SAN FRANCISCO — Justin Verlander probably is tired of being asked about it. And for good reason.
For the fifth time this season, the 42-year-old pitched well enough to earn his first win in a Giants uniform. And for the fifth time this season, he was denied the decision.
After nine starts, Verlander (262 career wins) still sits 38 wins away from the exclusive 300-win club. Now in his 20th MLB season, the three-time Cy Young Award winner is running out of time to notch Ws, and his team isn’t doing him any favors.
Verlander (L, 6 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, BB, 5 K) once again pitched well in the Giants’ 2-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday at Oracle Park, and once again, local media found themselves asking San Francisco manager Bob Melvin a similar version of a question he’s been asked a handful of times already this season.
“Again, it’s about losing the game,” Melvin said when asked how frustrating it was not to reward Verlander with a win. “I think it’s just when you keep pitching well, literally it was just two balls off of [Corbin] Carroll’s bat. Other than that, he pitched into the seventh inning, so he’s given us quality starts the last four times or so.”
Verlander did surrender nine hits, so he wasn’t his sharpest, but two of those hits, solo home runs off the bat of Carroll in the third and fifth innings, were enough to earn an “L” next to his name.
That’s typically not the case for a starting pitcher who surrenders two or fewer runs over six innings of work, but for Verlander, that’s how the cookie, or the Giants’ lineup, has crumbled for him.
“It’s one of the tough things about being a starting pitcher, you know? You want to win baseball games,” Verlander said postgame. “You have the exact same outing and you win, you feel really good when you go home, versus this one you don’t feel nearly as good.”
Despite not recording a win himself, Verlander has been able to celebrate team wins (May 6 vs. Chicago, April 9 vs. Cincinnati, April 4 vs. Seattle) after some of his outings. That first winning decision, though, will feel different. Even if his routine afterward remains the same, regardless of a win or a loss.
“Go home, watch a TV show, have a glass of wine,” Verlander said of his post-start routine. “Get ready for tomorrow. Come in early, start getting ready for my next start.”
Pitcher wins, for the majority of fans, and even players, hold very little value in the year 2025. And for good reason. For Verlander, however, that’s not the case.
All he can do moving forward is give his team a chance to win. Which he’s done time and time again this season. Eventually they will reward him.
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