Two teams coming off poor series at the plate will try to iron out their offensive woes at each other's expense over the next four games.

The San Diego Padres, needing wins to run down either the Los Angeles Dodgers or Chicago Cubs in an attempt to earn home-field advantage for the first round of the National League playoffs, will host the Colorado Rockies in the series opener on Thursday night.

San Diego (79-67) fell three games behind first-place Los Angeles in the NL West with a 2-1 loss to Cincinnati on Wednesday. The Padres lost two of three games to the Reds, who limited them to 15 hits in the series.

That was an explosive output compared to Colorado's experiences in Los Angeles. The Rockies managed only eight hits during a three-game sweep by the Dodgers that included a 9-0 loss

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