Advertisement

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

Giants fans may feel a little differently about his answer on this one.
Nick San Miguel
Nick San Miguel

Around the Foghorn

Chicago Cubs v San Francisco Giants / Ezra Shaw/GettyImages

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.

More from Around the Foghorn:

Nick San Miguel

Nick San Miguel

Nick San Miguel has been writing at FanSided since 2017. He began as a contributor writing about the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and became a Site Co-Expert for AtF in 2024. A die-hard Bay Area sports fan born 10 minutes from Levi's Stadium, he has also written about the San Francisco 49ers for Niner Noise as a contributor since December 2023. In October 2025, he joined Blue Man Hoop as a contributor to write about the Golden State Warriors. He graduated with a degree in History from San Diego State University and is now based out of Chicago. He is the same age as Oracle Park.