Adames, Birdsong shine as SF Giants take series finale against Athletics

WEST SACRAMENTO — The Giants came out of Sutter Health Park with a series win.

After getting off to a slow start in the series opener on Friday, the Giants closed out the Athletics on Sunday with a 6-2 win in front of a sold-out crowd of 12,180 fans and captured the I-80 series. 

“We played cleaner and we got some big hits,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. ” Willie (Adames) was fantastic this series and is swinging the bat great at this point in time. We got some hits when we needed to and just did enough on the pitching end.”

Shortstop Willy Adames hit a solo homer and drove in three runs, while Rafael Devers and Wilmer Flores each had two hits and scored once.

Hayden Birdsong made his second career start against the A’s, striking out five and allowing a home run across five innings. It was a strange start for Birdsong as he threw just 46 strikes on 90 pitches and walked five batters, but had a stretch in the first and second innings where he struck out four straight. 

“I don’t know how I did it, but I guess I battled a little bit,” Birdsong said. “I’m happy I got through five.”

Birdsong has not gone past five innings in his last four starts. 

San Francisco put its first three batters on base in the first inning, but only scored once when Adames was walked with the bases loaded, scoring Heliot Ramos. 

After taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth, the A’s responded with a home run from Tyler Soderstrom to cut the deficit to one run. 

But just when it looked like the A’s were finding their groove, the Giants broke the game open in the fifth inning. 

San Francisco loaded the bases after Flores’ blooper to right center field advanced Andrew Knizner to third and Devers to second. Two batters later, Adames walked in another run with the bases loaded to give the Giants a 3-1 lead. 

In the next at-bat, Luis Matos knocked in two runs on a ground-rule double when he hit a laser to right center field that bounced off the warning track and into the Giants’ bullpen. 

To add insult to injury, Tyler Fitzgerald hit a deep fly ball to the warning tracks in the eighth inning that looked like it was caught by Soderstrom in left field. The ball bounced off the third-year player’s glove and over the wall to give San Francisco a 6-1 lead. 

It was Fitzgerald’s first home run since April 17. 

“I thought I got enough of it at first,” Fitzgerald said. “I saw him jump for it and I thought he was going to catch it. It was just a relief when I saw it bounced over.”

Adames has been playing better as of late after struggling through the first few months of the season. He had seven RBIs in the series and is hitting .455 through the first six games of July.

He believes he can build on the momentum from the last few games.

“Just to have a good week or two, I feel like I didn’t have that from the start of June and that’s how it goes sometimes,” Adames said. “Fans were worrying. Everybody was worrying. I was worrying. My parents were worrying. But I was like, ‘Chill out, chill out. It’s a long season.’ But we were winning and I felt it more when we were losing.”

Melvin agreed with Adames’ sentiment.

“He just looks more comfortable at the plate,” Melvin said. “When you knock some runs in, it makes you feel a little more comfortable. I think maybe there was some pressure on him early on and he kind of got past it, and now we’re seeing better swings. … He’s been pretty instrumental in the wins.”

The Giants will return to Oracle Park on Monday when they play the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies. First pitch is at 6:45 p.m. as Landen Roupp (6-5, 3.48 ERA) will start for San Francisco against Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez (7-2, 2.68 ERA).