by a clutch, six-inning performance from Chad Billingsley, who stepped in when Derek Lowe didn’t recover from the bruised hand he sustained while playing catch Tuesday.

It was worth a few smiles, a few exhalations of relief.

“All these games are getting to that must-win stage,” said center fielder Juan Pierre, who had a single and a double in four at-bats and drove in the Dodgers’ second run.

“You’ve got to stay light, and not put so much pressure on it, but then again, you’ve got to realize if we don’t do well this week we definitely can start making vacation plans.

“And I don’t think any of us want to do that just yet.”

The road they face, though, is grim.

They still trail the Padres by 2 1/2 games for the National League wild-card berth, as do the Rockies and Phillies. That makes tonight’s series finale against San Diego their biggest game of the season -- at least until they open a three-game series against division-leading Arizona on Friday.

There’s no philosophy now for the Dodgers but win every day. Anything else is just noise.

“Yeah, that’s what it’s come to,” Pierre said. “In an ideal world we would like to be up 10 games by now and thinking about the playoffs but also you want a chance to make it, and that’s what we’ve got, a chance.

“Especially this week, with the teams we play. It’s in our court so to speak, as far as gaining ground.”

If it is in their court, it’s in the defensive end.

There are many reasons why the Dodgers are on the edge of contention instead of in control.

Too few games such as Wednesday’s, for one, a win that mixed solid pitching from their starter and middle relievers with timely hitting.

A pitching rotation that fell apart at the back end, with neither Mark Hendrickson nor Brett Tomko able to seize the many chances handed to them.

A lack of power and production from Nomar Garciaparra and Luis Gonzalez, two of the veterans who were supposed to hand off the collective torch to younger players.

Weak infield defense and 106 errors overall, among the league’s worst total. Shortstop Rafael Furcal has been hampered all season by the left ankle injury he sustained during spring training, and it has hurt him in the field and at the plate. Probably the Dodgers’ most valuable player last season, he has fallen from .300 and 37 steals last season to .271 with 18 steals this season.

Then there’s the lineup, constantly juggled by Manager Grady Little -- much to the unhappiness of some players -- but probably unavoidable given the mishmash of a team he has been handed, with veterans who can’t handle everyday duty and kids who are, in some cases, still growing into their roles.

If Little can be second-guessed for some curious decisions -- most recently letting pitcher Esteban Loaiza hit for himself in the second inning Tuesday with the bases loaded and the Dodgers trailing, 4-0 -- Little has kept a flawed team from completely falling apart and has wrung out of his players probably as much as any manager could.

Almost despite themselves, the Dodgers aren’t dead yet. For that, they can be thankful that the Padres and Diamondbacks have plenty of their own flaws.

“From the jump, just looking at the teams, we knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Pierre said.

“Arizona has surprised most people with the season they’re having and everybody’s waiting for them to cool off, but that hasn’t happened.”

The Dodgers have a chance to make it happen this weekend. But first, there’s the grim business of tonight’s series finale against the Padres. Pierre said Wednesday’s game was “as close to a must win as you can say,” and that the same will be true tonight.

“If we lose the series, it’s big,” he said. “You can’t lose a series to them at home, especially after losing there last week.”

If that were to happen, the picture would be bleak.

“It pretty much feels like a playoff atmosphere,” catcher Russell Martin said. “You can’t think about what’s ahead of you. You’ve got to think about what’s in front of you.”

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Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.