A future Hall of Fame pitcher takes the mound to begin his 20th season when the visiting San Francisco Giants play the Cincinnati Reds in the second of a three-game series Saturday.
Justin Verlander enters the 2025 season with 262 career wins, three Cy Young awards, one MVP award and a one-year, $15 million contract with the Giants.
The 42-year-old right-hander is pitching for his fourth MLB team after spending most of his career with Detroit and Houston. Verlander made 16 starts with the New York Mets in 2023 before a midseason trade to the Astros.
Verlander has defeated all 30 MLB teams in his career, but Cincinnati is the only team he has beaten just once. Verlander has made just four starts against the Reds, going 1-2 with a 4.38 ERA.
Verlander was 5-6 with a 5.48 ERA in 17 starts for Houston in 2024. His ERA was the highest since he made his MLB debut in 2005 with Detroit and made two starts.
This spring, Verlander showed his old form, going 2-0 in Cactus League play with a 3.43 ERA in five starts. He struck out 19, walked five and allowed two home runs over 21 innings.
The Reds will counter with left-hander Nick Lodolo, coming off another injury-riddled season in 2024. Lodolo was limited to 21 starts and finished 9-6 with a 4.76 ERA after four different stints on the injured list.
After starting the season with eight wins in his first 11 starts, Lodolo suffered through various injuries, including a left middle finger sprain that ended his season after his final start on Aug. 22.
Lodolo was 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in four spring training starts for Cincinnati. In his final spring start, the lefty allowed one run on three hits, striking out seven and walking none against Cleveland on March 23.
The two teams had the day off on Friday before getting ready to resume the series on Saturday. The Giants rallied with two outs in the ninth to erase a 3-2 deficit and take a 6-4 win on Thursday in the opener for both clubs.
Patrick Bailey tied the game with a two-out single and Wilmer Flores gave the Giants their first lead with a three-run homer off reliever Ian Gibaut.
“It took to the ninth to get there, but just some tenacious at-bats again in big spots,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “We talked a lot about the two-out hitting. In the spring, it was more base hits. That was a homer. Just huge that Flo came up with it, too. Not only is it good for him, it’s good for us. Just a lot of good things came from this game to be able to come back late.”
Skipper Terry Francona took the loss in his managerial debut with Cincinnati.
“Oh, it better not deflate us too much,” Francona said. “It’s no fun losing (in) any way. Losing late is hard. If that’s too much for us, I got the wrong read on our guys.”
–Field Level Media
