SAN DIEGO -- This was just one comeback too many for the comeback-happy San Diego Padres.

Over the past couple weeks, the Padres have put themselves in quite a few precarious situations. Then they’ve managed to wriggle out of them dramatically, using all manner of comeback magic.

• Darvish to be placed on restricted list

On Saturday night, they seemed to be headed for another. Trailing by three runs in the seventh inning, the Padres rallied to tie the game and send it to extras. Then, trailing by three runs in the 10th, they scored a run and loaded the bases, putting the tying and winning runs aboard.

It wasn’t to be. San Diego’s latest wild comeback attempt fell just short in a 7-5 loss to Arizona at Petco Park. The Diamondbacks’ big 10th inning proved too much. But even in defeat, the Padres showed the same measure of resolve they’ve shown in several of their recent improbable comebacks.

“We fight until the last pitch,” second baseman Jake Cronenworth said. “We’re putting ourselves in a position to win the game. It happened last night. It didn’t happen tonight.”

Indeed, a night before, the Padres had squandered a five-run ninth-inning lead, only to respond with tying and walk-off home runs in the bottom of the inning. On their previous homestand, they fell behind by three runs in the 10th, then rallied to beat Washington with four in the bottom half. It marked only the second time in franchise history they won after facing a three-run deficit in extras -- and the first since 1969.

The Padres tried to make it twice in a fortnight on Saturday. Lefty reliever Wandy Peralta misplayed a bunt, opening the doors for Arizona’s three-run 10th. Christian Walker delivered the decisive blow with a two-run single through a drawn-in infield.

Nonetheless, the Padres came roaring back in the bottom of the 10th.

“At the end of the day,” said manager Mike Shildt, “if you’re going to have more than we are, you’re going to earn it.”

The D-backs earned it. Barely. Manny Machado opened the inning with a walk, and Donovan Solano laced a double to put the tying runs in scoring position. Jackson Merrill, the winning run, fought his way aboard by working a tense eight-pitch walk.

But Bryce Johnson and Ha-Seong Kim struck out, and Kyle Higashioka flied out to left to end the game.

“We did our part in the bottom half,” Shildt said. “We just couldn’t get that big hit to tie it or win it.”

Perhaps the point is this: These Padres genuinely felt that big hit was going to come … right up until it didn’t. Could they honestly have said that a year ago? Could they have said that in 2023, as they dropped 12 straight extra-innings games to start the season, going 9-23 in one-run contests?

A season after they were the last team in the Majors to win a game in extras, they became the last team to lose one. Six of the nine starters in their lineup have already recorded a walk-off hit.

“It feels like we’re in it no matter what,” Cronenworth said. “It’s one quality at-bat away. Then it’s the next guy, then the next guy. We stack those on top of each other. I think we’ve done it so much this year that we know we can do it. It’s a belief in the group that that’s possible every night.”

Of course, if you want to nitpick after a loss, there were nits to pick. The bullpen showed cracks for a second straight night. After six-plus solid frames from Matt Waldron, Yuki Matsui allowed an inherited runner to score, then another run, as the Padres dug themselves the first of their three-run deficits.

In the 10th, it was Peralta who allowed two runs of his own to score, plus the automatic runner. The Padres’ need for relief help at the Trade Deadline is glaring. Their need for another bat arose in the 10th, as well, with Johnson -- a speed-and-defense bench piece -- taking one of the game’s pivotal at-bats.

Earlier Saturday, the Padres had learned they’ll be without Yu Darvish for an indefinite period while he’s on the restricted list. As good as Waldron has been, that only reinforced their need for another starter.

And yet, despite their flaws, the Padres don’t ever seem to be out of a game.

“I just think that’s who we are,” Shildt said. “That’s the identity of this club.”