Justin Verlander didn’t have much to say after the Giants’ loss to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, and why would he.
The veteran pitcher was in line for his first win in the Orange and Black when he left the game with a 2-1 lead after six innings, only to watch Chicago rally for four runs in the seventh and walk away with a 5-2 win and series victory at Rate Field.
The loss put the Giants at 1-5 in their last six games after the White Sox took two of three and the Miami Marlins swept them at Oracle Park — not at all how San Francisco hoped things would go against a pair of very beatable teams.
“Yeah, it sure is,” a somber Verlander told reporters after the game when asked if the Giants’ poor recent play has been frustrating. “You know, I think, uh … Yeah, that is frustrating. Yes.”
Verlander struck out three and walked two while allowing one earned run on five hits in his 12th start of the 2025 MLB season. He began this year with 262 career wins, and that’s where he remains after the Giants went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base in Sunday’s loss.
Patrick Bailey, who has bumped his average up nine points since June 7, got the Giants on the board in the second with an RBI double, then Willy Adames drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth to put the Giants up 2-1. And that was it for San Francisco’s slumping bats.
“That’s just kind of what we’ve been doing here recently,” manager Bob Melvin told reporters after the game. “Whether the guys are trying too hard in certain spots, that’s probably the case … They’re working hard, doing the best they can with it.
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“Obviously it’s not great right now. Just got to keep working and get through it.”
The Giants’ bullpen, typically elite and the best in MLB, couldn’t hold on to the lead in the seventh. Erik Miller allowed consecutive one-out singles before forcing Andrew Benintendi to ground out, then was replaced by Ryan Walker, who issued a walk then gave up a two-run double. Walker then surrendered another run on a balk before Lenyn Sosa made it 5-2 with an RBI single.
With the no-decision, Verlander became the seventh pitcher in the last 120 seasons to make 13-plus starts and earn zero wins before July 1
“Just trying to keep putting myself in the position for wins,” Verlander told reporters. “That’s all you can do as a starter.”
The lifeless defeat came one day after Robbie Ray gave up one run across six innings and was stuck with the loss as San Francisco’s offense mustered just four hits in Chicago’s 1-0 win on Saturday. After missing out on their chance to win against two sub-.500 teams, the Giants now head to Arizona for a four-game series against the Diamondbacks and then to West Sacramento to face the Athletics.
“A lot of ‘how frustrating’ questions, and that’s kind of where we are,” Melvin told reporters. “We have to answer them. But I think when you’re not playing well, it’s tough to win regardless. So, we’ve beaten good teams. We’ve lost to teams that [their] records aren’t great, but every team in the big leagues has got a chance to beat you.
“So we just have to get on a winning track no matter who we play.”
All of the momentum that came with Rafael Devers’ arrival seems to have been sucked out of the Giants, and now they find themselves 7 1/2 games out of first place in the NL West. With the second half underway, San Francisco must figure out a fix — and fast.
