SAN FRANCISCO – Justin Verlander returned Wednesday night from a month hiatus still seeking his first win for the Giants. But the four runs he allowed proved too much to overcome, even for a San Francisco lineup including Rafael Devers.

A 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians stretched the Giants’ losing streak to four games – three since trading with the Boston Red Sox for slugger Rafael Devers.

Cleveland has secured its first series win in San Francisco in 20 years and will go for the sweep in Thursday’s 1:05 p.m. start.

The Giants trailed 4-0 when Verlander respectfully flipped the ball to skipper Bob Melvin after an 83-pitch outing, with two on and two out in the fifth inning.

Heliot Ramos’ 12th home run of the season cut the Giants’ deficit in half in the bottom of the fifth, but two runs were all they could muster for the second straight night against the Guardians, who will cap a 10-day road trip with a three-game visit to the Athletics in West Sacramento.

Rafael Devers went 0-for-3 in his encore after Tuesday night’s 2-for-5 Giants debut.

Verlander, a 42-year-old right-hander, fell to 0-4 and remained winless 11 starts into his Giants’ tenure. He allowed seven hits, four runs (three earned) and one walk while striking out six. A quartet of Giants relievers kept Cleveland from scoring any further.

A strained right pectoral muscle kept Verlander out the past month as he idled with no wins through 10 starts for the first time in his 20-year career.

He settled into an encouraging groove until Daniel Schneemann connected on an 0-2 fastball for a three-run homer into the left-center bleachers, pushing Cleveland’s lead to 4-0 in the fourth.

Verlander had retired five Guardians in a row before Carlos Santana’s grounder careened off the infield/outfield lip for a Tyler Fitzgerald error. After Lane Thomas singled, Schneemann parked his eighth home run of the season (on Verlander’s 50th pitch).

Verlander was one pitch shy of completing a five-inning outing, but a full-count slider instead resulted in a Santana walk and Verlander’s exit. Spencer Bivens entered and struck out Lane Thomas to strand runners at second and third.

Cleveland starter Logan Allen was one pitch from keeping the Giants scoreless through five innings, then Ramos changed the game’s tone. Following No. 9 hitter Patrick Bailey’s single, Ramos pulled the Giants within 4-2 by belting a two-run homer 420 feet into the left-field bleachers. It was Ramos’ 12th home run.

The Giants couldn’t score more than two runs in Tuesday’s night’s series opener – a 3-2 loss – but time allowed for a rally to get Verlander off the hook.

Instead, the Giants stranded at least one runner in each of the final four innings, carrying over Tuesday night’s frustrating trend (1-for-13 with runners in scoring position).

In the sixth, Wilmer Flores reached when he got plunked by reliever Matt Festa’s 91-mph fastball. Flores slammed his helmet into the ground and took his base, but groundouts ensued from Casey Schmitt and Jung Hoo Lee.

In the seventh, Mike Yastrzemski reached on a walk, advanced on a balk to second, and was left there following strikeouts of Andrew Bailey and Ramos.

In the eighth, Willy Adames led off with a single that graciously landed fair down the right-field line. None of the next three pop ups – by Devers, Flores and Schmitt — dropped in the Giants’ favor.

In the ninth, Yastrzemski reached on a two-out single, but Bailey struck out to end the affair.

Devers, after drawing standing ovations each plate appearance in Tuesday night’s 2-for-5 debut, again got applauding fans out of their seats for Wednesday’s encore. Most sat, however, by the time he struck out on Logan Allen’s 92-mph fastball to end the first inning. Devers walked his next time up, then he popped out to shortstop in the sixth and flew out to center in the eighth.

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Within four minutes of Verlander’s first pitch – a called strike to Kwan – he found himself trailing 1-0. Jose Ramirez’s one-out single scored Manzardo, who lined a curveball to right field for a double as Yastrzemski battled the twilight sun. Bailey, in his own return from the Injured List, settled things down by throwing out Ramirez trying to steal second, then Verlander got Santana to fly out to center.