Blown call gets Vitello ejected as Giants squander another late lead, suffer Royals sweep

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Willy Adames seemed right in the middle of several head-scratching calls at Kauffman Stadium the past two days. On Wednesday, the San Francisco Giants shortstop was the key figure in a dreadful decision that cascaded into yet another loss. 

The Giants were up by three going into the bottom of the seventh inning and Landen Roupp was throwing a shutout when Vinnie Pasquantino hit a drive to right and Jung Hoo Lee fired to second, where Adames put a tag on the runner just as he appeared to come off the bag slightly. Adames was ruled to have pushed Pasquantino off the bag - replays showed he clearly did not do so - leaving Adames incensed, manager Tony Vitello ejected and the Royals with their first man in scoring position all day.

There have been few breaks for the Giants in this bleak season. Kansas City pounced. Salvador Perez immediately followed with a two-run homer, ending Roupp's day. Reliever Sam Hentges' throwing error on a bunt resulted in another run, and the Royals ultimately scored five in the inning and went on to a 5-4 victory and a three-game sweep.

"I think those things become more noticeable when you're not winning," Vitello said of some of the bad breaks. "I think if you pile up the games, there's some truth to the fact that there's been some, I don't want to say bad luck, but there's been more unfortunate things happen than you want to."

"Kind of like that call today, just some unlucky things, and then it just kind of goes from there," Roupp said. "We've got to find a way to stop that and play some better baseball all around."

Royals 5, Giants 4

a-singled for Rojas in the 7th. b-grounded out for Cavanaugh in the 8th.

E: Hentges (1). LOB: San Francisco 2, Kansas City 5. 2B: Devers (26), Adames (22), Pasquantino (11), Massey (18). 3B: Lee (4). HR: Schmitt (20), off Cruz; Perez (14), off Roupp. RBIs: Arraez (37), Lee (34), Adames (45), Schmitt (51), Perez 2 (43), Loftin (32), Thomas 2 (36). SB: Velazquez (1), Marte (2), Thomas (6). SF: Arraez. S: Cavanaugh.

Runners left in scoring position_San Francisco 2 (Gilbert, Eldridge); Kansas City 4 (Pasquantino 2, Thomas, Marte). RISP_San Francisco 1 for 5; Kansas City 4 for 10.

LIDP_Lee.

DP_Kansas City 1 (Velazquez, Rojas, Velazquez).

Inherited runners-scored: Winn 2-2. HBP: Lugo (Gilbert). WP: Lugo.

ABS Challenge: Lugo (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Lugo (Ball-Confirmed); Lugo (Ball-Confirmed); Winn (Ball-Overturned to Strike).

Ejected: Vitello.

Umpires: Home, Malachi Moore; First, Alfonso Marquez; Second, Mike Estabrook; Third, Lance Barrett.

T: 2:12. A: 14,606 (38,427).

The Giants' 60 losses in their first 102 games are their most in a season since 2017. At 42-60, San Francisco is threatening to climb down to join the Rockies in a battle for last place in the NL West.

Adames, among the most good-natured players in the game, was still irked afterward.

"I thought it was a terrible call," he said. "I don't think you, as an umpire, can judge how hard I tagged a guy. I thought it was pretty obvious that he tripped and I barely touched him. Just let the play get reviewed."

Adding to the confusion, Adames said, was that umpire Mike Estabrook didn't immediately indicate there was a push, only signaling that Pasquantino was safe.

"At first he didn't say anything, and then when we challenged, he's like, ‘Oh, you pushed him,'" Adames said. "I was like, ‘What? Are you kidding me?'"

"Whether he was out or safe, I think it's kind of a pretty bad call," Roupp said. "'I've watched it 10 times since I've been in here, and there's no way Willy pushed him off the bag. It was kind of a stupid call."

Adames and Vitello didn't even contend that Pasquantino was clearly out - they only ever wanted the play reviewed, for the crew to make sure the call was right, as is their right under the review process. Even when an umpire makes a judgement call, which isn't reviewable, a crew chief can request a rules review with the replay officials in New York. Instead, Vitello, who never swore nor lost his temper, was ejected, when what he was trying to ascertain was whether everything up to the alleged "push" was reviewable, unsure if that was the first or second tag. 

"I just asked," Vitello said, noting that the scoreboard had shown the replay at that point. "I don't know the protocol with the scoreboard, but everybody looking at the play obviously disagreed with the call. So I just asked if it couldn't be corrected. I don't know what the response was, but I just said it was a big call. Twice I said it was a big call, out or safe. It's a big moment in the game. … When (third-base umpire Lance Barrett) asked me to stop, I was walking back to the dugout."

The previous night, Adames and the Giants' bench were upset at a check-swing strike in Adames' first at-bat. Then Adames wasn't awarded a potential catcher's interference call in his third at-bat. 

"I guess I'm in the middle of the mess all the time," Adames said. "But the whole year has been like that."

Roupp, who has a 1.29 ERA (three runs in 21 IP) in his three starts this month, said he wasn't affected by the bad call or the delay; he just missed his location to Perez. During a funk last month, Roupp said he felt as if he was working too slow with a delivery out of whack. He's always at his best when he gets the balls and goes, and on Wednesday that was revved up even more. With Luis Arraez making several tricky plays behind him, Roupp got seven ground-ball outs and he also struck out seven. 

The pitching hasn't really been an issue on this trip. It has been the lack of offense, with the team failing to score more than three runs four times during their five-game losing streak. Rafael Devers got the team's only hit in the first six innings, a leadoff double in the second, but then Lee lined into an inning-ending double play.

Before the game, Vitello pointed out that four of the team's homers on the trip were solo shots - not a problem, he'll take them - but a lot of the hits have been scattered across innings, seldom in succession or even the same inning.

"I don't think it's anyone's fault or any particular approach, it just hasn't clicked," Vitello said. With those names in the lineup, you'd like to think some things would pile up, and they have at times, but overall it's been a little bit feast or famine."

Briefly: The Giants have not yet received MRI information for Trevor McDonald, who left Monday's game with elbow discomfort. The team is unlikely to announce any diagnosis until Friday. … Third baseman Matt Chapman is getting close to returning from an abdominal strain, swinging a bat pain-free. He's unlikely to need a rehab assignment. … Perez's shot off Roupp gave him a tie with Hall of Famer George Brett as the team's all-time leading home-run hitter at 317.

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