LOS ANGELES -- The two-game series at Dodger Stadium was a great synopsis for the way the season has gone for the D-backs -- tantalizingly close to success, but just short of accomplishing it.

Twice the D-backs carried a 4-3 lead into the ninth only to watch both slip away. On Tuesday, it was five straight walks, while Wednesday’s dagger was a 10th-inning homer by Cody Bellinger that gave the Dodgers a 5-4 win.

• Box score

The D-backs have spent most of the season ping-ponging around the .500 mark, but following this 2-4 road trip, which also included a four-game split with the last-place Giants, time is running out for the front office to decide what to do about the upcoming July 31 Trade Deadline.

“It’s a pretty resilient group,” D-backs general manager Mike Hazen said recently. “I’ve said this before and I’ll continue to say it: At some point, we need to create some clear direction for us in order for us to do what we need to do [at the Deadline]. I think, depending on whether you’re behind, how far behind, who you’re behind, we’re going to have to take all that into consideration.”

The D-backs are 16 games behind the Dodgers, who are all but certain to capture yet another National League West title.

As for the NL Wild Card chase, the D-backs (43-45) are just 2 1/2 games back.

But as Hazen also noted, it’s not just how far they’re behind, but how many teams they’re behind. Right now, the Phillies are in the lead for the No. 1 Wild Card spot, with the Nationals and Cubs tied for the second spot.

The Rockies are a half-game back, the Cardinals are 1 1/2 games back, the Pirates are two back and the D-backs tied with the Padres.

So, while 2 1/2 games is a manageable deficit, in order for the D-backs to leapfrog three-plus teams, they need to put together a sustained hot streak, something they haven’t really been able to do.

While the D-backs continue to define themselves, Hazen and his staff work the phones to get a handle on what the other teams are looking to do as the Trade Deadline approaches.

“I think we’re going to have to make some difficult decisions in any direction we go,” Hazen said. “We’re preparing for that. Part of doing this is being patient enough to kind of sit and watch how the team performs and evaluating it. It’s about trying not to be overly reactive to the results, but at the same time we’re at the point in time in the season where the results certainly take on some enhanced significance.”

That’s why the upcoming stretch of games is so important for the D-backs.

They have three games at home against the Rockies before the All-Star break, and then they open the second half with three games in St. Louis, both teams ahead of them in the Wild Card race.

Not long after that, the D-backs host the Brewers, who are trying to hold off the Cubs in the NL Central.

“How we do is going to dictate what our decision is going to be,” Hazen said.

The D-backs have a number of players who will enter their final year of arbitration this offseason, like outfielder David Peralta, shortstop Nick Ahmed, left-hander Robbie Ray, third baseman Jake Lamb and lefty reliever Andrew Chafin.

Hazen has given this group of players every chance to succeed.

Instead of going into a full rebuild mode after losing Patrick Corbin and A.J. Pollock to free agency, Hazen elected to try to thread the needle by dealing one year of control over Paul Goldschmidt for two Major League-ready pieces in Luke Weaver and Carson Kelly.

It’s a model he could look at again at the Trade Deadline or certainly this offseason -- flip a player a year away from free agency to a contender in exchange for a Major League-ready piece or two with multiple years of control left.

“I think one way or another we’ll probably be doing something at the Deadline,” Hazen said. “I wouldn’t foresee us standing pat and just doing nothing. I don’t think that strategy is necessarily going to benefit us down the line.”