SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Justin Verlander loved the vibe of pitching for the San Francisco Giants with the home fans supporting him — he just wishes he could have been on the mound to enjoy it a little longer.
The veteran had a forgettable home debut for the San Francisco Giants.
The 42-year-old right-hander, who signed a $15 million, one-year contract in January, was done after just 2 1/3 innings Friday against the Seattle Mariners in the Giants' opener and eventual 10-9, 11-inning victory at Oracle Park.
“It really was (special) but I would have liked to have done better,” Verlander said. “I appreciate the fans cheering me on the way off the field, too.”
He retired only seven batters. He surrendered three runs and five hits with two strikeouts and two walks, throwing 44 of 65 pitches for strikes. He left with the game tied at 3.
“They just made him work really hard, threw a lot of pitches, so he'll tell you it wasn't his best stuff," Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “He only walked two but they made him throw a ton of pitches. He gave up some hits. At that point in time I wasn't going to let him throw 40 pitches in an inning. That was going to be it regardless. Kind of for him, move on to the next.”
The three-time Cy Young Award winner and nine-time All-Star with 262 career victories is eager to show he can still pitch at the highest level after an injury-plagued 2024 season with Houston in which he made only 17 starts.
He watched the rest of the 4-hour, 3-minute win from the clubhouse.
“What a ballgame, the reaction was ecstatic,” Verlander said. “All the guys were jumping and hollering and having a good time. Great home opener.”
Melvin said before the game how happy he was to give the ball to Verlander for this moment, a day the club brought in some of the franchise's stars to honor the 25th year of the waterfront ballpark that opened on April 11, 2000.
“Kind of the timing of it was pretty cool, too,” Melvin said. “(Logan) Webby got the opening day and then Justin gets the home opener. I don't know if it could have been timed better. I'm sure he's looking forward to it and I know our fans are looking forward to it. When you add players like him in the offseason, to be able to kind of show them off on opening day I think is kind of cool.”
Verlander made just his second regular-season start and appearance at Oracle Park in his 20-year career and first since June 16, 2008, with Detroit. This was his 40th career start against the Mariners; he was 22-10 with a 2.98 ERA in those previous matchups.
The only other teams he has made 40 or more starts against are Cleveland (57), the Chicago White Sox (48), Kansas City (46) and Minnesota (40).
Verlander took an 8-3 loss here in Game 1 of the 2012 World Series, giving up two of Pablo Sandoval's three home runs that October day.
“The atmosphere was great. I’ve experienced it from the other side obviously in some big moments and know how great these fans are,” he said. “A lot of guys here had told me how special opening day is here for San Francisco. It really was. The atmosphere was wonderful for the short time I was out there.”
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San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Justin Verlander, center, gives autographs to fans during batting practice before a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, March 31, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)
San Francisco Giants pitcher Justin Verlander throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners in San Francisco, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
PHOENIX (AP) — Lori Vallow Daybell, who was convicted of killing her two youngest children and conspiring to murder a romantic rival, is on trial again Monday. This time, she's accused in Arizona of conspiring to murder her estranged husband.
In opening statements the prosecution said that Vallow Daybell conspired with brother Alex Cox to kill Charles Vallow and cash in on a life insurance policy, while espousing the belief that he was possessed by an evil spirit.
The case has drawn significant public attention in part because Vallow Daybell, 51, has doomsday-focused religious beliefs. She isn’t a lawyer but has chosen to represent herself in the six-week trial.
Vallow Daybell has pleaded not guilty and said in her opening statement that Cox acted in self-defense, describing the death as a tragedy but not a crime.
Here’s what to know about the case.
“Lori Vallow is why Alex was able to shoot Charles,” prosecutor Treena Kay said. “Lori Vallow is why Charles is dead.”
A jury of 16 took their seats in a Phoenix courtroom, including four alternate jurors. Kay provided a detailed timeline and argued that phone records, witness testimony and forensic evidence will show that Cox’s shooting of Vallow was “not self-defense.”
The prosecution also said Monday that Vallow Daybell conspired in the killing so that she could move forward with marrying her then-boyfriend Chad Daybell, an Idaho author who wrote several religious novels about prophecies and the end of the world.
