OAKLAND, Calif. — Juan Soto’s sliding catch on Thursday cost him a starting spot on Friday, but not the entire evening.

After being cut from the Yankees lineup at the last minute on Friday due to swelling and soreness in his left knee from slamming into a wall at T-Mobile Park the day before, Soto showed enough improvement to enter the game as a pinch-hitter in the 10th inning.

It came as no surprise to anyone when Soto sealed the deal in that dramatic moment by hitting an RBI double the other way, which ultimately proved to be the winning run in the Yankees’ 4-2 victory over the A’s at the Coliseum.

“We tried the knee early on before the match,” Soto said. “We went to the cage, hit a little bit. We also tried the gym, did some squats and stuff. It responded pretty well.

“So throughout the whole game I felt good, it wasn’t painful or anything after all the work we put in. That’s when I knew I had a good chance to be an option.”

X-rays on Soto’s knee came back negative, but he continued to experience swelling and pain Friday. After pregame treatments and exercises, the Yankees decided to err on the side of caution and bench him, at least through the early evening.

But Soto came to Aaron Boone midgame after he had done his job and told his manager he could be an option for a pinch-hit spot if the Yankees needed him. Boone said he wouldn’t do it when there was only one man on second in the 10th inning because he thought the A’s would just let him walk, but when the Yankees put runners on the corners, Soto walked away for his big moment.

“I know we clinched (a playoff spot), but ultimately the goal is to win the division,” Soto said. “We’re really close. I haven’t thought about taking a day off or anything like that, but we’re also trying to be smart and think about October.”

Soto appeared to be able to run well to second base. He said he was “a little sore, but not as bad as this morning.”

Whether he will be back in the starting lineup on Saturday depends on how he wakes up, he said.

With just one week left in the regular season, as they attempt to clinch the AL East and head into October with confidence, the Yankees can’t afford to be without Soto for long.

“Not overly (concerned about the long term),” Boone said before the game. “Even talking to (director of sports medicine and rehabilitation Mike Schuk), it’s not something he’s worried about long term here. Just an everyday thing.”

In retrospect, the Yankees would have rather dropped the ball for a foul — they were trailing the Mariners, 3-2, in the seventh inning — than have Soto put his body in danger, especially at this point in the season. But that’s easier said than done for Soto, who also has a lot on the line less than two months away from reaching free agency.

Boone also said Soto may have saved himself from something worse by sliding into the wall.

“More than you know, guys know how to protect themselves and play smart in certain situations,” Boone said. “I actually think he protected himself a little bit by going the way he did. Obviously he hurt it and he’s out today, but the way he went about it, he avoided a bad situation.”