Rookie's speed sparks Giants' comeback victory

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants used a blend of speed and power to rally for a dramatic 3-1 win over the Royals on Sunday afternoon and avoid a three-game sweep in their first home series of the year at Oracle Park.

San Francisco’s mercurial offense was shut out through the first seven innings before finally getting a much-needed jolt from rookie center fielder Bryce Johnson, who reached on a one-out single and then scored from first on Wilmer Flores’ RBI double down the left-field line to tie the game, 1-1, in the bottom of the eighth.

The fleet-footed Johnson initially broke for second on a stolen-base attempt and slid head-first into the bag before quickly popping up and sprinting around the bases at the direction of third-base coach Mark Hallberg, who alertly waved him home after Flores’ hit caromed off the wall and rolled into shallow left field.

Johnson went into another head-first slide to beat catcher MJ Melendez’s tag and set up Michael Conforto’s subsequent go-ahead two-run shot off Royals left-hander Ryan Yarbrough. Conforto’s third homer of the year -- and his first off a southpaw -- traveled a projected 429 feet out to right-center field and sealed the Giants’ first home win of the year in a crisp two hours and 15 minutes.

The Giants looked overmatched against Kansas City lefty Kris Bubic, a Cupertino, Calif., native who struck out nine over six scoreless innings and didn’t allow a hit until David Villar delivered a leadoff single in the fifth, but Conforto said Johnson’s ability to get the club on the board with his wheels ultimately helped swing the momentum in San Francisco’s favor.

“It was huge,” Conforto said. “He fired me up from the on-deck circle. … I had a great view of it. I saw him slide head-first into second. He’s got to get up and round the bases. It’s just an incredible play from such an athlete. He had that hit to start us off, too, and then Flo comes up clutch. Just an all-around great inning. It sets it up for me to have that at-bat."

Johnson came into Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, but he turned heads by flashing the type of game-changing speed and athleticism that was missing from the Giants’ roster last season. The 27-year-old switch-hitter went 12-for-12 in stolen-base attempts in exhibition play, ultimately earning his first callup of the season in the second game of the season at Yankee Stadium.

Johnson made his second consecutive start in center on Sunday and continued to -- quite literally -- run with the opportunity.

“Thank God it was down the left-field line, so I had a good look at it,” Johnson said. “Once I saw it kick forward, I knew to kick it into another gear. We had a chance to score right there. Just kept going."

The Giants’ late comeback ensured they didn’t waste another splendid start from right-hander Anthony DeSclafani, who struck out seven over 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball. DeSclafani allowed only three hits, including a fourth-inning RBI single by Salvador Perez, flashing the form he showed during his career-best 2021 campaign.

DeSclafani made only five appearances last year before undergoing season-ending right ankle surgery in July, but he’s looked sharp through his first two starts of 2023, giving up one run over 12 1/3 innings (0.73 ERA) while striking out 11 and walking none.

“It’s nice, more than anything, to have the health,” DeSclafani said. “My pitches are doing what they did back in ‘21. That’s nice to have moving forward. The ball’s not always going to work your way, but as long as I have those two pitches to compete with, it should be fun."

A weird scene unfolded in the bottom of the seventh, when the Giants sent the left-handed-hitting Blake Sabol up to pinch-hit for Austin Wynns with two outs and a runner on first. Sabol was expected to face right-hander Carlos Hernández, but the Royals appeared to remove Hernández after he suffered an apparent injury. Yarbrough began jogging in from the bullpen, but he ended up turning around after Hernández briefly returned to the mound.

After some confusion, Hernández ultimately departed the game and set up a left-on-left matchup between Yarbrough and Sabol – a suboptimal outcome that drew the ire of manager Gabe Kapler. Home-plate umpire Dan Iassogna told a pool reporter after the game that he mistakenly pointed Sabol into the game before verifying the substitution with Kapler.

“It didn’t necessarily work out in our favor,” Kapler said. “All things considered, I think it probably should have, but there’s a lot of nuance there."