SAN DIEGO -- The Padres dug themselves a five-run hole against the division-rival Dodgers on Wednesday night. That's not a deficit any Padres team in recent memory would've threatened to overcome.

But the Padres insist they’re a different team in 2020, and sure enough, they came roaring back, putting the tying and winning runs on base for Manny Machado in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Perhaps that made what happened next sting a little bit more. Machado hit a liner at Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor -- a ball with a 50 percent hit probability according to Statcast. Instead, Taylor made the catch and came up throwing, as Trent Grisham tagged. Grisham was out at the plate by inches, as the Dodgers held on for a 7-6 victory, thwarting a remarkable San Diego comeback.

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“It was a tough loss, man,” said star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. “We played good ball. I still feel we can play a little bit better.”

The Padres had climbed to within two runs on Tatis’ mammoth blast in the bottom of the fifth inning, before Joc Pederson answered with a three-run shot in the top half of the next frame. For a moment, that sucked the life out of the San Diego dugout.

But only for a moment. In the bottom of the frame, Greg Garcia roped a two-run double. Wil Myers smacked a solo homer in the eighth. Tommy Pham singled home Tatis in the ninth, sending Grisham to third and setting the stage for Machado.

“Manny squared a ball up to left field, and they made a hell of a play,” said Padres manager Jayce Tingler. “It had to be a perfect throw. And it was a perfect one-hop throw and tag.”

There was no second-guessing Grisham’s decision to take off. The Padres had a chance to tie the game in that moment, and they took their chance, putting the pressure on the Dodgers to make a play.

“We're going to tag 10 out of 10 times on that,” Tingler said.

The Padres were inches from extra innings. Instead, they dropped a second straight game to the Dodgers after Monday’s series-opening victory. All three games between the NL West rivals were decided late.

“It was an exciting series, back-and-forth and hard-fought, and they have a lot of talented players, young players,” said Taylor. “I think they’re trying to make a statement and it was a big win, especially in that fashion. They fought back all the way to the last out, got to give them credit.”

Afterward, Tingler was hesitant to take that credit.

“We’re close, but we’re not there,” he said. “It’s not one thing, it’s a bunch of little things in a lot of areas. The good part is that it’s really close. We’ve got 47 games.”

Tingler gets tossed

Tingler earned his first ejection as a big league manager when he emerged from the dugout to argue a crucial strike-two call that went against Machado in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Machado was at the plate as the tying run, with men on first and third and two outs. He worked himself a favorable 2-1 count when Grisham took off for second base. Blake Treinen's fastball appeared to be just below Machado's knees, but catcher Will Smith came up throwing, and plate ump Mark Ripperger called it a strike.

Grisham was easily safe at second base, but Machado was none too pleased. He started chirping at Ripperger, who had also punched him out as the first-base ump on a check swing in a big moment on Tuesday night.

Tingler quickly emerged in an effort to defend Machado and he barked at Ripperger from a distance of several feet. But he was tossed nonetheless.

“Manny thought the ball was down, I thought the ball was down -- either Manny goes or I go, I’m guessing,” Tingler said.

Machado hit a check-swing dribbler to first base on the next pitch. Then, his liner in the ninth capped an 0-for-4 night, bringing his average to .200 on the season.

“We’ve got a ton of belief in him,” Tingler said. “Sometimes it’s as simple as letting the game come to you a little bit. But yeah, I definitely think he’s a little bit frustrated.”

Up-and-down debut

In his big league debut, Luis Patiño showed glimpses of the high-end pitching talent the Padres think he’ll become. He also offered a reminder that he’s just a 20-year-old rookie in the big leagues.

Patiño, MLB Pipeline’s No. 29 overall prospect, pitched the sixth and seventh innings on Tuesday night. In the sixth, he allowed a pair of seeing-eye singles before Pederson’s three-run blast put the Dodgers on top 7-2.

But Patiño finished the frame with his first career strikeout -- on a high fastball that made Enrique Hernández look silly. Then Patiño worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning against the top of the Dodgers’ lineup.

“We were looking for a little softer landing,” Tingler said. “But this is the NL West. There’s no soft landing, especially with the Dodgers. I was looking for a spark. He gave up two ground balls that got through, and then obviously Pederson clipped him. Pederson clipped a couple balls tonight. But I was impressed with how he went back out in the second inning.”