SAN FRANCISCO – Scott Kingery stood Saturday night with his red cleats touching the infield grass. Cesar Hernandez, the second baseman, moved onto the other side of second base and stationed himself just a few feet to Kingery’s left. Maikel Franco played shallow at third base.
The Phillies installed an extreme defensive shift with one out and a runner on third in the sixth inning of a 2-0 loss to the Giants. These alignments – which are based in analytics and scouting reports – burned the Phillies early in the season but manager Gabe Kapler refused to stray from them.