By Morris Phillips

40-year old Tim Hudson had a lot on his plate Monday night.

In his return from the disabled list after nearly a month of rehab and inactivity, the veteran pitcher was asked to subdue the suddenly-hot Padres in their ballpark and do so with the limited number of bullets in his arm due to all the time off.

Throw in the difficulties the entire Giants team has had in the venue—losing 13 of their last 18 games at Petco Park—and the stingy reputation of Hudson’s pitching counterpart Ian Kennedy, the veteran pitcher knew he needed to be effective and efficient from the start.

But Hudson appeared shaky from the start, escaping any damage in the first inning but throwing 28 pitches in the process as his pitch command was an issue from the beginning.  Not surprisingly, Hudson didn’t last long—pitching four innings allowing three runs—in the Giants 4-2 loss.

The Dodgers also fell, 7-5 in Atlanta, so the Giants remain 3 ½ games behind the division leaders in the NL West, and one game behind the Chicago Cubs in the race for the second wild-card spot the Giants captured last season.

The loss ended the Giants’ six-game win streak and increased the Padres’ streak to five straight wins, a season best run for them.  With San Diego and slugger Matt Kemp heating up, the Giants have to now gear up for the next two days against their closest pursuer in the still wide-open NL West.

Kemp homered over the center field fence off Hudson in the third inning to give the Padres a 2-1 lead in the third.  The Padres’ high-profile acquisition in the off-season struggled in May and June as his team faltered, prompting the firing of manager Bud Black.  But now, the slugger is heating up as Kemp has homered four times in the team’s last seven games, after going deep only six times in the team’s first 86 games.

“That’s probably one of my better swings of this year,” Kemp said.  “It’s a tough place to hit a home run, right center.”

Hudson loaded the bases in the fifth without retiring a batter, and manager Bruce Bochy opted for Yusmeiro Petit, who escaped the damage only allowing an RBI sacrifice fly that gave San Diego a 3-2 lead.

But with Kennedy dealing, and the Padres’ bullpen in support, the Giants were stymied the rest of the way with setup man Joaquin Benoit and closer Craig Kimbrell shutting the door in the eighth and ninth innings.

Gregor Blanco homered in the third inning to give the Giants their only lead.  It was Blanco’s third home run of the season.

On Monday, the Giants announced that Tim Lincecum has a degenerative hip issue that will continue to leave him unavailable to the club for the forseeable future.  Also, as Hudson was activated, long-time reliever Jean Machi was designated for assignment.

As much as Hudson remains a hero in San Francisco for his contributions to the team’s 2014 World Championship run, he still figures to be scrutinized as closely in the coming weeks as he has at any part of the career.  Having just turned 40 during his period of inactivity, the veteran knows that his 5-8 record and ERA near five won’t cut it for a team with post-season hopes.  The trade deadline will determine how much the team values Hudson going forward.

Bochy refused to speculate on Hudson’s fate after the game when asked by local reporters.

On Tuesday, the Giants turn to rookie Chris Heston in a matchup with the Padres’ Odrisamer Despaigne at 7:05pm.  Despaigne has pitched well against the Giants but has gone seven starts without a victory dating back to May 31.