WEST SACRAMENTO -- It took longer than he would have liked, but Willy Adames finally appears to be hitting his stride at the plate for the Giants.
Adames capped a big weekend by homering and driving in each of the Giants’ first three runs in a 6-2 win that sealed a series victory over the A’s at Sutter Health Park on Sunday night.
The veteran shortstop opened the scoring with a two-out bases-loaded walk off A’s starter Jacob Lopez in the top of the first and then golfed a low slider out to center field to collect his 11th home run of the season in the fourth.
Adames later extended the Giants’ lead to 3-1 with another bases-loaded walk in the fifth, helping to set the table for Luis Matos’ subsequent two-run double into the right-center-field gap. San Francisco added an insurance run with the help of A’s left fielder Tyler Soderstrom, who allowed Tyler Fitzgerald’s 372-foot drive to hit off his glove and bounce over the wall for an unorthodox solo shot in the eighth.
“We ended up winning,” Adames said. “I think that’s the most important part for me. Obviously, taking good at-bats. I feel like the whole team was on the same page today of taking deep at-bats, taking team at-bats and doing the little things. That’s when I feel like we have been most successful throughout the year.”
Adames, who also logged a season-high four RBIs in Saturday night’s 7-2 win, became the first Giants shortstop to knock in at least three runs in consecutive games since Rich Aurilia did so on Sept. 1-2, 2000. It’s the type of production the Giants envisioned when they signed Adames to a seven-year, $182 million deal in December, though they had to stay patient as they waited for the 29-year-old to break out of his lengthy first-half slump.
Adames batted only .193 with a .584 OPS and five home runs over his first 65 games of the season, prompting the Giants to give him his first day off on June 8. The mini-break seemed to revitalize Adames, as he responded by hitting .318 (28-for-88) with three doubles, six homers and 19 RBIs over his next 25 games.
“We all know he can swing it,” said right-hander Hayden Birdsong, who earned the win after giving up one run over five innings. “It was just a matter of time.”
“He just looks more comfortable at the plate,” manager Bob Melvin said. “When you get some hits and you knock some runs in, it makes you feel a little bit more comfortable. I think maybe there was some pressure on him early on, and he kind of got past it. Now we’re seeing better swings. Really, even against [A’s closer Mason] Miller, throwing 102 [mph], it seemed like he was kind of on every pitch, which is difficult to do with him. Three more RBIs today. He’s been pretty instrumental in the wins.”
Adames has historically been a slow starter throughout his career, though he admitted that he started to feel a bit uneasy when it took longer than usual to lock in his timing this year.
“I don’t know why I have to be like that every year,” Adames said. “This year, it took a little longer for me to start taking better at-bats. But it feels like my whole career has been like that. Slow start. It doesn’t take that long like this year, though. This year, it took like two and a half months for me to start getting hot and start building from that. We’re definitely building.
“That’s how it goes sometimes. Unfortunately, it took too long this year. Fans were worrying. Everybody was worrying. I was worrying. My parents were worrying. I’m like, ‘Chill out, chill out. It’s a long season. We’re good.’”
Adames’ offensive turnaround should bode well for the Giants (49-42), who won four of their last five games to secure a 5-5 road trip through Chicago, Arizona and Sacramento.
After opening the 10-day trip with an embarrassing series loss to the lowly White Sox, the Giants came back to split a four-game series with the division rival D-backs and then take two of three from the A’s, leaving them seven games over .500 heading into their final homestand before the All-Star break. They’ll hope to sustain that momentum as they prepare to face a pair of first-place teams in the Phillies and Dodgers at Oracle Park this week.
“Obviously, we didn’t start the road trip very well, and we finished this road trip 5-5,” Adames said. “I think it’s a great sign. … Hopefully we can continue building from this and going on that path.”