Justin Verlander pitched well enough to earn his first win in a San Francisco Giants uniform, but once again, the offense couldn’t back him up. Despite another quality start from the veteran ace, the Giants fell 2-0 to the Texas Rangers on Friday night at Oracle Park.
Verlander went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out six. It marked his second consecutive quality start and continued an encouraging stretch where he’s given up just three earned runs over his last 12 innings. Yet, the Giants’ bats remained silent against Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi, who outdueled Verlander in his 300th career appearance.
“We got out-pitched tonight,” Verlander said after the game, summing up the night simply.
Verlander, 42, is still searching for his first win as a Giant. This marks the seventh time in his career he’s gone at least six starts without a victory. Still, he remained focused on the positives, saying, “This game can beat you down in a hurry, so you want to try to focus on positives… the last couple [starts] have definitely been much better.”
The Rangers jumped on Verlander early, with Jake Burger hitting a first-pitch double in the third inning and Wyatt Langford following with an RBI double. In the sixth, after a ground-rule double initially wiped out another Texas run, Joc Pederson bounced a slow roller off Tyler Fitzgerald’s glove to score Josh Smith, pushing the lead to 2-0.
Meanwhile, Eovaldi silenced San Francisco’s lineup. The Giants mustered only three hits off the right-hander, who struck out seven across six shutout innings. Eovaldi entered the game with a career 9.45 ERA against San Francisco but turned in one of his sharpest outings of the season.
Giants remain atop the NL West despite recent offensive struggles
The Giants had a final chance in the ninth but saw a critical at-bat slip away due to a controversial call. With Jung Hoo Lee at the plate, a high-and-inside pitch appeared to hit Lee’s bat, but home plate umpire Austin Jones ruled it struck Lee’s hand, resulting in a strikeout. Manager Bob Melvin argued but to no avail.
“I was getting out of the way and made a swing,” Lee said postgame. “I just don’t understand why that call was made.”
The bizarre strikeout mirrored an earlier controversy involving Lee and an umpire in Philadelphia, where confusion over a helmet tap led to a heated exchange.
Ryan Walker, who had struggled in recent outings, provided a bright spot by delivering a clean 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts. Melvin praised Walker, saying, “That was big for him. He pitched really well.”
Randy Rodriguez also extended his impressive start to the season with two more scoreless innings, making it 11 consecutive scoreless appearances—the best start by a Giants pitcher since 1901.
While the Giants’ pitching has kept them competitive, their offense continues to lag. San Francisco now ranks 22nd in team batting average (.228) and 17th in on-base percentage (.310). Key offseason addition Willy Adames, hitting just .204, continues to struggle, and Friday’s shutout marked the Giants’ fourth of the season. Despite the loss, San Francisco remains 17-10 and atop the NL West, but they’ll need to find a spark at the plate to stay there.
