SAN FRANCISCO -- One day after bringing Rafael Devers into the fold, the Giants welcomed two key players back from the injured list, with right-hander Justin Verlander and catcher Patrick Bailey returning to form the starting battery in Wednesday night’s game against the Guardians.
But the trio of reinforcements didn’t provide enough of a spark for the Giants, who have now lost five of their last six after falling, 4-2, in the second of three games against Cleveland at Oracle Park.
Verlander returned to the mound after missing exactly one month with a right pec strain, but he saw his winless drought extend to his first 11 starts of the year after giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings.
Verlander departed after striking out six and walking one and is now 0-4 with a 4.45 ERA over 56 2/3 innings for the Giants this season. He topped out at 95.3 mph with his four-seam fastball and induced 12 swinging strikes, though he remains stuck at 262 career wins, 38 shy of his well-documented goal of 300.
“It felt good to be back out there,” Verlander said. “Obviously, it was a bit inconsistent. Frustrating. I obviously wanted to give us a better chance to win. But the stuff seemed OK. Hopefully, the inconsistency can clean up quickly.”
Bailey went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, and Heliot Ramos mashed his 12th home run -- a two-run shot off left-hander Logan Allen -- but the Giants again couldn’t capitalize on enough scoring opportunities, going only 1-for-19 (.053) with runners in scoring position over the first two games of this series. San Francisco’s fourth consecutive loss dropped the club to 8-14 against left-handed starters this year.
“We’ve got to do a little better job with the starter,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Heliot hits the two-run homer, but we’ve got to put a little more pressure in the game.”
Verlander, who is currently mired in the longest winless streak of his 20-year career, didn’t make a rehab start prior to rejoining the rotation, but the Giants felt he checked all the necessary boxes after throwing a couple of simulated games this month. His impending return played into San Francisco’s decision to part with young lefty Kyle Harrison, who filled in for Verlander in the rotation before being sent to Boston as the main piece of the four-player return for Devers on Sunday.
Verlander logged a 2.97 ERA over his previous six starts before landing on the IL, but he didn’t look quite as sharp against Cleveland on Wednesday night.
The 42-year-old right-hander gave up an RBI single to José Ramírez in the first inning, though he got some early help from Bailey, who promptly threw out the Guardians’ star third baseman on an attempted steal of second base. Bailey had a pop time of 1.86 seconds on his 82.6 mph throw to shortstop Willy Adames, flashing the Gold Glove defense that the Giants had missed during his eight-game absence with a neck strain.
Verlander got through the next two innings unscathed, but he faced more trouble in the fourth. Carlos Santana reached on a fielding error by second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald and Lane Thomas singled to put a pair of runners on for Daniel Schneemann, who then crushed an 0-2 fastball down the middle out to left field for a three-run shot that extended Cleveland’s lead to 4-0.
“That’s kind of like one time I was inconsistent,” Verlander said. “It was also like one of the worst fastballs I threw all day. It was really kind of flat, and I came off it. All the things that you don’t want to do. It wasn’t a great pitch.”
Verlander returned to the mound for the fifth and struck out Steven Kwan swinging on a slider to open the inning, but he surrendered a double to Kyle Manzardo and then issued a two-out walk to Santana. With Verlander’s pitch count at 83, Melvin opted to lift him in favor of Spencer Bivens, who struck out Thomas to end the frame.
While he has yet to get into the win column for the Giants thus far, Verlander said he’s confident that he’ll be able to find his stride and contribute to a rotation that has the potential to carry the club into the playoffs this year.
“I’d like to get going,” Verlander said. “I’d like to be a big part of that. I’m just somebody who’s personally always kind of scratching and clawing and trying to find whatever it is that’s going to make it click. I know there'll be something that will. I’ll let you guys know when that happens.”