SAN DIEGO -- Before his first career walk-off hit -- before his jersey was ripped from his back and was later thrown into the Petco Park crowd -- Fernando Tatis Jr. did a double take as he strode to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning.

He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen what he was seeing from Tigers manager A.J. Hinch: Four fingers. An intentional walk ... so the Tigers could face Tatis?

“I took it personal," he said. “As soon as that four fingers went up, it gave me the push that I needed, the energy that I needed. I just want to come through for the boys.”

It didn’t take long. Tatis lined Jason Foley’s first-pitch slider through the left side, sending the Padres to a wild 6-5 victory in 10 innings over the Tigers at Petco Park on Wednesday -- a game San Diego trailed early by five runs. With the win, San Diego maintained its place atop the National League Wild Card race and moved 19 games above .500 for the first time since 2010.

It was quite the statement from Tatis, playing in only his second game since returning from the IL.

“I don’t think anybody had any real doubt that he was going to come through,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt. “It felt pretty right.”

Starter Yu Darvish worked 2 2/3 laborious innings in his return, and the Padres trailed 5-0 by the top of the fourth. But Jackson Merrill began the comeback with a three-run homer, and Manny Machado tied the game an inning later with a two-run single.

From there, it was a battle of bullpens, and the Padres’ lockdown relief corps held up longer. After Jeremiah Estrada stranded the automatic runner in the top of the 10th inning, Foley recorded the first two outs in the bottom of the frame.

Luis Arraez was due up. And, in Hinch’s defense, the decision wasn’t an easy one.

“It's two of the better hitters in the league,” Hinch said. “We took our shot with the righty. We thought we could get the ball on the ground. It did. But you’re not in a good spot either way.”

The logic is sensible enough. Arraez’s .311 average leads the National League. There aren’t many hitters better suited for an at-bat where a single wins you the game -- particularly as a lefty hitter against a righty pitcher.

But nobody ever said that logic needed to be acknowledged by the disrespected party himself -- in this case, Tatis.

“I saw four fingers, I’m like, ‘Ahh they’re challenging me,” Tatis said. “You just embrace moments like that, and you just try to come on top.”

It was a cathartic moment for Tatis on a night he reminded everyone why his return could be pivotal to the Padres, who own the sport’s best record since the All-Star break. During their game-tying rally in the fifth, he laced a 111.1 mph laser down the left-field line for his first hit since his return. Tatis put four balls in play at 100 mph or harder.

He also sped from second to home to score on Machado’s single and ranged deep into the right-center-field gap to track down a Kerry Carpenter fly ball. Those types of plays used to define Tatis. But they’d become fewer and fewer in late May into June.

“That’s why he went on the IL -- towards the end, he wasn’t quite moving as well as he expected,” Shildt said. “But today was explosive. It looked like him.”

Add that to a Padres lineup that is already swinging like the best offense in franchise history.

“Getting him now at the strength he has and how healthy he is -- it’s huge for us,” Merrill said. “And it’s not even a fact of him producing in that game. Him being in the game is enough to put other teams off. His presence on the field, that speaks for itself. I think every team knows that. They come in and the first person they think about is Fernando Tatis Jr.”

So ... that decision the Tigers made to pitch to Tatis with the game on the line willingly?

“I wouldn’t walk anybody to get to Tatis,” Merrill said. “I get it: lefty, you don’t want that, and Arraez is one of the best single hitters in baseball.

“So I get it. But go ahead. Good luck. Walk him to get to Tatis.”