When Willy Adames was introduced at Oracle Park in December after signing the biggest free agent deal in the history of the Giants franchise, he couldn’t contain his excitement to play at this yard in front of these fans. Among all other necessary pleasantries and kudos, Adames kept coming back to how highly he thought of Giants’ fans and the atmosphere at 3rd & King.
Fast forward nearly four months, and the stars aligned for Willy Adames in his first home game as a Giant. With the Giants trailing Seattle 9-8 in the bottom of the 11th inning with two outs and runners at second and third, the former Brewer flicked a breaking ball into right field for a two-run walk off single. The final of many eruptions from the home faithful serenaded the joyous Giants as they poured out of the dugout to celebrate a home opening victory and a fifth straight overall.
The atmosphere he’d raved so much about this past Winter was on full display from first pitch to last on Friday afternoon. Adames was quick to praise the home fans.
There were plenty of quantifiable metrics to sift through in the Giants’ dramatic back and forth 10-9 win. The Giants used a stunning eight pitchers to get through the 11 frames. The game featured 32 hits, just three of which were home runs. The Giants had 28, yes twenty-eight, at bats with runners in scoring position. Willy Adames’ game winning knock was the sixth hit in such scenarios.
But it was the juice, the mojo, the vibe, call it whatever you want, that intangible was the most palpable of all the variables on Friday. Even when the Giants were down to their final out, it never really felt like they would lose. There’s been much made about the “Buster effect” and how the mere presence of the Giants’ legend back in the organization has ignited an old school belief in Giants winning baseball. That gets harder to deny with each passing day.
An absolutely packed house went ballistic when Lamonte Wade Jr. roped a two run double in the second. Then the frantic crowd lost its collective minds once more when Matt Chapman’s solo shot halved a two run Mariner lead in the sixth. By the time Tyler Fitzgerald scored from second on the Adames walkoff single, any orange and black clad fan that still had their voice lost it then.
Notes:
On a day in which most pitchers on both sides struggled, Giants left hander Erik Miller did not. But that didn’t mean he was on cruise control. The only lefty in the bullpen was victimized by back to back “probably shoulda had its” to Willy Adames, before a sac bunt and a strikeout set up a second and third two outs situation for Mariners slugger Julio Rodriguez. With a homer, a single and a line out already in Rodriguez’s back pocket, Bob Melvin elected to send him to first base. So there was Miller, staring at a bases loaded situation in a tie game, when it could be argued none of the three baserunners were his fault. The toughest part of the frame was yet to come for the southpaw. He locked into an epic 12 pitch battle with Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, then induced an inning ending fly out that was far from routine.
Willy Adames had an eventful day on defense too. The Mariners peppered him, so much so that he commented on the frequency and tough exit velocity he was seeing all afternoon. He did add a highlight reel catch to the resume, when he leapt to rob Julio Rodriguez of another knock.