Rafael Devers, Willy Adames finally starting to heat up at the plate for Giants originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Rafael Devers rarely speaks to the media after games, which often leaves his teammates having to answer questions about the Giants first baseman.
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After Devers homered for the second consecutive game while spurring the Giants to a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the series opener Friday at Oracle Park, it wasn’t difficult at all to find someone singing Devers’ praise.
There was starting pitcher Robbie Ray, who was the beneficiary of Devers’ power on Friday: “When he gets going, as a team we start rolling. If he’s feeling good in the box and he’s taking at-bats like that, he can carry a team.”
Then came first-year Giants manager Tony Vitello: “You could see it coming. There were some knocks coming in Tampa (last week), maybe even some better swings a little bit before that.”
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Shortstop Willy Adames, who also has been swinging a better bat lately, summed up Devers’ night succinctly.
“When he gets hot, it’s going to be awesome,” Adames said.
Truth is, Devers has been heating up offensively since the end of April.
The 29-year-old had two hits against the Pirates, extending his hitting streak to eight games – the longest such streak by a Giants hitter this season. During the hitting streak, Devers is batting .375 (9-for-24) with two home runs and six RBI.
Adames also is starting to feel better at the plate.
He had two hits on Friday, his eighth multi-hit game of the season and first since April 17.
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“It’s getting there slowly,” Adames said, responding to a question about his swing. “I’ve been feeling better the last couple of days. Today it felt great because we got the win.”
The Giants and their fans always will been in a good mood when two of the best bats in the lineup start producing the way the Devers and Adames did against the Pirates on Friday.
As big as it was to see Devers go deep again, it was equally encouraging to Vitello to see what Adames did.
“He is a team leader, but he considers himself as a guy who’s got to lead the team in all areas. It’s a lot to put on your cleats,” Vitello said. “Everybody in here knows the guy can hit. It’s not going to go on and on and on where he doesn’t have some of those multi-hit games.”
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