Tatis' 20th HR fuels Padres after no-hit scare

SAN DIEGO -- Maybe the Padres weren’t at rock bottom. Then again, getting no-hit over 6 1/3 innings by a rookie pitcher with zero wins and a 6.91 ERA is close.

But with their playoff chances dwindling, the Padres rallied for a dramatic 4-0 win over the D-backs on Friday night at Petco Park.

• Box score

Ha-Seong Kim hit a two-run single that preceded Fernando Tatis Jr.’s two-run homer in one of the more exciting, and excruciating, games of the year for the Padres.

“It means a lot,’’ said Tatis, with the Padres now five games back of the final NL Wild Card spot. “It means that we can do it. We have been lacking a lot of that this year, and anytime you can get a result like that, it definitely gives us a push, and it’s telling us that it is there for us.’’

Kim has been here, there and everywhere for the Padres as manager Bob Melvin confidently inserts him into numerous infield positions. On Friday, that meant third base with Manny Machado at DH while resting a sore elbow.

But the real pain was felt by D-backs reliever Miguel Castro. He had Kim in a two-strike hole, with one of his cuts being cringeworthy in how out-of-sorts Kim looked.

“I made a terrible swing at a really bad pitch,’’ Kim said through an interpreter. “I tried to regroup myself and just tried to make solid contact.’’

Without Kim getting right, Tatis said his 20th homer probably doesn’t happen.

“He’s awesome,’’ Tatis said. “He’s one of the best players in the game.’’

The Padres needed a good result, especially a night after getting only three hits in a 3-1 loss to the D-backs. With the calendar working against them, as well as a spot-on Pfaadt, the Padres reached from within instead of for a white flag.

“We stayed in there,’’ Tatis said. “We kept battling, and at the end of the day, we made it happen.’’

Seth Lugo nearly matched Pfaadt, surrendering five hits and three walks over six scoreless innings. With the Padres facing with a doubleheader Saturday, Lugo’s length was significant.

“Him getting through six for us was huge,’’ Melvin said.

The eighth was enough for the Padres, as Gary Sánchez reached on a hit-by-pitch, Ben Gamel contributed a bunt single, and Trent Grisham moved them up on a sacrifice bunt.

That set the stage for Kim’s two-run knock and Tatis’ 419-foot exclamation point.

Juan Soto’s seventh-inning, one-out double was the first hit allowed by Pfaadt. With Soto at second, a sellout crowd energized and Machado at the plate, the Padres were poised to take a late-inning lead.

Machado worked a walk, but Jake Cronenworth’s slicing fly ball to left was snagged by a sliding Tommy Pham.

Through six innings, the Padres were completely stymied by Pfaadt. San Diego had only three baserunners over that span, and two were quickly erased on unconventional double plays.

Kim, the Padres’ leadoff batter, reached on shortstop Geraldo Perdomo’s throwing error in the first inning. But when Tatis struck out, Kim was thrown out attempting to steal.

Pfaadt set down 11 straight batters before walking Machado to open the fifth, but he was stranded at first.

Garrett Cooper started the sixth with a free pass, and Grisham followed with a 105.4 mph bullet to second baseman Ketel Marte. He snagged it and doubled up Cooper.

With the stakes so high between these teams battling for a Wild Card spot, the play was crisp and clean in the first four innings. Both pitchers wiggled from a little trouble, but there wasn’t much traffic on the bases.

But the fifth was a different story, as Arizona got busy and the Padres got creative.

It started innocently enough, with Gabriel Moreno reaching on an infield single when Cooper couldn’t corral Kim’s throw to first base. Perdomo followed with a flared single to left, then Corbin Carroll reached on a fielder’s choice with Perdomo being retired at second and Moreno advancing to third.

Lugo’s nifty pickoff move to first had Carroll hung out to dry, but Moreno broke for home. Cooper pivoted his attention away from Carroll and fired the ball across the diamond to Kim to erase Moreno.

Lugo walked Marte before fanning Pham to end an inning in which the Padres flirted with disaster and the D-backs squandered a swell opportunity.

It would be the opportunistic Padres that would later prevail.

“It has been missing a little bit,’’ Melvin said. “I know it pumped the fans up to be able to finally come away and get one like that.’’