SAN DIEGO -- The thing about being a latecomer to the postseason picture is you have to win a lot of games with playoff intensity just to stick around.

The Tigers played such a game Wednesday night, but victory was just out of reach.

After 3 hours and 23 minutes of playoff-style matchups, thorny managerial decisions and dramatic at-bats, the Tigers dropped a 6-5 decision in 10 innings against the Padres at Petco Park.

"Everything about it, to me, felt like a playoff game,” said Tigers outfielder Matt Vierling, who hit his 16th home run.

The Tigers fell 5 1/2 games behind the Royals for the final AL Wild Card spot. With 22 games left, the Tigers have little room for error, but three games in Kansas City on the horizon could give them a chance to turn mere playoff hopes into tangible playoff potential.

“Obviously, it’s a tough game, a tough loss,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “... It’s tough when you get into extra innings on the road and you don’t do much with your opportunity.”

The Padres won it on Fernando Tatis Jr’s single through the left side of the infield against right-hander Jason Foley, bringing home automatic runner Jackson Merrill. Hinch faced one of those thorny decisions with two outs and Merrill on second base.

The manager opted to walk left-handed-hitting Luis Arraez, the NL batting leader (.311), and take his chances against Tatis, a right-handed hitter who was playing only his second game after being sidelined by an injury.

“It's two of the better hitters in the league,” Hunch 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. Arraez gets a hit, and it’s the same [outcome]."

If the Tigers wind up a game or two out of the playoffs come season’s end, that decision won’t be one they replay in their minds. Instead, they’ll review that they frittered away a five-run lead and then stranded Vierling on the bases after he began the top of the 10th on second base as the automatic runner.

The 5-0 lead through the top of the fourth inning disappeared in a flash as starter Keider Montero yielded Merrill’s three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth and Manny Machado’s two-run single in the fifth.

“They’ve done a good job with attendance here. The fans all around, they’re always on top of you,” Montero said via interpreter Carlos Guillen. “I like that environment. I felt comfortable with it.”

In the extra frame, hard-throwing righty Jeremiah Estrada -- the Padres’ seventh reliever of the night -- struck out lefty Kerry Carpenter to hold Vierling at second base until Colt Keith grounded out to the right side for the second out. The Padres were able to escape on Justyn-Henry Malloy’s flyout.

A near-miss playoff run is still hypothetical. The Tigers could gain from this kind of game. They are 15-7 since Aug. 11, and players who weren’t in the Majors a month ago are taking big at-bats.

Witness shortstop Trey Sweeney, who has stepped in for the injured Javier Báez and made 10 straight starts. (The Tigers are 6-4 in those games.) He homered off a lefty for the first time this year, including his 107 Minor League games. Sweeney yanked a 1-2 slider from Yuki Matsui to right field in the fourth inning.

Sweeney also drew a walk against nasty lefty Adrian Morejon in his next plate appearance, significant given that he had a slash line of .213/.292/.278 against lefties in the Minors this year.

The Tigers faced a gauntlet of four straight lefties in the middle innings as the Padres, leaders of the NL Wild Card race, bowed their necks after starting pitcher Yu Darvish struggled in his first start in more than three months.

“These are as tough as a left-on-left matchup as you’re going to get when they empty the bullpen,” Hinch said. “[Sweeney] hung in there and had some quality at-bats. I think he’s starting to stack some confidence.”

Vierling, who’s seen postseason action with the Phillies, has noted the rookies stepping up as the Tigers flirt with contention.

“They’ve looked great,” Vierling said. “It’s been pretty impressive to watch them go out there. I don’t know if they really know what they’re playing. They haven’t really been through it. But it’s been impressive.”