Salvador Perez had three hits including a two-run homer, Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia each had two hits and two RBIs, and the Kansas City Royals got their offense going in a 8-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. The Royals had scored three runs or fewer in their previous seven games and were held to four runs or fewer in 42 of their first 50 games. Kansas City led 3-1 in the top of the fourth when Perez hit an opposite field homer off Giants starter Logan Webb (5-4) with Witt aboard.

Ace pitcher Logan Webb took the brunt of the punishment Wednesday as the Giants fell 8-4 to the Kansas City Royals to conclude a nine-game homestand. The Royals (28-23) took two of three in the series, with the Giants (29-21) missing a chance to go 10 games over .500 before going on a nine-game eastern swing to Washington, Detroit and Miami. The Giants had solo home runs from Matt Chapman in the third inning, his ninth of the season, and Patrick Bailey in the fourth, his first, before a home crowd of 29,064. Heliot Ramos hit a two-run home run in the ninth, his ninth of the season, to account for the last two runs.

The Giants are up against a left-handed starter Wednesday in their get-away day game against the Kansas City Royals at Oracle Park. Fortunately it will only be for an inning or so as the Royals are expected to have a bullpen game with left-hander Daniel Lynch opening against the Giants' Logan Webb. The Giants have been anemic against lefty starters all season, most recently being shut down by Mitty and Stanford product Kris Bubic in the first game of the Kansas City series. In their series against the Athletics, lefty Jeffrey Springs retried 20 batters in a row after giving up leadoff homer to Heliot Ramos.

Jordan Hicks, who was demoted to the San Francisco Giants bullpen after his failed attempt at sticking in the rotation, is ready to "turn the page" for now but isn't giving up on being a starter. Hicks, who pitched in relief for most of his five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays, signed a four-year, $44 million deal with San Francisco prior to the 2024 season largely because they were willing to convert him into a full-time starter. After making 20 starts in 2024, Hicks struggled to a 6.55 ERA over his first nine starts of this season before that experiment was shelved. "No matter where I'm at, I want to win," Hicks told MLB.com.

Jordan Hicks, who was demoted to the San Francisco Giants bullpen after his failed attempt at sticking in the rotation, is ready to "turn the page" for now but isn't giving up on being a starter. Hicks, who pitched in relief for most of his five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays, signed a four-year, $44 million deal with San Francisco prior to the 2024 season largely because they were willing to convert him into a full-time starter. After making 20 starts in 2024, Hicks struggled to a 6.55 ERA over his first nine starts of this season before that experiment was shelved. "No matter where I'm at, I want to win," Hicks told MLB.com.

Hayden Birdsong threw five sharp innings in his first start of the season and the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Tuesday night. Birdsong (2-0) was moved from the bullpen to the rotation in place of Jordan Hicks and provided just what manager Bob Melvin hoped he would deliver when he made the move. Birdsong allowed one unearned run, five hits and no walks to give the Giants their fourth win in the last five games.

Kansas City Royals at San Francisco Giants Game Preview

A former St. Louis Cardinals hurler has run into some trouble with his new club. The San Francisco Giants are excelling this year, but they haven't been happy with starting pitcher Jordan Hicks. Hicks, previously a reliever, was converted into a starter to begin the 2024 season and excelled, but 2025 hasn't been as kind, as he's gone 1-5 with a 6.60 ERA in 10 starts. As a result, the Giants are making a change concerning Hicks.

Logan Webb will hope to prolong the Kansas City Royals' offensive slump and earn the San Francisco Giants their sixth win to close a nine-game homestand when he takes the mound on Wednesday afternoon. The clubs have split the first two games of their low-scoring interleague series, with the Royals prevailing 3-1 on Monday before falling 3-2 in the rematch on Tuesday. Kansas City has scored three or fewer runs in 10 of its last 11 games, a stretch in which the Royals have gone just 4-7.

The Royals’ pitching and defense — and even some broken sunglasses — weren’t enough to overcome another rough offensive showing.

The Royals manage just seven hits.

Hayden Birdsong threw five sharp innings in his first start of the season and the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Tuesday night. Birdsong (2-0) was moved from the bullpen to the rotation in place of Jordan Hicks and provided just what manager Bob Melvin hoped he would deliver when he made the move. Birdsong allowed one unearned run, five hits and no walks to give the Giants their fourth win in the last five games.

