SAN DIEGO — Less than four hours after Monday’s trade deadline passes, the San Diego Padres will begin a series sure to prompt snap judgments galore. They trail their upcoming hosts, the Arizona Diamondbacks, by two games in a topsy-turvy race to secure a wild-card berth. San Diego sits a game behind the Philadelphia Phillies, who occupy the National League’s final playoff spot and have swept the season series between the two clubs, giving them a critical tiebreaker. As much as any matchup this year, a four-game set in the desert could determine the 2026 Padres’ fate.This may wind up being similarly pivotal: Tuesday at one of the organization’s minor-league affiliates, Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove could begin long-awaited rehab assignments. It would be Pivetta’s first game in four months. It would mark Musgrove’s first official action in 22 months. No matter how much general manager A.J. Preller buys at the deadline, the remainder of this Padres season could hinge on a pair of veteran starters’ elbows.“A.J. wants us back out there. He’s not the type of GM that’s going to hold guys back,” Musgrove said after he and Pivetta each threw a bullpen session Saturday afternoon at Petco Park. “He’s always been one to push us and, like, get his products on the field and reward the guys that perform with (contract) extensions and with a speedy rehab. So, I know he’s about winning. We’re about winning. The training staff’s about winning.”Several hours later, the Padres (57-54) won for the seventh time in eight games despite a lack of rotation depth — and even as their most hated rival added to its embarrassment of starting pitching. Second baseman Jake Cronenworth’s walk-off single secured a 6-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants only seconds after news leaked that the Los Angeles Dodgers were acquiring Tarik Skubal, the best left-hander on the planet.Should we crown the Dodgers following the Skubal trade?Derek VanRiper and Eno SarrisSkubal, who won two Cy Young awards with the Detroit Tigers, will join the deepest collection of starting pitchers in recent memory. Meanwhile, the Padres will forge ahead with a temporary two-man rotation. Former Dodgers starter Walker Buehler, who comprises half of that rotation, surrendered three runs over 4 1/3 innings Saturday as his ERA rose to 5.18. Jeremiah Estrada, the third of four Padres relievers used, allowed the Giants to load the bases in the eighth before Mason Miller, the sport’s best closer, came on to attempt a five-out save.It was the clearest sign yet that Miller, who has spent the past month engulfed in trade speculation, almost certainly isn’t going anywhere. And, with a sturdy bullpen stretched thin, it was the latest evidence that the Padres desperately need to acquire at least one quality starter.