PHOENIX - The San Diego Padres entered Thursday's four-game series finale trailing the Arizona Diamondbacks, desperately needing a win to stay afloat.
It goes without saying that with 46 games left on the schedule, every game and every win matters, especially when those slim margins could be decided within your division and a season series win could ultimately become the difference to playing baseball in October.
"Uh, yeah, probably," Padres manager Craig Stammen said when asked if he thought tonight's game could have added consequence. "I mean, right now, the space that we're in, we're two games behind these guys. So the best way to get closer is to beat them. So I think that's the number one priority today."
The Padres succeeded this time around at Chase Field, pulling off a 5-1 victory and splitting the series, while trailing the Diamondbacks by only one game for the last NL Wild Card spot.
"It was huge," Fernando Tatis Jr. said. "Going down (three), it was not going to be that pretty. So definitely way better to keep it one game back. And now we're going to face some really good teams, and we better hope we rise to the occasion, play some really good baseball."
These two ball clubs have already met three times this season, and the season series now sits deadlocked at 5-5. Their final meeting is scheduled for September 25-27 during the last weekend of the regular season.
The issue with the Padres during their 10-4 loss on Wednesday was that they had no idea what to expect from 23-year-old left-hander Mitch Bratt, who tossed seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts. There wasn't a single member on the team that had seen Bratt on the mound.
It was a similar story tonight with left-hander Kohl Drake, however, the Padres learned from the previous mistakes and were prepared on this occasion.
San Diego's offense started their attack on Drake very early on with a double by Fernando Tatis Jr. and a successful sac-bunt attempt by Luis Rengifo. Manny Machado would ground into a 6-4-3 double play, which allowed Tatis Jr. to score to put the game's first run on the board.
Drake would load the bases with no outs in the third after plunking Jake Cronenworth on the tricep, walking Tatis Jr. and giving up a second bunt single to Rengifo. Leading up, Machado would ground out again for his second RBI, and a batter later, Ty France made it 3-0 following a sac-fly to right field.
After retiring the first pair of batters during the third, Walker Buehler had to get himself out of a jam during the bottom half of the third. Arizona rallied with a ground ball double by Corbin Carroll, an RBI single by Gabriel Moreno to make it 3-1 and singles by Ketel Marte and Lars Nootbaar.
Despite the one run surrendered, Buehler managed to avoid the worst by forcing Nolan Arenado to fly out to center field to end the frame.
San Diego had two runners in scoring position in the following inning after a Xander Bogaerts single and a double by Cronenworth. The Diamondbacks turned to Jonathan Loáisiga in the bullpen to record the final out against Tatis Jr.
An inning and a half later, Jackson Merrill and Bogaerts reached on base with a single and a walk against reliever Philip Abner. Freddy Fermin batted in the lead runner on a sharp line drive single to center to extend the score to 4-1.
Machado scored the Padres their fifth run of the game in the seventh after drawing a walk with one out. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, transitioned to third after France's fly out and was brought across after a ground ball single by Merrill.
Buehler finished his outing after the fourth inning and tossed a total of 76 pitches (47 counted as strikes). He finished by allowing six hits, one earned run, a walk and three strikeouts.
The 32-year-old was replaced by right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez (3-2, 2.29 ERA), who threw two shutout innings and was credited with the win. Right-hander Jeremiah Estrada took the mound in the seventh and posted a scoreless frame.
Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller both made their first appearances in the series. The dominant pair allowed a hit each and did not surrender a run.
The significant impact from the bullpen proved to be the difference in this game, combining for five scoreless innings, two hits, no walks and seven strikeouts.
"We had the horses in the stable, so to say, and they came out and did an amazing job tonight," Stammen said. "They did exactly what we were hoping they would do."
The Padres had seven batters record at least a hit. Rengifo (3-for-5), Bogaerts (2-for-3), France (2-for-4) and Merrill (2-for-5) all had multi-hit efforts.
Merrill's second half resurgence continued after he finished the series 6-for-17 (.353 AVG), with 3 RBIs and 4 runs.
With the Padres win tonight, they're only a game back from the Diamondbacks for the final NL Wild Card. They also trail the Phillies by two games for the second spot.
The Padres head into the weekend beginning a three-game series against the Houston Astros at Petco Park. On the hill, left-hander Robbie Ray (10-6, 3.08 ERA) will make his Padres debut, and right-hander Ronel Blanco (0-1, 7.36 ERA) will make his fourth start of the season.