SAN DIEGO -- The Padres entered the most important week of their season looking backward at the Rockies and Giants in the National League West. The standings made one thing clear: The cleanest way for San Diego to end its 14-year playoff drought would be to outpace those two clubs and claim one of the division’s two automatic playoff spots.

By Wednesday night, the Padres had thoroughly dispatched one rival and were already looking toward the next.

With a 5-3 victory over the Rockies at Petco Park, the Friars completed an emphatic sweep of the Rockies, running the gap between the two clubs to a staggering seven games -- with only 15 to play.

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Realistically, only one team stands between the Padres and the end of their playoff drought. The Giants visit for a four-game series beginning Thursday.

“Any team that’s in the Wild Card race that you face is a team you want to put away,” said right-hander Zach Davies, who did his part with six innings of three-run ball on Wednesday.

The Padres twice found themselves facing a one-run deficit. Both times, they scored two runs in the bottom of the frame.

When Davies surrendered a solo home run to Trevor Story in the first inning, Mitch Moreland responded with a two-run blast, his first as a Padre after he’d started his tenure in a 2-for-20 slump.

“It’s kind of been a tough go for me here so far,” Moreland said. “But I’ve felt a little bit better the past couple days.”

In the sixth, the Padres again found themselves trailing by a run when Matt Kemp launched his third homer off Davies this season. Again, the Padres responded instantly. After a Moreland walk, Wil Myers tripled and scored a batter later on Jake Cronenworth’s RBI single.

Those two instantaneous comebacks came on the heels of a blowout victory Tuesday night in which Mike Clevinger surrendered three first-inning runs. Sure enough, in the bottom half, Myers slammed his team right back into the lead.

Asked to describe that mentality, Clevinger summed it up thusly:

“We’ve got a different group of guys,” Clevinger said. “It’s just a bunch of dogs waiting to eat.”

Moreland, another prize from last week’s Trade Deadline, didn’t have quite the metaphor. But he was similarly effusive in his praise of the Padres’ culture.

“These guys, they know how to win and they love to win,” Moreland said. “And that’s what it’s all about. It seems like nobody’s ever down, nobody’s ever out of it. It just seems like every guy steps up.”

On Wednesday, it was Moreland’s turn, and the Padres could use more of that, considering Eric Hosmer will miss considerable time with a fractured left index finger. Moreland should play a pivotal role as the Padres push for their first postseason since 2006.

“As the games start to wind down, the season starts to wind down, the importance of winning every game [grows],” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. “The only thing we can concentrate on is playing good baseball.”

Tingler paused. He wanted to make it clear exactly what he meant by “good baseball.” He pointed to a play in the top of the eighth inning that, in a day or two, will be forgotten to history.

Leading off the inning, Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon hit a chopper in front of the mound. Pitcher Drew Pomeranz fielded it and rushed his throw to first base. It could’ve sailed down the right field line.

But there was Cronenworth, the second baseman, diving to back up the throw. Blackmon stayed at first. The Rockies wouldn’t score.

“That, to us, is winning baseball,” Tingler reiterated.

The Padres dress up their brand of “winning baseball” with bells and whistles, including bat flips. After home runs this season, they’ve taken to dancing around the player who just went deep when he returns to the dugout.

Moreland got his first taste Wednesday (and by his own estimation didn’t grade very highly for his dance moves). In his 11-year career, Moreland has reached the World Series three times, and he has won it once. He’s been a part of seven postseason teams. He’s seen this kind of energy, and he knows what it means.

“To be honest, it’s not that rare,” Moreland said. “The good teams have that. The good teams have that swagger. They know what they’re good at, and they know they’re good. You look around this clubhouse, and that’s what this team’s about.”