SAN FRANCISCO — Splitting his time in the middle innings Saturday between the bench and the batting cages attached to the Giants dugout, Austin Slater began to take notice of the diminishing number of teammates surrounding him. “Oh yeah, I was aware,” Slater laughed. When Slater eventually entered as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth, he became the 23rd player used by the Giants in a 5-4 win over the Phillies. It only took nine innings, but the Giants emptied their bench and used all but two of their relievers. It will go down as a feel-good victory, claiming a series against a postseason contender after their play the past two months dashed their own dreams, but it also served as a preview of things to come this September. They may not be playing for playoff berth, but don’t tell manager Gabe Kapler that these games don’t matter. “We’re taking these games and we’ll take every game until the season ends very seriously and give everything we have to try to win them,” Kapler said after the win, only hours after noting pregame that, “we’ve discussed and will continue to discuss how many things there are to play for here in September and how important the month is.” Look no further than the sixth inning for exactly how Kapler and the Giants view the month of September and the extra roster flexibility that comes with two additional players. When the top of the seventh started, an astonishing six replacements were announced at new positions. “That’s how we’ve played the game the whole year. We’re still playing to win baseball games,” Slater said. “That doesn’t change. … Guys are still on this team for certain reasons. The moment you stop doing that, it’s sending the wrong signal.” The frame proved to be pivotal in the win, plating the go-ahead run when Joc Pederson drew a bases-loaded walk, and the scoring rally was set up by a line change for the ages. The pinch-hitting quartet of Lewis Brinson (for Luis González), J.D. Davis (for Andrew Knapp), Wilmer Flores (for LaMonte Wade Jr.) and Evan Longoria (for Mike Yastrzemski) loaded the bases for Pederson, who patiently watched four pitches out of the strike zone after falling into an 0-2 hole, pushing Davis across to break a 4-4 tie. After trading leads five times, one finally stuck, thanks to the relief efforts of six bullpen arms, finished off with a four-out save by Camilo Doval, who entered with two outs in the eighth and the tying run on third base and struck out Matt Vierling to end the inning. “That sixth inning was really important and the way we would like to manage these games and would like to approach them,” Kapler said. “Obviously with a deeper bullpen and a deeper bench, we can take some liberties and try to create some matchups.” That meant when Philadelphia turned to left-handed reliever Brad Hand, Kapler turned to the right-handed bats on his bench. Brinson led off with a double (but was thrown out at home on fielder’s choice), Davis walked, Flores struck out and Longoria walked, too. By the end of the inning, Hand had thrown 38 pitches and allowed San Francisco to finally take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. “A complete team win, top to bottom,” said starter Jakob Junis, who allowed three runs (two earned) over 4⅓ innings. “Those ones feel extra good, when every guy’s contributing and you come out on top.” In the back-and-forth affair, the number of players used by the Giants also equaled the total number of hits combined for between both teams (23). The Giants’ five runs came in four different innings; the Phillies’ four runs came in three innings. However, the clubs combined to go 8-for-34 with runners in scoring position and committed three errors. Before drawing the tie-breaking walk, Pederson also drove in two other runs with RBI singles in the third and the fifth, extending his hitting streak to eight games. Since the start of August, Pederson has raised his OPS by 50 points. Over the course of his hitting streak, he is 13-for-24 (.542). When Doval entered in the eighth, he became the 22nd player the Giants used. But to finish the four-out save, it took the contributions of the one, last guy left on their bench. The player who could barely swing a bat because of a dislocated pinky finger. Entering as a defensive replacement in left field for Pederson, Slater made one of the game’s defensive highlights to record the second out of the ninth. On a sinking line drive from Rhys Hoskins, Slater raced in and dove to secure the out. If he appeared uninhibited by the injured pinky finger on his glove hand, it was a good acting job. “I landed right on it,” Slater said. Sections
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