SF Giants news: Verlander strong, end of long road trip, team's first transaction

The SF Giants just wrapped up a long road trip with a brutal loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Nonetheless, they got through a tough stretch in the schedule and some noteworthy things happened along the way.

SF Giants news: Verlander strong, end of long road trip, team's first transaction

Verlander's best start as Giant

The start to Justin Verlander's tenure as a Giant was a bit rocky. He never looked fully in control of his stuff for his first four outings and it was eerily similar to the beginning of Randy Johnson's time as a Giant back in 2009.

Yet, Verlander looked very good on Sunday against the Angels. He pitched six strong innings allowing just one earned run on a solo home run while only allowing two hits and two walks while striking out six batters.

This was the version of Verlander the Giants were hoping for when they signed the 42-year-old this offseason. Let's hope he can build upon this strong outing going forward.

Long Road Trip Ends

The Giants just finished a tough 10-game stretch of games on the road where they had to play two very good teams in the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies and then fly across the country to face the Angels.

They finished the stretch with a record of 5-5 which most fans would have taken going into the trip. Blowing the game on Sunday when the team had a three run advantage entering the 9th inning leaves a really bad taste in everyone's mouth as they head back to San Francisco, but they should still be proud of the baseball they played against good teams.

Now they will play seven straight games at home, so hopefully they can take advantage of being back at Oracle Park and can win these next two series to keep the positive overall momentum of the year rolling.

First Transaction of the Season

It was sort of remarkable how long it took for the Giants to make their first roster move of the season. The lack of roster churn under president of baseball operations Buster Posey has stood in stark contrast to the approach of his predecessor.

Unfortunately, the roster move was necessary because of an oblique injury to Casey Schmitt. The team called up David Villar who had looked very good in Triple-A to begin the year and now has an opportunity to earn some more playing time with the struggles LaMonte Wade Jr. is experiencing at the plate.

That is where the Giants stand as they head towards the end of April. Let's hope they can wash out the bad taste left by Sunday's loss on Monday night when they take on the Milwaukee Brewers at Oracle Park.