What we learned as Verlander, Giants suffer windy loss to Phillies

Giants pitcher Justin Verlander took the loss in San Francisco's 6-4 defeat to the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park.

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Apr 15, 2025 - 19:58
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What we learned as Verlander, Giants suffer windy loss to Phillies

What we learned as Verlander, Giants suffer windy loss to Phillies originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

PHILADELPHIA — Justin Verlander makes no secret of the fact that he wants to join the 300-win club at some point. Right now, the Giants pitcher is having more trouble than he expected in his bid for his first in orange and black. 

The Philadelphia Phillies put four runs on Verlander’s line, knocking him out with a string of singles in the sixth, when Verlander extended his pitch count. He ended up taking the loss as the Giants fell 6-4 in the second game of a four-game series Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park. 

The Phillies’ lead was three heading into the top of the eighth, but the Giants pushed back. 

Singles by Heliot Ramos and Willy Adames got their dugout stirring, and Jung Hoo Lee yanked a 100-mph sinker from lefty reliever Jose Alvarado into right. The Giants had the tying run on first with no outs, but went down in order from there, and again in the ninth.

Here are three takeaways from a loss that dropped the Giants to 12-5.

“He’s The Fastest Kid Alive”

There was a stretch of about 20 minutes in the middle of the game when it seemed the Phillies thought they were still playing spring training games — and the Giants were happy to take advantage. 

Verlander walked two of the three batters he faced in the bottom of the third, but Trea Turner was cut down trying to steal second and Bryce Harper inexplicably tagged on a fly ball to deep center. Lee made a strong throw to end the inning.

In the top of the fourth, Matt Chapman and Wilmer Flores caught Jesus Luzardo napping and executed a double-steal. Both scored right away on a single by Casey Schmitt, with Flores sliding in safely in part because J.T. Realmuto didn’t try to put down a tag on a close play at the plate. 

The steal was Flores’ first since 2021 and just the sixth of his MLB career. He now has five-and-a-half months to try and get another one and set a career-high at the age of 33. 

The Wait Continues

Through four starts, Verlander remains stuck on 262 career wins. He entered the sixth Tuesday with a 3-2 lead, but back-to-back singles by Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos got the Phillies going. Randy Rodriguez was warming up in the bullpen, but manager Bob Melvin stuck with Verlander, who initially looked like he would get out of the jam.

Verlander induced a pop-up to left from Realmuto, but Ramos was shading over toward the left-center gap to account for the craziest wind the Giants have seen this season. Ramos might have thought the ball would float back to him, but it never did, dropping in front of him after he ran 108 feet toward the line and went into a slide. That tied the game, and Alec Bohm’s single gave the Phillies the lead on Verlander’s final pitch.

The oldest player in the majors threw 104 pitches and hit 95 mph in his final inning, but again the results weren’t really there. Verlander gave up eight hits and walked three, and the four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings left him with a 6.75 ERA on the season. 

No Longer Perfect

Hayden Birdsong’s 0.00 ERA disappeared in the bottom of the seventh when Harper hit a high fly ball that landed five rows into the seats in right. Birdsong tried to sneak a 3-0 slider across the inner half to get back in the count, but Harper was ready for it. 

It was interesting that Birdsong was even in the game, and a sign that he truly is being treated like a normal reliever, at least for the time being. Birdsong had just one day of rest after pitching at Yankee Stadium in Sunday’s win; his previous outings came on three, three and five days of rest. Given how good Birdsong has been, Melvin likely figured that was his best way to keep it a one-run game.

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