How Adames, Giants rallied around Doval for series win vs. Brewers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
With the Giants seeking a comeback win for a series victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, Camilo Doval had thrown five consecutive balls in the top of the ninth inning.
The Oracle Park crowd — 28,592 strong — grew restless. Doval, whose struggles last season were well-documented, was attempting to secure his third save in as many appearances. With a potential setback looming, shortstop Willy Adames jogged to the mound, joined by third baseman Matt Chapman and catcher Patrick Bailey, to offer Doval some words of encouragement.
The result was a 6-5 win, bumping San Francisco to a 17-9 record and series win over Adames’ former team.
“I was just trying to calm [Doval] down,” Adames told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Laura Britt and Shawn Estes on “Giants Postgame Live” following the win. “I feel like he’s just getting his confidence back, and he’s been looking great. I didn’t want him to get out of control there, so I just wanted to give him some time and just calm him down, and I think him seeing that and seeing the boys come to the mound to give him a breath, I think that helped him a lot.”
Giants closer Ryan Walker, who took over the role following Doval’s troubles last year, has run into a roadblock of his own in 2025, blowing a save opportunity in Sunday’s walk-off loss to the Los Angeles Angels and failing to finish the job in Wednesday’s eventual 4-2 win over the Brewers.
Doval earned the save in that victory, too, but manager Bob Melvin said after Thursday’s game that he simply was giving Walker the day off, noting it’s nice to have “two closers” in a stretch like San Francisco’s current 17-game marathon without a day off. But that doesn’t mean there actually are two closers now, Melvin said.
“Look, Walker’s going to have tomorrow’s game if we get into a save situation,” Melvin told reporters with a smile.
The Giants certainly hope to have a game with less excitement — and a bigger lead — when Bruce Bochy and the Texas Rangers come into town Friday. San Francisco came back three times against Milwaukee for the eventual win Thursday, with Adames delivering the game-winning sacrifice fly and forcing an error by Brewers left fielder Christian Yelich in the bottom of the eighth.
“Calm” was the word of the day for Adames, who is starting to find a groove at the plate amid a slow start with his new team in the Bay.
“I just tried to stay short there, just tried to put the ball in play,” Adames told Britt and Estes. “Tried to hit the ball to the outfield to give [Christian] Koss an opportunity to score there. It hasn’t been the best for me at the plate, but in that situation there I just tried to calm myself down, just try to do my job and execute the situation there with first and third, not try to do too much and not trying to hit a homer there, put the ball in play.”
While the Giants wait for Adames’ bat to get hot, he has proven to be the exact clubhouse leader San Francisco knew it was signing this offseason, with his mound visit to Doval serving as the latest example.
But Adames came up clutch with his bat Thursday, along with Chapman, who hit his fifth home run of the season with a two-run shot, Jung Hoo Lee, whose first-inning RBI double tied the MLB lead, and Mike Yastrzemski’s two-hit, two-RBI day that included a game-tying homer in the third.
As long as the Giants keep rolling, Adames is more than satisfied. And, some might say, calm.
“You can tell I’m not there yet, but we’re working on it every day, we’re trying to make the adjustment,” Adames said. “We’re going to continue to work until I get that click, and until that moment, we’re going to continue to grind, man. But if we continue to win like this, I’m honestly fine with it.
“Obviously I want to do great, and I’m going to continue to work to be better.”
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