SAN DIEGO -- For a week now, the Padres have alternated wins and losses. But, really, the fluctuation feels more pronounced than that.

They won decisively three times -- three victories that made you wonder if they might ultimately mark something of a turning point in the Padres’ season. In each case, the answer seemed to arrive the next day in the form of a resounding “no.”

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So it was on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park. Following a convincing win on Saturday night, the Padres fell behind early and were blown out by the Cubs, 7-1, as Marcus Stroman limited them to one unearned run over six innings. Padres starter Ryan Weathers, meanwhile, was hit hard in his worst outing of the season, allowing five runs over 1 2/3 innings.

“More than anything, it seems like we’re about to turn a corner, and then we don’t,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “So we have to keep fighting to turn that corner. … That’s the frustrating part, because we know we’re capable of getting on a run. We’re going to have to get on a run here at some point.”

A few thoughts on the latest setback:

1. What’s next for Weathers and the rotation?
For the most part, the Padres pitching staff has been excellent, keeping practically every game close amid the offense’s struggles. There haven’t been too many like this one.

“There’s just no excuses for today,” said Weathers, whose fastball was either out of the zone or eminently hittable on Sunday. “You’ve just got to be better.”

So what’s next for Weathers, who has alternated between the rotation, the bullpen and Triple-A this year? The Padres have an off-day before his next start. But they’re unlikely to use it to reshuffle their rotation, Melvin said. They’ve generally preferred to give their starters an extra day of rest where possible.

Meanwhile, Seth Lugo recently threw an extensive bullpen of about 60 pitches, including an up-and-down. He’s nearing a return but probably won’t be ready by Saturday, when Weathers would be scheduled to make his next start.

“Obviously, a lot of it depends on when Seth does come back,” Melvin said. “But [Weathers] has had a couple good games, a couple ones not so good. … At this point I don’t know what the options would be as far as a starter goes, so we’ll continue to look at it.”

2. Short-handed Padres
The Padres played Sunday without two ailing infielders, Rougned Odor and Xander Bogaerts. After the game Melvin noted that Odor had again made considerable progress. He might be available Monday for the series finale. At the very least, it’s now unlikely Odor would require an IL stint after he strained his groin Friday night.

Bogaerts is another question. He says his wrist began bothering him last month prior to the team’s series in Minnesota. Bogaerts entered that series with an .843 OPS. It has since dipped to .725. Lately, he has been grimacing after swings.

The wrist issue isn’t new for Bogaerts, who dealt with it in Boston, too. But he says it’s lingered longer than it has in the past. Still, he thinks he can get it right in time to avoid an IL stint. Maybe his case is helped by Odor’s speedy recovery.

If Odor is healthy, the Padres can afford to use a bench place on Bogaerts for a couple of days. That’s clearly his preference. The Padres are viewing his status as “day to day.”

“You wouldn’t want him to want to go on the IL,” Melvin said. “But we’ll see what the prudent thing is to do. I think tomorrow will probably dictate how we feel about him getting back.”

3. Strange play at second
After falling behind, the Padres didn’t mount much of an offensive threat. But they had something going in the third inning when Ha-Seong Kim bounced to short with two outs. Jake Cronenworth, who had gotten a massive lead off first base, looked like he might be able to reach second safely ahead of an attempted forceout.

Then Cronenworth ran squarely into second-base ump Ryan Wills, who, with his back turned to Cronenworth, adjusted his position at the last moment.

“I thought I had a really good chance of beating it,” Cronenworth said. “He just, instead of staying in position, came out of it and got in the baseline.”

It’s unclear whether Cronenworth would have been safe, and even if he had been, the Padres still trailed by six and wouldn’t have scored on the play. Then again…

“If I would’ve beaten that out and we had bases loaded there with two outs, you don’t know what happens,” Cronenworth said.

Just the way things have gone for the Padres lately.