‘Can't happen': SF Giants' Adames explains critical baserunning gaffe

LOS ANGELES - For the first time all night, the Giants had something cooking against Shohei Ohtani. Following six quiet innings, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman strung together back-to-back singles to get the Dodgers’ two-way superstar on the ropes. If there was a time to strike, it was now.

Instead, Adames committed an inexcusable baserunning error by forgetting how many outs there were, allowing Ohtani to complete seven scoreless innings as the Giants’ three-game winning streak was snapped.

“I lost track of the outs,” Adames said following the Giants’ 4-0 loss. “A mistake on the read, too. Obviously, it’s a mistake that can’t happen in the game. That mistake is probably the most ashamed that I would feel in a game. I know that that can’t happen. It was my fault. That’s on me.”

Aside from singles by Rafael Devers and Luis Arraez, San Francisco’s offense had nothing cooking against Ohtani through the first six innings. Ohtani went out for the seventh at 90 pitches, and the Giants landed some jabs to get the four-time MVP on the ropes.

With one out, Adames set the table by flipping a single into right field, then Chapman followed up with an opposite-field single of his own. As Ohtani’s night neared its end, Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior went out for a mound visit.

Following a meeting of the minds, Drew Gilbert sent a deep drive to the left-center field warning track. On contact, Adames took off for third with the casual cadence of someone who thinks the inning is about to end.

When center fielder Andy Pages secured the ball, the home fans at Dodger Stadium began cheering in anticipation of the double play. Pages chucked the ball back to shortstop Mookie Betts, and Betts casually flipped the ball to second baseman Miguel Rojas to complete the inning-ending double play. Adames tried scrambling to get back, but he’d be out with feet to spare.

“I honestly thought it was going to be a double,” Adames said. “Like I said, it was mistake that can’t be made.”

Adames was seen talking with Betts right before his mistake, but he didn’t believe his small talk with the opposition led to the mental error.

“I do that every time,” Adames said. “If it was because of that, then I would make mistakes every two days. It’s just my fault. It’s something that can’t happen. There’s no excuses for it.”

Manager Tony Vitello told reporters that he had yet to talk to Adames about the play and didn’t “want to put words into his mouth.” Vitello didn’t outright say that Adames forgot how many outs there were, instead saying Adames had a “misread on the outs.”

“He’s always intense,” Vitello said. “He’s always going to play with high energy. He’s always going to play aggressive. So I don’t know if any of that played into it, but obviously, a misread there.”

While Adames was responsible for knowing the number of outs, third-base coach Hector Borg wasn’t exactly demonstrative in telling Adames to get back to second base. Adames said he didn’t see or hear anything from Borg as he was rounding third base.

With the Giants on the first leg of a three-city road trip, Vitello said there have been talks about giving Adames a day off on Thursday night before the team heads to Sacramento for three games against the Athletics. Adames has started 42 of the Giants’ 43 games this season, and Vitello said there was a brief discussion postgame about two other players who could get Thursday off.

“We'll see where he’s at, physically, as well as some of the other guys,” Vitello said.

When Vitello was asked about the possibility of benching Adames, Vitello said he wanted to have a conversation with his shortstop to understand what happened.

“I could have asked him in order to give you guys an answer where we’re both on the same page, but I don’t have anything to hide,” Vitello said. “Guy works his (expletive) off and plays his (expletive) off every day, and some mistakes come. We need to correct mistakes so that as the season goes forward, there’s fewer and fewer mistakes, no matter how they’re coming. And I’m not just talking about him. Same with anybody else.”

“He makes the lineup,” Adames said. “It’s not my decision. If he does it, then it’s okay. He’s the boss - besides Buster.”

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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 11:45 PM.