Verlander notches second win of season as SF Giants beat Cubs

SAN FRANCISCO Justin Verlander needed about four months to record his first win as a Giant He only needed a fraction of the time to earn his second Verlander totaled the th win of his career as the Giants beat the Chicago Cubs - on Tuesday night at Oracle Park allowing two runs over six innings with five strikeouts This marks the Giants - first time winning three consecutive games since they won three straight from Aug - With his strikeout of former teammate Kyle Tucker in the top of the first inning Verlander passed Walter Johnson for ninth on the all-time strikeout list Verlander is now strikeouts away from passing Gaylord Perry for eighth on the all-time list Verlander generated five whiffs with his slider which had a noticeably lower velocity compared to his season average Against the Cubs Verlander s slider clocked in at mph On the year by contrast his average slider has been mph The Giants trailed - going into the bottom of their fifth their only run of the night courtesy of Wilmer Flores solo homer in the second By inning s end San Francisco owned a - lead on an RBI double by Heliot Ramos and an RBI bloop single by Rafael Devers Once Verlander s night ended Matt Chapman extended San Francisco s lead to - with a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth his first home run since July With Randy Rodr guez at present on the injured list with a right elbow sprain manager Bob Melvin called on right-hander Ryan Walker to secure Verlander s second win of the season