SAN DIEGO -- Everything else about the Padres is new this season, or so it seems. Why shouldn't a new dynamic in their rivalry with Nemesis No. 1 be part of the deal?

That's the thought that began to creep into the Padres' minds about two hours into their series finale against San Francisco on Sunday night at Petco Park. Thanks to another virtuoso performance by a starting pitcher, only five outs separated the Padres from their first sweep of the big, bad Giants in six seasons.

As general manager Kevin Towers said before the game, "Maybe the worm has turned."

Maybe not.

The Giants haven't gained an overwhelming upper hand over the Padres and reached the playoffs three times in the past four years by mere happenstance. The Padres received an unwelcome reminder of that fact Sunday when San Francisco wiped out a three-run, eighth-inning deficit to claim a 6-3 win in front of 41,492 and salvage the final game of the first regular-season series at Petco.

How badly did the Padres want to bust out the brooms?

"Big time," said right-hander Jake Peavy, whose seven sterling innings of shutout ball were wasted by a bullpen collapse. "The fans wanted it. We went out there today wanting to announce our presence in the NL West. But give them credit. They haven't done what they've done the last few years by laying down and quitting."

The Padres fell to 22-50 against the Giants since the start of the 2000 season. They haven't swept a series from San Francisco since June 12-14, 1998, which is also the last time they enjoyed a winning season.

"We're happy we took two of three," right fielder Brian Giles said. "But it's a game where we had five outs to go, so we felt like we should have won."

Alas, the struggling Padres' bullpen let the Giants wriggle off the hook.

They batted around against four Padres relievers to score five runs and keep the Padres from becoming the fourth team in the last 10 years to open a new ballpark with three consecutive victories.

With one out, J.T. Snow walked off Scott Linebrink and moved to third on a double by Marquis Grissom. Left-hander Eddie Oropesa relieved Linebrink and delivered a free pass to Giants slugger Barry Bonds, who entered and exited the series one home run shy of tying godfather Willie Mays for third on the all-time list.

Padres manager Bruce Bochy then lifted Oropesa for righty Jay Witasick, whose first pitch was slapped by pinch-hitter Pedro Feliz into center field for a two-run single. Third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo then drove home Bonds and tied the score at 3-3 with a single to left-center field.

Antonio Osuna came on and promptly allowed a walk to Michael Tucker and a two-run single to Neifi Perez, turning a 3-0 lead into a 5-3 deficit. San Francisco added an insurance run in the ninth, aided by a throwing error by Padres third baseman Sean Burroughs.

"It was a struggle," Bochy said. "Aki (setup man Akinori Otsuka) was not available, so it was a setup by committee. Obviously, the committee didn't work. We need someone else to get hot out there.

"It was a tough one because Jake was outstanding. We just couldn't stop the bleeding."

Peavy was victimized by bad bullpen work for the second straight start to begin the season and earned another no-decision. Last Tuesday in Los Angeles, he surrendered just two runs in 5 1/3 innings and watched the Dodgers tie the game on a seventh-inning homer. Sunday night, he was even better, scattering six hits and striking out four in seven frames.

"I think the most disappointing thing is that the team has lost both games I've been on the mound," Peavy said. "It got away from us in the end. It would have been nice to sweep these guys, but that's baseball."

The Padres scored all of their runs in the second. Burroughs and Mark Loretta singled to lead off the inning before Giles hit a missile that caromed off the scoreboard on the right-field wall. Giles slid into third with a triple, then scored when second baseman Ray Durham's relay throw trickled away from Alfonzo.

"That's probably a home run in a lot of other parks, but here it's a triple," Giles said.

Similarly, the Padres came up just short of making a serious statement before a national TV audience on ESPN.

"They're trying to put themselves on the map to be one ofthe teams in the West, and they're doing a pretty good job of it," said former Padres pitcher Brett Tomko, who allowed three runs in six innings for the Giants. "To get out of here with a win and get back home is important. This is where the West could be won."