SAN FRANCISCO -- Justin Verlander entered Sunday three strikeouts shy of becoming only the 10th pitcher in Major League history to reach 3,500 career K’s.
The 42-year-old right-hander didn’t wait around to achieve the milestone, as he joined the exclusive club after striking out the side in the first inning of the Giants’ 8-0 loss to the Nationals at Oracle Park.
Verlander struck out six total to push his career total to 3,503, but he also surrendered five runs on a season-high 11 hits over five innings, a deflating end to a day that started on a historic note for the surefire Hall of Famer.
“I was happy to get there, happy to have the moment with the fans,” Verlander said. “It’s a cool milestone. I really appreciate what it’s taken to get there.”
Verlander struck out James Wood swinging on a 95.3 mph fastball to lead off the top of the first and then got CJ Abrams to go down swinging on a down-and-in slider. He gave up back-to-back, two-out hits to Josh Bell and Paul DeJong, but he managed to leave both runners stranded by striking out Nathaniel Lowe swinging on another 95.2 mph heater to end the inning and reach 3,500 K’s.
The Giants celebrated Verlander’s rare feat by flashing a congratulatory message on the Oracle Park scoreboard, with the three-time Cy Young winner receiving a standing ovation from the crowd as he walked off the field. Verlander tipped his cap to the fans and then received more applause from his teammates once he returned to the dugout.
Verlander currently ranks 10th all-time in strikeouts, trailing only the nine other members of the 3,500 strikeout club: Nolan Ryan (5,714), Randy Johnson (4,875), Roger Clemens (4,672), Steve Carlton (4,136), Bert Blyleven (3,701), Tom Seaver (3,640), Don Sutton (3,574), Gaylord Perry (3,534) and Walter Johnson (3,509).
“It just goes to show how long he’s been doing it, how hard he’s worked to be as good as he is,” third baseman Matt Chapman said of Verlander. “I’m excited for him. I’m sure he wished today went a little different, but it’s something to be proud of. It’s not something that many people do.”
While Verlander began the afternoon in rarefied air, he came back down to earth in the second, when he hung a pair of sliders that resulted in a two-run double to Wood, followed by a two-run homer to Abrams.
“Obviously, the second inning was the difference in the ballgame,” Verlander said. “I don’t really regret the Wood slider. It just wasn’t as sharp as I would like there, but I got him out in front. He kind of rolled over it, and he just hit it right down the line. The next one, obviously, was kind of a dagger, putting us down four. It just sucks.”
The Nationals extended their lead to 5-0 behind Paul DeJong’s two-out RBI single in the fourth, causing Verlander to fall to 1-9 with a 4.53 ERA over 20 starts this year. The 11 hits were the most he’d allowed in a single start since April 15, 2017.
The Giants never came close to overcoming the deficit, as they couldn’t get anything going against All-Star left-hander MacKenzie Gore, who struck out 10 and allowed only three hits over six innings.
San Francisco, which is 12-20 against left-handed starters this year, ended up being outhit by a 17-3 margin, prompting the club to send infielder Christian Koss to the mound in the top of the ninth.
The Giants (59-59) thought they were on the upswing after winning back-to-back road series against the Mets and Pirates last week, but they ended up dropping two of three to the last-place Nationals to kick off this current homestand.
They remain four games behind the Mets for the third and final National League Wild Card spot, but they know they’ll have to turn the page quickly and try to get back on track against the division rival Padres, who come into town for a three-game series that begins on Monday night at Oracle Park.
“Unfortunately, that probably is as disappointing a game as we’ve had all year,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Coming in here, we felt like we had a lot of momentum. We still feel like we have a really good team. We had a chance to win again today and just couldn’t put anything together. I’m frustrated [about] that. I’m frustrated that our fans come out and support us every night and we gave them literally nothing today.”