San Francisco Giants' Justin Verlander joins exclusive 3,500 strikeout club

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San Francisco’s Justin Verlander became just the 10th Major League Baseball pitcher to notch 3,500 strikeouts, adding another milestone moment to his resume in the Giants’ 8-0 loss to the Washington Nationals.

Verlander struck out three in the first inning to reach 3,500 for his career, but things went downhill from there for the home team.

The Nationals put up four runs in the second inning and had five runs on 11 hits against Verlander before the 42-year-old three-time Cy Young Award winner departed the game.

Verlander entered the game with 3,497 regular-season strikeouts. He struck out James Wood swinging to start the first and then got CJ Abrams swinging.

He then gave up back-to-back singles to Josh Bell and Paul DeJong, but both were stranded when Verlander struck out Nathaniel Lowe, who was caught swinging for strike three on a 95 mph fastball.

The crowd of 40,000 at Oracle Park gave Verlander a standing ovation, and he tipped his cap as he walked back to the dugout.

“I was happy to get there, happy to have a moment with the fans,” said Verlander, who finished the day with six strikeouts. “It’s a cool milestone.”

Verlander is 10th on the MLB all-time strikeout list led by Nolan Ryan’s 5,714. Walter Johnson is ninth on the list with 3,509.

Nevertheless, Verlander was leaving the ballpark disappointed.

“Obviously, we need to play better, no doubt about it,” he said after the Giants managed just three hits to Washington’s 17.

“No excuses. We need to be better.”