Adams double sees Warriors home on basement battle
Adams is this season's leading Premiership try scorer after two scores on Friday with fullback Chris Pennell knocking over 13 points from the tee.
A spectacular individual effort from Alex Lewington had given Irish hope before the break but Pennell punished their ill-discipline with two second-half penalties.
Ryan Mills created the opening try with a delightful chip through and with Irish unable to cover, Adams was able to storm through and dive over the line.
Pennell converted and then nailed a long-range penalty to extend the home side's lead but Greig Tonks replied with the Exiles' first points of the evening.
Trailing 10-3, Lewington produced a moment of magic to bring his side right back into contention, running across the field before sending a grubber kick through.
Adams was unable to collect the bouncing ball and Lewington pounced for his 24th Premiership try to reduce the arrears to 10-8.
But the Warriors' wing made an almost immediate amends as a training ground move from the hosts sent him through a gap but he still beat two defenders before dotting down his second score.
Pennell was once again on target with the boot to give the Warriors a 17-8 lead at the break.
The fullback added a further penalty in the second half and when Wayne Barnes, breaking the league record with his 191st game in charge, penalised Tonks, Pennell made it 23-8.
Blair Cowan dived over in the corner late on but the TMO review found an excellent try-saving tackle from Francois Hougaard saw the Irish forward drop the ball.
Warriors' Joe Taufete'e was shown a yellow card as Irish pushed for a last-minute try but were ultimately unsuccessful and left Sixways empty-handed.
The scorers:
For Worcester Warriors:
Tries: Adams 2
Cons: Pennell 2
Pens: Pennell 3
For London Irish:
Try: Lewington
Pen: Tonks
Yellow card: Joe Taufete'e (Worcester Warriors, 80)
The teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Jono Lance, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 David Denton, 5 Will Spencer, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan (captain), 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ethan Waller.
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete'e, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Darren Barry, 20 Alafoti Faosiliva, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 Sam Olver, 23 Perry Humphreys.
London Irish: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Fergus Mulchrone (captain), 12 Luke McLean, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 James Marshall, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Mike Coman, 5 Teofilo Paulo, 4 Franco van der Merwe, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Saia Fainga'a, 1 Ben Franks.
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Max Northcote-Green, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Aseli Tikoirotuma.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: JP Doyle & Paul Dix
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Source: @premrugby