Why KC Royals were eager for change of scenery ... leading to first road win of 2023
Speaking in the dugout at Oracle Park ahead of the Royals’ first road game of 2023, interim manager Paul Hoover suggested a change of scenery might do a struggling Kansas City team well.
Turns out, a trip to the West Coast in front of an announced sellout crowd of 40,711 was just what the doctor ordered. Brad Keller surrendered one run in 5 2/3 innings of work and Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez each hit their first home runs of the season as the Royals took down the Giants 3-1.
Kansas City improved to 2-6 after earning just a single win in seven home games to start 2023. San Francisco fell to 3-4.
A clubhouse celebration ensued, though this time it was a “beer shower,” Keller said, for Hoover rather than the champagne that was sprayed for Royals manager Matt Quatraro when he earned his first win.
“It was cold, lost my breath,” Hoover said. “But it was cool that everybody got together just to celebrate a team win.”
“It was pretty fun,” added Perez. “Everybody knows Q is not here. (Hoover) is doing a very good job. ... Good for him.”
Taking the field on a misty, chilly day in San Francisco, the Royals got on the board in the second inning, as Kyle Isbel, Hunter Dozier and Nicky Lopez singled one after the other. Isbel advanced from first to third on Dozier’s single that dribbled into right, and Isbel scored as Lopez’s single scraped past San Francisco second baseman Thairo Estrada.
But the Giants answered quickly, stringing together a similar rally — three singles in four at-bats — in the bottom of the second to score Mike Yastrzemski and tie the score at 1-1.
The Royals did make solid contact early, including a pair of deep outs from MJ Melendez to Yastrzemski in center and another from Pasquantino with an exit velocity over 108 mph. But Pasquantino came through in his next at-bat, blasting a 2-2 pitch in the fourth inning over the wall in right for a go-ahead solo home run.
Perez’s solo shot followed in the eighth inning, giving the Royals some breathing room.
“We haven’t been winning. We were able to get one today, and we’re happy about it,” Pasquantino said. “So hopefully we keep that going. And, I mean, the pitching staff has been unbelievable, so we’re kind of following their lead of being professional every time we step up there.”
Here’s a look back at the action from Friday’s series opener.
Strong outing for Brad Keller
Despite allowing at least one baserunner in each of the first four innings, Keller emerged from Friday’s start largely unscathed.
“Double plays really helped me out today,” Keller acknowledged postgame. “It was really big to get into the sixth and give the team a chance to win.”
The Royals righty threw 94 pitches (58 strikes) over 5 2/3 innings of work, making way for Ryan Yarbrough with nobody on in the sixth.
Keller allowed only three hits, though he did walk three batters. He struck out three of the final five Giants he faced. Yarbrough got the Royals out of the sixth after walking one batter, and Aroldis Chapman struck out two in a tidy eighth inning to help the Royals over the finish line.
“I mean, electric stuff,” Keller said, asked to describe how the relievers pitched. “Watching Chapman go in there and throw 100 is always fun. And then Scott (Barlow) and Yarbrough doing their thing, it’s fun to be able to give the team a chance to win and pass the ball to the bullpen — and watch them come in and throw their nasty stuff.”
Vinnie Pasquantino beats the shift (sort of)
While there are new rules in place aimed at taking the shift out of baseball, the Giants showed one of the ways around them. Facing Pasquantino in the fourth inning, the Giants had their third baseman effectively filling the role of shortstop, and their shortstop one step off second base.
One way to beat the shift? Hit the ball really high, really hard ... right over it.
Pasquantino, who had 10 home runs last year in 72 games, crushed his first home run of the season over the wall in right. The shot traveled 366 feet with an exit velocity of 102.6 mph.
Facing a similar defensive alignment in the sixth inning, Pasquantino placed a hard-hit single between the repositioned shortstop and second baseman for his first multi-hit game of the young season.
Bobby Witt rests, Matt Quatraro back for Rangers series?
Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. was not in the lineup for Friday’s series opener, a move Hoover, KC’s bench coach under normal circumstances, described as Witt getting some rest after he played in the first seven games to start the year.
Witt did pinch hit for Michael Massey in the eighth inning, flying out to center in what turned into a Giants double play.
Hoover also provided an update on manager Matt Quatraro, who has not been with the club after testing positive for COVID-19. Quatraro is expected back some time during the series against the Texas Rangers, which follows the Giants series and will run April 10-12.
Up next
The Royals have two games remaining against the Giants, the first coming tomorrow at 3:05 p.m. Central (1:05 p.m. Pacific). Brady Singer (1-0, 1.80 ERA) will be on the mound against San Francisco lefty Sean Manaea.
The series will conclude with another 3:05 p.m. Central start on Sunday, with Royals lefty Kris Bubic opposing Giants righty Anthony DeSclafani.
This story was originally published April 7, 2023 at 6:00 PM.
