SAN DIEGO -- The Padres’ magic number was four entering play Wednesday. And when a frantic, frenzied day in the National League Wild Card race had finished, the Padres’ magic number was still four.

At the very least, the Padres built themselves a cushion with their recent performance. They entered play Wednesday night with eight wins in their past 10 -- making their 1-0 loss to the Dodgers in 10 innings at Petco Park a bit more palatable.

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The Padres still lead the Phillies by 2 1/2 games in the race for the second Wild Card spot and the Brewers by three games in the race for the final place in the NL postseason field. On top of that, the Padres hold a crucial tiebreaker over Milwaukee, meaning they would reach the postseason if the two teams were to finish the season with the same record.

Still, Wednesday qualifies as a missed opportunity.

It’s not often that San Diego -- or any team, for that matter -- holds this Dodgers offense scoreless for nine innings. The Padres did that -- then lost in the 10th when Freddie Freeman’s bloop single plated the automatic runner, Mookie Betts, for the game’s only run.

“It was all about the pitching today,” Melvin said. “They snuck one across when we couldn’t.”

Right-hander Joe Musgrove gutted his way through five scoreless innings in which he allowed nine baserunners but did not allow a run. Musgrove bent but did not break, as the Dodgers' hitters continually worked deep counts. He struck out eight and twice left the bases loaded -- with a punchout of Joey Gallo each time.

“At this point in the year, it’s all about putting up zeros,” Musgrove said. “If it takes you a few more pitches, we’re willing to sacrifice that. I think everyone knows that it’s all hands on deck for these last nine [games of the regular season].”

The Padres have opened that homestand 1-1 and have a chance for their first 2022 series victory over the Dodgers when the two NL West rivals wrap up their regular-season series on Thursday night. A win, of course, would inch the Padres ever closer to the possibility of a rematch sometime in October.

The Padres’ envision their path through the playoffs intersecting with the Dodgers, who own the sport’s best record and have already wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the NL. San Diego is 5-13 against L.A. this season, and the thought of making a late-September statement is far from anyone’s mind.

“Right now, it’s just about as many games as we can put on our side of the ledger,” Melvin said. “Yeah, it’d be great to come out and win a game tomorrow. But it’s going to be the same the next day and the same again the next day.”

Wednesday night marked perhaps the Padres’ most comprehensive pitching performance against the Dodgers all season. After Musgrove, five relievers held Los Angeles without an earned run.

“They do a heck of a job not chasing, making you throw the ball in the zone,” said Padres catcher Austin Nola, who went 2-for-3. “The biggest thing is getting ahead. You’ve got to get strike one.”

Freeman’s RBI single came after Betts -- who started the 10th inning on second base -- advanced to third on a passed ball. Melvin considered walking Freeman, the league’s leading hitter. But he opted against it.

His thinking? In short, Melvin did not want to leave open the possibility of a big inning. (Will Smith, who was on deck, is an All-Star, too.) If Freeman were to drive in that run, Melvin could live with it, because he’d have his own man on second to start the bottom half of the inning.

“It’s our job to come back and score,” Melvin said.

They didn’t. Nola was slated to lead off the bottom of the 10th, but with the righty Tommy Kahnle on the mound, Melvin pinch-hit with Josh Bell, whose ground ball advanced Jurickson Profar to third.

But Trent Grisham, after a fouling off a squeeze attempt, went down looking, and Ha-Seong Kim grounded out to end the game. Grisham’s struggles have been particularly pronounced of late. He has reached base just once in his last 19 plate appearances -- on a hit by pitch -- while striking out 12 times.

But the Padres did not have another lefty bat on their bench, and Melvin didn’t like the matchups for his right-handed hitters. More than anything, Grisham’s key at-bat Wednesday night highlighted one of the Padres’ biggest concerns going forward -- the lack of options on their bench.

“We need to get him going,” Melvin said. “Our best team has Grish in there.”