Justin Verlander Shines in Final Start as San Francisco Giants Edge Colorado Rockies 4-3 on September 27, 2025

Saturday, September 27th, 2025

San Francisco Giants Edge Colorado Rockies 4-3 Behind Verlander’s Strong Performance

Justin Verlander delivered a standout performance, striking out seven and walking just one over six innings to secure a win in his final start of a challenging year. The San Francisco Giants held off the Colorado Rockies 4-3 on Saturday.

Casey Schmitt’s go-ahead three-run homer in the second inning provided crucial support for Verlander, who finished the season at 4-11 and received only 62 total runs of support in his 29 starts.

Verlander Makes History in Final Start

At 42 years old, Verlander wrapped up his 20th major league season, marking career start number 555, which ranks 27th on the all-time list. With this win, he tied Bob Feller and Eppa Rixey for 34th place on Major League Baseball’s career win list with 266 victories. Verlander had signed a $15 million, one-year contract in January to join the Giants.

Ninth-Inning Drama and Defensive Highlights

Rafael Devers contributed an important RBI double in the eighth inning, giving the Giants extra insurance before Colorado’s Jordan Beck launched a home run in the ninth off Ryan Walker. Following Beck’s homer, Brenton Doyle doubled and Walker exited after walking Kyle Karros.

Spencer Bivens entered in relief, striking out Warming Bernabel and then hitting Ryan Ritter to load the bases. Matt Chapman, the Giants’ third baseman, made a tough catch in foul territory on Ezequiel Tovar’s popup to end the game. Bivens earned his second save of the season with that final out.

Rockies Show Early Power, But Giants Hold On

Hunter Goodman opened the scoring with a home run in the first inning, and Doyle followed with a homer in the second for Colorado. Despite their early offensive outburst, the Rockies fell short and suffered their fifth consecutive loss.

Kyle Freeland Contains Giants After Early Trouble

Following Schmitt’s crucial home run, Rockies starter Kyle Freeland retired 12 consecutive Giants hitters until Heliot Ramos singled to begin the sixth. Freeland (5-17) allowed three runs on three hits over six innings.

With this defeat, the Rockies recorded their 118th loss of the season, the most by a National League team since the 1962 Mets dropped 120 games.

Key Moment

In the fifth inning, Ezequiel Tovar hit a two-out triple, and Verlander responded by issuing a four-pitch walk to Hunter Goodman. Blaine Crim then struck out swinging, as Verlander worked out of the jam and kept the Giants in front.

Key Stat

The Giants improved their head-to-head record to 10-2 against the Rockies this season. Their best performance against Colorado came during the 2021 season, when they went 15-4 en route to an NL West title.

Up Next

RHP McCade Brown (0-4, 7.54 ERA) will take the mound for the Rockies in the season finale against Giants All-Star RHP Logan Webb (14-11, 3.30 ERA). Webb owns a 2-0 record with a 2.25 ERA and 13 strikeouts in matchups with Colorado this year.

In summary

The San Francisco Giants secured a narrow 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies behind Justin Verlander’s strong pitching performance and Casey Schmitt’s three-run homer. The Rockies showed early power with home runs from Goodman and Doyle but ultimately extended their losing streak. Verlander’s milestone start capped off a historic career run, while standout defensive plays and key hit contributions helped the Giants maintain dominance over Colorado this season.

MLB Schedules

Today's MLB Games

There are no baseball games today.

Tomorrow's MLB Games

There are no baseball games tomorrow.

Yesterday's MLB Games

There were no baseball games yesterday.