It’s over. It’s finally over.
Justin Verlander’s winless streak came to an end in the Giants’ 9-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday at Truist Park.
The veteran pitcher began his 2025 campaign with 262 career wins, and in his 17th start this season, finally recorded his first in a Giants uniform.
It has been a topic of conversation all season long, much to Verlander’s chagrin, and with a gutsy performance in Wednesday’s series finale, he finally was able to put it to rest.
Verlander (W, 5 IP, H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 3 K) got off to a shaky start in the first inning, walking three batters and surrendering a hit while throwing a total of 40 pitches. At first, it appeared it might be another one of those days for Verlander, but he settled in nicely after the first frame and breezed through four additional innings to qualify for the win.
“It’s great,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said of Verlander’s win. “We know it every time he goes out there the guys try extra hard and for whatever reason it just hasn’t worked out. For him to be able to get through five [innings] after throwing upwards of, what, 40 pitches in the first inning, there’s some toughness involved in that. A lot of heat out there.
“He knows that bullpen-wise we’re a little beat up, too. To get through the first was huge for him, and then he ran pretty good after that. Gave us five and got a win and it was celebrated pretty good in there.”
There was a moment after the top of the fifth inning, however, where it started to drizzle at Truist Park, and it looked like Verlander’s final frame might be in jeopardy.
“I didn’t know, I figured something like that would happen,” Verlander joked postgame. “It would be like ‘OK, this would be the game it gets rained out and it’s going to be a two-hour delay, and they wouldn’t let me go back out.'”
Pitcher wins don’t hold nearly as much value as they used to, but for the 42-year-old Verlander, who came into this season chasing the historic 300-win milestone, every victory is extremely important.
And when they aren’t coming, there at least is a little added pressure to each start he makes.
“I know these guys were really grinding trying to get me [the first win],” Verlander added. “It was something they started talking about and I don’t want that to be the thing. I should keep us in the ballgame no matter what.”
Verlander revealed postgame that a couple Giants players gifted him a nice bottle of wine for the occasion, which he and the locker room celebrated accordingly.
“Emotional, it was awesome,” Giants third baseman Matt Chapman said of the clubhouse vibe. “We’ve wanted so badly to get him that first win and we haven’t necessarily, whether that’s play good defense behind him or swing the bat well or a couple things didn’t go our way, but you know we got the job done today and we were able to get that win for him, so we’re definitely all going to enjoy this one today.”
One particular decision after an average start in late July normally wouldn’t generate this much buzz, but given the extra pressure it might have added to the future Hall of Famer, it certainly is worth celebrating.
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