Photo credit: San Francisco Giants pitcher Justin Verlander acknowledges the crowd after striking out Washington Nationals’ Nathaniel Lowe in the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, Aug 10, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP)

By Vince Cestone

SAN FRANCISCO–The San Francisco Giants had visions of getting back into the National League Wild Card race after an inspiring 4-2 road trip, but they came back to earth at the end of their home series against the Washington Nationals on Sunday in a 8-0 shutout loss.

The Giants currently sit four games out of the third and final Wild Card spot. In terms of the math, it looks doable. But in the eye test, the Giants look like they are a trek across the Sahara Desert away from reaching the postseason.

The Giants fell back to .500, 59-59. It was more of the same–wasted opportunities after getting the leadoff hitter on, a plethora of strikeouts, and a sub-.500 team with younger and more-exciting talent running circles around a seemingly-sluggish Giants team.

The top of the first inning started off great for the Giants. Verlander struck out the side, and in doing so, notched his 3500th career strikeout. A great feat for a great pitcher. But then, the trouble started.

“The rest was awful,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “I mean we have 40,000 people here, and we don’t give them anything to root for the entire game other than that. So, unfortunately, that probably is as disappointing a game as he had all year.”

Unfortunately for the Giants, the game was lost in the second inning. With runners at second and third and nobody out, Verlander struck out Nationals first baseman Brady House and got center fielder Jacob Young to ground out to second with the infield in.

But then, Verlander hung a 3-2 slider to James Wood, which he lined down the first base line for a 2-run double. Verlander had made Wood look silly on a couple of fastballs up in the zone earlier in the at-bat.

Then, CJ Abrams launched a two-run homer off the right-field foul pole on a similar hanging, 2-strike slider. The Nationals were up 4-0, but it may as well been 20-0.

The Nationals would add on lone runs in the fourth and sixth inning, followed by two unearned runs in the seventh.

Abrams would end the day 2-for-5 with a home run and a single. Former Giant Paul DeJong continued to torture the Giants with a 3-for-5 day.

The Giants had no answer for Nationals starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore, who pitched six shutout innings, striking out 10 Giants. 40,089 Giants fans at Oracle Park had very little to cheer about on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the city.

“I’m frustrated that our fans come out and support us every night, and we gave them literally nothing today,” Melvin said.

The Giants could only scatter three hits for the game.

The highlight of the game for the Giants? A scoreless ninth inning from Christian Koss, a position player who came in to save the bullpen.

The Giants will try to get right against the San Diego Padres on Monday night at Oracle Park. Ace Logan Webb will try to get the Giants back into the win column.

Time is running out for the 2025 season, and if the Giants don’t want to be a team on the outside looking in for the eighth time in the last nine years, they’ll have to find that jetliner in an oasis to get them across the Sahara.

Or will that jetliner be another mirage?

Starting pitchers for Monday night the San Diego Padres have not announced a starter and the Giants will be going with RHP Logan Webb (10-8 ERA 3.24) first pitch at 6:45pm PT.