Aroldis Chapman pitched for the fourth consecutive day on Friday for the first time in his Major League career.
Dusty Baker said the move was "by design" to have Chapman log more work as the season winds down.
"He could have gone four days before, but we were trying to program him for this time of the year," said Baker. "He only went multiple innings one time, and three days in a row one time. Usually, that's not the life of a reliever."
After going more than a week without pitching, Chapman has struck out nine of the last 14 batters he's faced.