With Clev concern, SD knocking on Oct. door

SAN DIEGO -- If only for a few more hours, the wait goes on.

The Padres had a party planned for Saturday night at Petco Park, where they could have secured their first trip to the postseason in 14 years. The Mariners had other ideas.

• Box score

After a 4-1 Padres defeat, the festivities are on hold -- until Sunday afternoon, perhaps. Earlier Saturday, the White Sox had given the Padres the gift they needed: a victory over the Reds to lower San Diego's magic number to one. As that game went final, the Petco Park videoboard made note of the score, and moments later, Manny Machado singled home Fernando Tatis Jr., tying the game at 1 in the third inning.

That was as close to storybook as it got Saturday. After Mike Clevinger was a late scratch, a handful of Padres relievers allowed four runs on an impromptu bullpen day. The offense couldn’t muster another serious threat until the ninth, when Jake Cronenworth bounced into a double play with the bases loaded.

“We just weren’t able to get that big hit,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said.

The Padres can clinch their spot in the postseason with a win or a Reds loss on Sunday. But they’re bound to clinch eventually. It's a borderline statistical impossibility that a 33-win team wouldn't reach the postseason this year (and that’s presuming the Padres don’t add to their already gaudy win total).

• MLB postseason standings

If anything, the biggest questions stemming from Saturday’s game pertain to what happens when the Padres reach October. They’ve built a fairly complete roster with a fairly complete rotation. But take Clevinger away, and that rotation is, well, no longer complete

Without much depth beyond their starting five, the Padres have turned to bullpen days this season when they’ve needed a spot start. Saturday marked the second time in three games, and they’ve lost both

It’s a formula they’d prefer to avoid in the postseason, and Tingler is optimistic that it won’t come to that. He’s “very confident” that Clevinger’s postseason status will not be impacted by his ailing right arm

Luis Patiño stepped in for Clevinger on Saturday, looking to make a late case for the postseason roster. But the rookie right-hander labored through a 35-pitch first inning and struggled to find the strike zone (though he managed to limit the damage to one run over 1 2/3 innings).

“Everyone here wants to be a part of the postseason and help this team win,” Patiño said. “I know that I have a lot to give. I have a lot to contribute. That’s something I’m going to keep working on. I’m not going to look back on what’s happened. I’m just going to look forward. I know that I have a lot to give and a lot of ways I can help that team."

In a twist of fate, it was two former Padres who helped deny San Diego its Saturday night celebration. Ty France put Seattle on top with an RBI single in the first. Then, after Machado had tied it, Luis Torrens smacked a two-run double to put the Mariners on top for good. Both Torrens and France were part of the deal that landed Austin Nola in San Diego ahead of the Aug. 31 Trade Deadline.

The game wasn’t without one important positive for the Padres. Tatis has been mired in a slump for most of the past two weeks. But he went 2-for-4 with a booming double on Saturday -- as many hits as he’d recorded in his previous nine games combined.

“I thought he was seeing the ball better, I thought his moves were tighter,” Tingler said. “He was able to barrel the ball up. When he goes to the plate, we always feel good about it. We always feel like it’s a threat. But tonight, I thought it was a step forward and he looked closer to getting locked in."

When Tatis reached second base after his double, he greeted France. The two infielders were close as Padres, and France once called Tatis his “favorite player."

But France didn’t reciprocate that love on Saturday night, and the Padres' 14-year wait will last at least one more day.