Slater hits late 2-run homer, Giants beat Diamondbacks 6-5

PHOENIX (AP) — San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler opted to have Austin Slater to pinch hit for Alex Dickerson to lead off the fifth inning.

Slater ended up grounding out, but he made up for it with a big blast at a crucial moment.

Slater hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, Mike Yastrzemski also had a two-run shot and the Giants rallied to beat the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 on Saturday night.

“We depend on Slater and I thought that was an important enough at-bat to get him into the game,” Kapler said. ”Obviously, he got the biggest hit of the night for us."

The Giants hit three homers to end a season-long four-game losing streak in an 11-4 win Friday and again took the Diamondbacks down with the long ball.

Arizona went up 5-4 on David Peralta’s bloop single in the fifth inning, but Slater fouled off a couple of good pitches from Ryan Buchter (0-2) before hitting a 463-foot homer to center.

San Francisco has scored 214 of its 405 runs (52.8%) of its runs this season on homers.

Dominic Leone (2-0) struck out two in the seventh inning and Jake McGee worked a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances, improving the Giants to a majors-best 52-30. San Francisco overcame a season-high three errors and Thairo Estrada getting picked off first in the eighth.

“I don't think we played our crisp brand of baseball defensively or on the bases,” Kapler said. “We weren't at our best and are going to need to be better than that.”

Nick Ahmed hit a two-run homer to help Arizona rally from an early four-run deficit, but the bullpen had another letdown. The last-place Diamondbacks have lost six of seven.

“We fell down four runs, fought back and tied it, and took the lead,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “We just...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Slater-hits-late-2-run-homer-Giants-beat-16292543.php