SAN FRANCISCO — The all-time strikeout leaderboard is about as meaningful as any scoreboard these days in the world of the San Francisco Giants, at least every fifth day when Justin Verlander takes the ball.

No wonder, then, why fans slowly rose from their seats and the Giants’ second game of their series against the Rays briefly paused after the first out of the top of the fifth Saturday night. Verlander, in vintage form, pinpointed a breaking ball that froze Ha-Seong Kim for strike three — his seventh punchout of the night and the 3,510th of his career.

The future Hall of Famer — along with 35,070 in attendance — thought he had passed Walter Johnson for ninth place all-time.

The strikeout, it turned out, was merely one of 21 outs Verlander recorded in his deepest and strongest start o

See Full Page