The wait continues for Justin Verlander.

Seeking his first win of the season in his 13th start, the Giants bullpen faltered in the bottom of the seventh of a 5-2 road loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Verlander held a precarious 2-1 lead at that point and was done after six innings. However, relievers Erik Miller (4-1) and Ryan Walker coughed up four runs and the Giants opened a 10-game road trip losing two of three games to a White Sox team which is 28-56 and on pace to lose 100 or more games for the third straight season.

“I don’t know, I’m just trying to keep putting myself in position for wins,” Verlander told reporters. “That’s all you can do as a starter.”

The Giants (45-39) continued to struggle offensively against six White Sox pitchers. They were 4 for 20 with runners on base, 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base.Verlander has never gone more than seven starts in his previous 19 seasons without a win. In line for his first victory since last Sept. 28 with the Houston Astros, Verlander is 0-5 with the Giants. The 13 consecutive starts to start the season without a win is the longest in franchise history.

Trailing by a run, Mike Tauchman hit a one-out single against Miller, with Chase Meidroth adding another single. The runners moved to second and third on a ground out. When Miller walked Miguel Vargas, manager Bob Melvin went to Walker out of the bullpen.

Kyle Teel doubled home two runs for the White Sox, with a third run scoring on a Walker balk. Lenyn Sosa then singled home the fourth run of the inning.

A promising bottom of the seventh inning ended for the Giants when Heliot Ramos grounded into a double play with one out and the bases loaded against Mike Vasil. Vasil closed out the win in the ninth by getting Mike Yastrzemski on a double play, with Tyler Gilbert (2-1) getting the win.

Verlander’s best inning was his sixth, when he gave up a bloop single to Ryan Noda and then retried the next three batters in order, finishing with a called third strike to Michael A. Taylor. He gave up five hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

It wasn’t easy though. Verlander never had a 1-2-3 inning and in the second gave up 1,114 feet worth of fly outs/line drives at exit velocities of 96.1, 101.2 and 99.4 miles per hour.

“There was some hard contact, gave up a run, and then cruised after that and gave us six good innings,” Melvin told reporters. “Obviously the seventh was a tough inning for us.”

The Giants took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth, although it was deflating they didn’t get more.

Jordan Leasure, Chicago’s third pitcher, walked Rafael Devers and Wilmer Flores with one out, with Yastrzemski lining a 104.3 mph line drive that was knocked down by Sosa at second for a single.

Leasure walked Willy Adames to force in a run, but a chance at a big inning evaporated when Jung Hoo Lee was retried on an infield fly and Christian Koss lined to short.

A second inning that looked to be headed nowhere when Lee hit into a double play double play instead yielded an RBI double from Patrick Bailey to tie the score 1-1. Koss drew a walk against starter Jonathan Cannon after Lee hit into the double play, with Bailey getting the double with a runner in scoring position to bring in the run.

Tauchman doubled to right on the first pitch of the game against Verlander, eventually coming around to score on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Benintendi.

Up next >> The Giants depart Chicago for Arizona and a four-game series against the Diamondbacks. Arizona has hovered around .500 all season and will be without two of their most important players in outfielder Corbin Carroll and pitcher Corbin Burnes.

Carroll is hitting just .255 but with nine triples, 20 home runs, 44 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. He’s out indefinitely with a chip fracture in his left wrist. The news on Burnes, who signed a six-year, $210 million contract, is worse. Burnes underwent Tommy John surgery on June 6, will miss the rest of the season and at least part of the 2026 season.

The pitching matchups for the Arizona series:

Monday, Logan Webb (7-5, 2.52) vs. Ryne Nelson (4-2, 3.71), 6:40 p.m.

Tuesday, Hayden Birdsong (3-2, 4.13) vs. Zac Gallen (5-9, 5.75), 6:40 p.m.

Wednesday, Landen Roupp (6-5, 3.43) vs. Merrill Kelly (7-4, 3.49), 6:40 p.m.

Thursday, Robbie Ray (8-3, 2.75) vs. Brandon Pfaadt (8-5, 5.38), 6:40 p.m.

The road trip wraps up with three games in Sacramento against the Athletics, who are 15-27 at home at Sutter Health Field and whose pitchers have struggled mightily in the Triple-A ballpark.

Given that the Giants return home for the Phillies and Dodgers at Oracle Park, they’ll look to rebuild their won-loss record through the remainder of the trip.

“When you’re not playing well, it’s tough to win regardless,” Melvin said. “We’ve beaten good teams. We’ve lost to teams whose records aren’t great. But every team in the major leagues has a chance to beat you, and we have to get on a winning track no matter who we play.”