Adames' whirlwind ninth inning headlines Giants' gutting loss to Royals

Justice delos Santos, The Mercury News on Jul 20, 2026

Published in Baseball

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Willy Adames was the reason that the San Francisco Giants didn’t lose in the top of the ninth on Monday evening at Kauffman Stadium. He’s also one of the reasons that the Giants did lose to the AKnsas City Royals in the bottom of the ninth.

Talk about an absolute whirlwind of a sequence.

Adames hit a game-tying two-run home run in the top of the ninth with the Giants down to their final out, but committed an inexcusable mental mistake in the bottom half of the ninth inning that paved the way for the Giants’ 4-3 loss to the Royals.

With no outs and the Royals’ Josh Rojas on first in the bottom of the ninth, the Royals’ 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 in plenty of time, and Rojas didn’t bother to slide. Just one problem for the Giants.

Adames wasn’t on the bag. Rojas ended up safe at second, and the Royals had the winning run in scoring position. They wouldn’t waste the opportunity.

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.

Rookie right-hander Trevor McDonald left the series opener against Kansas City early due to an apparent injury after allowing three runs over four innings, leaving his status for his next start currently ambiguous.

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.

Following McDonald’s 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.

Up next

Tyler Mahle (2-8, 5.31 ERA) will take the mound on Tuesday evening against the Royals for his first start of the second half. With the Aug. 3 trade deadline looming, this outing could be one of Mahle’s final starts as a Giant.

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