Willy Adames walks it off in home opener – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

SAN FRANCISCO – Willy Adames hit a two-run walk-off single in the 11^th inning, ending a long, frustrating afternoon as the Giants rallied to beat the Seattle Mariners 10-9 on Friday at Oracle Park.

The Giants had plenty of offense throughout the afternoon, collecting 17 hits. But most of those baserunners were stranded as San Francisco fell short in several key situations.

It didn’t look good either after reliever Spencer Bivens allowed the go-ahead run to score on a wild pitch in the top of the 11^th.

Instead of wilting, the Giants rose up and came back to win.

Luis Matos was the runner at second to begin the 11th and advanced to second on Tyler Fitzgerald’s one-out walk. After LaMonte Wade Jr. struck out looking, Adames delivered the game-winner.

Before all of that, it was an afternoon filled with mixed results for Adames and the Giants’ other newest star in their first home game in San Francisco.

Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander got knocked around by the Mariners and failed to make it past the third inning, leaving the mound after retiring only seven batters and allowing three runs.

The day began on a good note when the Giants brought out several former players to celebrate 25 years of Oracle Park. That elicited a huge cheer and countless memories for those in the crowd.

Verlander surrendered a home run to Julio Rodriguez on his fourth pitch of the afternoon, a 96 mph four-seamer that the Mariners star crushed 390 feet with an exit velocity of 108 mph.

The Giants tied the game in the bottom of the first, then took a brief lead with two runs in the second before the Mariners stormed back to chase Verlander before continuing to tack on against San Francisco’s bullpen.

LaMonte Wade Jr. doubled twice, tripled and drove in two runs for the Giants, who improved to 6-1 after beginning the season with a 5-1 road trip. Matt Chapman added his second home run of the season and had two RBIs.

After the Mariners scored three unearned runs off former closer Camilo Doval in the top of the sixth to take a 8-6 lead, the Giants tied it following Chapman’s solo home and an RBI groundout by Patrick Bailey.

Then the game went into extras.

Here are the takeaways from Friday’s home opener:

Quick hook again

Verlander’s home debut lasted slightly longer than the pre-game celebration of Oracle Park’s anniversary.

Verlander, who lasted five innings in his Giants debut against the Cincinnati Reds on March 29, was knocked out of the game against Seattle after recording only seven outs and throwing 65 pitches, only 44 of which landed for strikes.

Verlander was charged with three earned runs, but his fast exit has been a trend dating back to last season. The 42-year-old right-hander has made it past five innings just once in his previous 10 starts.

Small-ball second inning

The Giants ditched their power swing and returned to basics during their two-run second inning.

After Wilmer Flores led off the frame with a sharp single, Patrick Bailey bunted down the third base line and reached on an infield hit. It was just the fourth bunt hit of Bailey’s professional career.

Tyler Fitzgerald followed and appeared to lay down a sacrifice bunt. Mariners pitcher Luis F. Castillo bobbled the ball for an error to load the bases. Wade then slapped a two-run single to left to give the Giants a lead they never relinquished.

Flashing the fancy glove

Adames has never won a Gold Glove during his seven MLB seasons, but he sure looked like one briefly against the Mariners.

The 6-foot shortstop made a leaping catch of Rodriguez’s sharp line drive leading off the fifth inning, a critical play during an inning when Seattle scored twice.

In the seventh inning, Adames missed a chance at another web gem on Ryan Bliss’s grounder but made up for it two batters later when Seattle had runners at second and third with one out. Playing in, Adames snagged Victor Robles’ one-out grounder and threw to first for the out while the runners stayed put.

Adames also broke out of his mini-slump at the plate, giving more justification to the seven-year, $182 million deal he signed with the Giants in the offseason.

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