Padres Distance Themselves From Dodgers With Sweep of Arizona

The Padres swept the Diamondbacks in their first post-All Star Break series of 2010, and got some help from the Cardinals, who swept the rival Dodgers. The Padres have now won four straight while LA has dropped their last four, widening the gap between the two teams to 5 1/2 games.

In fact, LA now sits in fourth place in the NL West. The Rockies and Giants, 4 and 4 1/2 back, respectively, are in second and third.

That’s great news for San Diego, who was slipping slightly in the early part of July. The Dodgers have the most raw talent in the division, so putting themselves in a hole like this certainly lessens LA’s chances of coming out on top of the Padres.

According to AccuScore, the Padres’ playoff chances increased by 19% with their sweep and the poor showings by the Dodgers and Rockies (Colorado was 1-2 in their series).

This certainly reaffirms the fact that the Padres will buy at the deadline, which GM Jed Hoyer has confirmed will be the team’s course.