The next 10 days are the most important of the Padres’ season.

Riding a seven-game losing streak, the Padres return to Petco Park to host Colorado for three games, the Los Angeles Dodgers for four games and San Francisco for three games in a lengthy homestand.

Because of their recent woes, the Padres’ lead over the Giants is down to three games. They are 7 1/2 up on the Rockies and nine on the Dodgers.

But all three of the pursuers, given the Padres’ current woes, can smell blood. The Padres’ season-high lead of 6 1/2-games has shrunk by more than half in just a week. And the Padres’ staples of pitching and defense are both struggling while the offense has scored just 16 runs during the seven-game losing streak.

The Colorado series opens with an intriguing…

Tracking the ball against the tough-to-pick-up backdrop of spacious Chase Field, Brandon Allen sprinted to the corner and leaped in the air, snaring Chase Headley's slicing fly ball just before careening off the chain-link fence. The first ball hit to him in his first big-league game as a left fielder, Allen made it look like he'd been there all along.

The San Diego Padres selected the contract of left-hander Cory Luebke from Triple-A Portland and designated former first-round draft pick Cesar Carrillo for assignment. San Diego also recalled right-hander Ryan Webb, selected catcher Chris Stewart's contract and reinstated outfielder Oscar Salazar from the disabled list on Wednesday.

Mark Prior’s last big league game was 4 years ago, but he’s been nearly unhittable in an independent league.

Padres right-hander Chris Young allowed one run and two hits in three innings of a rehab start for Triple-A Portland against Reno on Tuesday night. The 6-foot-10 Young struck out one, throwing 31 pitches, 24 for strikes. The only run came on a solo home run by Tony Abreu in the first inning, the second batter he faced.

2010 has blessed Major League Baseball with a memorable rookie class.

Fantasy owners in Dynasty and Keeper leagues were quite familiar with this cast of characters long before they arrived in the show.

In commemoration of their foresight, let’s take a gander at the top 10 pitching keepers for 2011.

Check out our Positional Rookie List too!

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Cole Hamels wouldn't mind another trip to his hometown this season. That, of course, would mean a Phillies-Padres playoff series. "It'd be special," Hamels said after shutting down the Padres on four singles in eight innings to lead Philadelphia to a 5-0 victory Sunday that completed a three-game sweep of the bumbling NL West leaders.

By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer

The forecast for the upcoming week brings relief to your infield.  Three of the must-start players for the upcoming week can be had on the cheap and play some of the most vital positions and hardest to come by.  Pitching help this week will come in the form of two new faces to baseball and will rely on  dominance against left-handed hitters and an ability to keep runners off the bags.

Start ‘Em

Neil Walker | Pittsburgh Pirates | 25.1% – Four of the six pitchers that Walker will be facing this week are right-handed.  Against righties, Walker’s hitting .303 with a .346 OBP and a .777 OPS.  Against both the Cubs and Nationals, Walker has gone eight for 25 this year.  His last seven games have yielded seven RBI and a .280 avg.

Erick Aybar | Los Angeles Angels | 78.1% – All of Aybar’s games this week come away from home, where he’s hitting .303 (78 points higher than at home) on the year.  His stats against both the Mariners and Athletics on the year are a combined .318 average with a .358 OBP. 37% of his RBIs on the year have come against the A’s or Mariners.  With an increased probability to get on base, Aybar is increasing his stolen base potential as well.

Chase Headley | San Diego Padres | 90.8% – Chase has the stars aligning for him in this week’s matchups.  First up are the Diamondbacks at Chase Field where Headley is hitting .301 for his career (33 points above his career average) and is hitting .356 against the current pitching staff.  Second, Chase will face the Rockies at home.  This year Chase has hit .314 with a.386 OBP against the Rockies.  He wont provide much power (his ISO is a horrible .125) but he will rake in some hits this week.

Sit ‘Em

Dexter Fowler | Colorado Rockies | 32.1% – Coming into this week Fowler has been heating up, hitting .305 in the last seven games.  Look for this trend to cool.  With the exception of a make-up game against the Phillies, all of his games will be coming on the road this week where he hits 96 points lower. 

He’ll be facing the Padres for three of the seven games this week which is more bad news for Fowler.  They put the “K” in “Keep Dexter Fowler on the bench.”  Through 43 at-bats this year against the Padres, Fowler has only five hits and has struck out 21 times (nearly 50% of his ABs against the Padres).

James Loney | Los Angeles Dodgers | 95.8% – Loney is facing the gauntlet of pitchers this week.  He faces both Halladay and Oswalt of the Phillies and Zito, Cain and Sanchez of the Giants.  Collectively throughout his career against all of the starting pitchers that he will face this week, Loney is hitting .260 in 104 at-bats (he is two for 26 lifetime against Zito).  Another disturbing fact for Loney: he’s hitting .197 during the second-half of the season.

Two-Start Pitchers To Use

Brian Duensing | Minnesota Twins | 39% – Duensing has been a dominating force against lefties this season.  He is taking the bat out of their hands, holding them to a .138 average.  This should help neutralize the threats he faces this week against the Tigers and Rangers.  The Ranger’s key player, Josh Hamilton, bats lefty while nearly half of Detroit’s lineup is left-handed.  Both games are coming at home at Target Field for Duensing, where he has 1.36 ERA this year.  Strengthening his case to start is Target Field’s weak HR-factor of .580 (worst in the majors).

Travis Wood | Cincinnati Reds | 23.3% – Travis Wood is facing two strong opponents this week in Milwaukee and St. Louis.  His stats show that he can likely overpower these teams, though.  His BAA for lefties is even stronger then Duensing’s previously mentioned .138—Wood’s is .109.  This neutralizes Fielder’s big bat. 

Right-handed bats aren’t fairing much better, hitting only .209 against Wood.  By keeping runners off the bases, Wood has been able to afford the occasional long-ball.  His WHIP is a stellar 0.98.

Two-Start Pitchers To Avoid

Phil Hughes | New York Yankees | 100% – Hughes has been more of himself in the second-half of this year.  He’s posted a 5.19 ERA since the all-star game.  Look for him to continue his bad second-half pace this week against Oakland and Toronto. 

Both games come at home in the most HR-happy place in baseball, Yankee Stadium.  Toronto is the number one team for homeruns as well.  Hughes has also produced bad numbers against Toronto in three previous starts this year.  He has 6.60 ERA through 15 innings, and has given up four homeruns.

Jair Jurrjens | Atlanta Braves | 77.1% – Jurrjens has been fairly decent lately, a trend that you can expect to meet a speed bump with this week.  Jurrjens has been Jekyll and Hyde this season in home and away starts.  At home his ERA is a phenomenal 1.81.  However, on the road, his ERA is 6.62.  Collectively Florida is hitting .347 against him in 72 at-bats.  Use caution when deploying Jurrjens this week.

Written exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com by James Bryce.  James is a Grad student at UCSD and is currently in his 13th year of fantasy sports. Follow James on Twitter @BoltLife4Me.

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Grab a Pabst Blue Ribbon, sit back and enjoy some good reads…

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Read more San Diego Padres news on BleacherReport.com

Infielder Everth Cabrera has been recalled by the San Diego Padres, just in time for his bobblehead day against the Philadelphia Phillies. Cabrera's return from Triple-A Portland comes after infielder Jerry Hairston, Jr. was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right elbow before Saturday's game.