SAN FRANCISCO — The all-time strikeout leaderboard is about as meaningful as any scoreboard these days in the world of the San Francisco Giants, at least every fifth day when Justin Verlander takes the ball.
No wonder, then, why fans slowly rose from their seats and the Giants’ second game of their series against the Rays briefly paused after the first out of the top of the fifth Saturday night. Verlander, in vintage form, pinpointed a breaking ball that froze Ha-Seong Kim for strike three — his seventh punchout of the night and the 3,510th of his career.
The future Hall of Famer — along with 35,070 in attendance — thought he had passed Walter Johnson for ninth place all-time.
“I knew I was close to ninth, so I figured that was it,” Verlander said.
The strikeout, it turned out, was merely one of 21 outs Verlander recorded in his deepest and strongest start of the season. He didn’t allow a run, limited Tampa Bay to just two hits and needed only 88 pitches to complete seven innings while finishing with eight strikeouts.
It still wasn’t enough to end the Giants’ malaise at Oracle Park or reverse Verlander’s season-long misfortunes.
An RBI single from Christian Koss in the sixth inning amounted to the Giants’ only run, and their bullpen coughed up another lead in a 2-1 loss to the Rays. It was the sixth time in 21 starts Verlander has walked off the mound in line for a win only to be saddled with a no-decision in a loss.
“Literally a hard-luck pitcher this year,” manager Bob Melvin said.
Koss drove home Willy Adames to give the Giants a 1-0 lead heading to the top of the seventh, which Verlander breezed through on seven pitches. He was in line for his second win of the season when Jose Butto took over to start the eighth.
Butto retired the first two hitters he faced but hit the No. 9 batter, catcher Nick Fortes, and wouldn’t complete the inning. A pair of hits followed the hit batsman, tying the game on a single from Yandy Diaz, and Butto’s replacement, Matt Gage, surrendered the go-ahead knock to the first batter he faced, Brandon Lowe.
Jung Hoo Lee singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth and stole second with two outs, but Wilmer Flores went down swinging as a pinch-hitter for the final out.
Melvin said there wasn’t much consideration in pushing Verlander even further past his previous season-high of 6⅓ innings. He hadn’t completed six innings since before the All-Star break and had pitched into the seventh inning just four times, last on June 29.
“He did his job,” Melvin said. “… You have two out and nobody on in the eighth (holding a 1-0 lead) and you can’t finish it off, it’s pretty frustrating.”
The loss was the Giants’ seventh in a row and their 15th in their past 16 overall at Oracle Park, dating back to July 11. The skid is a new season-long, surpassing two previous six-game losing streaks — all of which have come since the calendar turned to July.
The Giants’ season has turned as Verlander has pitched the best he has all year. In four of his past five starts, he has limited opponents to one or zero runs. On Saturday, he set a season-high in innings and finished one away from his personal-best this year in strikeouts.
“I look at the velo on the fastball and the shapes on all my pitches and I know that stuff-wise, it’s pretty damn close if not identical to three years ago when I won the Cy Young,” Verlander said, crediting an adjustment to his slider. “I feel like there’s just a really minute, small thing that needs to be adjusted and then you go from there. I hope this is that. I know today was, by far, the most at-ease I’ve felt on the mound.”
Only thing is, he would have needed five more strikeouts to pass Johnson.
After getting Kim looking on a perfectly placed 0-2 sweeper, a message flashed across the jumbotron in center field congratulating Verlander on his latest milestone. According to most public record books, including those kept by Baseball-Reference and MLB.com, the freeze job elevated the 42-year-old past Johnson and into sole possession of ninth place among the all-time strikeout leaders.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, however, Johnson, who debuted in 1907 and threw his last pitch in 1927, is credited with 3,515 career strikeouts, which the Giants and MLB consider to be the official record. Verlander sits at 3,511.
“What do you mean?” Verlander said when informed of the discrepancy. “I guess the guy keeping track back then by hand … Sheesh. All right. Wow. That’s crazy. I had no idea. That’s funny. … I guess I’m in limbo.”
The history won’t be lost on Verlander — when the time comes.
“Every pitcher who’s picked up a baseball, who’s played for a significant amount of time, knows who Walter Johnson is,” Verlander said. “You grow up a fan of the game, there’s just these names that come up and they’re like, ‘OK you just passed so-and-so.’ And I’m like, ‘I did what? Who? That guy’s a frickin legend.”
A milestone almost a century old proved to be as elusive as a home win for the Giants, who were held to fewer than three runs for the 13th time in their past 16 home games. They had been 0-12 in such games but, thanks to Verlander, seemed to be in line to break their streak.
“We’ve got to do a better job offensively and give him a little more support,” Melvin said. “That’s been an issue here for a while.”
Notable
RHP Keaton Winn made his season debut in the ninth inning, pitching around a leadoff single to record a scoreless inning. The 27-year-old had been slowed by offseason elbow surgery and a separate shoulder injury that sidelined him for three months this summer at Triple-A Sacramento.
Up next
RHP Logan Webb (10-9, 3.34) starts the series finale against RHP Ryan Pepiot (8-9, 3.86). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
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