SF Giants’ Justin Verlander fails to notch his first win after month hiatus

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 - 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 years and will go for the sweep in Thursday s p m start The Giants trailed - when Verlander respectfully flipped the ball to skipper Bob Melvin after an -pitch outing with two on and two out in the fifth inning Verlander bemoaned his consistency and various mechanics but noted The stuff seemed OK I felt OK I didn t feel too fatigued at the end Heliot Ramos th 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 -day road trip with a three-game visit to the Athletics in West Sacramento Rafael Devers went -for- in his encore after Tuesday night s -for- Giants debut Look he had really good at bats last night He just missed a current ball in the present day His swings were good Melvin announced Nothing to be concerned about because he took an -for- tonight His swings were aggressive and on time Unfortunately the first couple games didn t go our way But I mean that s baseball Verlander reported of Devers presence You win seven in a row and -of- then you feel like you re on top of the world Now you re thinking you stink It s a fickle encounter In a storybook world we win these games and he hits a walk-off homer But you have to look big picture and he s going to help us a lot Verlander a -year-old right-hander fell to - and remained winless 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 This season s been a mental challenge just trying to find my groove I was feeling close then unfortunately had an injury commented Verlander a th-year veteran who strained a right pectoral muscle He settled into an encouraging groove until Daniel Schneemann connected on an - fastball for a three-run homer into the left-center bleachers pushing Cleveland s lead to - in the fourth It was one of the worst fastballs I threw all day Verlander disclosed It was kind of flat It wasn t a great pitch Added catcher Patrick Bailey His stuff overall was pretty good He made chosen mistakes and they put good swings on it 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 th 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 contest s tone Following No hitter Patrick Bailey s single Ramos pulled the Giants within - by belting a two-run homer feet into the left-field bleachers It was Ramos th home run The Giants however went -for- with runners in scoring position a night after going -for- In a low-scoring tournament when those opportunities come up it s something we were better about earlier in the season and haven t been as good not long ago Melvin disclosed The Giants stranded at least one runner in each of the final four innings In the sixth Wilmer Flores reached when he got plunked by reliever Matt Festa s -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 -for- debut again got applauding fans out of their seats for Wednesday s encore The bulk sat however by the time he struck out on Logan Allen s -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 Related Articles Emotional after arrangement from SF Giants Kyle Harrison now stoked about the opportunity Nezza s Spanish anthem at SF Giants-Dodgers event ignites debate over LA unit s immigrant encouragement With Rafael Devers bargain SF Giants commit to a core for years to come Is that a good thing SF Giants Rafael Devers on pitcher-friendly Oracle Park It s the same baseball Nothing changes SF Giants fall - to Cleveland Guardians in Rafael Devers post-trade debut Within four minutes of Verlander s first pitch a called strike to Kwan he determined himself trailing - 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