D-backs in three-way virtual tie in NL Wild Card race

PHOENIX — If the series opener Friday night is any indication, a D-backs-Padres postseason matchup would be must-see TV. Of course, the Padres’ 5-3 victory at Chase Field hurt Arizona’s chances of making the postseason.

With two games left to play in the regular season, the D-backs are in a virtual three-way tie with the Mets and Braves for the National League’s No. 2 Wild Card spot. Arizona — technically one percentage point behind New York and Atlanta — has seen its margin for error shrink.

Coming into the game, the D-backs controlled their postseason fate. Win three games against the Padres and they were in, regardless of what the Braves and Mets did.

Now, the math is more complicated, but one thing is simple: If they win the next two games, they’ve got a really good chance.

“I don’t feel great,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said of his team losing control of its destiny. “But it makes me hungry. Makes me want to come here tomorrow and be my absolute best for this team, and I know the team feels the same way, as well.”

The Padres threatened to make the game a laugher in the first inning, when they sent nine batters to the plate against Merrill Kelly and scored four runs.

It was a disjointed inning for the D-backs, who couldn’t track down a ball in the gap and saw normally sure-handed Ketel Marte have trouble coming up with a tough one-hop line drive off the bat of Manny Machado. Later in the inning, Marte made a throwing error that led to a run.

“There’s a few mistakes, a few errors that happened today, including my error,” Marte said via translator Alex Arpiza. “But this isn’t done yet. There’s two more to go.”

All of it led to an unusual mound visit by Lovullo after Jackson Merrill singled to drive in the third run of the inning.

Typically, a manager goes to the mound only to make a pitching change, but Lovullo had a message that he wanted to deliver personally to Kelly and the infielders.

“I just told them, ‘Lock it in,'” Lovullo said. “I saw a couple things that told me that we weren’t absolutely 100% engaged, and I just want to make sure we were. And they said they were. I checked on every one of them. I looked them all in the eye, and they said they were ready to go.”

“I was seeing a potential ball that may or may not have been [caught] in right-center field,” Lovullo said. “It’s a tough play. I wanted to make sure that Merrill wasn’t frustrated by the positioning of the defense.

“I saw the play at second base. I’m going to hang my hat on it being a tough play. Thought there might have been a little distraction there. Just want to make sure we were OK.”

The inning ended with the Padres up, 4-0, and Yu Darvish taking the mound. But the D-backs lead baseball in runs scored for a reason, and they quickly answered back with two runs of their own in the first, including a leadoff homer by Corbin Carroll.

The D-backs threatened plenty of times after that but were able to break through for only one more run. That came when Eugenio Suárez snuck a grounder under Machado’s glove at third base for an RBI single in the sixth.

The D-backs were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Kelly, meanwhile, made it through 5 2/3 innings and struck out eight. He avoided a recurrence of the right leg cramps that shortened two of his previous three outings.

Now the D-backs have to try to shake the loss off and be ready to face the Padres on Saturday. They’ve dropped four out of five games at the most crucial time of the year.

“We’re going to be ready to go tomorrow,” Lovullo said. “We know what we’re fighting for. A lot of people are asking me certain questions about the stability of our team. ‘Are we OK?’ We’re great. We’re doing fine when it comes to prepping and expecting to go out and have good things happen.

“So I can’t explain it. Sometimes, baseball’s a crazy game. We didn’t get the victory today. We sure as hell are going to do all we can to get one tomorrow.”