Salvador Perez belts clutch 3-run homer as Kansas City Royals beat Giants on wild pitch
The Royals have found something that they like at Oracle Park in San Francisco. In front of a lively crowd of 35,126, Bobby Witt Jr. and Franmil Reyes connected on solo home runs, while Salvador Perez drilled a game-tying three-run shot with two out in the eighth.
The winning run? A wild pitch way inside to Kyle Isbel, who got out of the way while Nate Eaton scored from third in the top of the ninth. Kansas City won 6-5, improving to 3-6 on the season while the Giants fell to 3-5. Aroldis Chapman earned the save for KC.
“It was a great feeling, it was a great game,” Chapman said through a translator after the game. “That home run opened the door to come in in the ninth and have the lead, get the save and win the game.”
It was an early struggle for both offenses, which combined for a single hit — a Hunter Dozier single to left — in the first three innings. In the leadoff spot, Witt struck out twice in his first two at-bats, and the Royals struck out five times through their first 11 plate appearances.
Royals starter Brady Singer breezed through his first three innings, retiring the Giants’ lineup one through nine to begin Saturday’s game. He ran into trouble in the fourth, as LaMonte Wade Jr. crushed a leadoff solo shot to right and Michael Conforto singled, advanced to third on a J.D. Davis double and reached home on a sacrifice fly by Joc Pederson.
Two more Giants came around to score, as Singer allowed five hits and four runs in the frame. Singer went six innings, surrendering eight hits and five runs (all earned).
“I felt really good,” Singer said. “It didn’t feel like it sped up on me. I felt like I slowed down and made some really good pitches. They just had some really good at-bats.”
Witt put the Royals on the board with his solo home run in the sixth, but the Giants answered with an insurance run in the bottom of the inning. Reyes also hit his second home run of the season, a solo shot in the top of the seventh. KC trailed 5-2 before Perez’s blast in the eighth.
“I closed my eyes and prayed,” interim manager Paul Hoover joked of Perez’s home run. “I was just hoping it got out. ... Happy when it left the park.”
The pitch was well out of the strike zone, making Perez’s home run all the more impressive.
“Somebody said, ‘Make a mistake,’ and Salvy’s like, ‘That was a good pitch. It wasn’t a mistake,’” Hoover said. “He’s clutch. He’s done it his whole career. For him to come through again for his team is who he is.”
After the game, Perez wanted to issue a correction.
“When it’s (a) home run, it’s a bad pitch,” Perez joked through a translator. (He requested to join Chapman’s postgame interview and gave answers in Spanish.)
The most precarious moment for the Royals came in the bottom of the eighth, as the Giants hit three straight singles off reliever Taylor Clarke to load the bases with no one out. But Clarke settled in, striking out Thairo Estrada, Brandon Crawford and Blake Sabol to escape the inning with the score still tied.
“I saw the whole thing, it was awesome,” Eaton said of Clarke escaping the jam. “It definitely hypes you up. It gets everybody else going.”
More Royals coverage from San Francisco:
Here’s a look back at the action from Saturday’s game...
Vendor interference?
After hitting a pair of solo home runs in Friday’s 3-1 win over San Francisco, the Royals nearly had one in the fourth inning of Saturday’s game. MJ Melendez crushed a ball deep to left-center, which hit the top of the wall before bouncing back into play.
The play was reviewed not quite for fan interference, but rather potential vendor interference: a stadium worker had set a red plastic bucket on top of the wall, with the corner sticking over the edge. It appeared the ball could have bounced off the bucket before returning to the field of play.
Hoover said after the game he couldn’t tell if the ball had hit the “red beer bucket” or not.
Ultimately, the call stood — and replays shown in the stadium were inconclusive, though another strong San Francisco crowd grimaced at the first replay of the ball potentially having left the park.
Bobby Witt Jr. goes yard
Bobby Witt earned a light day of work to start the series in San Francisco. After playing in seven games to start the year, Witt came on as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and flew out to center in his lone at-bat.
Bobby by the bay. #WelcomeToTheCity pic.twitter.com/bHBw7CrQBb
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 8, 2023
Saturday’s game was much more eventful, as Witt struck out twice before crushing a ball to left for his second home run of the season, cutting the Royals’ deficit to 4-1. It was Witt’s second home run of the young season, traveling 384 feet with an exit velocity of 106.5 mph.
Up next
The Royals will close out the series against San Francisco at 3:05 p.m. Central (1:05 p.m. Pacific) on Sunday. On the mound for KC will be lefty Kris Bubic, opposing Giants righty Anthony DeSclafani.
Kansas City will then travel to Texas to meet the Rangers for a three-game series beginning Monday.
