Jo Adell slays the Giants with walkoff 3 run RBI double

ANAHEIM, Calif.-- After Zach Neto was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, Jo Adell fired a 3-run RBI double walkoff, clearing the bases for a 5-4 Angels victory against the San Francisco Giants Sunday afternoon.

Adell's walk-off double came on an afternoon where the Angels (11-10) were limited to just two hits and were going into the ninth inning down by three after they had to endure a day of Justin Verlander on the mound for San Francisco (14-8).

As Mike Trout would walk into home, cutting the Angels' deficit by two, Adell said he told him he doesn't need to be the hero and to take it "Nice and easy."

Once Adell heard those words, he let the moment sink in, and taking it easy was his exact approach.

"I wasn't going to try to hit a homer or do that. Just get a pitch that I think I could handle and put it in play forward. I really needed that. I really needed that in that moment," Adell said. "That's what this group's about, so it was pretty cool to be able to step in after hearing that and calm the nerves a little and go do my thing."

Before the ninth inning heroics of Adell, Trout, Jorge Soler, Logan O'Hoppe, and Neto, who scored the game's final run on a head-first dive into home, the Angels' offense struggled to find ways on base as they were victims of nine strikeouts to finish the day.

Angels manager Ron Washington was determined to keep his team's mind positive for the remainder of the game as he said his team are not quitters.

"It just shows you we're not quitters. We kept fighting and it was against their closer and we had a chance to put it away and we finally got a big hit in that situation," Washington said. "And that's what it's about."

Over the last 10 days, the Angels rank among the worst in the MLB with a team average of .164, with 9 runs to show.

Verlander kept the Angels off balanced all afternoon as they did not log a hit until the fourth inning after Taylor Ward had a leadoff double to left field.

Ward was later joined on the base paths after Mike Trout and Nolan Schanuel drew walks to load the bases with two outs and give them their first opportunity to score.

As O'Hoppe came up to the plate, he was looking to get his first hit of the day, but a determined Verlander stayed cool and notched his third strikeout of the day, getting the Giants out of an early jam.

The Giants rewarded Verlander in the bottom of the inning after Adames brought home Ramos, who hit a double to center field but later advanced to third following an error throw by Adell in the prior at-bat.

Kikuch was able to do the same as his counterpart and get out of a potential jam, by getting Jung Hoo Lee and Wilmer Flores to strike out.

As the bottom of the fifth was set to begin, Neto opened the inning at the plate and swung at the first pitch he saw. 

The result would be a solo home run to center field, and it would be his first home run of the season after starting the year on the Angels' injured list due to offseason shoulder surgery because of a headfirst slide into second base last Sept.

Neto recalled his home run as one he'll never forget.

"It's something you're probably going to remember forever. Verlander probably gonna be a Hall of Famer," Neto said. "That's one of those you sit back now and you're like man, 'That was a pretty good swing.' But in the moment, he left a pitch there for me to hit, and I was able to do damage and start off the inning."

Kikuchi's day ended after walking Fitzgerald in the sixth inning with 102 pitchers while striking out six batters and walking four in 5 1/3 innings. Brock Burke came in to relieve him of his day.

Despite not being eligible for getting credited with the win, Kikuchi said he felt relieved to see the team win as they were 0-3 in games he was the starting pitcher.

"We finally got a win, so I feel relieved. Obviously it wasn't in the record," Kikuchi said. "I'm feeling relieved that we got a nice team win today."

After signing a three-year $63 million contract with the Angels over the offseason, Kikuchi has been as consistent as anyone in baseball, giving the Angels three quality starts before Sunday's victory. 

Once Burke came into the game, the first move he made was getting Fitzgerald off of the basepaths by catching him on a pickoff attempt.

Caught in the middle after Burke threw the ball to Schanuel, Fitzgerald rushed his way to second base but would be tagged by the glove of Tim Anderson, giving Burke a clean slate to work with.

But that slate would not last long after Burke gave up a single to David Villar. Sam Huff was the next batter and he would regain the lead for the Giants following a 2-run home run, making the score 3-1.

In the eighth inning, the Giants would continue to increase their lead after adding an insurance run from another RBI single by Adames, bringing home Huff.

With the Angels facing a 3-run deficit, they needed to find a way to get on base after struggling to find a way all day long.

They would do just that after loading the bases with Trout, Soler, and O'Hoppe, loading the bases one out.

After O'Hoppe got on base, he was removed from the game as Kevin Newman came to pinch run for him. When Neto came up to the plate, he would be hit by a pitch, cutting the Angels deficit by two, setting the stage for Adell.

Once Adell hit his bases-clearing double, Neto was the last runner on the basepaths, running full speed and ending the game with a head-first dive into home plate, giving the Angels the victory.

"I knew I was the winning run. I was trying to get a good jump," Neto said. "... I didn't even look at left field or (Eric Young Jr.) I wasn't gonna stop."