{"id":5053,"date":"2026-07-21T05:36:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T05:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5053"},"modified":"2026-07-21T05:36:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T05:36:32","slug":"adames-whirlwind-ninth-inning-headlines-sf-giants-gutting-walk-off-loss-to-royals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5053","title":{"rendered":"Adames’ whirlwind ninth inning headlines SF Giants’ gutting walk-off loss to Royals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Willy Adames was the reason that the Giants didn\u2019t lose in the top of the ninth on Monday evening at Kauffman Stadium. He was also part of the reason why they did <\/em>lose in the bottom of the ninth.<\/p>\n

Read more Wilt Chamberlain Lakers jacket found by a teen at a thrift store fetches over $89,000 at auction<\/a><\/p>\n

Adames hit a game-tying two-run home run in the top of the ninth with the Giants down to their final out, but immediately followed his biggest swing of the season by committing a mental mistake in the bottom half of the inning that paved the way for the Giants\u2019 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals.<\/p>\n

\u201cA loss is going to be the same way regardless,\u201d manager Tony Vitello told reporters in Kansas City. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel good. It doesn\u2019t sound good. Changes things in a lot of different ways, so the way it goes down, especially with how many reps you get, can be a variety of ways. No matter how it goes down, you don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Giants entered the top of the ninth inning trailing 3-1, their only run of the game up to that point being Heliot Ramos\u2019 ninth home run of the season. Down to their last out, San Francisco got the big hits from its big-money players.<\/p>\n

Jung Hoo Lee set the table with two outs in the ninth by lining a clean single into center field, bringing the tying run to the plate. Following Lee\u2019s single, Adames went the other way on a sinker by the Royals\u2019 Alex Lange and cleared the right-field fence to tie the game at three apiece.<\/p>\n

Adames had notoriously struggled in these types of situations, entering play with no homers and a .393 OPS in high-leverage situations this season. This swing of the bat, then, was unquestionably his most consequential of the year.<\/p>\n

Within moments, the jubilation of Adames\u2019 18th home run of the season was wiped away.<\/p>\n

With no outs and the Royals\u2019 Josh Rojas on first in the bottom of the ninth, the Royals\u2019 Tyler Tolbert laid down a sacrifice bunt that rolled right in front of home plate. Catcher Daniel Susac pounced on the ball and delivered a perfect strike to second base. The throw beat Rojas to the bag, and Rojas didn\u2019t bother to slide. One problem: Adames wasn\u2019t on the bag, and Rojas was safe at second.<\/p>\n

Read more Kaitlyn Chen\u2019s career night can\u2019t power Valkyries to milestone victory<\/a><\/p>\n

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While Adames wasn\u2019t in position to record the force out, it\u2019s also worth noting that Susac could\u2019ve gotten the sure out at first base instead of making the riskier gambit for second base. Caleb Kilian appeared caught off guard by the decision, dropping to the ground as Susac made the throw. Regardless, the Royals had a runner in scoring position with no outs.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Susac] had a good view of where the runner was at,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cProbably in a position you wouldn\u2019t normally be, but because of what he was doing there, took a crack at the lead out. I don\u2019t know that you would redo it on his end if you had the choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carter Jensen flew out to center field, allowing Rojas to advance to third base with one out in the frame. With the winning run 90 feet away, Nick Loftin laid down a bunt and Rojas scored from third to end the game. First baseman Bryce Eldridge\u2019s only play was to try to flip the ball home with his glove, but he couldn\u2019t do so cleanly and Rojas scored without a throw.<\/p>\n

Rookie right-hander Trevor McDonald left the series opener against Kansas City early due to right elbow discomfort, according to Vitello, after allowing three runs over four innings, leaving his status for his next start currently ambiguous. McDonald will undergo an MRI, and Tristan Beck will be with the team on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

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McDonald went out to warm up for the bottom of the fifth inning, but signaled to the dugout after completing his warm-up. Following a conversation with a trainer, McDonald exited the game after throwing just 67 pitches.<\/p>\n

Following McDonald\u2019s departure, JT Brubaker helped preserve the bullpen by throwing 2 1\/3 scoreless innings of relief. Dylan Smith stranded a pair of inherited runners from Brubaker in the bottom of the seventh, and Jason Foley retired the side in the bottom of the eighth.<\/p>\n

Up next<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tyler Mahle (2-8, 5.31 ERA) will take the mound on Tuesday evening against the Royals (4:40 p.m.) for his first start of the second half. With the Aug. 3 trade deadline looming, this outing could be one of Mahle\u2019s final starts as a Giant.<\/p>\n

Read more Redwood City driver charged after passenger chasing his pickup is killed<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Willy Adames tied the game in the ninth with a homer before a game-changing mistake paved the way for a loss<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nAdames’ whirlwind ninth inning headlines SF Giants’ gutting walk-off loss to Royals - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5053\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Adames’ whirlwind ninth inning headlines SF Giants’ gutting walk-off loss to Royals - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Willy Adames tied the game in the ninth with a homer before a game-changing mistake paved the way for a loss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5053\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T05:36:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5053#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5053\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Adames’ whirlwind ninth inning headlines SF Giants’ gutting walk-off loss to Royals\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T05:36:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5053\"},\"wordCount\":815,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5053#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d136fc8bca7458c1e206381209704bda.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5053#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5053\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5053\",\"name\":\"Adames’ whirlwind ninth inning headlines SF Giants’ gutting walk-off loss to Royals - 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