SAN FRANCISCO – After getting plenty of swing-and-misses from the Baltimore Orioles through the early part of his outing Sunday, Giants starter Justin Verlander opted to pitch more to contact as his afternoon was ending.
With a pitch count that had risen like a good tech stock, Verlander didn’t have much other choice.
“Toward the end there I was really just making pitches and trying to put the ball in play, and still got a lot of foul balls,” Verlander said after throwing 121 pitches over five scoreless innings in a 13-2 win over Baltimore in the final game of San Francisco’s homestand at Oracle Park. “You could definitely tell there was a little hit of fatigue setting in, but overall everything felt fine physically. Just tried to tone things down a little bit and tried to force some contact.”
Verlander looked a lot more like the pitcher with three Cy Young Awards at home rather than the guy whose first Giants season has had more ups and downs than an elevator.
Against the Orioles, Verlander had a day for the record books.
With 10 strikeouts, the 42-year-old became the oldest pitcher in franchise history to reach double-digit K’s, a title formerly held by Giants great Vida Blue.
Verlander also is the oldest pitcher in MLB to have 10 strikeouts and go five innings or longer since Roger Clemens did it with the Houston Astros in 2005.
The last pitcher in MLB to achieve that milestone was one-time Giant Randy Johnson, who was 18 days away from his 45th birthday when he did it for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008.
Giants manager Bob Melvin didn’t sound surprised at all by what he saw from Verlander.
“In a day when you feel like you’re penalizing somebody if they throw 100 pitches, to throw 120 in five innings … he didn’t want to hear anything about coming out,” Melvin said. “Here we are knocking on the door in September, and to do it like he’s doing it now, and throw that many pitches, it’s hard work. There’s a competitiveness to him that very few have.”
That same competitiveness probably is why Verlander didn’t make a big deal about his day.
The high pitch count and short outing was a bigger concern.
“It’s hard for me. The old school in me is like, ‘It was only five innings,’ ” Verlander said. “I’m not sure I’ll go home and say that was a great start.”
It might not have been great, but it definitely was vintage Verlander for much of the afternoon.
He gave up just three hits, pitched out of jams in the first two innings and overcame four walks. His fastball clocked in faster than it has been in recent games, and he generated a season-high 23 swing-and-misses out of the Orioles’ lineup.
It’s the first time this season that Verlander has won back-to-back starts, and it certainly sparked renewed belief from Giants fans.
San Francisco already has a solid one-two punch atop the rotation with Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. Verlander now is firmly locked in as the No. 3 starter, which could give teams all kinds of problems if the Giants make it to the MLB playoffs.
Beyond the boxscores, Verlander’s season has been a good example for some of the Giants’ other pitchers.
Despite an arsenal of accolades that surely will land him in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Verlander suffered through some rough times earlier in this season but stayed committed to what he knew.
He didn’t flip out when things got tough and stuck to his process of trying to improve.
“It’s inspiring,” Carson Seymour told NBC Sports Bay Area. “The best players, especially Justin, they’re always working on something, always trying to get better. That’s why he’s had the career he’s had.”
Verlander had to change things up to get this win. Normally heavily reliant on his fastball, the veteran pitcher went to his off-speed and breaking pitches to dazzle Baltimore’s hitters.
Even then, his pitch count kept steadily rising.
“They really battled [and had] a lot of foul balls,” Verlander said. “I’d rather not throw 120 in five innings. I’d rather it be seven, eight or nine.”
On Sunday, it didn’t really matter. It was the type of game that Verlander and all Giants fans have been hoping for since the day he signed with the team.
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