Justin Verlander had perfect response to his first SF Giants win at Oracle Park

Veteran SF Giants starter Justin Verlander has had a bit of a topsy turvy 2025 season. He finally got his first win at Oracle Park and had a pretty great response when asked about how it felt to finally get a win at home.

Verlander alludes to 2012 World Series when asked about first SF Giants win at Oracle

Of course, the future Hall of Fame pitcher is referencing the 2012 World Series when he got the ball in Game 1 against Barry Zito of the Giants and things went exactly as all the analysts predicted as Pablo Sandoval took Verlander deep twice and Zito out-dueled Verlander. The Giants even accidentally trolled Verlander by playing video of the Sandoval homers in a pre-game video ahead of the home opener this season to commemorate 25 years at Oracle Park.

Giants fans probably feel a little differently about this one than Verlander. That game, made unforgettable by Sandoval's three home runs, is one of the more memorable and important games in the history of Oracle Park. Not many people were giving the Giants a chance in that series, but they came out and popped the Detroit Tigers right in the mouth on the way to a sweep.

The Curse of the Panda has seemingly stuck with Verlander ever since then as he has simply not been able to get a win at Oracle Park until Tuesday. Part of that has to do with pitching in the American League for basically all of his career but he also has had some bad luck when pitching at home this season. The park has seemed to have his number.

Despite this, Verlander has pitched respectably overall this season given his age and the relatively low expectations that came with signing him. He now has a 2-10 record on the year with a 4.47 ERA in 23 starts. He has not made as much progress towards career win number 300 as he would have liked as he sits at 264, but he has at least made some progress in the record books as he surpassed Walter Johnson on the all-time strikeout list.

It seems doubtful that the Giants will bring him back next year even though the 42-year-old says he wants to keep pitching, but he has at least provided some memorable moments as a Giant. Still, his greatest contribution to the Giants organization will be those two homers he gave up to Sandoval back in 2012.

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