Andrew Baggarly - MercuryNews
Barry Zito must be confident about his transformation as a pitcher. Now he's talking about improving his hitting this off-season. "I want to be more of a threat up there,'' he said. When the Gants' season melted away like spring snow in April and May, Zito was the wrong kind of threat on the mound. The game was imperiled every time he threw a pitch, and Manager Bruce Bochy all but used a Vaudeville hook to lift him from games.
That hook isn't so quick anymore. Bochy demonstrated that Zito has restored his trust, eschewing a chance to pinch hit for the left-hander in the sixth inning of a tie game Saturday.
Zito rewarded Bochy with two more scoreless innings, and the Giants rewarded Zito with a win. Rich Aurilia's triple scored Pablo Sandoval with the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning, and Brian Wilson closed out a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres at AT&T Park.
Zito (8-15) won consecutive starts for the first time this season, and the Giants' modest four-game winning streak matched their longest of the year.
Asked the reason he let Zito hit for himself, Bochy spoke simply.
"He's the guy I wanted out there,'' the manager said.
Could you imagine Bochy saying that a few months ago, when the Giants were 0-9 in games started by their $126 million ace?
Times have changed. The left-hander wasn't happy about squandering two earlier leads but said "the nice thing was to come back from that. In the past, once I got away from my approach, I didn't find my way back.'' When Bochy sent Zito to the plate with runners at first and second and one out, the move appeared to backfire terribly. Zito stabbed at air on a sacrifice attempt, Aurilia got caught drifting off second base and the Padres tagged him out easily. But Zito threw strikes against the Padres' anemic lineup, and Bochy wanted to see more. Aaron Rowand hit his second double of the game leading off the eighth, but he ran on contact and was thrown out after Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez fielded Sandoval's hard one-hopper. The rally appeared stalled, but Aurilia mashed a pitch into the right-center alley and Sandoval scored without a play to make a winner of Zito. He hadn't won consecutive starts since Sept. 24 and 30. Zito helped himself with a run-scoring single against Dirk Hayhurst in the fourth inning, lifting a single to right field one pitch after taking an awkward hack that drew boos from the crowd. Zito is serious about his swing. He wasn't able to work on it last winter because of a tender wrist, but he plans to spend time in the cage this off-season. Sandoval keeps treating games like his personal batting practice. He doubled and scored on Zito's hit. He also has caught Zito's past two starts. "Sandoval catches like a veteran,'' Zito said. "Some guys come up real young with everything figured out. But getting to the big leagues just gets you in the building. You're on the first floor. He wants to go to the top.'' Zito also lauded the defensive play of Emmanuel Burriss and Ivan Ochoa, both of whom made difficult plays up the middle — two more reasons Zito loves the vibe of this youth movement. "It's awesome,'' he said. "I feel like one of 'em. It reminds me of how we had it in Oakland. The more fun we can have, goofing off, the less pressure we put on ourselves.'' For once, China Basin is a fun place again. The Giants clinched their sixth victory in their past seven series, including four consecutive at AT&T Park — something they hadn't accomplished since 2006.
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