The San Francisco Giants beat the Baltimore Orioles 13-2 on Sunday to secure a series win in The Bay. Justin Verlander twirled five shutout innings in the game, striking out 10 batters on 121 pitches. The pitch count is staggering, especially in an era where starters rarely eclipse triple digits. Manager Bob Melvin spoke with Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle about why he left Verlander out there.
“In a day you feel like you’re penalizing someone if they throw 100 pitches, to throw 120 in five innings, he didn’t want to hear anything about coming out of the game,” Melvin said, per Rubin. “There’s a lot to learn from him.”
Verlander said it was never a question of whether he was going out for the fifth inning. “Yeah. BoMel didn’t say anything to me. I don’t think there was much of a question,” the future Hall of Famer said. “It’s hard for me because, especially the old school in me is it’s only five innings. I’m not sure I go home and say that was a great start. End of day, I think they did a great job battling off good pitches and fouling off stuff.”
The Giants signed Verlander to a one-year deal, hoping to get some magic out of his Cooperstown-bound arm. His ERA is 4.29, but his win-loss record represents a much worse season. After picking up the win on Sunday, he moved to 3-10 on the campaign. He is at 265 career wins, meaning he likely won't reach the 300-win milestone. But he turned back the clock on Sunday.
The Giants are five games behind the New York Mets for the final NL Wild Card spot. They need an epic September led by their pitching rotation to make a stunning run to the final spot. Can Verlander keep the clock turned back to get them there?
