SAN FRANCISCO -- The Padres spent so much of this 2021 season -- a season in which they unabashedly proclaimed their World Series aspirations -- entrenched in one of five playoff places in the National League.

On a Monday night in which the rival Giants secured one of those five spots for themselves, the Padres instead found themselves on the outside of that playoff picture looking in, with an ugly 9-1 loss at Oracle Park. Considering the way they've played lately -- and considering who they're playing next -- it’s fair to wonder whether that place in the 2021 playoff picture has vanished for good.

Mathematically, no. The Padres only trail the Reds by half a game in the NL Wild Card race, and they’re tied with the Cardinals. But unless they find a cure for what currently ails them, they surely won’t be playoff bound. Not with all 19 remaining games coming against teams with winning records -- including nine more against these Giants, who thoroughly dismantled the Padres on Monday night.

After a weekend sweep in Los Angeles, the Padres' trip to San Francisco offered no respite. The Giants knocked around right-hander Yu Darvish for eight runs, including five in the first inning, and the Padres offense offered little in the way of fight-back.

“The guys are busting it,” said Padres manager Jayce Tingler. “They’re laying everything they have out there. ... When you’re not able to touch home plate [lack of urgency] can be a narrative. But we’re bringing it every day. We’re battling, and we’re going to continue to battle until the very end.”

Adding injury to insult, the Padres placed right-hander Chris Paddack on the injured list an hour before first pitch with right elbow inflammation. They’re still unclear on the status of left-hander Blake Snell (left adductor tightness) and infielder Jake Cronenworth (fractured left ring finger).

Of course, even with a fully healthy roster, the last three weeks of this schedule would've been difficult to navigate. The Padres play nine more games against the Giants, three against the Cardinals, three against the Dodgers and three-plus against the Braves (including the resumption of a suspended game from July).

Meanwhile, on the same nine nights that the Padres are scheduled to play the first-place Giants, the Reds will be playing nine games against the last-place Pirates. The Cardinals' schedule is tougher but also features two series against the floundering Cubs.

Then again -- as the Padres reiterated often over the past month -- there’s a playoff spot to be won. Tied with St. Louis and Cincinnati in the loss column, they control their own destiny. In mid-September, that’s precisely where they want to be.

“Our goals from Spring Training are still there,” Tingler said prior to Monday’s game. “We want to get into the playoffs, and we want to win a World Series. It’s out in front of us. I do think we’re capable. We’ve got one more hot run in us.”

Maybe they do. But until then, the truth is, the Padres haven’t played like a playoff team for a month and a half. They’re 10 games below .500 since the Trade Deadline -- a turning point in the Padres’ season, considering their inability to land a starting pitcher.

“The frustration level for myself is very high,” Darvish said. “I would assume a lot of the other players, along with the staff members and coaches -- they’re carrying some frustration as well. But we have to turn the page. We still have to come in tomorrow, get our work in and play a game. We need to flip the page and move forward.”

Perhaps the most concerning aspect of the Padres' freefall is that their struggles are impossible to boil down. The attrition is team-wide. The rotation is struggling, having endured injury after injury. The bullpen is struggling, overtaxed by an in-flux rotation. The offense, meanwhile, is struggling somewhat inexplicably.

That’s perhaps the most maddening aspect of all. Until Cronenworth’s injury over the weekend, the Padres weren’t dealing with any absences on offense. Relatively speaking, they’re quite healthy. But entering play Monday night, they were hitting an abysmal .199/.233/.335 over the past calendar month.

On Monday, six Giants pitchers combined to limit San Diego to a run on seven hits. Aside from back-to-back doubles from Trent Grisham and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the third, the Padres never truly threatened.

When Giants right-hander Kervin Castro got Ha-Seong Kim looking to end the game, the Giants poured out of the third-base dugout. A celebration ensued. Soon enough, they all donned T-shirts that read, “Built For October.”

Built for October? For most of 2021, the Padres certainly thought they were. And yet, stunningly, they sit outside the playoff picture, less than three weeks left to flip the narrative and save their season.