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Another crisp night of Giants baseball leads to a first for Justin Verlander originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — For Justin Verlander, the next month will be about big numbers. 

He picked up win No. 264 on Tuesday, and while this disappointing Giants season has put a big dent in his hopes for 300, it’s still a number to chase. He also got to 3,520 career strikeouts, passing Walter Johnson and moving into ninth on the all-time list. 

But Tuesday night was also about a first. 

When Matt Chapman provided a cushion with a two-run homer and the bullpen cruised through the final three innings of a 5-2 win over the Chicago Cubs, Verlander had his first career win at Oracle Park. 

“No offense,” he said, smiling, “But I wish I had one in 2012.”

The Giants are glad he doesn’t, although they have a lot of regrets about the way they’ve handled Verlander’s 14 starts at home this year. They haven’t provided him with run support while also failing to hold his leads, but in recent days, the baseball has been cleaner. All of a sudden, everything is crisp.

On Tuesday, that led to a third win in four games over an NL Central club headed for the MLB playoffs. The Giants remain seven games back of the third wild-card spot with just 30 to play, but they at least feel like they’re on solid footing again. 

“Look, I haven’t been here for that long, but the Giant way is good pitching and good defense and timely hitting,” Verlander said. “If that’s your motto, you’ve got to play clean. Do the little things the right way and good things happen. We’ve shown that we’re capable. We just need to kind of continue to do that and start to expect that from each other.

“There are smart fans here. They watch the game and you guys [in the media] watch the game and you see what the difference is when we play smart baseball and do things the right way.”

There hasn’t been much of that in the second half, especially at Oracle Park. But the Giants got an early homer from Wilmer Flores and Verlander contributed six strong innings. Luis Matos and Heliot Ramos sparked a game-swinging rally and the bullpen — now without closer Randy Rodriguez, too — had a good night. 

Verlander had left six previous starts with the lead and watched it disappear, but those bad vibes didn’t seep into the dugout Tuesday. Manager Bob Melvin said he just had a feeling “we were going to finish it off for him.” He’s hopeful that this is the start of a strong final push.

“We went through a really bad stretch,” Melvin said. “Hopefully we’re getting on the other side of it.”

The Giants would need a miracle to return to the thick of the postseason race, but Verlander should get five or six more starts regardless. He’ll keep trying to tick wins off, and he’s just 14 strikeouts away from reaching eighth all-time. 

Verlander said he has tried to be more present since having Tommy John surgery, and that includes having a greater awareness of what every night on the mound means. He’s well aware that the next guy after Johnson is a Hall of Famer who has a statue outside Oracle Park. Well, at least he is now. 

Verlander smiled when asked if he knew who was eighth in strikeouts. 

“Gaylord Perry,” he said. “Somebody just told me in the food room.”

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Ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns addressed several topics, including the starting rotation and the bats' return to form.

On Kodai Senga’s recent struggles

“I don’t think we’ve seen the consistent quality of stuff in the zone,” Stearns said. “And when you don’t have the consistent quality of stuff in the zone, you tend to nibble a little bit more, and I think that’s what we’ve seen.

“We’ve had some count control challenges. I think he’s done a really nice job of minimizing damage. We’ve had a lot of traffic in his starts, but he’s generally kept us in the game and competitive.”

In seven starts since the All-Star break, Senga has gone just 31 innings while pitching to a 6.10 ERA, allowing 24 runs (21 earned) on 32 hits (seven home runs) and 20 walks with 29 strikeouts. 

“He’s frustrated and he doesn’t think he’s pitching at his best right now,” Stearns continued. “And so we’re gonna continue to work with him and continue to do our best to get him back to a good spot.”

On Sean Manea regaining sharpness

The second time through the order has been a bugaboo for Manaea this year. In the first three innings this year (21 total frames), he’s allowed just six runs. In innings four through six (13.1 total), he’s allowed 11 runs.

“I still think we’re building up stamina,” Stearns said of the left-hander whose second season with the Mets was delayed until the final game of the season’s first half in July. “We’ve seen periods of dominance with Sean early in games and then it seems like whether it’s one walk or one hit by pitch and things can spiral a little bit.

“The good news is we are still seeing the pitcher that we saw last year. We are seeing the pitcher who is getting very uncomfortable swings on his fastball, lot of swing and miss on the fastball. His sweeper has still showed really well. He’d certainly like to get deeper into games. We’d like him to get deeper into games. And my expectation is as we go forward, we’ll see that.”

Overall, in seven starts, he has pitched to a 5.40 ERA (4.44 FIP), but he has 38 strikeouts to just eight walks in 33.1 innings. 

Ryan Helsley’s adjustment period

Stearns felt that the closer turned set-up man who arrived in a deadline deal with St. Louis threw the ball better in Monday’s scoreless outing, but said that the club is trying to keep the veteran from pressing to find the results

“There’s an adjustment period coming to a new team, we’re asking him to take on a new role, that’s certainly been well documented,” he said. “When you don’t have results immediately, it's natural to press a little bit, and what we’re trying to do is help him exhale a little bit, take a deep breath.

“The stuff is still there. He’s been good in this league for a long time, and he’s gonna be good again.”

On Mets’ bats bringing the lumber 

The results of late have been better with 71 runs scored in their last 10 games. The club's .316 average, .386 OPS, and .573 slugging percentage (.959 OPS) in the last 15 days are all tops in MLB during that span. And that is more in line with what Stearns and the organization expected. 

“Throughout the entire season, we thought we had a good offensive team,” he said with a smile. “We’ve talked a lot about the challenges earlier in the season in leverage spots and runners in scoring position, men on base. And some of that was maybe at times we were pressing a little bit, getting a little bit too aggressive.

“But a lot of that was misfortune. And some really unfortunate batted ball luck and that’s tough to stomach for all of us. That’s not a satisfactory answer for any of us. But we did try to focus on what we can actually control: Are we swinging at the pitches we should swing at? When we do, are we putting them in play in ways that we want to put them in play?”

Stearns added that for most, but not all, of the stretches when they were having trouble scoring runs, the club was sticking to that plan, but there were times “when we expand [the zone] too much, we were pressing.”

“But, especially early in the season when we were having offensive challenges, our approach was pretty good,” he said. “We weren’t getting the results, and sometimes that can steamroll on you. But it can also steamroll on you the other way now, and hopefully we get on that run.”

Why Mets went with Tong over Brandon Sproat

When Stearns spoke about potentially calling up some of the Mets’ top pitching prospects for their big league debuts down the stretch, Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat were the two most likely candidates. After Jonah Tong was handed a surprise call-up to join McLean in Flushing, the question of why not Sproat was asked.

Despite Sproat doing a “tremendous job” at Triple-A and “probably had as good a second-half a season as any pitcher in minor league baseball,” Stearns said it was more to do with Tong’s domination and timing.

“We talked about Brandon a lot, and this was really just what Jonah has accomplished, plus the timing of this, lining up, keeping [Tong] on turn, on his normal rest progression, and taking the start on Friday,” he said. “But we think Brandon’s got a really bright future and we’re excited about it.”

What we learned as Justin Verlander bounces back in Giants' win over Cubs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

• BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO — MLB commissioner Rob Manfred made waves earlier this month when he mentioned the possibility of expansion teams leading to realignment. If it happens, the Giants might want to petition the league to join the NL Central.

After taking two of three from the first-place Milwaukee Brewers, they returned home and beat the Chicago Cubs 5-2. Both Central teams are headed for the MLB playoffs, but the Giants have had their number this season. Tuesday’s win moved them to 8-3 against the Brewers and Cubs. 

It also gave Justin Verlander his second win in orange and black and No. 264 for his career. Verlander did his part over six innings, and Matt Chapman provided a cushion with a two-run blast in the sixth. The homer was Chapman’s first in a month. 

Bouncing Back

Verlander didn’t hide his displeasure after last week’s loss at Petco Park. The defense let him down, but he also failed to limit the damage, allowing seven earned runs. 

On Tuesday, Verlander completed six innings for just the second time in the second half. He scattered seven hits and gave up two earned on two walks and five strikeouts. The first strikeout moved him past Walter Johnson on the all-time MLB list, and he’s now just 14 away from catching Giants Hall-of-Famer Gaylord Perry and moving into eighth all-time. Verlander would need 40 after that to catch Don Sutton, and it looks like he’ll take a shot at it this season. 

The 42-year-old threw 101 pitches on Tuesday night, reaching triple-digits for the third time in five August starts. He was still touching 95 mph in the fifth inning. 

Matos Mania

Verlander was in line for a win thanks to Luis Matos, who has taken off since getting an everyday role. He returned from Triple-A last Thursday and went 8-for-15 on the rest of the road trip with two homers, two doubles and a triple, and his hot streak continued back home. 

Matos thought he homered again in his first at-bat Tuesday, but his 381-foot drive was caught on the track in left-center. With the Giants trailing in the bottom of the fifth, he went the other way for a double off the bricks. Heliot Ramos brought him home with a two-out double and then scored the go-ahead run on Rafael Devers’ single.

The Path To 27 Outs

The final 31 games are an open audition of sorts for 2026 bullpen spots. Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval are gone and Randy Rodriguez and Erik Miller both seem unlikely to pitch again this season because of elbow injuries. Rodriguez went on the IL on Tuesday with a right elbow sprain and likely will seek a second opinion as he figures out next steps.

Joey Lucchesi took the seventh and then retired lefty Pete Crow-Armstrong in the top of the eighth. He handed the baton to trade deadline acquisition Jose Butto, who breezed through the rest of the inning. 

Ryan Walker opened the season as the closer and returned to that role when Rodriguez’s elbow started barking. He worked around a one-out single in the ninth and picked up his 12th save. 

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What we learned as Justin Verlander bounces back in Giants' win over Cubs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

• BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO — MLB commissioner Rob Manfred made waves earlier this month when he mentioned the possibility of expansion teams leading to realignment. If it happens, the Giants might want to petition the league to join the NL Central.

After taking two of three from the first-place Milwaukee Brewers, they returned home and beat the Chicago Cubs 5-2. Both Central teams are headed for the MLB playoffs, but the Giants have had their number this season. Tuesday’s win moved them to 8-3 against the Brewers and Cubs. 

It also gave Justin Verlander his second win in orange and black and No. 264 for his career. Verlander did his part over six innings, and Matt Chapman provided a cushion with a two-run blast in the sixth. The homer was Chapman’s first in a month. 

Bouncing Back

Verlander didn’t hide his displeasure after last week’s loss at Petco Park. The defense let him down, but he also failed to limit the damage, allowing seven earned runs. 

On Tuesday, Verlander completed six innings for just the second time in the second half. He scattered seven hits and gave up two earned on two walks and five strikeouts. The first strikeout moved him past Walter Johnson on the all-time MLB list, and he’s now just 14 away from catching Giants Hall-of-Famer Gaylord Perry and moving into eighth all-time. Verlander would need 40 after that to catch Don Sutton, and it looks like he’ll take a shot at it this season. 

The 42-year-old threw 101 pitches on Tuesday night, reaching triple-digits for the third time in five August starts. He was still touching 95 mph in the fifth inning. 

Matos Mania

Verlander was in line for a win thanks to Luis Matos, who has taken off since getting an everyday role. He returned from Triple-A last Thursday and went 8-for-15 on the rest of the road trip with two homers, two doubles and a triple, and his hot streak continued back home. 

Matos thought he homered again in his first at-bat Tuesday, but his 381-foot drive was caught on the track in left-center. With the Giants trailing in the bottom of the fifth, he went the other way for a double off the bricks. Heliot Ramos brought him home with a two-out double and then scored the go-ahead run on Rafael Devers’ single.

The Path To 27 Outs

The final 31 games are an open audition of sorts for 2026 bullpen spots. Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval are gone and Randy Rodriguez and Erik Miller both seem unlikely to pitch again this season because of elbow injuries. Rodriguez went on the IL on Tuesday with a right elbow sprain and likely will seek a second opinion as he figures out next steps.

