The Los Angeles Dodgers are the opponent San Diego Padres fans focus on, and for very good reason. Finishing ahead of Los Angeles would allow the Padres to skip the first round of the playoffs — that is,

San Francisco Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos was the subject of ridicule on Wednesday afternoon as he made a bizarre throw in the outfield.

Jackson Merrill slugged his ninth home run of the season in the eighth inning to put the finishing touches on the Giants (59-61) defeat. San Diego improved to 68-52 and pulled into a tie with the Dodgers for first place in the NL West.

Jose Iglesias hit a two-run homer in the second inning, Jackson Merrill connected in the eighth for insurance, and the San Diego Padres beat the struggling San Francisco Giants 5-1.

The San Francisco Giants will attempt to end one of the worst homestands in franchise history the same way they started it -- with a win -- when they seek to avoid a sweep by the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday afternoon.

It didn’t just summarize this three-game series, one where the Giants (59-62) were swept by the Padres and lost their 13th home game in their last 14 tries — the first time that’s happened since the team moved to San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO — As the season started to collapse on the last homestand, the Giants at least could lean on one fact. They had seven games left against a San Diego Padres team they were hoping to chase down.