Didn’t see that coming…
Another no-decision in a quality start, a lead blown late, a game lost in the 9th — it made sense for Justin Verlander’s 2025 season to end this way. He was used to it. We were used to it. Verlander was the avatar for our discontent, his face was our face, completely worn down, void of emotion as he/we watched another lead become a greased watermelon in the hands of Ryan Walker.
By game 161, a pattern had already been established. The worst was expected.
Six pitches into his outing on Saturday, Walker had surrendered a solo shot to Jordan Beck and gave up a double to Brenton Doyle. With nobody out in the inning, a run was already in, and the tying run threatened from second. He’d record his first and only out on a hard groundball to the right side that advanced Doyle to third.
It was only a matter of time at this point. The lead, not long for this world. A soft roller, a well-placed grounder, a medium-deep fly would tie the game and hand Verlander his 15th no-decision (his previous season high was 10) and forever ruin Buster Posey’s chances of re-signing him in the offseason. Just three wins in 29 starts — at that rate, the veteran would have to pitch into his mid-50s until he reached 300 victories.
Bob Melvin knew the likelihood of Walker needing to be saved from himself was high. The ragtag bullpen was put into action before Jordan Beck had even finished rounding the bases. He didn’t hesitate to pull the beleaguered closer off the hill after a pitch-around walk to Kyle Karros. A double-play ball could now get them out of this, and that’s exactly what Spencer Bivens pitched for against Warming Bernabel. Early in the count everything was down, and that’s clearly where Bernabel was looking when two elevated sinkers jumped over his bat for a key unproductive out.
Still clarity eluded Bivens and the Giants. In a 1-2 count against Colorado’s number 9 batter, Bivens overcooked another fastball and hit Ryan Ritter on the elbow to load the bases and turn the line-up over for Ezequiel Tovar.
The young shortstop had launched a 3-run homer off Trevor McDonald Friday night and just missed another by a couple feet against Verlander a few innings earlier. Even with the bases loaded and the tying run at third, Bivens couldn’t give in to the aggressive Tovar early in the count. He slung five pitches on the outer third of the plate, and Tovar fouled off four of them. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Bivens ventured inside with his first breaking ball, and Tovar skied it into the air above third base. The ball carried as it did all afternoon, drawing Matt Chapman into foul territory, forcing him towards the low wall. His eyes watered as he tried to pick the shaded orb out from the blinding glare of the sun. He swerved sharply towards the tarp. There was no way he could see it. It was going to carry into the seats, forcing Bivens to throw another pitch, probably elevating a sinker just as he did to Bernabel — but this time Tovar would be sitting on it; he’d square it up and send the mis-located baseball deep into the bleachers in left…
Again — it made sense for Justin Verlander’s final start to end this way. It made sense, after six months of extreme swings between hot-and-cold, that the fans would be dealt a third losing season in a row with a collapse in the 9th…
But for whatever reason, it didn’t play out that way — at least, not today. Chapman lunged into the net and bounced out of it with the baseball in his glove. 27th out secured. Tying run and go-ahead runs stranded. Joel Peguero, Tristan Beck, and of course, Ryan Walker would all get their holds, and Spencer Bivens earned his second save. A bridge of relief just as the club brass Melvin schemed it up.
After a season’s worth of grief, Verlander ended the year with a win.
Weird.
A 4-11 record (29 games started) and a not-too-shabby 3.85 ERA will get inked on the back of Verlander’s baseball card. Overall, a respectable bounce back year in which he stayed pretty healthy and managed to sustain some quality in a month when many starters tire and break down. He limited the Rockies to just two solo shots in the 1st and 2nd innings while striking out 7 for his 12th quality start of the year and fourth in September.
Casey Schmitt came up with the big fly off Kyle Freeland in the 2nd, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead. The homer was only the second hit of the game for San Francisco, nor would they get another until the 7th.
But the offense squeezed just enough out of their scant opportunities. Colorado pitching limited the order to just three at-bats with runners in scoring position and six base-runners over 8 frames. What proved to be the decisive run scored came on a two-out flare from Rafael Devers that knuckled away from the diving Doyle in center and skipped past him towards the wall. Andrew Knizner scored easily from first to stretch San Francisco’s lead to two — an elasticity that proved essential in the 9th.
Game 162 tomorrow.
Category: General Sports
