The San Francisco Giants squandered a dominant performance from 42-year-old right-hander Justin Verlander, falling 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays at Oracle Park on Saturday. Verlander delivered seven scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out eight to reach 3,511 career strikeouts—three shy of Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry for eighth on the all-time list. San Francisco entered the eighth inning with a 1–0 lead, but reliever José Buttó surrendered three consecutive two-out hits, including Brandon Lowe’s go-ahead single, that put Tampa Bay ahead for good. The outcome marked the sixth time this season the Giants’ bullpen has blown a lead in one of Verlander’s starts and underscored his league-worst run support. The defeat extended the Giants’ losing streak to seven games and dropped them to 1-15 in their past 16 contests at Oracle Park. They have now lost six straight home series for the first time since 2008, compounding pressure on a club that once sat in postseason contention.
Justin Verlander's gem was wasted as the Giants dropped their seventh consecutive game. @PavlovicNBCS delivers the takeaways from tonight's loss ⬇️ https://t.co/uTn50zKpmk
It’s gotten so incredibly ugly for the #SFGiants https://t.co/sg3Ttd90Lb
Cannot believe this is real, the #SFGiants have now lost 15 of their last 16 games at Oracle Park. Sixth straight series loss at home.