Joey Lucchesi took the seventh and then retired lefty Pete Crow-Armstrong in the top of the eighth. He handed the baton to trade deadline acquisition Jose Butto, who breezed through the rest of the inning. 

Ryan Walker opened the season as the closer and returned to that role when Rodriguez’s elbow started barking. He worked around a one-out single in the ninth and picked up his 12th save. 

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David Stearns had to state the obvious in discussing the Mets’ decision to promote 22-year-old Jonah Tong for his MLB debut just two weeks after promoting him to Triple-A.

“This is fast, there’s no question, this is fast,” the Mets’ president of baseball operations said Tuesday. 

“He’s pushed us on this because of his performance,” Stearns continued. “We think he’s ready for this. We also acknowledged that this has gone faster than any of us would have anticipated at the start of this year.”

Across 22 minor league starts, Tong has pitched to a 1.43 ERA and 0.924 WHIP, surrendering just 20 runs (18 earned) on 58 hits and 47 walks over 113.2 innings while striking out 179 batters. A 14.2 strikeout per nine-inning rate. Now, he is expected to make his next start Friday night in Queens against the Miami Marlins.

And it speaks to how highly the Mets organization thinks of the young right-hander that the rationale is just this: In a tight wild card race, you need to have your best players on the roster at the business end of the season.

“As you roll into the last month of the season, you want to have the best roster you possibly can,” Stearns said. “And we think Jonah has the chance to be among that. He’s earned the opportunity. And so we’re gonna give him the start and look forward to seeing how it goes.”

In his two outings with Syracuse, he tallied 39 whiffs on 91 swings (43 percent) with a 39 percent called strike-whiff rate.

So how did the Mets end up here, with Tong going from pitching in the MLB Futures Game while at Double-A to getting promoted twice in the span of 45 days?

“Combination of where a player is development-wise and then opportunity,” Stearns said. "And this went fast for Jonah. But to his credit, he really conquered everything we put in front of him. He exceeded our expectations throughout this year, and he put himself in a position where he deserved to be considered for a day like this.”

On the first part, the development of the right-hander’s stuff this season has been something that has left the team pleasantly surprised and quite excited.

“He’s obviously got the fastball that plays, and that’s been his calling card throughout his time in the minor leagues,” Stearns said of the heater, which averages around 96 mph and touched 98 mph at Triple-A. “What’s impressed us the most is the speed with which he’s expanded his arsenal in a really effective way. He’s added a changeup this year that’s been really good.

“And we’ve seen outings that have shown tremendous maturity on the mound where something’s not working and he’s able to switch an approach, go to the slider more, throw a few more curveballs. And allow himself to get through outings really successfully even if he’s not following the exact plan that he thought he was gonna follow when he went into the game.”

Stearns pointed to Tong’s two Triple-A outings in which he's pitched 11.2 scoreless innings, allowing eight hits and three walks with 17 strikeouts. “He’s had success in two straight starts in different ways, and that’s encouraging to see,” he said.

But in order to get that chance, opportunity must knock. And Stearns first laid out the possibility of giving some of the club’s top minor league arm talent opportunities down the stretch after the All-Star break, but it was seen thatNolan McLean and Brandon Sporat were the most likely candidates, as both had Triple-A experience and were seen as closer to being big league ready. McLean, who was called up on August 16 for his MLB debut, has made two fine starts and seems to have found himself as the Mets’ fifth starter. With New York looking for a sixth man, which should be a boost for Kodai Senga and Clay Holmes, coupled with Tong’s domination at Syracuse, the decision seemed to be made for them.

“Then ultimately, as we got into planning this week and planning the next series out, it lined up well for him,” Stearns said. “He’s gonna be on normal term, he’s throwing the ball well in two starts in Triple-A, and we’re comfortable giving him the ball.”

And, like with McLean, the Mets are going to go “turn by turn” with the rotation for the time being. 

“It’s gonna be a combination of what the matchups are, who we think matchup well, how are guys are throwing, who we think needs rest, who doesn’t need rest,” Stearns said. “I think in September, we try not to plan too far ahead.”