The San Diego Padres stunned the Arizona Diamondbacks with five runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat Arizona 5-0. It was a game the D-Backs had to win to keep their hopes of a playoff spot alive on Sunday. That’s impossible now.

The New York Mets also lost on Saturday. If the D-Backs can salvage Sunday’s series finale and the Mets go no better than 1-2 in their last three games or the Braves go 0-3, the D-Backs can still clinch a wild-card spot. The Braves and Mets play each other in a doubleheader on Monday.

AJ Puk has been the most effective reliever in MLB for three full months, since June 23rd. He had allowed just one earned run in 42 innings pitched, coming on August 4 in his fourth game as a Diamondback. He struck out 65 batters and walked just eight in that span. Left-handers in particular were powerless against him.

When he faced former Diamondback David Peralta in the ninth, it seemed like the perfect matchup. But Peralta reached out, pushed a fastball across the plate and threw it to right-center for a basehit.

Kyle Higashioka followed with a two-run blast, scoring the first runs of the game. Brandon Lockridge battled back-to-back and extended the Padres’ lead to 3-0. Explaining the home runs, Puk said, “They both hit sliders, it’s just one of those things, they took some good swings at the ball, they’re good hitters, that wasn’t my day today.”

Puk threw 16 pitches on Wednesday and then 21 on Friday, but he insisted he felt good and was in no way tired. “I feel good,” he said. “It’s just one of those things, it’s baseball, things like that happen. I’m looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow and trying to get the win so we can get into the playoffs.”

Scott McGough relieved Puk and allowed Donovan Solano to hit a two-run home run. At this point, with the score 5-0, fans at Chase Field began streaming toward the exits.

On a night the Diamondbacks needed to win, they couldn’t score. Randy Vasquez was called up by the Padres from Triple-A to start the game. He didn’t hit the D-backs for five innings before a leadoff double by Corbin Carroll led off the sixth inning.

The D-Backs faced second and third with one out in that inning, but were unable to score as Christian Walker and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. struck out. The D-Backs didn’t get their second hit until a meaningless single in the ninth by Walker.

“Have to take your hat off,” Walker said. “It’s frustrating to say, but there are two sides. Someone else is doing their job when they take you out. We had a few chances but couldn’t convert them when it mattered most.”

The Padres also made a number of excellent defensive plays to prevent base hits. Two of those came from another former Diamondback, Nick Ahmed, who played second base. Manny Machado made a spectacular diving stop on a smash down the third base line by Randal Grichuk, stealing extra bases.

The D-Backs defense also played well. In particular, Ketel Marte, who had a rough night on defense on Friday, made several excellent plays to prevent base hits.

Euduardo Rodriguez threw 4.2 solid shutout innings, allowing just four hits and two walks while posting three strikeouts. Torey Lovullo acknowledged he had a quick hook with Rodriguez, but it’s hard to fault the process.

Kevin Ginkel, Joe Mantiply, Ryan Thompson and Justin Martinez pitched shutout baseball to lead it to ninth and Puk. Lovullo had all the matchups he wanted. He handed the ball off to his best reliever, a man who had allowed one run in 42 innings. It didn’t work.

Brandon Pfaadt will get the ball in Game 162 for the D-Backs. Left-hander Martin Perez will face him. First pitch is at 12:10 p.m., earlier than the usual Sunday start time as all MLB games begin at the same time on Sunday.