Vintage Verlander not enough for SF Giants vs. Rays in seventh straight loss

SAN FRANCISCO — The all-time strikeout leaderboard is about as meaningful as any scoreboard these days in the world of the San Francisco Giants, at least every fifth day when Justin Verlander takes the ball.

No wonder, then, why fans slowly rose from their seats and the Giants’ second game of their series against the Rays briefly paused after the first out of the top of the fifth Saturday night. Verlander, in vintage form, pinpointed a breaking ball that froze Ha-Seong Kim for strike three — his seventh punchout of the night and the 3,510th of his career.

The future Hall of Famer — along with 35,070 in attendance — thought he had passed Walter Johnson for ninth place all-time.

The strikeout, it turned out, was merely one of 21 outs Verlander recorded in his deepest and strongest start of the season. He didn’t allow a run, limited Tampa Bay to just two hits and needed only 88 pitches to complete seven innings while finishing with eight strikeouts.

It still wasn’t enough to break the Giants’ losing skid at Oracle Park or end Verlander’s season-long misfortunes.

An RBI single from Christian Koss in the sixth inning amounted to the Giants’ only run, and their bullpen coughed up another lead in a 2-1 loss to the Rays.

Koss drove home Willy Adames to give the Giants a 1-0 lead heading to the top of the seventh, which Verlander breezed through on seven pitches. He was in line for his second win of the season when Jose Butto took over to start the eighth.

Butto retired the first two hitters he faced but hit the No. 9 batter, catcher Nick Fortes, and wouldn’t complete the inning. A pair of hits followed the hit batsman, tying the game on a single from Yandy Diaz, and Butto’s replacement, Matt Gage, surrendered the go-ahead knock to the first batter he faced, Brandon Lowe.

Jung Hoo Lee singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth and stole second with two outs, but Wilmer Flores went down swinging as a pinch-hitter for the final out.

The loss was the Giants’ seventh in a row and their 15th in their past 16 overall at Oracle Park, dating back to July 11. The skid is a new season-long, surpassing two previous six-game losing streaks — all of which have come since the calendar turned to July.

Verlander set a season-high in innings and finished one away from his personal-best this year in strikeouts. Turns out, he would have needed five more to pass Johnson.

After getting Kim looking on a perfectly placed 0-2 sweeper, a message flashed across the jumbotron in center field congratulating Verlander on his latest milestone. According to most public record books, including those kept by Baseball-Reference and MLB.com, the freeze job elevated the 42-year-old past Johnson and into sole possession of ninth place among the all-time strikeout leaders.

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According to the Elias Sports Bureau, however, Johnson, who debuted in 1907 and threw his last pitch in 1927, is credited with 3,515 career strikeouts, which the Giants and MLB consider to be the official record.

A milestone almost a century old proved to be as elusive as a home win for the Giants, who were held to fewer than three runs for the 13th time in their past 16 home games. They had been 0-12 in such games but, thanks to Verlander, seemed to be in line to break their streak.

Notable

RHP Keaton Winn made his season debut in the ninth inning, pitching around a leadoff single to record a scoreless inning. The 27-year-old had been slowed by offseason elbow surgery and a separate shoulder injury that sidelined him for six weeks this summer at Triple-A Sacramento.