It came down to a bunt. After Willy Adames erased a two-run deficit with one swing in the top of the ninth, the Royals answered right back, and Nick Loftin's bunt single down the first-base line brought home the run that beat the Giants 4-3 at Kauffman Stadium.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| KC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
Michael Wacha set the tone for Kansas City across six innings, allowing just 3 hits and 1 run (1 earned) while striking out 5 and walking 2. He kept the Giants off balance for most of the night before handing things to the bullpen. Alex Lange worked the ninth, giving up 2 hits and 2 runs over 1.0 inning, but he was credited with the win, his first of the season, improving to 1-5 with a 6.30 ERA.
The Royals broke the game open in the fourth. Salvador Perez homered to center, a 440-foot shot that brought home Vinnie Pasquantino and put Kansas City ahead 2-1 after Heliot Ramos had given San Francisco the early lead with a solo homer to right center. Isaac Collins followed with a single to right that scored Michael Massey, making it 3-1. San Francisco would not answer again until the ninth, when Adames turned on a pitch for a 380-foot homer to right center, scoring Jung Hoo Lee and tying the game at 3-3. Kansas City answered in the bottom half, as Loftin reached on a bunt single to first, and Josh Rojas came around to score the run that decided it, with Tyler Tolbert moving up to second on the play.
San Francisco's night unraveled early on the mound. Starter Trevor McDonald lasted 4.0 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits, and reliever Caleb Kilian was tagged for the loss after retiring just one batter, charged with 1 run on 2 hits in 0.1 innings. The Giants bullpen otherwise held up, covering 4.1 innings with just 1 run allowed, but it wasn't enough to overcome the early deficit.
Adames finished a double shy of the cycle in terms of impact, driving in both San Francisco runs and sitting 2 home runs from 200 for his career. Kansas City improved to 41-60 with the win, snapping in as a second straight victory to push their streak to W1, while San Francisco fell to 42-58, losers of three in a row.