Coming off a start in which he went the distance and struck out seven against the division rival Los Angeles Angels, Verlander would have had to accomplish a lot this afternoon in order to top that start. Although he didn’t quite pitch nine innings today, Verlander was extremely effective. Let’s take a look at how he fared against the Giants.
First off, Verlander’s whiff rate this afternoon was impeccable. On 97 pitches, Verlander induced 18 swinging strikes, good for a whiff rate of 18.56%. For comparison’s sake, in his amazing outing last Wednesday night against the Angels, Verlander’s whiff rate finished at 11.