SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants hope there will plenty of splash hits over the course of Rafael Devers’ nine years at Oracle Park, and the left-handed slugger started the count Wednesday night with a towering shot that barely made it to the water.

The first splash hit of Devers’ career proved to be decisive in a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals that allowed the Giants to stave off a sweep as well as their 82nd loss — which would assure a losing record for the seventh time in nine seasons — for another night.

After Robbie Ray was scratched from his final start of the season, J.T. Brubaker and Carson Seymour combined to limit the Cardinals to two over seven innings, and the Giants got just enough offense to make Devers’ home run stand up.

Andrew Knizner delivered a tie-breaking triple that

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