Road sweet road: Royals win 3-1 in San Francisco

The Royals embarked on their first road trip of the year and doubled their win total on the first try, beating the Giants 3-1 in the home opener for San Francisco. Brad Keller was solid for over five innings, and Royals pitchers held the Giants to just five hits.

Royals bats have gotten off to a slow start, and while they didn’t explode in this game, they managed to get the job done. They scratched together a run in the second when Kyle Isbel and Hunter Dozier singled to put runners on the corners with one out. With the infield drawn in, Nicky Lopez bounced a chopper through the hole on the right side to plate a run. But the Giants equalized in the bottom half of the inning on a Blake Sabol RBI single to make it 1-1.

Vinnie Pasquantino got his offense going with two hits and a walk on the day, including this fourth inning blast that traveled 366 feet for his first home run of the season.

Salvador Perez also put a mark in his 2023 home run total with his first blast of the year, a 416 foot blast to make it 3-1.

Meanwhile Brad Keller kept the Giants bats in check one day after they put up 16 runs on the White Sox. He induced nine ground ball outs, including two double plays, allowing just three hits and one run over 5 ²⁄₃ innings. Ryan Yarbrough and Aroldis Chapman tossed goose eggs, and Scott Barlow pitched around a leadoff triple to Joc Pederson and a walk to Brandon Crawford to earn his first save of the year.

The Royals win their second game of the year to improve to 2-6. They’ll face the Giants again tomorrow afternoon at 3:05 CT with Brady Singer scheduled to face off against Sean Manaea.