SAN DIEGO -- For four months, the Padres provided their share of memorable moments at Petco Park in 2019. Fernando Tatis Jr. dazzled at shortstop. Chris Paddack became the Sheriff on the mound. Manny Machado anchored third base with his trademark blend of poise and flair.

But when they wrapped up their home slate against the Dodgers with a 1-0 defeat on Thursday afternoon, it felt like ages since that exciting, young, lively version of this team had taken the field.

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At the All-Star break, the Padres considered themselves contenders. Now, they’ll now enter their final series of the season in Arizona at 70-89, needing a sweep to avoid their fourth consecutive 90-loss season. They fell to 25-44 in the second half on Thursday afternoon.

In some regards, those late-season struggles could have been predicted. San Diego is playing without Tatis and Paddack, and a handful of its pitchers had their innings monitored this season.

But the most troubling part is the way the club responded to those adverse situations.

“We were put in a tough situation all year with some of our pitchers being limited, and our bullpen took a lot of stress,” Machado said. “Offensively, we didn't hit. And we just collapsed at the end as a group here.

“These are things that we've got to learn from and take some notes from what happened the last couple months. Maybe come next year, we know what to expect and know what to do and can prepare ourselves to not let ourselves fall, but hit that gas pedal and move forward.”

That’s the optimistic view. The Padres own one of the sport’s youngest rosters, and all of their most important pieces remain under team control for a long time. If 2019 was a learning experience to help prepare for a playoff push in ‘20, it might have been worthwhile.

But rest assured: The Padres’ front office won’t view the performance down the stretch merely as a learning experience. It’s more a barometer for evaluating what went wrong. San Diego has already parted ways with manager Andy Green, and a handful of players are likely to follow this winter.

“I look in the mirror and know that I've got to get the team better,” Padres general manager A.J. Preller said over the weekend. “For the players, we're looking for guys to be accountable.”

On Thursday afternoon, clad in their home blue and white, the Padres took the field at Petco Park for the final time in 2019. Joey Lucchesi pitched six innings of three-hit ball, but he was outdone by Clayton Kershaw as San Diego's offense fell flat once again.

In one way, at least, it marked the end of an era. Those blue and white uniforms might never reappear at Petco Park. Perhaps they might show up as throwbacks one day -- though Padres fans have little reason to call for nostalgia from the past decade.

Right now, the organization is preparing in earnest for its transition to brown and gold. New uniforms are set to be unveiled in early November. Suffice it to say, that isn’t the only change awaiting the on-field product at Petco Park this winter.

The Padres will almost certainly address their starting rotation this offseason. They have questions to answer in the outfield, at catcher and at second base, as well.

But they clearly also need better production than what they’ve gotten from their big bats. They’ve heavily invested in Machado, Eric Hosmer and Hunter Renfroe in the middle of their order -- Machado and Hosmer with dollars, and Renfroe with a trade that sent their other corner-outfield slugger, Franmil Reyes, to Cleveland.

All three started the season strong, and all three floundered in the second half (stats entering play Thursday):

Machado: .232/.322/.398**
Hosmer:** .244/.286/.399**
Renfroe:** .164/.267/.309

With limited production from its 3-4-5 hitters, San Diego, unsurprisingly, faded from contention.

“Numbers are numbers,” Machado said. “At the end of the day, it's always about winning ballgames. We didn't do that as a collective group.”

Following Thursday’s home finale, the Padres packed their lockers and headed for Arizona. Among them was Tatis, who has missed the past month and a half because of a lower back injury.

As he’s done all season, San Diego's rookie phenom offered some hope for a brighter future.

“We didn’t finish like we want to finish, but it’s not over,” Tatis said. “There are going to be way better years to come.”