“Lori Vallow wanted to be Lori Daybell, wife of Chad Daybell, and in July 2019 Lori Vallow wanted to keep the same lifestyle that she had with Charles. And she could get all of this if Charles was dead,” Kay said. “She could marry Chad Daybell and become Lori Daybell. She would get a million-dollar life insurance policy.”
Vallow Daybell’s voice broke in her opening statement as she detailed the physical altercation with a baseball bat between her daughter Tylee Ryan and Vallow.
“Self-defense is not a crime. Family tragedy is not a crime, it’s a tragedy,” Vallow Daybell said.
Jurors heard from witnesses including police officers who testified that, after the shooting, Vallow Daybell and Cox both displayed calm demeanors.
Vallow was fatally shot in July 2019. Vallow Daybell then moved to Idaho with two of her youngest children and married Daybell two weeks after the death of his wife, Tammy Daybell. The bodies of the children — 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee — were later found buried in rural Idaho on Chad Daybell’s property.
Vallow Daybell is already serving three life sentences in Idaho for the children’s deaths and for conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell. Chad Daybell was sentenced to death in the three killings.
Four months before he died, Charles Vallow filed for divorce from Vallow Daybell, saying she had become infatuated with near-death experiences and had claimed to have lived numerous lives on other planets.
He alleged she threatened to ruin him financially and kill him. He sought a voluntary mental health evaluation of his wife.
Police say Vallow was fatally shot by Cox at a home in a Phoenix suburb. Tylee, told police that she confronted Vallow with a baseball bat after she was awakened by yelling in the house.
Tylee said she was trying to defend her mother, but Vallow took away the bat, according to police records. Cox told police that he fired after Vallow refused to drop the bat and came after him.
Cox told investigators that Vallow Daybell and the children left the house shortly before the shooting.
Cox, who claimed he acted in self-defense and wasn’t arrested in Vallow’s death, died five months later from what medical examiners said was a blood clot in his lungs. Cox’s account was later called into question.
Vallow Daybell was a beautician by trade, a mother of three and a wife — five times over.
She married Vallow in 2006, and later adopted JJ, but by 2019 their marriage had soured. The two were estranged but still married when Cox fatally shot Vallow.
Public interest from around the world only grew as the investigation into the missing children took several unexpected turns, each new revelation seemingly stranger than the last.
Daybell, who was once a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune,” has been the subject of a Netflix documentary and Lifetime movie.
If convicted in Arizona of conspiring to kill Vallow, she would face a life sentence.
During the opening for the trial, Vallow Daybell wore civilian clothing. She won’t be handcuffed or shackled when jurors are in the courtroom. However, she has to wear a belt-like device under her clothes that will let a jail officer deliver an electric shock by remote control if there’s a disturbance.
The Idaho investigation began at the end of 2019 when Vallow Daybell's adopted son's grandmother, worried about his welfare, reached out to police. Vallow Daybell had been evasive when asked about her two youngest children.
Chad Daybell called 911 in October 2019 to report that his wife Tammy Daybell was battling an illness and died in her sleep. Her body was later exhumed, and an autopsy determined she died of asphyxiation.
Idaho police did a welfare check on the kids in November 2019 and discovered they were missing and hadn't been seen since early September. Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell left town a short time later, eventually turning up in Hawaii without the kids. She was arrested in Hawaii in February 2020 on a warrant out of Idaho.
Defense attorneys told jurors that she was a “kind and loving mother” who happened to be interested in religion and biblical prophesies.
A witness at the Idaho trial said Vallow Daybell believes evil spirits have taken over people in her life and turned them into “zombies.”
Testimony resumes Tuesday.
In late May, Vallow Daybell is scheduled to go on trial again in Arizona on a charge of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux. She has pleaded not guilty.
This story has been updated to correct the attribution to a quote accusing the defendant of being the reason why Charles Vallow is dead. It was Treena Kay who was quoted, not Kay Woodcock.
FILE - A boy looks at a memorial for Tylee Ryan and Joshua "JJ" Vallow in Rexburg, Idaho, on June 11, 2020. (John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register via AP, File)
FILE - Larry Woodcock speaks to media members at the Rexburg Standard Journal Newspaper in Rexburg, Idaho on Jan. 7, 2020, while holding a reward flyer for Joshua Vallow and Tylee Ryan. (John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register via AP, File)
FILE - Lori Vallow Daybell talks with her lawyers before the jury's verdict is read at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho on May 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, File)
