SAN FRANCISCO — Justin Verlander loved the vibe of pitching for the San Francisco Giants with the home fans supporting him — he just wishes he could have been on the mound to enjoy it a little longer.
The veteran had a forgettable home debut for the San Francisco Giants.
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The 42-year-old right-hander, who signed a $15 million, one-year contract in January, was done after just 2 1/3 innings Friday against the Seattle Mariners in the Giants’ opener and eventual 10-9, 11-inning victory at Oracle Park.
“It really was (special) but I would have liked to have done better,” Verlander said. “I appreciate the fans cheering me on the way off the field, too.”
He retired only seven batters. He surrendered three runs and five hits with two strikeouts and two walks, throwing 44 of 65 pitches for strikes. He left with the game tied at 3.
“They just made him work really hard, threw a lot of pitches, so he’ll tell you it wasn’t his best stuff,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “He only walked two but they made him throw a ton of pitches. He gave up some hits. At that point in time I wasn’t going to let him throw 40 pitches in an inning. That was going to be it regardless. Kind of for him, move on to the next.”
The three-time Cy Young Award winner and nine-time All-Star with 262 career victories is eager to show he can still pitch at the highest level after an injury-plagued 2024 season with Houston in which he made only 17 starts.
He watched the rest of the 4-hour, 3-minute win from the clubhouse.
“What a ballgame, the reaction was ecstatic,” Verlander said. “All the guys were jumping and hollering and having a good time. Great home opener.”
Melvin said before the game how happy he was to give the ball to Verlander for this moment, a day the club brought in some of the franchise’s stars to honor the 25th year of the waterfront ballpark that opened on April 11, 2000.
“Kind of the timing of it was pretty cool, too,” Melvin said. “(Logan) Webby got the opening day and then Justin gets the home opener. I don’t know if it could have been timed better. I’m sure he’s looking forward to it and I know our fans are looking forward to it. When you add players like him in the offseason, to be able to kind of show them off on opening day I think is kind of cool.”
Verlander made just his second regular-season start and appearance at Oracle Park in his 20-year career and first since June 16, 2008, with Detroit. This was his 40th career start against the Mariners; he was 22-10 with a 2.98 ERA in those previous matchups.
The only other teams he has made 40 or more starts against are Cleveland (57), the Chicago White Sox (48), Kansas City (46) and Minnesota (40).
Verlander took an 8-3 loss here in Game 1 of the 2012 World Series, giving up two of Pablo Sandoval’s three home runs that October day.
“The atmosphere was great. I’ve experienced it from the other side obviously in some big moments and know how great these fans are,” he said. “A lot of guys here had told me how special opening day is here for San Francisco. It really was. The atmosphere was wonderful for the short time I was out there.”
