Chris Haft - MLB.com
Zito not too concerned about outing; Molina close to debut
Don't tell Bruce Bochy that the Giants' 23-5 exhibition loss Saturday to the Oakland A's was meaningless. It was too embarrassing not to have some significance.
San Francisco (1-3) allowed 29 hits, beginning with seven by Barry Zito in the first inning as Oakland scored eight runs. The A's proceeded to score multiple runs in six separate innings, including each of the first four.
"It's been a long time since I've seen one played quite this bad -- pitching and our defense," Bochy said. "That's as ugly as it gets right there. It's hard to do, really, what we did."
Bochy hopes that sheer repetition will help cure the Giants' ills.
"That's why you have Spring Training," he said. "I know we're going to have days like this, especially with younger players."
Additionally, the pitchers who yielded Oakland's 15 runs after Zito departed -- Osiris Matos, Kevin Gryboski, Victor Santos, Brian Anderson and Billy Sadler -- are unlikely to make the season-opening staff.
Still, Bochy said, "that's not acceptable to have a game like that. I don't care if it is Spring Training. ... We want to get some consistency here, and our game's going to have to be pitching and defense. That's the only way it's going to work, and certainly none of it was there today."
Zito's unruffled: Zito remained upbeat despite beginning his Cactus League season with a 108.00 ERA. Then again, his Opening Day start at Dodger Stadium was still 30 days away.
Zito focused on his physical condition, not his statistics, as pitchers tend to do at this time.
"If I felt terrible and the results were better, it wouldn't have been a win in my book," said Zito, who lasted two-thirds of an inning. "Right now, it's about having the body feel good and getting the pitch count up. Obviously you don't want to give up runs, but this is Spring Training."
Zito took solace in his fastball, which he said he threw "downhill," and from his perception that most of Oakland's hits off him came on low pitches.
"I want to start missing below the glove this year," Zito said. "If I'm throwing balls, I want to be down."
Luck also conspired against Zito. With one out, a run in and the bases loaded, Zito fooled Donnie Murphy, who hit a swinging bunt between the pitcher's mound and first base. Neither Zito nor first baseman Dan Ortmeier had a play on the ball, which went for a single. Four more singles in a row followed.
"You can't really assign blame on those. Those are just 'tweeners," Zito said.
Short hops: Bochy said that second baseman Ray Durham (right shoulder) and catcher Bengie Molina (left quadriceps) should be healed enough to play their respective positions by Monday or Tuesday. Durham, who tested his shoulder by playing catch, served as designated hitter for the second day in a row and recorded his first spring hit, a fifth-inning RBI single. ... Left-hander Erick Threets, who's out of Minor League options, was one of the few Giants pitchers who distinguished himself. Threets inherited a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in the sixth and allowed only one run to score while striking out two. ... The A's maintained their mastery of their cross-bay rivals. Oakland, which was 5-0 with a tie in exhibition play and 5-1 in the regular season against the Giants last year, extended its unbeaten spring streak against San Francisco to nine games.
Up next: The Giants travel to Mesa's HoHoKam Park on Sunday to face the Chicago Cubs for the third time in four days. Right-hander Matt Cain, making his first Cactus League start, will oppose Cubs left-hander Ted Lilly.
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