DOUBLE DOSE OF DEFEAT

Zito drops 10th, Giants continue losing at home

Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle

Many people have argued over the decades that a straight steal of home is the most exciting play in baseball. True enough, Omar Vizquel sent fans into a frenzy when he became the first Giant in 25 years to do it Friday night.

It is the kind of play that can hoist a team to greater things. Too bad for the Giants that Vizquel did not pull it off on the road, where they actually win. When he sped home in the second inning, a sellout crowd of 42,445 at China Basin witnessed what would be the Giants' entire offense in a 5-1 loss to the A's.

The Giants have a pair of problems that are painful and seemingly unsolvable. One, they cannot win at home. Two, the pitcher who was supposed to be their marquee player well into the 2010s cannot win anywhere.

Barry Zito allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings and fell to 2-10, becoming the first Giant since Brett Tomko in 2005 to reach double-digit losses in the first half. He still has five starts before the break, too. When the Giants signed Zito, they could not have hoped or envisioned his name would be mentioned in the same sentence with that particular pitcher.

Zito reiterated for the umpteenth time that the record is not as troubling as his inability to help the team win.

"I can't go home and be depressed because I have another test in five days," he said. "Walking around the clubhouse when the team lost a game I started tonight, that doesn't feel good."

Zito was neither good nor terrible. He allowed three runs in the third inning on an RBI single by Ryan Sweeney, a Jack Cust sacrifice fly and an RBI double by Eric Chavez, although Zito was most upset by a walk to Mark Ellis that preceded Sweeney's hit.

Zito also walked a pair in the sixth inning, including Daric Barton with the bases loaded, giving Oakland a 4-1 lead and ending his night. Once again, Zito was booed as he walked off the field.

"Walks are killing me," Zito said. "That's the bottom line."

The A's have outscored the Giants 26-4 in his three starts against them since he signed that monumental contract and crossed San Francisco Bay, with Zito allowing 14 of the runs and losing all three games.

He had little chance to win on a night the Giants put nine runners on base against A's starter Greg Smith, six on walks, yet could not score beyond Vizquel's steal. Smith even walked the bases loaded in the fifth, begging the Giants to get back into the game, but Bengie Molina chased at the first pitch and popped out before Aaron Rowand struck out.

That was the Giants' last and best chance to avoid their 10th loss in the last 12 home games. Their futility at Third and King streets is sabotaging all the good this rebuilding team is doing.

"I don't think they're thinking about it," manager Bruce Bochy said. "We're in a rut right now here at home. We've played so well on the road, especially the last two road trips. We're just not pitching as well here. We're not hitting as well here. It's pretty simple. We have some guys who are not locked in at the plate. We had that happening the last series in Colorado. We'll break out of it."

Vizquel did his part, putting his 41-year-old, weak-kneed legs to the test with a long run on a great defensive play and the Giants' first straight steal of home since Max Venable's in 1983, just after the Giants retired the bright orange jerseys they wore Friday night.

More impressive, Vizquel stole it off Smith, the majors' leading pickoff artist, with the bases loaded in the second inning. Vizquel easily beat Smith's throw after the pitcher finally figured out why the crowd was roaring around him.

Vizquel agreed this is an exciting play, "especially for a split-second, because you don't know it's coming. (Jose) Castillo was hitting and he said he didn't see anything until I went by him. He said, 'What the hell was that?' I did it in a playoff game against Boston. It was great. It really fired everybody up."

There was no fire for the Giants on Friday, just water. With Huston Street on the mound and two outs in the ninth, the sprinklers came on, forcing everyone to dance out of the way to stay dry. After a 2 minute delay, Street struck out Fred Lewis to end the game.

During the delay, Street went to chat with shortstop Bobby Crosby, who said, "Hey, at least you'll be on highlight videos the rest of your career."