Padres rally in 9th, stunning Dodgers with 4-2 win

And, with that, the Padres reached the true halfway mark of their 2022 season, sitting 47-34 — an unmitigated success, considering the injuries they’ve dealt with, and the fact they’ve yet to play a game with superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. Still, the way their weekend was going, it looked like the NL West might be slipping out of reach. Instead, with the comeback Sunday, the Padres moved 3 1/2 games back of L.A. — very much within striking distance, with half of their season still to be played.

“If we want to win a World Series, if we want to go deep in the playoffs, this is a team that we have to keep up with, that we have to beat,” said left fielder Jurickson Profar. “The first three games didn’t look so good. To get the win today, it feels great — and it’s a great encouragement going forward.”

Boy, did they need it. Because the first 35 innings of this weekend’s series were ugly. Prior to their four-run ninth, the Padres had scored just four runs all series. Their defense and baserunning, meanwhile, were stunningly poor for a team that has been clean in both aspects for much of the season.

In the third inning Sunday, the infield let a routine popup drop on the first-base side of the mound — a ball that should’ve been Hosmer’s. Then, both Jorge Alfaro and Voit failed to run out deep fly balls that they thought would be home runs. Voit’s mistake came in the ninth inning, when he thought he’d hit a go-ahead homer but ended up with a game-tying double off the very top of the wall.

“I should’ve been at third,” Voit said. “That was my fault for not busting out of the box. But luckily we won the game. Hoz came up huge, and obviously Kim with the dagger.”

Indeed, there are lessons to be taken from a series like this one. And they’re easier to swallow on the heels of a victory.

“A team that good, you can’t afford to give them any free outs, any free 90 feet,” Hosmer said. “We definitely know there’s some things we’ve got to clean up from this series. But we’re happy with the way we fought, with the way we kept battling back and to end up with a win.”