It's almost Memorial Day, and Hayden Birdsong became only the sixth pitcher to start a game for the Giants when he toed the rubber at Oracle Park on Tuesday night. The 23-year-old right-hander never planned to work in relief but took the opportunity that was given to him out of spring training, pitched well enough to merit a promotion to the rotation and kept it up in his first start, leading the way to a 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals. Birdsong has only himself to blame for the one unearned run he allowed but otherwise breezed through five innings, scattering five hits while striking out four and walking none, to earn the win. Birdsong handed a 3-1 lead over to Randy Rodríguez, Kyle Harrison and Camilo Doval, who bridged the gap to the ninth inning, which Ryan Walker retired in order to earn his ninth save of the season with his third straight 1-2-3 outing.

It's almost Memorial Day, and Hayden Birdsong became only the sixth pitcher to start a game for the Giants when he toed the rubber at Oracle Park on Tuesday night. The 23-year-old right-hander never planned to work in relief but took the opportunity that was given to him out of spring training, pitched well enough to merit a promotion to the rotation and kept it up in his first start, leading the way to a 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals. Birdsong has only himself to blame for the one unearned run he allowed but otherwise breezed through five innings, scattering five hits while striking out four and walking none, to earn the win. Birdsong handed a 3-1 lead over to Randy Rodríguez, Kyle Harrison and Camilo Doval, who bridged the gap to the ninth inning, which Ryan Walker retired in order to earn his ninth save of the season with his third straight 1-2-3 outing.

All Times EDT East Division W L Pct GB Philadelphia 30 18 .625 — New York 29 20 .592 1½ Atlanta 24 24 .500 6 Washington 22 27 .449 8½ Miami 19 28 .404 10½ Central Division W L Pct GB Chicago 29 20 .592 — St. Louis 27 22 .551 2 Cincinnati 25 25 .500 4½ Milwaukee 24 25 .490 5 Pittsburgh 16 33 .327 13 West Division W L Pct GB Los Angeles 29 19 .604 — San Francisco 29 20 .592 ½ San Diego 27 19 .587 1 Arizona 26 22 .542 3 Colorado 8 40 .167 21 ___ Monday's Games Cincinnati 7, Pittsburgh 1 Boston 3, N.Y. Mets 1 Miami 8, Chicago Cubs 7 Milwaukee 5, Baltimore 4 St. Louis 11, Detroit 4 Philadelphia 9, Colorado 3 Kansas City 3, San Francisco 1 Arizona 9, L.A. Dodgers 5 Tuesday's Games Pittsburgh 1, Cincinnati

The San Francisco Giants look to bounce back against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night following Monday's loss to start the series. The Giants have been a surprise team in the 2025 MLB season and are only one game back from the National League West lead. Offensive firepower is on the team's priority list ahead of the trade deadline, but manager Bob Melvin needs to continue searching for a solution for those already on the roster. San Francisco is struggling to hit against left-handed pitchers.

The Giants began Tuesday tied for the major-league lead with a 2.64 ERA from their relievers, but subtract all the runs allowed by their closer, a title typically reserved for the best of the bunch, and the number sparkles even more: 2.33. The season has not started the way Ryan Walker envisioned, but there's reason to believe his fortunes are turning. It never ended up in the dugout, but it had often seemed like Walker wasn't sure where his pitches were going for much of the season's first six weeks.

During the finale of the three-game sweep for the San Francisco Giants over the Athletics, it was clear something was off to begin the contest. Starting pitcher Justin Verlander lasted only four innings -- his lowest output of the season -- and gave up two earned runs and five walks to just one strikeout. After Verlander shared that he was dealing with “something physically” following the game, Giants manager Bob Melvin provided some clarity on what that meant. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Melvin said Verlander was dealing with a pec issue, not elaborating much beyond that.

The San Francisco Giants were sold on Walker Martin's athleticism and his ability to develop into a power-hitting infielder. The 21-year-old, who started his professional career straight out of high school, made an appearance on Baseball America's Top 20 hitters list for his performance last week with Class-A San Jose. Last week with the San Jose Giants, Martin had at least one hit in each game he played. For the week he slashed .364/.464/.864, going 8-for-22, with three home runs and seven RBI.

The MLB season is underway, and we’re through the first 25% of the season, which gives us a better understanding […]