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Michael Conforto's game-winning homer lifts SF Giants to 3-1 victory

A late-game rally by the SF Giants offense helped them avoid wasting an excellent outing from Anthony DeSclafani.
Marc Delucchi|
Michael Conforto's game-winning homer lifts SF Giants to 3-1 victory
Michael Conforto's game-winning homer lifts SF Giants to 3-1 victory

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San Francisco GiantsKansas City Royals

In the final game of their series against the Kansas City Royals, the SF Giants showed off some late-game heroics in a 3-1 win. Pitchers on both teams benefited from a wide strike zone on Sunday afternoon, but an eighth-inning blast by right fielder Michael Conforto lifted the Giants to victory.

After throwing six shutout innings in his first outing of the season, Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani turned another quality outing, striking out seven across 6.1 innings pitched while allowing just one run on three hits. DeSclafani was replaced by Scott Alexander with a runner on first base, but Alexander did not allow him to score.

Despite his strikeout tally, DeSclafani did not dominate Royals hitters. He only induced seven swinging strikes over the course of his outing, but he located his pitches well and prevented opposing hitters from squaring him up. The Royals only posted four balls in play with an average exit-velocity higher than 100 mph.

On the hill for the Royals, southpaw Kris Bubic, an Archbishop Mitty High School and Stanford product, made his first career appearance at Oracle Park. Known for his command more than overpowering stuff, Bubic arguably had the most dominant outing of his career.

Bubic has never averaged a strikeout per inning over his four-year MLB career, but he racked up nine punchouts across six shutout innings of work, inducing 18 whiffs. Yet that did not keep Bubic from working incredibly efficiently. He only threw 76 pitches before he was replaced at the start of the seventh inning

The Giants managed just three base runners against Bubic. Right fielder Conforto was hit by a pitch, third baseman David Villar poked a ground ball up the middle for a single, and left fielder Heliot Ramos (Giants #17 prospect) reached on a bunt single.

However, with Royals reliever Ryan Yarbrough on the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Giants offense built their first rally of the day. It was all they needed.

Center fielder Bryce Johnson blooped a single off Yarbrough. Two batters later, Johnson broke for second base and Wilmer Flores laced a double down the left-field line. Johnson raced around the bases, showcasing his standout speed, and slid into home plate just out of catcher MJ Melendez's reach, scoring the tying run.

The next batter up, Conforto capitalized on a 3-1 curveball in the middle of the plate. The offseason blasted a 429' home run, for his third blast of the season.

Closer Camilo Doval had pitched in the past two games so Giants manager Gabe Kapler turned to Tyler Rogers to get the save. The righty submariner worked around a baserunner, who reached on a catcher's interference by Blake Sabol, to record the save.

San Francisco added Ramos to the active roster prior to Sunday's game, optioning corner bat Matt Beaty to Triple-A. Giants manager Gabe Kapler said the team was looking for an added platoon option before facing a string of left-handed starters. Ramos finished 1-for-3 with a strikeout.

"We want to keep giving our young players opportunities whenever we can," Kapler told reporters during his pregame media availability. He added that Sacramento River Cats (the Giants Triple-A affiliate) manager Dave Brundage told him in a phone conversation that Ramos' place appearances have been noticeably better than they were last season. While Ramos will likely return to Sacramento by the end of next week, the Giants hope he forces their hand by tapping into his right-handed power.

The SF Giants will face their first National League opponent of the season on Monday, when they begin a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Aces Logan Webb and Julio Urías are scheduled to start tomorrow night's game in front of the Oracle Park crowd. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 PM Pacific.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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