Umpire starts Romo's final Giants appearance on sour note originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

Read the room, Blue. Or in this case, read an Oracle Park crowd on its feet for Sergio Romo's final game in a Giants uniform.

Monday night was filled with plenty of emotion for both fans and the beloved pitcher they came to watch retire, but Romo was behind in the count before he even threw a pitch during his ceremonious relief appearance.

Despite all of the pomp and circumstance during the seventh inning of San Francisco's 12-6 exhibition loss to the Oakland Athletics, home plate umpire Nic Lentz called Romo for two pitch-clock violations before he faced his first batter.

We get it, those are the rules now. But in an exhibition game as a Giants icon takes the mound one final time? Tough crew.

Romo likely just wanted to soak in the moment, and the two immediate balls put him in a tough spot to start. He walked Conner Capel, and faced two more A's batters without recording an out.

Three batters was the plan for Romo, however, and he fully understood Lentz was just doing his job.

"I didn't expect to walk a hitter on two pitches thrown," Romo told announcers Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper during an in-game interview on the NBC Sports Bay Area broadcast. "It is what it is. You know, they got a protocol, and they're getting ready for the season, too. It was a lot of fun. It really, really was."

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Romo, known for his infectious smile during his nine seasons in Orange and Black, kept that same energy on Monday night as thousands chanted his name.

While many fans -- and Krukow and Kuiper -- were upset with how his appearance started, there's no way he would let it spoil his special night.

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