Zito wins throwback night on the mound

Rusty Simmons - San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate)

The story of Dodgers starter Chan Ho Park might give Giants fans hope for Barry Zito's future.

The most-recent performance of Zito might give the same fans hope for his present.

Zito outdueled Park on Saturday night, winning a matchup of has-beens at different points on the path to past glory and beating the Dodgers 5-2 for his first home win of the season.

Zito lasted a season-high seven innings, striking out a season-high 10 and allowing two runs on six hits and one walk in front of 40,471 fans who turned their boos into standing ovations along the shores of McCovey Cove. The Giants made Zito a winner in the seventh inning, rallying for four runs off three Dodgers relievers to take a 5-2 lead.

"It wasn't by coincidence that we scored four runs to get him that win," said closer Brian Wilson, who got a four-out save after replacing Tyler Walker (sprained right knee) in the eighth.

Jose Castillo smacked a leadoff double to right-center field in the seventh, moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Omar Vizquel, and scored on a two-out single by Fred Lewis after pinch-hitter Rich Aurilia struck out. Ray Durham followed with a walk, and Randy Winn's chopper up the middle scored Lewis and set the stage for Bengie Molina's two-run double.

"These guys have had my back the whole time," Zito said. "Pretty much everyone else wrote me off, but these guys have always believed."

The Giants snapped the Dodgers' four-game winning streak and moved four games back of National League West-leading Arizona. The bigger story line, however, seemingly always is the fate of the $126 million man.

Zito was as aggressive in the strike zone as he has been all season, pouring in 73 strikes in 109 pitches, hitting a season-best 89 mph on the radar gun and locating a late-breaking slider throughout. After a first-inning hiccup that had the fans booing, he was dominant from the second to sixth innings, facing the minimum, allowing only one hit - which he erased with a pickoff - and striking out eight.

"Sometimes you want to make the fans happy, but you can't want it too much or you'll start pressing," Zito said. "You just have to let things happen, be yourself out there and not try to be anything more."

Zito, who is 1-8 at home with a 6.66 ERA, improved to 4-12 with a 5.73 ERA overall this season, already having set the franchise mark for pre-All-Star-break losses and failing to come close to living up to the seven-year deal he signed before last season. Giants fans can hope, however, that the story of Zito, the 2002 Cy Young Award winner who won 102 games from 2000 through 2006, can match that of Park - with quicker results.

"This is kind of the guy I remember being," Zito said.

Park, 35, went 75-48 with a 3.85 ERA from 1997 through 2001 with the Dodgers. He signed a five-year, $56 million contract with Texas before the 2002 season and went 33-34 with a 6.09 ERA over the next six seasons with three different teams.

He was left out of the game, begging for work and agreeing to minor-league tryouts. Getting a chance in the Dodgers' rotation with Brad Penny on the disabled list, Park seemingly has found his past success, going 4-2 with a 2.36 ERA.

Park was good again Saturday, limiting the Giants to one run on three hits and striking out seven. He left after six innings, hoping the bullpen could hold a 2-1 lead.

The Dodgers jumped on Zito on the first inning, scoring two runs on three hits and a walk. Leadoff hitter Matt Kemp hit a double to left-center field and scored on No. 2 hitter Andre Ethier's double down the first-base line. Ethier moved to third base on a Jeff Kent single and scored on a fielder's choice grounder by Andruw Jones.

The Giants cut the deficit to 2-1 in the sixth inning, when they used a leadoff walk by Ray Durham and a two-out double by Aaron Rowand to score off Park. The only other time the Giants threatened was the second inning, when Kent made a diving play to rob Lewis of a bases-loaded single. Park retired the side in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings.