Verlander notches second win of season as SF Giants beat Cubs

SAN FRANCISCO Justin Verlander needed about four months to record his first win as a Giant He only needed a fraction of the time to earn his second Verlander totaled the th win of his career as the Giants beat the Chicago Cubs - on Tuesday night at Oracle Park allowing two runs over six innings with five strikeouts It didn t just mark Verlander s second win of the year but his first-ever win at Oracle Park a win he wishes he recorded years ago when the Giants and Tigers met in the World Series No offense but I wish I had one in Verlander laughed With his strikeout of former teammate Kyle Tucker in the top of the first inning Verlander passed Walter Johnson for ninth on the all-time strikeout list Verlander is now strikeouts away from passing Gaylord Perry for eighth on the all-time list I try to do a better job at being a little more present Verlander disclosed The last meager years especially coming back from Tommy John surgery it s been an emphasis of mine to pay attention a little bit more to things and be present not only on the field but off the field with my family You can get so stuck in the mindset of grinding This year s been so tough for that It s been really hard for me to not crawl into my little shell My family helps me a lot off the field and here we have a great group of guys They ve helped a lot Just relishing the positive Verlander generated five whiffs with his slider which had a noticeably lower velocity compared to his season average Against the Cubs Verlander s slider clocked in at mph On the year by contrast his average slider has been mph I changed the grip a little bit I ve been all over the place with my slider Verlander declared I ve tried to throw it harder tried to throw it softer I think right now I feel like I ve ascertained a good healthy place for it I ve liked the results with it I m getting a lot more chase and it seems to be looking more like my fastball coming out of my hand The Giants not only scored enough runs to get Verlander a win but they did so against their kryptonite a left-handed pitcher Entering play San Francisco ranked last in the majors in batting average on-base percentage and slugging percentage against lefties Chapman and Wilmer Flores both homered off the Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd while Heliot Ramos and Rafael Devers chipped in an RBI apiece We ve been a little bit better Melvin announced Early in the season it was really bad We don t think about it as much now Tonight drew three walks particular homers Flo s homer helped quite a bit early on too and just kind of relieves that here we go again type feeling that maybe we had against lefties earlier It was hard to ignore that here we go again type feeling when Verlander walked off the mound with the Giants leading - going into the bottom of the sixth On six occasions this season Verlander ended up with a no decision despite being in line for a win Most of in recent days Verlander pitched seven shutout innings against the Tampa Bay Rays but didn t have a win to show for the effort On this night the bullpen and the offense both ensured Verlander left Oracle Park with a win in hand Following Verlander s departure Chapman hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth that extended San Francisco s lead to - and gave the Randy Rodr guez-less bullpen chosen much-needed breathing room From there Joey Lucchesi Jos Butt and Ryan Walker finished the job Lucchesi retired all four batters that he faced striking out a pair in the process Butt handled his only two batters as well setting up Walker to close the door in the ninth Walker allowed a one-out single to Dansby Swanson in the top of the ninth but that would be the extent of Chicago s offense for the rest of the night as the crossfiring right-hander finished the competition without much drama It s not like it doesn t cross your mind sometimes but this match kind of had a good feel to it Melvin announced Once we scored in the sixth we felt like we were in a pretty good spot with who was available and just kind of how we were playing the challenge Added Chapman Unfortunately we haven t gotten him more wins but I think he s pitched well enough to deserve specific more He s been pitching well I feel like he s strung together specific really quality starts so I was glad we were able to get him the win in the modern day Worth noting Center fielder Jung Hoo Lee was not in the lineup on Tuesday as part of a scheduled off day