Valverde has short outing as Giants rock ex-closer

• Jose Valverde gives up four hits and gets just one out for Tigers in Game 1 loss.
• Neither Valverde nor manager Jim Leyland could pinpoint the ex-closer's problem Wednesday.
• Pitching coach Jeff Jones said he wouldn't be reluctant to use Valverde again this season.

SAN FRANCISCO — He had his confidence. He had his mechanics. He had his split-fingered fastball.

His leg was back up where it belonged and so was velocity.

"All my pitches were working today," Jose Valverde said.

Yet he couldn't get an out when he needed one.

Valverde, Detroit's closer the last three seasons, entered Game 1 of the World Series in the seventh inning Wednesday night at AT&T Park — the earliest he had taken the mound since 2006. His Tigers were trailing, 6-1, and his manager wanted to see how he would respond. Since his last outing at Yankee Stadium 11 days ago, when he blew a four-run lead in the ninth inning, Valverde's psyche had been poked and prodded more than a voodoo doll … at least from the fans.

The organization, meanwhile, wanted to know whether he still could pitch. A bullpen session with pitching coach Jeff Jones revealed a flaw in his leg kick — he wasn't bringing it up high enough or rapidly enough. Jones thought that was costing Valverde 2-3 miles an hour of velocity off his fastball.

He didn't need the extra speed to strike out Tim Lincecum, the Giants' pitcher — and former Cy Young winner — who stepped to the plate to begin the bottom of the seventh. Valverde threw 91-92 m.p.h. and got Lincecum swinging.

Angel Pagan didn't go as easily.

San Francisco's centerfielder — who bats from the left side — golfed a split-fingered fastball that was down and inside. The ball landed down the rightfield line as Pagan sprinted to second.

"A good pitch," Jones said.

"Nothing you can do about that," Valverde said.

Marco Scutaro followed the double with a ground single through the shortstop hole. Pagan scored. Pablo Sandoval smacked a line-drive single to leftfield. Buster Posey hit a flare into rightfield. Scutaro scored. Jim Leyland walked to the mound and pulled Valverde.

Five batters. One out. Four hits. Two runs.

"He wasn't terrible," Leyland and. "He just wasn't good. For whatever reason (the ball) just doesn't seem to be coming out quite right. … It's a little bit puzzling. It's just not quite exploding."

Scutaro hit a good pitch. Sandoval hit a fastball that leaked over the plate. Posey did, too. The Giants hit the mistakes. They also hit a few good pitches. That part was encouraging to Jones.

"I told him, 'You threw the ball a lot better,'" Jones said.

By the third batter, Valverde was throwing 93-94 on his fastball. His splitter was dropping through the zone. But the control wasn't there consistently enough. Valverde insisted it was.

"Nothing I can say," he said. "This is what happens (sometimes). My mechanics were working. I don't have pressure. All my pitches are working."

Still, he couldn't get anyone out, other than the pitcher.

Does he worry he won't pitch again this season?

"You never know," he said. "I have my confidence. I never lose my confidence."

Whether he takes the mound remains a critical question as the series moves on. The Giants rely on a bevy of talented right-handed and switch hitters, including Sandoval, who hit three homers Wednesday. Left-hander Phil Coke would have a difficult task to work his way through the lineup in crunch time.

Perhaps this is why Jones didn't hesitate when asked whether the team would be willing to use him again.

Yes, he said.

"I thought he was a lot better tonight," Jones offered.