SAN FRANCISCO – Justin Verlander added another memorable chapter to his illustrious career on the mound this Sunday, although he wasn’t in the mood to fully celebrate.
Verlander struck out the three batters in the first inning against the Nationals, becoming the tenth pitcher in MLB history to reach 3,500 career strikeouts. However, soon after, things began to get complicated for the three-time Cy Young Award winner, as the Giants fell to Washington with a score of 8-0 in front of 40,000 fans at Oracle Park.
Washington scored four runs in the second inning and a total of five runs with 11 hits against Verlander in the most recent outing of what has been a challenging season for the 42-year-old pitcher.
“I was glad to get there, happy to have a moment with the fans,” said Verlander, who has a 1-9 record in 20 starts with the Giants and an ERA of 4.53. “A cool milestone. I really appreciate what it takes to get there.”
Justin VerlanderVerlander hasn’t given the Giants much to celebrate this season, although he had been on his best streak of the season before having a bad performance on Sunday. In his previous three games, Verlander had an ERA of 0.60 with 14 strikeouts in 15 innings. He finished with six strikeouts against the Nationals, but he dedicated most of his post-game press session to talking about his season rather than the 3,500 strikeouts. Although he acknowledged the frustration with his 2025 results, Verlander compared his performances to the 2022 campaign, when he had an 18-4 record with a 1.75 ERA with the Houston Astros, on his way to winning his third Cy Young.With 3,503 strikeouts in his career after Sunday’s outing, Verlander is 11 strikeouts away from Walter Johnson for ninth place on the all-time list.“The stuff is excellent, the stuff is fine,” Verlander said. “I’ve spent a lot of the season looking at comparisons. It’s on par, literally almost up and down the board, with [2022] when I won the Cy Young. So, I think the stuff is fine. The results have been frustrating.”
Justin Verlander
