SAN DIEGO -- But what about the offense?

The past two days have served as a referendum of sorts on the Padres' pitching staff, following Larry Rothschild’s dismissal as pitching coach. He was replaced by bullpen coach Ben Fritz, as the Padres shook things up on their coaching staff amid their second-half struggles on the mound.

A day later, with Yu Darvish not quite ready to make his return from a lower back injury, the Padres were forced into yet another bullpen day for their highly anticipated series opener against the Dodgers. For the most part, that bullpen day went just fine. But there’s not much that a pitching staff can do for an offense that isn’t scoring.

The Padres lost, 5-2, on Tuesday night at Petco Park, a defeat illuminating the fact that their current troubles run a bit deeper than a few injuries in their starting rotation.

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The reality is this: The Padres’ pitching staff has faltered in the second half, but there are a number of very obvious reasons why that is true. Darvish and Chris Paddack are hurt. The bullpen is gassed. Ryan Weathers is either fatigued or still dealing with an ankle injury or enduring growing pains as a 21-year-old rookie. Possibly all three.

The offense’s struggles, meanwhile, are a bit more baffling. With Fernando Tatis Jr. back in the fold, the Padres’ lineup -- on paper one of the best in the league -- is healthy. But aside from Jurickson Profar’s consolation two-run home run in the eighth inning, that offense mustered very little again on Tuesday night.

It’s been that way for most of the month, really. Despite their relatively good health and the addition of Adam Frazier at the Trade Deadline, the Padres have posted a subpar 97 wRC+ in August. Lately, they’ve struggled at the very thing that made them so tough earlier this season -- battling in their at-bats and working opposing pitchers.

“As a group, we’re not swinging it like we’re capable of,” manager Jayce Tingler said. “I think other teams may recognize that, and I think they’re filling up the zone earlier on.”

That’s precisely the way Dodgers left-hander Julio Urías attacked the Padres’ offense on Tuesday night. He worked five scoreless innings, needing just 74 pitches to get there.

“He throws a lot of strikes,” Tingler said. “And he throws a lot of strike ones. … He mixed it up early on and had all the pitches going and that was the difference.”

The Padres, who remained a game back of Cincinnati in the National League Wild Card race, nearly grabbed an early lead when Manny Machado launched a deep drive to left field in the fourth. But Dodgers left fielder AJ Pollock ranged to the warning track, leapt at the wall, and somehow came down with the baseball, robbing a home run while navigating all sorts of traffic in the first row.

Truly, it’s been that kind of month for Padres hitters. Adding injury to insult, Machado appeared to hurt himself in the top of the seventh inning when he dove to his left for a sharp Chris Taylor one-hopper. He knocked the ball down, but came up ailing.

Machado was assessed by a team trainer, and he retreated into the dugout during the ensuing pitching change, only to reemerge just before the inning resumed. Tingler wouldn't go into the specifics of Machado’s apparent injury, only to say that he’s been dealing with “bruises, aches and pains.”

Taylor’s grounder loaded the bases. And after the Padres’ bullpen had combined to allow one run over six innings, the Dodgers would score twice in both the seventh and eighth, breaking the game open.

Profar homered in the eighth, then came to the plate again in the ninth and worked a brilliant 11-pitch walk off of Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen to bring the tying run to the plate. But Frazier -- who arrived in San Diego last month as the Major League hits leader -- struck out on three pitches to end it. Since being traded to the Padres, Frazier is hitting just .233.

“He’s just probably pressing a little bit,” Tingler said. “You really never see him swing and miss or have the punchouts. He’s one of the toughest guys in the league. Right now, he’s not feeling it.”

In this Padres offense right now, he’s not the only one.