Entering the ninth inning Tuesday, even as the Giants trailed the lowly Colorado Rockies 5-2, Willy Adames already had to feel better about himself.
Adames came into the game without a hit in 18 at-bats since June 1 and without a home run since May 13, but he ended both streaks with a blast to center after driving in another run earlier.
Then the star shortstop grinded out an important walk to continue San Francisco's game-winning rally in the final frame for a 6-5 comeback win at Coors Field. That took his night up another notch, which could mark the start of an impending turnaround.
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SIGN UP HERE "Obviously, it's a good day for me personally, but it's even better when you get a win like that," Adames told NBC Sports Bay Area's Bonta Hill and Ron Wotus on "Giants Postgame Live." "I think that's going to get us going."
After signing with San Francisco as a free agent last December, Adames has underwhelmed so far in the first season of his seven-year, $182 million contract. Before Tuesday, he was hitting just .193 with a .584 OPS.
But on a night when Adames recorded both his 500th career run and 500th RBI, he displayed why the Giants gave him the largest contract in franchise history.
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It all started Sunday, when manager Bob Melvin gave the shortstop a rare rest day ahead of Monday's off day, allowing Adames a full 48 hours to get his mind right.
"It's always great when you're not having your best time out there, just to have a day or two days just to reset and go back to who you are," Adames told Hill and Wotus. "I think those two days were really good for me just to relax mentally and let it go and try to be here for the team and just do whatever I can to help the guys to win."
He delivered immediately upon his return. After Jung Hoo Lee's leadoff triple to open the game, Adames got to a 3-2 count before hitting a sacrifice fly to put San Francisco ahead early.
He remained patient again in the fifth, earning a 3-1 count advantage before smashing a 439-foot, game-tying homer.
"Today, it was just for me to try to be calm on the play and just try to swing at my pitch, to battle the at-bats and put a good swing on it," Adames explained. "I feel like I got away from that the last week or so. ... That homer obviously felt really good."
But his ninth-inning at-bat arguably was the most impressive. As the go-ahead run at the plate with one out, Adames quickly fell behind 0-2. He then battled back to a full count and fouled off a pair of tough cutters in the zone. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Adames didn't swing at a high cutter to draw a walk that loaded the bases.
Three batters later, Adames scored the game-winning run on a Mike Yastrzemski single to cap off yet another wild Giants comeback -- their franchise-record sixth one-run win in a row.
"It feels like we never give up. It feels like we always have an opportunity to come back," Adames told Hill and Wotus. "That's how the guys feel in the dugout. It's like, OK, we can be down by three, four, it doesn't matter. We're going to go out there until the last out and grind every at-bat, and I think today was a very good example of how good this team is. Everybody went out there in the top of the ninth and battled, took great at-bats, took great swings, just did the fundamental stuff, and it paid off. We got the win."
Tuesday was the Giants' eighth comeback of at least three runs in just 67 games this season, which leads MLB. Even Adames isn't sure how San Francisco keeps pulling out these bizarre wins.
"It's been so fun. I don't even know how to explain it," Adames told Hill and Wotus. "We're just having fun, and just knowing that we can come back, it doesn't matter [what] the score is."