The San Francisco Giants lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Saturday night at Busch Stadium, featuring Justin Verlander pitching a masterful outing, only to watch a historic performance evaporate in a heartbreaking defeat.
In his 20th major league season, he threw six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits, no walks, and striking out six on 88 pitches. In the sixth inning, Verlander notched a career milestone by fanning Nolan Gorman for the second out, his 3,535th career strikeout, passing Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry to move into eighth place on the all-time strikeout list.
The 42-year-old finished the night with nine swings and misses, employing a combination of a 94-mph four-seam fastball, sliders, and sweepers to dominate the Cardinals’ No. 2-3-4 hitters, Ivan Herrera, Gorman, and Masyn Winn, each seeing him for the third time.
Verlander’s night was historically significant beyond strikeouts. This was only his second career regular-season start at Busch Stadium, the only park where he had never recorded a victory. He also pitched in the 2006 World Series in St. Louis, losing the decisive Game 5 as a rookie.
In his past three starts, Verlander has allowed just two runs across 17 innings while striking out 21 and walking six. He left the game in line for a win, only for it to slip away in the ninth inning.
Ryan Walker, the Giants’ closer, entered the ninth with a two-run lead but quickly unraveled. After allowing singles to Nolan Gorman and Masyn Winn, and hitting Jimmy Crooks to load the bases, Walker surrendered a run-scoring single to Thomas Saggese.
Jordan Walker then delivered a career-first two-run double down the left-field line, giving the Cardinals a dramatic 3-2 walk-off victory. Riley O’Brien (4-0) earned the win for the Cardinals.
The Giants had initially taken the lead with a two-run fourth inning against Cardinals starter Andre Pallante. Casey Schmitt hit a sacrifice fly to score Dominic Smith, followed by an RBI double from Drew Gilbert, driving in Matt Chapman. Pallante allowed two runs on five hits over six innings, striking out three while walking one, his first quality start since July 28.
The Giants, however, were unable to capitalize on scoring opportunities later in the game. Victor Scott II was thrown out attempting to steal third, and the team went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. San Francisco’s streak of games with a home run ended at 18, falling one short of the franchise record set in 1947.
The loss dropped the Giants to 72-70, four games behind the Mets for the final wild-card spot, effectively five games due to New York holding the tiebreaker.
