Zito shows improvement, but falls to 0-7 as Giants lose
Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle
Baby steps, baby.
It is too soon to say Barry Zito is back, whatever "back" means, but in his return to the mound after missing one start, Zito was a different pitcher than the lost soul who had been getting clobbered. He was competitive over five innings against the Pirates, which is all the Giants really wanted to see.
It is too soon to say Barry Zito is back, whatever "back" means, but in his return to the mound after missing one start, Zito was a different pitcher than the lost soul who had been getting clobbered. He was competitive over five innings against the Pirates, which is all the Giants really wanted to see.
"All of his pitches were crisper, he threw any pitch any time and he had the confidence to do it," manager Bruce Bochy said. "If he pitches like that, we'll get him some wins."
But not Wednesday night. The Giants failed to score over the first eight innings against three members of the worst pitching staff in the majors and lost 3-1. They fell to 1-4 on a trip that could be truncated by rain today, and are six games under .500 for the first time this season.
Despite limiting Pittsburgh to two runs, which scored on Xavier Nady's fourth-inning home run, Zito became the first San Francisco starter to begin a season 0-7. He owns more than one-third of the team's 20 defeats.
Zito walked two and struck out a season-high five. After insisting that lack of aggressiveness was the root of his evils, he threw eight consecutive strikes to start the game and 16 strikes among his 22 first-inning pitches. It did not stay that way. He needed 99 pitches to complete five innings and threw first-pitch strikes to only 10 of 21 batters.
His improvement was not only mental. Zito clearly made a mechanical adjustment that allowed him to get on top of the baseball and finish his pitches. His fastball aim was true, he was able to repeat his curveball and, most important, he dropped the velocity on his changeup so it was 10 mph slower than his fastball.
Zito also began throwing a two-seam fastball, which he abandoned five years ago, to get more late movement against right-handed hitters.
In short, he accomplished a lot over the nine days he did not start, and showed it in front of an announced "crowd" of 9,788 "I think it was time to refocus, definitely," Zito said. "I think the break helped me from that aspect. I felt good out there and I'll be excited to get back out there in five days and do it again.
"It's important to be aggressive on every pitch. I'd like to get ahead of more hitters than I did. I got ahead of 10 out of 21. I'd like to be more aggressive still."
Zito's effort had to lift his teammates, who understand they need him to keep the Giants close when he starts.
"I think everybody's happy for Barry, the way he went out there and threw the ball the way he threw it," Aaron Rowand said. "From my vantage point, he had a real good curveball tonight, he was spotting his fastballs and he threw his changeup any time.
"That's the Barry we're accustomed to seeing. I thought he was going to come back out and be like that. It's good for us and it's good for him."
Zito surely appreciates the sentiment, but a better gift would be some runs. The Giants rarely score when he pitches. Zito has faced a lot of aces, but on Wednesday, the Giants did nothing for 52/3 innings against Phil Dumatrait, a converted reliever who does not have the credentials to shut out anybody. This was his first big-league win.
The Giants scored their run on singles by Randy Winn, Rowand and Bengie Molina to start the ninth. They had the tying run on first, but closer Matt Capps retired Rich Aurilia on a flyball before Jose Castillo hit into a double play.
The offense is shorthanded now. Ray Durham, who has a .333 average against lefties, has not been able to play during this stretch of six left-handed opposing starters because of a hamstring strain.
"That's a pretty big bat we're missing from the lineup," said Bochy, who has had to pluck a middle infield combo from among three young players (Emmanuel Burriss, Brian Bocock and Eugenio Velez) who are not ready to hit big-league pitching.
Durham has been taking anti-inflammatory drugs for four days, but his leg still hurts when he bats and he might be headed for the disabled list, which could be the move that corresponds with Omar Vizquel's activation.
"It's ... driving me nuts right now, but what can you do?" Durham said. "When the body tells you no, there's nothing you can do about it."
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