Excloser Nen, now 50, sympathizes with Gott

The Giants have an alumnus with 314 majorleague saves and can understand how Trevor Gott felt after he blew a ninthinning lead for the third straight time Monday night. Moreover, the former Giants reliever hopes to see Gott get another chance to close games after regaining his confidence in less leveraged innings.

“Hopefully, they put him back out in that situation,” Robb Nen said by phone from his Orange County home. “If they think he’s got the stuff to be a closer, the worst thing is to be pulled out of that job. Maybe he’ll get a chance to come in and get some work to regain his confidence and get back to doing good things.”

Nen, now 50 and a grandfather, is revered in San Francisco, but he had bad streaks, too. In fact, in the 2002 World Series season, Nen took three consecutive blown saves.

His situation and Gott’s are hardly the same. Nen by then was an established majorleague closer. Gott is getting his first shot. And Nen lost leads of one, one and two runs, not seven, three and one.

But that last one for Nen was a killer.

He allowed a tworun Chipper Jones single in Atlanta that tied a 31 game. A storm prevented the Giants and Braves from finishing and the Dusty Baker’s club left for Miami knowing it would have to return to Atlanta after the regular season to replay the game if it impacted the postseason race.

It didn’t, and the game was not replayed, but throughout the season’s final six weeks, Nen brooded over that blown save, which he did not — and still does not — blame on the shoulder injury that ended his career after that season.

“It seemed like every year I went through a little streak like two out of three, three out of four, whatever the numbers were,” Nen said. “It’s not the easiest thing to lose games in that fashion. It’s tough for a team. Hopefully, those guys are coming up to him and saying, ‘Keep it going. We’re all behind you.’ ”

Asked what he would say to Gott, Nen said, “First of all, I would tell him the game’s not easy. You’ve got to go out there battling and make adjustments. This game will humble you in many ways. He’s going through a humbling part right now.

“When he comes out the other side of this, he’ll be a better player, a better pitcher, a better closer.”

Slater progress: That the Giants did not place Austin Slater on the injured list suggests they still plan to use him as a designated hitter or pinchhitter while he strengthens his strained flexor in his throwing elbow. He was not the DH in the two games at Anaheim. Manager Gabe Kapler used Pablo Sandoval, who has started to make better contact.

Kapler said Slater has had no setbacks, but this kind of injury requires a methodical rehab. The outfielder has begun working with a weighted Plyo Ball to mimic the explosive movements required to throw a baseball.

“Everything is going as planned,” Kapler said. “... Everything is moving in the right direction.”

Briefly: Twenty Giants batted against Dylan Bundy with eight reaching base after he entered with the majors’ lowest WHIP (0.63) . ... Mike Yastrzemski’s 1.125 OPS with two strikes leads the majors by more than 150 points.