SAN DIEGO -- Gerardo Reyes had thrown only five pitches when Padres manager Andy Green sprung from the top step of his dugout in the eighth inning Saturday night at Petco Park.

That¡¯s the nature of the Padres¡¯ bullpen these days. They¡¯re fighting to gain ground in a crowded National League Wild Card picture. But there simply aren¡¯t many trustworthy options among the relief corps. In fact, there might only be one.

? Box score

Clinging to a one-run lead against the Braves, Green asked closer Kirby Yates for the first six-out save of his career. Instead, Josh Donaldson, who worked a walk against Reyes to start the frame, scored three batters later on a sacrifice fly, tying the game at 4.

¡°That comes with the job and the territory that we're in right now,¡± Yates said of the workload. ¡°We need to win. I warm up, the call is for me to get the ball. My job is to go out there and get us a win. I didn't do it.¡±

Yates -- whose blown save preceded a wild 10th inning and, ultimately, a 7-5 Braves victory -- was mostly sharp. He escaped the eighth inning, then worked a scoreless ninth to lower his ERA to 1.10.

But when the game went to extras, the Padres¡¯ bullpen came unglued again. Like Reyes, Luis Perdomo surrendered a leadoff walk to Donaldson. Then Ozzie Albies gave Atlanta the lead with an RBI single in the 10th before Tyler Flowers tacked on two more with a double.

The Padres fought back in the bottom of the frame, bringing Francisco Mejía to the plate as the winning run. He sent a deep drive to the wall in right field, where Nick Markakis made an acrobatic leaping catch.

Mejia had gone deep earlier, a majestic drive to the right-center-field beach area in the fifth inning, and Manny Machado homered to both fields, as well. But the Braves¡¯ offense kept pace, taking advantage of an enigmatic Padres bullpen.

¡°What we're all going for is consistency,¡± said right-hander Craig Stammen. ¡°That's what we know Andy wants out of us. He wants to know who he's bringing into the game.¡±

These days, it¡¯s hard to tell. Green lifted Joey Lucchesi after five strong innings in favor of pinch-hitter Josh Naylor, who put San Diego in front with a sacrifice fly. The decision paid off in the short term. But the long-term effects came back to bite the Padres.

With a one run lead, Green planned for an inning from Trey Wingenter. Then, he hoped to cover the final three frames with: ¡°Craig for an inning and change and Kirby for an inning and change.¡±

But Stammen surrendered a game-tying home run to Ronald Acuna Jr. and was forced to throw some high-leverage pitches to Freddie Freeman later in the seventh. Green decided Stammen¡¯s night was over, and he summoned Reyes for the eighth.

¡°He¡¯s pitched himself, over the last number of games, into that type of an opportunity,¡± Green said. ¡°The leash isn¡¯t going to be very long with Kirby behind you.¡±

Reyes¡¯ leash lasted all of five pitches. Afterward, Green said he wasn¡¯t committed to removing Reyes after just one baserunner. But the young right-hander was erratic, so Green felt he needed to ask for two innings from Yates -- which he hadn¡¯t done since last July.?

¡°We were not dying to use him for six outs,¡± Green said. ¡°I think we were kind of forced to do that at that point.¡±

There¡¯s been plenty of trade speculation surrounding Yates, whose value will almost certainly never be higher than it is right now. But if the Padres were to deal Yates, they¡¯d be stretching their bullpen awfully thin. That was made clear once again on Saturday night.

Speed on the bases

The Padres have won a lot of baseball games with their power this season. On Saturday night, they took a late lead on the strength of their speed.

With Fernando Tatis Jr. on first and Manuel Margot on third, the Padres opened their playbook. Tatis took a few steps toward second, intent on getting himself in a rundown. Braves reliever A.J. Minter threw over, and Tatis found himself in the pickle he¡¯d planned for.

When Atlanta¡¯s Freddie Freeman threw to second, Margot broke for home. The speedy center fielder slid safely ahead of a swipe tag from Flowers, the Braves¡¯ catcher. It was masterful baserunning on both ends and gave the Padres a short-lived 4-3 lead.

Perdomo at the plate

After Mejia¡¯s deep fly ball moved the tying runs into scoring position, Braves manager Brian Snitker opted to walk Margot to load the bases. The Padres¡¯ bench was empty, and up stepped Perdomo.

How, exactly, did the Padres run out of bench pieces by the 10th inning? Tactically, Green didn¡¯t manage any differently than he has all season. He burned Naylor when he pinch hit for Lucchesi in the fifth, and he burned Wil Myers in a double-switch to shore up the outfield defense in the seventh.

As it would happen, those decisions loomed large in a two-run game in the 10th inning. Perdomo worked a feisty seven-pitch at-bat before he struck out looking to end the game.