Down to final out, Adames crushes game-tying HR before Giants' fortunes turn

KANSAS CITY -- In the ninth inning on Monday night, the Giants experienced both the good and the bad of a young team fighting for improvement.

Trailing by two and down to its final out, San Francisco received a single by Jung Hoo Lee and an opposite-field two-run homer by Willy Adames to tie the game.

The bad came in the bottom of the ninth when a failure to make two plays defensively loomed large as the Giants lost, 4-3, on a walk-off safety squeeze by the Royals’ Nick Loftin at Kauffman Stadium.

It turned out that Adames’ clutch blow was merely a temporary reprieve. Royals third baseman Josh Rojas started the final frame with a single off Caleb Kilian before catcher Daniel Susac elected to go for the lead runner when Tyler Tolbert laid down a bunt with nobody out and a runner on first.

The throw to second by Susac was late, and Adames wasn’t standing on the bag for the forceout, which put two runners on.

“Tried to take a chance at second,” Susac said. “Looking back at it, I’d probably take the out at first. But you live and learn.”

Rojas moved to third on a deep fly to left-center by Carter Jensen before Loftin bunted toward first baseman Bryce Eldridge, who couldn’t field the ball cleanly as Rojas came home for the winning run.

“It appeared as though he was going for a glove flip,” manager Tony Vitello said. “Obviously, a sense of urgency there. Might have been able to do it a different way.”

While the Giants showed resiliency in the top of the ninth, the bottom line was a loss with a lack of execution.

“A loss is going to be the same way,” Vitello said. “It doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t sound good. No matter how it goes down, you don’t like it.”

The Giants couldn’t do much against Kansas City’s Michael Wacha, who allowed just three hits and one run across six innings. The only offensive spark before the ninth was provided by Heliot Ramos, who homered to right-center in the fourth.

But the Giants hung close, even after starter Trevor McDonald left after four innings because of right elbow discomfort.

“Wacha was pretty good,” Vitello said. “He’s been good all year. It was a hot night and he looked composed. We could have done a better job of making him uncomfortable. I thought the at-bats were better once he was out of the game.”

It looked as though the Giants would go quietly until Adames unloaded against Royals closer Alex Lange -- Adames’ 18th homer of the season.

“He has been tremendous since before the [All-Star] break,” Vitello said. “A lot of using the whole field and showing his strength. He has the ability to flick the ball out of the park and hit it from foul pole to foul pole.”