PHOENIX -- The first inning for the D-backs on Friday night at Chase Field seemed promising. They worked a pair of walks, got fortunate with a cue shot down the first-base line and grabbed an early lead.

Sure, they could only get one run out of it and a pair of runners were thrown out at home plate, but it felt hopeful. And hope for the D-backs has been hard to come by during their recent struggles.

¡°I was glad with how we prepared to come out in the first inning,¡± D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. ¡°I thought we made a statement with some really good takes, built the inning via the walk.¡±

Then, before they knew it, the Padres scored two runs in the second and four in the third and once again the D-backs were on their way to defeat, this one by a 10-5 margin.

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The loss was the ninth straight for the reeling D-backs and they have now lost 25 of their last 32 games, falling from 16 games above .500 to two games below.

It was just 32 games ago that the D-backs were in first place in the NL West. Now, they are three games back of a Wild Card berth and the Padres are breathing down their necks, just one game behind them.

It was not the way they wanted to start off a stretch in which seven of 10 games are against San Diego, but it was just what the Padres needed.

¡°Every game is important,¡± Padres manager Bob Melvin said. ¡°We have seven games against these guys here in the next 10. So we're chasing some teams, they're one of them. We have to beat them to catch them. So [it¡¯s] a good start.¡±

The D-backs made a game of it, down 7-1 they scored a run in the sixth and then got a three-run homer from Tommy Pham in the eighth to pull within 7-5.

But setup man Scott McGough couldn¡¯t hold things there. He allowed three runs in the ninth to put the Padres in control once again.

¡°It was too big of a hole early on that we had dug ourselves,¡± Lovullo said. ¡°It was just too much for us to overcome.¡±

The five runs scored by the D-backs was their biggest offensive output since they scored seven runs on July 26 against the Cardinals, but they still are not having the type of at-bats their manager would like to see.

¡°Overall we just didn't we didn't play our game or have the bats that we needed to,¡± Lovullo said. ¡°As far as the bats, I just look for us to be a little bit more dynamic through the course of the at-bat. Slug the pitch you¡¯re looking for. If it¡¯s not there, take it, have a good two-strike approach and an all-field approach.

¡°I think when you create that dynamic aspect of your approach, you become unpredictable as a hitter and pitchers start to make mistakes. I think we¡¯re slowly coming out of it but we're looking fairly similar day after day after day from an offensive standpoint, so we¡¯ve got to make some adjustments.¡±

D-backs starter Ryne Nelson, who allowed six runs on seven hits over three innings, probably summed things up best.

¡°The game is just not being very kind to us right now,¡± Nelson said.