SAN FRANCISCO — Victories have been elusive for Justin Verlander this season.
This particular win required 121 pitches.
The 42-year-old right-handed pitcher struck out 10 batters over five scoreless innings on Sunday, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 13-2 thrashing of the Baltimore Orioles. With the Giants leading 7-0 in the fifth inning, San Francisco had no intentions of pulling Verlander, despite his increasing pitch count. He concluded that inning by striking out Gunnar Henderson and Ryan Mountcastle, which secured him his third win of the year.
This marks the 265th win of his professional career.
«In a day when it feels like you’re penalizing someone for throwing 100 pitches, to throw 120 in five innings, he wasn’t interested in hearing anything about exiting the game,» manager Bob Melvin told the San Francisco Chronicle. «There’s a lot to learn from him.»
It was the second-highest number of pitches thrown in the major leagues this season. Cleveland’s Gavin Williams threw 126 on August 6 against the New York Mets, taking a no-hitter into the ninth that day.
Verlander stands at 3-10 for the season, but he improved his ERA to 4.29 on Sunday and recorded double-digit strikeouts for the 73rd time in his career. He surrendered three hits and four walks.
«It’s challenging for me because, particularly with the old school mentality, it’s only five innings,» Verlander remarked. «I’m not certain that I will go home thinking that was a fantastic start. At the end of the day, I believe they did an excellent job fighting off quality pitches and fouling off some others.»
Verlander had not secured a win in his first 16 starts with the Giants after joining in the offseason. However, now the three-time Cy Young Award winner has achieved victory in two consecutive starts. He also defeated the Chicago Cubs earlier in the week.
This was his first game with 10 strikeouts since August 23, 2022, while he was with Houston. The last time he threw this many pitches was June 19, 2018, when he reached 122 for the Astros against Tampa Bay.
