In Friday’s home opener, the Giants’ ninth inning comeback effort fell short. On Sunday, they wasted a gem from starter Sean Manaea.
To avoid their first sweep in a home opening series since 2015, the Giants executed the opposite: they rewarded an excellent start from Anthony DeSclafani with a late come-from-behind rally.
San Francisco went hitless for the first four innings and trailed 1-0 for three more. Then Bryce Johnson flew — the glove-first outfielder who runs like Christian McCaffrey — from first to home on a Wilmer Flores game-tying double. Johnson slid head-first into home on the two-out hit. It was in fact his second slide of the first-to-home sprint; he slid head-first into second on a steal attempt before popping back up and sending it home.
“That was insane,” DeSclafani said postgame.
DeSclafani was watching Johnson’s slide from the clubhouse. Michael Conforto, meanwhile, had the best view of Johnson’s impressive speed in Oracle Park. He was on deck, directing Johnson how to slide.
“Just an incredible play from such an athlete. He had that hit to start us off, too, then Flo comes up clutch. Just an all-around great inning.”
Then a batter later, Conforto put the Giants ahead with his third homer of the season. His game-breaking blast off Ryan Yarbrough left his bat at 109.6 mph and traveled 429 feet.
San Francisco’s eighth-inning rally, then Taylor Rogers’ save, gave the Giants a 3-1 victory. The Royals, who lost 97 games last year, still took two of three from the Giants (4-5).
The Giants were able to hang around because of DeSclafani. The veteran retired the first 11 batters he faced. The flawless foundation featured three backwards Ks and four strikeouts overall.
DeSclafani was building on his first start of the season, when he dealt six shutout innings in a 12-3 win over the White Sox. His sinker-slider mix much more closely resembles his 2021 self, when he posted a 3.17 ERA in 33 starts.
“It’s nice, more than anything, just to have the health,” DeSclafani said postgame. “And my pitches are doing what they did back in ’21, it seems like. As long as I have those to compete with, that’s nice to have moving forward.”
But as DeSclafani was dealing, Bubic was even better. He was the first left-handed starter the Giants faced in 2023, and it didn’t go well for them.
The Royals southpaw fanned six in the first three innings. The only baserunner he allowed in the first four frames was Michael Conforto on a hit-by-pitch.
The Royals broke through with a hit first, with Vinnie Pasquantino socking a two-out double to left-center off DeSclafani in the fourth. He scored a batter later on a single by Salvador Perez, who homered in both of the first two games of the series.
San Francisco’s first hit came an inning later, with David Villar grounding a single up the middle. Ramos followed with a bunt single, but both got stranded.
DeSclafani allowed just three hits in 6.1 innings. He headed to the dugout to a subdued ovation from a crowd of 30,207 — quaint for a Sunday day game in the opening series at home.
By the time both teams turned to their bullpens, the Giants trailed 1-0. DeSclafani kept them in it as the offense mustered two hits off Bubic and struck out nine times in six innings.
Without Mitch Haniger, Austin Slater, and Joey Bart, the Giants’ lineup against left-handed pitching was thin. The seven-eight-nine hitters were Austin Wynns, Heliot Ramos and Bryce Johnson. They each struck out in their first at-bats, seeing a total of 12 pitches.
But the bottom of SF’s order actually produced more than the top. Wynns, Ramos and Johnson finished 2-for-8 and Johnson scored the tying run.
Bubic departed after 76 pitches, the same count Sean Manaea controversially topped out at on Saturday.
A strange mix-up in the seventh inning served as a brief intermission to the Giants’ left-handed bats coming off the bench and failing to do damage initially. Blake Sabol had to face Yarbrough, the lefty reliever, because he told the home plate umpire that he was subbing in even though his manager didn’t officially point to him; SF wouldn’t have made the change ideally because a lefty was bound to enter if they announced the move first.
Sabol struck out, and then the Giants were on the verge of getting swept. With two outs in the eighth inning, they erupted. Flores drove in Johnson, and then Conforto had his first signature moment as a Giant.
Conforto said he kept his approach simple and just tried to swing at strikes against Yarbrough. It led to San Francisco’s first home run off a left-handed pitcher of 2023.
After he flipped his bat, Conforto looked back and screamed at the Giants’ dugout.
What could have been a disappointing opening weekend ended with a party in the clubhouse, with Conforto as the VIP.
“In this atmosphere, with the home crowd, getting them fired them up and showing some offense there at the end,” Conforto said. “It felt amazing.”
