What did Diamondbacks’ bullpen game failure mean for their playoff chances?

SAN DIEGO — There was good news and bad news for the Arizona Diamondbacks’ postseason aspirations on Saturday.

The good news: The Philadelphia Phillies got crushed by the Tampa Bay Rays, 12-1. That guaranteed the D-backs would enter the final day of the regular season on Sunday with a chance to make the playoffs.

The bad news: Arizona failed to take care of business in San Diego, losing 10-7. The D-backs rallied for three runs in the ninth inning off Padres closer Mason Miller, but Miller struck out Ildemaro Vargas to end the game.

The D-backs snapped a six-game winning streak by losing a bullpen game that involved perplexing twists, turns and decisions from a team fighting tooth-and-nail to get to the postseason.

How can the Diamondbacks make the postseason?

In order to make the playoffs, the D-backs will need to win on Sunday AND the Phillies have to lose.

This is the second time in three seasons that the D-backs’ postseason chances will come down to the final day of the regular season.

On one hand, Arizona going 8-0 to end the season was a worthwhile but ambitious goal. The Padres winning on Saturday also guaranteed them home-field advantage in the Wild Card Series, and they will have nothing to play for Sunday.

On the other, Arizona’s blown opportunity is difficult to swallow. It forces the D-backs to root for the Rays to sweep the Phillies, with three-time All-Star pitcher Zack Wheeler getting the ball for Philadelphia.

Had the Diamondbacks (86-75) won, they would have passed the Phillies (87-74) in the standings via tiebreaker and “controlled their own destiny” on the final day of the season.

The Diamondbacks were not planning to go with a bullpen game until they placed Corbin Burnes on the injured list on Friday. Arizona’s bullpen has been a strength all season, and the club won a bullpen game against the Phillies 1-0 earlier this month.

To sum up Saturday’s misstep, it was not Arizona’s most trusted relievers who faltered. Not all of them even pitched.

And the Padres tee’d off on Arizona’s more vulnerable arms.

Diamondbacks explain bullpen game decisions

The Padres scored five runs off rookie Jose Cabrera, who came up from the minor leagues to replace Burnes, in the fourth and fifth innings. Juan Morillo, Brandyn Garcia and Justin Martinez were all still in the bullpen at the time.

Morillo eventually entered the game to clean up the fifth inning, but he only recorded two outs before the D-backs turned to Dennis Santana, who allowed two more runs.

Martinez pitched the eighth inning, and Garcia never entered the game.

Here was the order of operations:

1. Taylor Clarke, 0.2 IP
2. Jonathan Loaisiga, 2.0 IP
3. Kevin Ginkel, 0.1 IP
4. Jose Cabrera, 1.1 IP
5. Juan Morillo, 0.2 IP
6. Dennis Santana, 2.0 IP
7. Justin Martinez, 1.0 IP

Clarke failing to escape the first inning was the first wrong step for Arizona’s plan. Loaisiga did his job to help make up the difference, but a problem came up on defense. Outfielders Corbin Carroll and Tim Tawa lost fly balls in the lights and the twilight sky, respectively, which cost Arizona two runs and extended the third inning.

Loaisiga did not get through the frame because of this, and Ginkel finished it. Instead of giving Ginkel the up-down, Arizona opted to go to Cabrera for more than three outs.

Cabrera allowed a go-ahead three-run home run to Manny Machado and struck out the next two hitters to end the fourth.

Why did Jose Cabrera get a second inning?

“We needed to bridge it, get it to a certain point, otherwise we were going to run out of pitchers,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I felt like we could protect him a little bit and one-plus Morillo if that was the case, but once the score got to a certain point, I don’t want to use Morillo for one-plus, I need him again tomorrow.

“We didn’t want to start burning all of our leverage relievers. We were going to need somebody to go another inning or two, and I felt like he was the best call having pitched through the little situation in that first inning.”

Ryne Nelson and Zac Gallen pitched late in a blowout win over the Padres on Friday, a decision that potentially loomed over Saturday. Lovullo said Gallen was unavailable, but Nelson was.

So, why go to the unproven Cabrera for another inning instead of Nelson in that spot?

“I just felt like I wanted to see what Cabrera could do,” Lovullo said.

Cabrera threw five scoreless innings over his previous two MLB outings, but the last one was on Sept. 7. It was a tall ask for a rookie pitcher to face the top of San Diego’s lineup and then reset, and he could not get it done.

As Lovullo mentioned, the plan for using his high-leverage arms changed at that point, so Morillo and Garcia combined to face two hitters in a must-win bullpen game.

Lovullo said Martinez throwing on Saturday will not keep him from pitching again on Sunday.

Why did Gabriel Moreno come out of the game?

The first four innings of this game were a seesaw:

• Padres lead 1-0
• D-backs lead 2-1
• Padres lead 3-2
• D-backs lead 4-3
• Padres lead 6-4

The Diamondbacks responded after the lost fly balls, taking the lead back on a James McCann two-run home run in the fourth inning. Scoring four runs in four innings at that point and chasing Padres starter Walker Buehler was a promising spot.

Not much went right from that point until the top of the ninth inning.

The Padres inserted Miller to lock at least two home playoff games, and the D-backs started to come alive.

Tim Tawa, Lars Nootbaar and Ketel Marte each reached base, setting up Gabriel Moreno with the bases loaded and no outs.

Except, Moreno did not hit. Adrian Del Castillo came off the bench.

Moreno was having trouble with his left hamstring in the batting cage, an injury that popped up on Friday. He started as the designated hitter on Saturday instead of catcher because of it.

Del Castillo struck out.

The D-backs were not done, as all three baserunners eventually scored, but Vargas was overpowered to end the game.

Onto Sunday.

“I don’t think there’s really anything that needs to be said,” McCann said. “I think everyone in here knows what’s at stake. For us as a team, you look where we were a week ago, compared to where we are going to game 162. We’re gonna keep playing the way we’ve been playing, free and having fun and for each other.”

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