Giants' Justin Verlander aims to crack win column vs. A's

Justin Verlander is winless in 13 starts this season, but the right-hander hasn't lost his confidence.

Of course, you can't rack up 262 career victories and 3,471 strikeouts without supreme belief in your abilities to pitch and navigate trouble.

The 42-year-old Verlander again will take aim at that elusive first triumph when the San Francisco Giants visit the Athletics on Friday night at West Sacramento, Calif.

Verlander (0-5, 4.26 ERA) said he feels close to finding his stride, but being winless this deep into the season is tough to absorb.

"You just try to pitch better, and hopefully the wins will follow," Verlander said, according to The Athletic. "You've got to be pretty objective. Yeah, I've given us some chances. But I need to pitch better. I do think I'm capable of that. If I didn't, I wouldn't still be playing."

Verlander looked sharp on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox when he allowed one run and five hits over six innings. But he ended up with a no-decision in the Giants' 5-2 loss.

Verlander missed a month of the season due to a strained right pectoral muscle. He is 0-2 with a 4.02 ERA in three starts since his return.

"I was starting to pitch a little bit better before I got hurt," Verlander said. "Particularly right now, I feel like I'm on to something mechanically. I'll find out here soon."

Verlander is 17-8 with a 2.64 ERA in 30 career starts against the Athletics. Shea Langeliers (2-for-9) has homered against Verlander while Gio Urshela (1-for-14) has scuffled.

The Giants seemingly are back in form after winning the final two contests of a four-game road set against the Arizona Diamondbacks. San Francisco lost seven of eight games before the two victories.

Rafael Devers had three RBIs and Heliot Ramos drove in two during Thursday's 7-2 win over Arizona.

The Giants swept a three-game series against the visiting Athletics from May 16-18. San Francisco outscored the A's 13-3.

Wilmer Flores had a career game in a 9-1 win on May 16 as he hit three homers and drove in eight runs. He hit a grand slam off Athletics left-hander JP Sears (6-7, 5.09 ERA), who will start Friday's game.

In that loss, Sears allowed four runs and six hits over four-plus innings.

Sears is 1-1 with a 2.41 ERA in three career starts against the Giants. Ramos (2-for-7) also has homered off Sears while Tyler Fitzgerald is 3-for-7.

Sears, 29, had dropped five of his previous six decisions before beating the New York Yankees 7-0 on Saturday. He tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits.

"This was a big start for JP to bounce back. Hopefully, he will get some momentum going," A's manager Mark Kotsay said afterward. "It was one that he needed. This was a start where he knew he had to be good, and he met that challenge."

The Athletics are back home after winning two of three games from the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays. The A's won the first two games before falling 6-5 on Wednesday.

"Our guys came in here with the right mindset," Kotsay said. "We played really good baseball for three days."

Rookie slugger Nick Kurtz was named American League Rookie of the Month for June. Kurtz hit seven homers and slugged .597 for the month.

That makes two straight months that a member of the A's won the honor. Shortstop Jacob Wilson, who will start the All-Star Game for the American League, was the top rookie in May. He is batting .339 overall.

--Field Level Media