The San Francisco Giants look to salvage the finale of a three-game series against the host Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday afternoon behind a pitcher who has made a career of late-season success.
Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander (3-10, 3.94 ERA) will get the start for the Giants in Phoenix against fellow right-hander Brand Pfaadt (13-8, 5.31) of the Diamondbacks.
The Giants (75-76) fell three games behind the New York Mets (78-73) for the third wild-card spot in the National League after losing 6-5 to Arizona (77-75) on Tuesday.
“It’s getting real,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “We can’t deny that we’re in this race. Our guys are really engaged. They love where this thing is going.”
Arizona has won four in a row to move 1 1/2 games behind the Mets, while San Francisco has lost four straight games.
“They all feel like they’re must-wins,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said.
“It’s kind of a good thing, in that we’re in a position where (if) we win some games we can flip the script pretty quickly. When you win a game, you feel great about where you are going.
“When you get beat or lose three in a row, sometimes it can bite you a little bit. But we’ve been pretty good about being resilient this year and moving on from what could be some tough losses or tough stretches.”
Both teams have seen both sides. The Giants were 12 games over .500 on June 13 and seven under on Aug. 22. They rebounded from a 2-11 stretch by winning 11 of 12 to get to 72-69 on Sept. 5.
“We’ve been a little Jekyll and Hyde in how we’ve played this year,” Melvin said. “It feels like every game is the end of the world in September, and to an extent, obviously it has more impact. All it takes is a couple of wins to get you back on the other side of it.”
Since the Diamondbacks fell eight games under .500 on Aug. 1, they are 26-16. They clinched a wild-card berth on the penultimate day of the 2023 season and were eliminated on the final day last year.
“There is no panic in this room,” Lovullo said. “We’ve been down this road before. For the past two years we’ve played these types of games. We’ve all very familiar with what we have to do, and that’s to focus on what we can control.”
Verlander and Pfaadt have somewhat deceiving numbers. Verlander’s win-loss record does not reflect his effectiveness, nor does Pfaadt’s ERA.
Verlander has given up more than one earned run in only two of his last six starts while pitching to a 2.29 ERA. He has 37 strikeouts in his last 35 1/3 innings and has given up only 25 hits and one home run.
“He’s pitching his best baseball right now,” Melvin said. “His numbers are not indicative of the way he has pitched this year.”
Verlander is 5-3 with a 3.13 ERA in nine career appearances (all starts) against Arizona.
Pfaadt is tied for fourth in the NL in wins but has struggled in his last four starts, giving up 16 earned runs in 17 2/3 innings. He won his only quality start during the stretch, a 5-1 home victory over Boston.
He has had much more success at Chase Field, where he is 9-3 with a 3.50 ERA in 15 starts. His road ERA is 7.29.
Pfaadt is 0-4 with a 5.11 ERA in five career appearances (all starts) against San Francisco.