PHOENIX — With a victory on Wednesday, the Arizona Diamondbacks could have woken up on Thursday morning in a playoff spot.

With losses from both the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds, the Diamondbacks could have jumped both fellow National League Wild Card contenders by taking care of business against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And the D-backs had a shot with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Instead, the Diamondbacks merely did not lose any ground, as the Dodgers evened up the series at Chase Field in extra innings, 5-4.

There are four games left on the schedule, and the D-backs (80-78) remain one game behind the 81-77 Mets and 80-78 Reds (via tiebreaker).

“Tough one to swallow,” D-backs starter Ryne Nelson said. “I think the guys left it all out there today. Regardless of how it ended, it’s really fun to be a part of this team and to be a part of what we have going on here. I think that we never give up, we never stop fighting.”

After storming back from a four-run deficit to walk-off the Dodgers on Tuesday, the D-backs mustered another comeback with three runs in the eighth inning on Wednesday to tie the game.

Corbin Carroll’s double brought home a run and put the two runners in scoring position. A Gabriel Moreno infield single and Adrian Del Castillo sacrifice fly brought them in.

The Dodgers called on Clayton Kershaw — set to retire at the end of the year — to pitch the ninth inning in what was likely his final appearance at Chase Field. He delivered a 1-2-3 frame capped by a Tommy Edman diving catch.

Carroll’s outfield assist to the plate saved a run in the 10th inning, but Jake McCarthy and James McCann popped out to strand the bases loaded in the 10th.

With another shot, the Dodgers scored the winning run on a Tommy Edman two-out single.

“Tough game,” Corbin Carroll said. “Obviously battled them the whole way and tied it up there late, but just got beat today.”

Dodgers starter Blake Snell tossed six innings of one-run ball, shutting out the D-backs over his final five frames. Roki Sasaki returned from a four-month injured list stint and threw a 1-2-3 inning.

Nelson struck out a season-high nine batters, and he recorded his seventh quality start over his last eight appearances. He struck out seven out of 11 batters over a stretch. His largest blemish was a cutter he left over the middle that Andy Pages drove for a two-run home run.

Nelson finished with six innings pitched and three earned runs.

Why did the Diamondbacks bunt with Geraldo Perdomo?

The game appeared to be set up for Geraldo Perdomo to be its hero again. After he hit a walk-off single on Tuesday, Perdomo led off the bottom of the 10th inning with the ghost runner on second base.

With southpaw Jack Dreyer on the mound for L.A., the D-backs put the bunt sign for Perdomo, and he executed. Ketel Marte skipped over to third base and Perdomo was tossed out, ending his 12-game hitting streak.

The problem was Los Angeles intentionally walked both Carroll and Moreno to get McCarthy with a left-on-left matchup.

Two pop-ups later, the Dodgers escaped, and the Diamondbacks failed to score the ghost runner again. The D-backs have scored 20 runs in 27 extra innings this year despite being given a runner in scoring position (.189 average).

So, why did the Diamondbacks bunt with one of their best hitters in a spot to win the game?

“Analytics says bunt,” manager Torey Lovullo explained. “I feel like when you get a runner to third base with less than two outs, you gotta find a way to win the baseball game. I knew there was a chance they’d pitch around Corbin. I knew there was a chance they’d load the bases with Gabi, but we had some things in place. We secured some things in place that we felt like we were gonna score a run with Jake at the plate. We didn’t execute.”

The move doesn’t look too bad if McCarthy simply puts the ball in the outfield, but it allowed the Dodgers to maneuver in a way to avoid Arizona’s most dangerous hitters.

Point, Dave Roberts.

Why did the Diamondbacks keep Philip Abner in the game?

Another potential inflection point in hindsight was the top of the eighth inning. Los Angeles scored an insurance run on a Teoscar Hernandez double off left-handed reliever Philip Abner.

Abner recorded two outs with a runner on base. Right-handed reliever Juan Morillo was warming up in the bullpen, but Arizona kept Abner in to face the right-handed Hernandez.

“It’s a cut-fastball up-and-in … Abner’s strength matches (Hernandez’s) limitation and we just didn’t execute,” Lovullo said. “So those are the little things I’m talking about when we don’t execute.”

Up next for Diamondbacks

The rubber match is on Thursday at 12:40 p.m. MST.

Jalen Beeks (3.67 ERA) is probable to open against Dodgers righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.58).

It will be the final home game of the regular season for the 2025 Diamondbacks, and with the postseason uncertain, this could be the last game at Chase Field until next spring.

Tune in on ESPN 620 AM and the Arizona Sports app.