Verlander still has plenty of new tricks up his sleeve

PITTSBURGH -- At age 42, Giants starter Justin Verlander’s command and velocity of his trademark four-seam fastball may not be quite as sharp as it once was. Still, the right-hander has proven an ability to wind back the clock on occasion, reminding fans across baseball of his many seasons of sheer dominance with Detroit and Houston not too long ago.

Monday night was one of those instances.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner’s fastball reached as high as 98.3 mph, per Statcast, in the Giants’ 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh at PNC Park. Verlander was given a no-decision after dealing five sharp innings, allowing just one unearned run on three hits while striking out four on 100 pitches.

“That might have been the best stuff of his year,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Seeing that we’re in August and he’s throwing 98 mph, he’s obviously found something mechanically, he’s found his second wind.”

After Spencer Horwitz came across to score in a lengthy 21-pitch first inning, Verlander settled in with a clean second. He then worked around a pair of baserunners in the third and a one-out double in the fourth that ended with a 97.8 mph fastball on the outside corner, freezing Joey Bart.

“I was just feeling pretty good,” Verlander said. “I was in a tough situation the at-bat before and kind of got the roll-over that I was looking for and was able to keep the run off the board. Obviously, the lead was important, and with two outs, it was just kind of like, let it all hang out there.”

A strikeout of Tommy Pham concluded the fifth inning -- and Verlander’s outing -- putting him just three strikeouts away from 3,500 on his career. He was in line for the victory, before the Pirates stormed back with a pair of runs in the ninth inning to steal the game.

“Feeling better and better,” Verlander said. “Tough pill to swallow today, but I’m going to try to take positives away.”

“This is the best he’s felt all year,” Melvin said. “So unfortunately, we don't get him a win, but this is his best stretch and the velocity has probably been better than it’s been all year, too.”

It’s been an up-and-down campaign for the 20-year pro after signing a one-year contract with the Giants in January. Verlander struggled with command in the first half of the season but has found his stride in recent weeks, delivering higher-quality innings -- albeit fewer of them -- to give his club a better shot at victory.

Verlander made a few slight tweaks to his delivery following his July 4 start against the Athletics -- an outing in which he allowed six runs over three innings. He raised his glove higher and his throwing hand closer to his chest during his delivery, while shifting his feet closer to the third-base side on the rubber. Verlander has already seen a payoff, allowing just 10 runs (seven earned) in his 23 2/3 innings since the change. Monday’s outing also marked his third consecutive start in which he allowed one or no runs while pitching at least five innings.

It’s little changes like those that have led to decades-long success for the nine-time All-Star.

“I’ve always been a tinkerer and I feel like things have started to sync up better,” Verlander said.

Despite the recent momentum, there’s no secret Verlander, who remains at 1-8 on the season, has struggled to get himself into the win column as often as he’s used to. Not all of the blame rests on him, however, as he entered Monday’s contest getting just 3.7 runs of support per game that he’s pitched.

“I’m not going to shy away from it. Everybody knows where I’m at wins-wise,” Verlander said. “I’d like to get some, but at the same time, I think you just control what you can control. It’s a [bad] run in a long career. There’s nothing I can do about it. Just try to pitch better consistently, keep us in ballgames, give us a chance to win, give myself a chance to win. Do that more times than not and see where things end up.”