CLEVELAND -- It was a milestone day for Giants shortstop Willy Adames.
Adames hit two big round numbers when he cranked his 20th home run of the season and the 200th of his career in the Giants’ 5-2 loss to the Guardians on Thursday afternoon at Progressive Field.
“My friends and even my agent mentioned it today, like, ‘Hey, let’s go for 200 today,’” Adames said. “Obviously, it’s something special for my career and for me and my family. I wish it was in a better situation, but obviously, it’s something that I never thought I was going to do as a kid. Now that we’re here, it’s something special. I’m very grateful and thankful for being here and giving my 100% every day out there. Hopefully there are a lot more to come.”
The Giants fell behind early after the Guardians scored three runs against right-hander Landen Roupp in the bottom of the first inning, but Adames cut the deficit to one by launching a two-run shot off right-hander Gavin Williams in the top of the fourth.
Adames, who was playing in his second game since returning from a week-long absence due to a lower back strain, hammered a first-pitch fastball from Williams a Statcast-projected 418 feet out to right-center field, clinching his sixth consecutive 20-homer campaigns in the Majors.
The 30-year-old veteran became only the fifth shortstop in MLB history to reach that benchmark in six or more consecutive seasons, joining Cal Ripken Jr. (1982-1991), Miguel Tejada (1999-2006), Alex Rodriguez (1996-2003) and Ernie Banks (1955-1961). Adames is also the first Giants shortstop to reach the 20-homer mark in two straight seasons since Rich Aurilia in 2000-01.
While Adames supplied the biggest swing of the day, he also committed a pair of defensive miscues for the Giants (52-75), who fell 23 games below .500 after losing their eighth consecutive road series.
Adames was charged with his 18th error of the season when he couldn’t field Angel Genao’s sharply hit grounder up the middle in the bottom of the first, preventing San Francisco from turning a possible inning-ending double play behind Roupp. The Guardians went on to score a third and unearned run in the inning after old friend Patrick Bailey came through with a two-out RBI single to left-center field, putting the Giants in an early 3-0 hole from which they wouldn’t recover.
Adames also missed a chance to turn another double play in the second. He took a feed from Osleivis Basabe and got the force out at second base, but he couldn’t get a throw off to first base after fumbling the exchange, allowing Travis Bazzana to reach safely. The Giants thought Adames might have been disrupted by Steven Kwan’s slide into second base and tried to challenge the call, but a replay review determined that there had been no interference on the play.
“From my vantage point, the runner is blocking Willy and the ball kind of popped out,” manager Tony Vitello said. “I had the hand up right away and [went] to the phone and kind of went with what they had said back there.”
It’s been a challenging season for Adames, who has been trying to play through a persistent back issue that has been bugging him since the Giants’ series at Washington from April 17-19.
Adames has managed to avoid landing on the injured list, though he’s looked hampered on both sides of the ball throughout the year, batting .229 with a career-low .709 OPS while tallying -14 Outs Above Average at shortstop, the third-worst mark in the Majors among players at any defensive position.
“It’s been a tough year,” Adames said. “I think this has been the worst year of my career on both sides. It’s something that no player wants to say, but I’ve got to be realistic. Obviously, I’m working now that I’m back playing to try to finish the year strong and be better.”
While Adames hasn’t been operating at full strength, Vitello said the Giants value having his veteran presence on the infield and are confident that he can still go out there and compete over the final five weeks of the regular season.
“He’s going to go out there the rest of the year, and he’s going to want to play,” Vitello said. “Clearly, if he can hit a home run, he can go out there and compete. But I think there’s an adjustment period of just getting back out there.”
The Giants will now head to Boston to kick off a three-game series against the Red Sox on Friday night. It’ll mark Rafael Devers’ first visit to Fenway Park since he was traded from the Red Sox to the Giants in a blockbuster deal last June. Devers is likely to be limited to designated hitter duties during the series, as he’s been dealing with some soreness that has prevented him from starting at first base since Aug. 10.