Giants observations: Offense goes quiet in home opener loss to Royals

What we learned as Giants drop home opener to Royals originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants leaned on nostalgia before their home opener at Oracle Park, having longtime clubhouse manager Mike Murphy throw out the ceremonial first pitch and Sergio Romo yell "play ball!" into a mic to fire up the fans. But all of that magic was no match for an early-season trend.

As they did in their first, third and fifth games, the Giants came out flat offensively. They managed just five hits in a 3-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals.

The Royals (2-6) took the lead in the fourth when DH Vinnie Pasquantino hit a hanging splitter from Alex Cobb into the arcade section in right. They added another solo shot later, and the Giants (3-4) had just four hits through the first eight innings.

Joc Pederson brought a big crowd to life with a leadoff triple in the ninth but Mike Yastrzemski was called out on pitch just off the corner and Thairo Estrada's liner was snagged by former Giant Matt Duffy. After a walk by Brandon Crawford, Blake Sabol also went down looking.

Here are three more things to know from a disappointing opener at Oracle Park:

Disappearing Depth

The Giants opened the season with three catchers on their roster. By the end of the home opener, they were down to one healthy catcher, and he's the guy who has been their primary left fielder.

Roberto Peréz made a throw to second in the top of the sixth and immediately came out of the game. He shook his throwing arm after making the throw and the Giants announced he was initially diagnosed with a right shoulder strain. Sabol moved to catcher after making his fifth start of the season in left.

Peréz certainly looks headed for the IL, and the Giants don't have a lot of great options to fill the hole. Joey Bart (back strain) isn't eligible to come off the IL until Monday and the Giants had been planning to send him on a rehab assignment since he hasn't played in a game in a couple of weeks. Gary Sanchez, signed last week, has not joined Triple-A Sacramento yet but might be the choice by default even though he hasn't played a game since a WBC appearance on March 14.

The other option is Austin Wynns, but he's not on the 40-man roster, and the Giants might be hesitant to make that move knowing that they'll soon need a roster spot for Sanchez.

The Shift Is (Kinda) Back

Infield shifts are outlawed this season, but the Royals became the first Giants opponent to get creative with their outfield defense.

Against left-handed hitters Michael Conforto, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Sabol, they moved right fielder MJ Melendez up near the dirt so he was playing essentially where second basemen used to in a shift. That left a two-man outfield:

The alignment left plenty of space in right, although with the lack of distance out there at Oracle Park, perhaps that's not as much of a concern. Wade hit one to Triples Alley in the fifth but center fielder Kyle Isbel was shifted over there and ran it down.

Old Friends

Jose Alguacil, a longtime member of the Giants organization, took the lineup card out for the Royals. He's now their infield coach and he spent time with Ron Wotus and some Giants players during BP, but he wasn't the only one throwing it back to the title years.

Duffy started at third base for the Royals in what was his first game at Oracle Park since an infamous trade at the deadline in 2016. Duffy got a huge ovation from fans who still remember his contributions to the 2014 title and over the next two seasons.

The only Royal left from that World Series is Salvador Perez, who had an up-and-down day. The 32-year-old catcher hit into double plays in his first two at-bats but smoked a solo homer off Taylor Rogers in the eighth to pad the lead.

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