SAN FRANCISCO _ With a doubleheader on the calendar, the Giants began Saturday thinking their pitching staff would need to record at least 54 outs.
They did not, however, expect Pablo Sandoval to appear out of the bullpen.
In the top of the ninth inning of a 15-6 loss to the Dodgers, Sandoval became the first position player to pitch for the Giants since Greg Litton appeared on July 4, 1991 against the Astros.
"At the end of the day, it's one of the moments that everyone was in the dugout watching the game," Sandoval said. "It was exciting to get the team together. We lost the game but we had a little fun at the end of the game."
Sandoval recorded a perfect 1-2-3 ninth inning, making the first appearance of his career hours after starter Chris Stratton recorded just four outs. Sandoval's inning was the only frame a Giants pitcher sat down the Dodgers in order on Saturday.
"He did bring some levity to a real long game," manager Bruce Bochy said. "The club needed it in this respect. We're trying to save some arms here for tonight and tomorrow."
With the Giants struggling, Bochy approached Sandoval in the seventh inning about the idea of pitching the ninth. The utility infielder embraced the opportunity and became the first Giants position player to toss a scoreless frame since Matty Alou threw two on August 26, 1965 against the Pirates.
"I don't ask to do this," Sandoval said. "I just wait for the moment when it comes."
The worst start of Stratton's career featured six runs in the first two innings on a day that taxed the Giants' pitching depth.
The 15 runs and 20 hits produced by the Dodgers set season highs, as Chase Utley and Joc Pederson each contributed four hits in the blowout.
After being placed on paternity leave this week, Stratton and his wife Martha Kate welcomed their second child late Wednesday evening. Stratton returned to AT&T Park after traveling home to Mississippi for the birth of his daughter and was activated ahead of the doubleheader.
The right-hander entered Saturday's contest with a 2.32 ERA through five starts, but surrendered four first-inning walks in a 45-pitch frame.
Stratton allowed three runs in the first, but had the chance to settle down as the Giants' offense challenged rookie Walker Buehler in the bottom half of the frame. San Francisco tagged Buehler for two runs including one which came home on a two-out RBI single from Sandoval.
When the Giants' starter returned to the hill in the top of the second, the Dodgers teed off on offerings that caught too much of the plate. Four of the five hitters Stratton faced in the second clubbed extra base hits, including center fielder Chris Taylor who led off the inning with a home run to left-center field, the first home run Stratton has allowed this season.
"He's not going to make any excuses," Bochy said of Stratton. "He said he felt fine with his legs and everything but I think it played a part. That's a pretty busy last three or four days for him and he just wasn't quite himself."
Back-to-back triples by Cody Bellinger and Pederson ended Stratton's afternoon midway through the second inning, as it was the shortest start by a Giants pitcher since Matt Moore went 11/3 innings against Arizona on September 26, 2017.
"I feel like my job is to put us in the best position to win the day and I really blew it early on for us," Stratton said.
For the second straight game, the Giants mounted a seventh-inning rally against Dodgers reliever Pedro Baez, who balked in the go-ahead run in San Francisco's win on Friday. In his first at-bat with the Giants, infielder Alen Hanson launched a three-run home run over the bricks in right center field to cut down on a 10-run deficit.
Hanson's contract was selected to the Giants' roster on Saturday after Joe Panik was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained left thumb.
"This morning I woke up and I was making plans to go grocery shopping with my wife," Hanson said. "I get the phone call so obviously I had to cancel everything and pack up and just get down here."
The rally began with a single by reliever Derek Law, who picked up his first career hit with a line drive up the middle off of Baez.
Law took over after the Giants pulled right-hander Roberto Gomez, who helped bridge the gap to the middle innings by recording 10 outs with 73 pitches. Gomez ran into trouble in multiple two-out situations, including one that played a role in the ejection of Giants' pitching coach Curt Young.
With two outs and two strikes on Chase Utley in the top of the third, Gomez delivered a curveball right over the heart of the plate. The pitch popped out of the mitt of catcher Nick Hundley, but Utley took off toward first base believing Hundley dropped the third strike.
Home plate umpire Tripp Gibson signaled for Utley to return to the batter's box and continue the inning after ruling the pitch a ball. Later in the at-bat, Utley smoked an RBI double off the right field wall.
Young went to the mound to meet with Gomez following a walk to Corey Seager, and on his way back to the dugout, appeared to voice his frustration with Gibson over the missed strike call. Gibson tossed Young from the game, but he'll be able to return to the dugout for the second game of the doubleheader.
Despite allowing three runs in 3 and 1/3 innings, Gomez's efforts proved significant for a Giants team that exhausted its bullpen in a 6-4 win over the Dodgers on Friday. Starter Derek Holland failed to pitch through the fourth inning, and manager Bruce Bochy needed the services of five relievers to finish out the game.
