Verlander shines as Jerar Encarnación and Rafael Devers decide Giants’ victory in extras

PHOENIX (MLB.com).— Veteran pitcher Justin Verlander offered another pitching gem and, backed by Dominicans Jerar Encarnación and Rafael Devers, the San Francisco Giants prevailed this Wednesday 5-0 in 11 innings over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, cutting a streak of four consecutive losses.

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The 42-year-old right-hander worked seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and two walks, to achieve his first stretch of four consecutive starts with one or no earned runs allowed in his entire career. In more than a century of history, the only pitcher of that age to achieve this had been Roger Clemens in 2005.

However, the mound duel kept the Giants’ offense at bay, who were handcuffed for nine innings by Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona’s starter, who also delivered a luxury performance by keeping them scoreless.

The definition came in the 11th inning, when Encarnación, Devers and Christian Koss responded with timely hits to open the scoreboard and deliver the final blow that secured the visiting victory. With this result, the Giants are placed alongside the Cincinnati Reds at 2.5 games behind the New York Mets, who occupy the third wild card spot in the National League. The Diamondbacks, for their part, remain the closest team to that last ticket, also at 2.5 games. The Bay’s team, which had barely connected two hits in 18 previous innings since their four-run production in the first inning of Tuesday’s game, finally found the reaction needed to stay in the fight for the postseason.