It's been a turn back the clock month for 42-year-old Justin Verlander. He continued his stretch of dominant pitching on Wednesday, going seven strong innings for the second outing in a row, and did not allow a run in the game against Arizona.
Verlander has now thrown 25 innings over his last four starts, allowing just 13 hits and a single run. Dating back to his last five starts, it's 31 innings, 20 hits, and 3 runs allowed.
The veteran came into the start on Wednesday with a 3-10 record in 26 starts this season, and his ERA was down to 3.94.
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In the game against Arizona, he went seven innings, allowing just three hits and striking out three batters.
The bad news for the Giants, Brandon Pfaadt was even better. He went nine innings, allowing just one hit and striking out seven batters. He walked one during that time.
The game was scoreless heading to the bottom of the ninth inning when Corbin Carroll hit a one-out triple to deep right field. That brought up Gabriel Moreno, who was intentionally walked. That set the stage for Blaze Alexander. He was hit by a pitch on the very first pitch of the at-bat. The bases were loaded for Adrian Del Castillo. The 25-year-old left-handed swinger looked at the first two pitches, both for strikes. But, on 0-2, he was able to spoil a slider down and a fastball up, before looking at strike three.
That brought up Alek Thomas, who was 0-3 on the day. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, he grounded out to third base. Ryan Walker escaped the 9th for the Giants. Pfaadt's day would be done, and he remained 13-8 on the season.
Arizona Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt pitches nine shutout innings, giving up 1 hit, but won't get the shutout.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) September 17, 2025
D-backs 0, Giants 0, entering the 10th inning.
With a runner on second and no one out, the Giants faced Brandyn Garcia, the 25-year-old lefthander. A lineout and then back-to-back strikeouts finished the top half of the 10th and set the stage for a walk-off in front of 19,513 at Chase Field.
Joel Peguero took the mound, and Tim Tawa bunted the first pitch to third, and got Alek Thomas to third base with one out. Jake McCarthy was next, and he grounded out to third. Back to the top of the order, Geraldo Perdomo also grounded out, and the game went to the 11th inning.
It was a big top of the 11th for the Giants. Bryce Eldridge walked to start the inning, before Jerar Encarnacion broke the scoreless tie. Patrick Bailey then got on base with a single, before Christian Koss doubled home two more runs. It was 3-0, all facing John Curtiss of Arizona. He came out of the game and took the loss, falling to 3-2 on the season. Juan Morillo came in and allowed both inherited runs to score to make it 5-0 San Francisco. Carroll hit a sac fly in the bottom half to make it 5-1, but that was the final.
The loss was crushing for Arizona as they are now 77-76 on the season and on life support for a National League wildcard spot. They also had their five-game winning streak snapped. The Giants are now 76-76, also on life support as they await for New York Mets game on Wednesday night.
Arizona will face the Phillies, Dodgers, and Padres to finish the 2025 regular season. The Giants are at the Dodgers, before hosting the Cardinals and Rockies.
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