SAN FRANCISCO — Justin Verlander was a bit confused when some Giants fans started to rise and cheer in the fifth inning. The home plate umpire had stepped back so they could show some love, but when Verlander looked up at the scoreboard he didn’t see anything.
Verlander did, however, know that he was coming up on Walter Johnson on the all-time strikeout list. That was the message that flashed on the scoreboard for a moment before he turned around, although it was a bit misleading.
MLB.com, Baseball-Reference and the Elias Sports Bureau all have different career strikeout numbers for Johnson, who started his career more than 100 years ago. The most official of the three is Elias, which has Johnson at 3,515, six more than Baseball-Reference, meaning Verlander is still four shy of tying the Hall of Famer.
In a quiet clubhouse after a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Verlander at least found some humor in that. He scrunched his face when told of the discrepancy and asked for further details about how it was possible.
“Sheesh,” he said, smiling.
That word is as good as any to describe everything that happened Saturday, both good and bad. On a positive note, Verlander became just the fifth 42-year-old to throw at least seven innings, allow just two hits and strike out at least eight. It was his best start of the 2025 MLB season, a throwback that had him talking about how his stuff feels as good as it did three years ago, when he won a Cy Young Award.
But there were a lot of other reasons to exclaim “sheesh.” Here’s a short list …
— The bullpen blew a Verlander lead for the sixth time this season, tying him for the MLB lead.
— The loss was the 15th in 16 home games, something the Giants had not done since 1901.
— They have lost all three series on this homestand and have dropped six straight home series for the first time since 2008.
— If they don’t win Sunday, they’ll lose eight games in a row at home for the first time since … well, July.
— A loss Sunday would give them a 1-8 homestand for the first time since 1993.
There’s only one word for it: Sheesh.
Verlander more than did his part, and when Christian Koss found a hole, he took a 1-0 lead through seven. For years, that would lead to a shutout for Verlander, but he was at 88 pitches and had gone seven full innings for the first time all season.
Giants manager Bob Melvin turned to a bullpen that lost Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval at the deadline…