Scottsdale, Ariz.

Sergio Romo trotted in from the right-field bullpen at Scottsdale Stadium on Friday for the first time in a game since Nov. 1. That night, he was not trotting. He was blazing across the outfield grass in Arlington, Tex., after the final out of the World Series.

“That was, by far, the fastest trip from the bullpen I’ve ever had,” said Romo, a San Francisco Giants right-hander. “I felt like my vertical leap went from, say, 20 inches to like 50. I felt like I was an Olympic sprinter. Nothing else mattered but to get there with those guys, to jump around, to hold the pennants, to hold the shirts and the signs that said we were champions. You can’t put a price on that. You can’t even put the word dream on it. That’s beyond dreams. You did something gnarly.”

The gnarly, zany Giants started the Cactus League season the way they ended the postseason, with a victory. This time they beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-6, though it was typically tight at the end, when Arizona stranded runners on second and third. New season, same theme.

“The torture’s back,” one fan cried, according to Manager Bruce Bochy. “It’s so early, can’t you break us in?”