ST. LOUIS — There exist phenomenon that defy explanation, trends unfolding with no rhyme, no reason. The Giants do not know why their offense stalls when Justin Verlander takes the mound. Nor do they know why their bullpen often falters when Verlander is in line for a win. Yet, these trendspersist.

The Giants entered the bottom of the ninth on Saturday at Busch Stadium with a two-run lead. Verlander, having thrown six shutout innings, was in line for his fourth win of the season. San Francisco’s offense only scored two runs, but those two runs looked like enough on a night where pitching ruled.

That was before Ryan Walker faced five batters and didn’t record a single out.

Three singles, a double and a hit-by-pitched yielded three runs for the St. Louis Cardinals, who handed Walker his first blown save since re-entering the closer role for Randy Rodríguez. The Giants, as a collective, lost 3-2, wasting an opportunity to gain ground on the Mets for the final NL wild card spot as their five-game winning streak was snapped. And Verlander, as an individual, had to watch another win go by the wayside.

“That’s a frustrating one,” Verlander said. “Not just for me, personally, obviously. We’re playing good baseball, we’re chasing down the teams ahead of us. It sucks, but that’s baseball. Can’t win ‘em all. Find a way to win the series tomorrow and just keep trying to play good baseball. That’s all we can do.”

For Verlander, this marks the seventh time this season he’s departed from a start in line for a victory only to end up with a no decision. Walker, oddly enough, has failed to protect leads in four of those seven instances, including tonight.

Walker gave up four runs in the bottom of the ninth to the Los Angeles Angels on Easter Sunday, then failed to protect leads against the Chicago Cubs (May 6) and Chicago White Sox (June 29). Tonight, Walker let another lead slip away.

Nolan Gorman and Mason Wynn led off the ninth with back-to-back singles, then Walker loaded the bases by plunking Jimmy Crooks. Thomas Saggese sliced San Francisco’s lead to one run with an RBI single, then Jordan Walker erased it entirely with a walk-off, two-run double that deflected off third baseman Matt Chapman’s glove.

“Obviously, he’s not trying to do that,” Verlander said. “He’s my teammate. You have to turn the page. Next time he’s out there, I have the utmost faith in him. So, just unfortunate.”

Said Walker: “I try not to get too frustrated. “I’d rather just wipe it off and move on. But, I mean, it sucks. At the end of the day, it’s baseball. Someone’s gotta win, and today, it was them. Maybe I could’ve mixed up my pitches more, but you could always have a ‘what if’ at the end of the day. I’m happy with what was called and what I threw. It comes down to execution. If I execute the pitch a little bit better, then it’s a different story.”

The onus of the loss falls on Walker, but San Francisco’s offense did not provide much as far as run support for their starter either.

The Giants were bound to eventually have a quiet game offensively — their streak of games with at least one home run ended at 18 — but it was the latest quiet game with Verlander on the mound. Including this loss, Verlander has received three runs or fewer of run support in 20 of his 25 starts this year.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” said manager Bob Melvin. “When a guy like that takes the mound, you feel pretty good. … He’s had the worst luck as far as wins and losses go. He’s almost down to below four (ERA) at this point in time after maybe a little bit of a rough start. Certainly not his doing.”

In striking out Gorman looking in the sixth, Verlander recorded the 3,535th strikeout of his career to pass Giants Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry for eighth on the all-time strikeouts list. The next pitcher for Verlander to pass is Don Sutton, who totaled 3,574 strikeouts over 23 seasons. With three to four starts remaining, it’s plausible that Verlander moves to seventh by season’s end.

“I was excited to get to 200 (strikeouts),” Walker said. “I couldn’t even imagine 3500. That’s insane. It’s a long time in the big leagues.”

Originally Published: September 6, 2025 at 6:55 PM PDT