ATLANTA — Michael King had that game he so often has, so angsty but in the end effective.

The San Diego Padres offense had that game it too often does, so frustrating and ultimately deflating.

Or it had enough of that game. It had that game until it was too late.

The Padres answered a six-run eighth inning by the Atlanta Braves with five runs in the ninth inning before falling 7-6 in a loss that continued to drain the air from their playoff aspirations.

The Braves scored the six runs against Wandy Peralta and Randy Vásquez in the eighth inning.

Those blows landed after a game full of mostly nothing from the Padres’ offense outside of Jackson Merrill’s game-tying home run in the seventh inning.

Then, after going 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position in the first eight innings Wednesday, the Padres scored three runs on a walk and three hits against Victor Mederos and Luis Rengifo’s two-run home run against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias before Manny Machado and Ty France struck out to end the game.

Wednesday’s game was among the most illustrative of what is wrong with the Padres that, after 102 games, perhaps can’t be fixed by any addition(s) at the trade deadline.

And this loss was a tangible step backward, as all five teams ahead of the Padres in the race for the final National League playoff spot won on Wednesday.

After gaining ground despite losing three of their first five games on this 10-game road trip, the Padres on Wednesday fell to three games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks

King was not sharp. He was in and out of trouble, like a magician who escapes handcuffs and a straightjacket.

He walked the first three batters he faced, and the Braves took a 1-0 lead on Michael Harris II’s groundout before King struck out the next two batters.

The Braves would have at least one man on base in each of King’s five innings, including runners at the corners with one out in the fourth, but they would not score off the pitcher again.

King departed after throwing 95 pitches, having tied his season highs with seven hits allowed and four walks while striking out seven.

After Kyle Hart worked a 1-2-3 sixth, Merrill got the Padres even by sending an 0-2 fastball from Didier Fuentes a projected 449 feet, where it landed in a pond that feeds into a waterfall beyond center field.

It was Merrill’s fourth home run in four games and the longest of his career, and it was his second hit of the game and the Padres’ second hit of the game.

The Padres would get two more hits in the seventh — singles by Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth.

But after pinch-hitter Gavin Sheets flied out to left field, a double steal opened first base and the Braves intentionally walked Fernando Tatis Jr. to bring up Rengifo, who popped out on the first pitch he saw from Fuentes.

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