Willy Adames' patience is rewarded as he leads Giants to big win over Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — A few minutes before the first pitch Friday night, Willy Adames sprinted to the edge of the outfield grass and put his hands on his hips. A sellout crowd was settling in and the “Beat L.A.” chants had already started. Outside, thousands still waited in long lines, not far from parking lots that were charging $100 to pass through their gates.
It wasn’t hard to look around and see signals that the biggest game of the year was about to start, but Adames had something to handle first. He stared at counterpart Mookie Betts, who was getting his arm loose in shallow right field. Finally, Betts realized Adames was waiting for him and jogged toward second base. The two shortstops hugged and chatted briefly.
That has been a daily routine for Adames, who is seemingly as connected and conversational as any player in the league. He was like that throughout April, when his OPS started with a five. He had the same personality in May, when at times it looked like progress was being made but his batting average ultimately dropped back near .200 by the end of the month.
In June, as things started to turn, Adames was the same person every day. There were friends to chat with before games and handshakes to give. During games, there were helmets that needed to be lifted when teammates went deep. After wins, the Powerade jug needed to be emptied on someone’s jersey.
The consistency has been remarkable, and finally, Adames is being rewarded for it. He homered early in Friday’s 8-7 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and then added a big two-run triple. By the time Adames joined Mike Yastrzemski for their post-game leap, his OPS was a season-high .694.
That’s far from where he wants to be, but also far from where he was earlier this year. He finally feels right at the plate, and he’s being rewarded for keeping the faith, positivity and energy through some serious lows.
“Obviously when you’re not performing well it’s tough to keep yourself together, but that’s the one thing I can control,” he said Friday night. “I told Buster [Posey], that’s the only thing that’s never going to change: My attitude and my work ethic and my willingness to try to be better. My energy is going to be the same every day, no matter if I’m doing good or bad.
“In the beginning when we were winning a lot of games, that helped. And then when we were struggling, it was tough for me to keep myself together because we weren’t winning and I had to step up and do my thing. We have a really good group in here that was like, ‘You’re going to be all right, you’re going to be all right.’ Everybody had my back and I feel like that’s what makes teams great.”
Two weeks ago, the Giants couldn’t even associate themselves with “good.” But with the win Friday, they crept within four of the Dodgers — who have lost seven straight — in the National League West. The division looked long gone after their first two days in Arizona, but their recent run and this shocking Dodgers skid have brought it back into play.
The last time the Giants seriously chased the NL West title, the two teams ended up facing off in the playoffs. On Friday, the wild back-and-forth affair gave off October energy.
“It was amazing,” Adames said. “I’m not going to lie, I felt like we had too many Dodgers fans here. Maybe tomorrow we’ll get more San Francisco fans, but the energy was intense. I loved it. It felt like a playoff game, to be honest.”
The stars who come through in October are the ones who aren’t bothered by the moment. The Giants always have felt confident that Adames is in that mold, but the long-term commitment got off to an ugly start. There was nothing to do but be patient, and over the last month, Adames has looked like his old self.
He is hitting .304 with a .952 OPS since June 10, and the homer Friday was his third of July and seventh in his last 29 games. It went to right-center, surprising even Adames with how well it carried. With the triple, which was part of a five-run fifth, he got to 22 RBI over his last 29 games.
“A few weeks ago I started feeling better at the plate, taking better at-bats and putting myself in hitter’s counts and taking advantage of that,” he said. “I feel like since then I’ve been feeling really good at the plate and trying to execute on my plan. I think that’s the most important thing when we go to the plate, is just trusting the plan that you have and staying with it and giving it a shot.”
The offensive outburst was needed, because Logan Webb’s night shockingly fell apart in the sixth. He gave up four runs and was charged with a season-high six earned overall, but for once, the lineup rewarded him.
The big early lead was whittled away, but Camilo Doval got a double play with two on and one out in the ninth, clinching a win on the first night of the biggest series of the year thus far. It was the 22nd one-run win of the year for the Giants, who seem to be fully comfortable with intensity.
Nobody exemplifies that more than their shortstop, and that’s been the case all year, in good times and bad. The smile comes easily for Adames, but it’s a bit easier to let it linger when you’re the one contributing to the wins.
“Willy has been great,” Webb said. “He’s one of the most positive guys in the clubhouse all the time. We brought him in for a reason, and I know he’s excited to get it going. It’s fun for us to watch.”
