Giants rally to beat Arizona in ninth inning

Andrew Baggarly - MercuryNews

Tim Lincecum probably won't win 20 games this season. Barry Zito definitely won't lose 20.

And given the $98 million that Zito is guaranteed over the next five seasons, that might be just as significant an occasion to celebrate.

Zito continued to reclaim pieces of a scuttled season, holding the pennant-racing Arizona Diamondbacks to two runs over six effective innings Tuesday night. Bengie Molina hit a tying pinch single in the sixth to ensure that Zito wouldn't take a hard-luck loss.

The Diamondbacks took it instead. Chris Snyder hit a tying, two-run home run off Giants closer Brian Wilson in the ninth, but Eugenio Velez singled home Pablo Sandoval in the bottom of the inning and the Giants poured onto the field to revel in a 5-4 victory.

Sandoval barrel-rolled across home plate and barely beat the throw from right field. The Diamondbacks lost for the 12th time in 15 games and fell further behind in the National League West, where they trail the Dodgers by 21/2 games.

Nobody enjoyed being a spoilsport more than Zito.

"The Diamondbacks have given me problems," said the left-hander, who was 0-3 with a 7.40 ERA in four previous starts against Arizona this year. "We just want to make a statement with this young movement we have here. We've got some studs who'll be here for a lot of years."

Zito's record remained at 9-16 with three starts remaining, ensuring that he wouldn't become the first Giants pitcher in 94 years to lose 20 games in a season. No National League pitcher has reached that mark since Phil Niekro in 1979. The last Giants pitcher to lose 20 was Rube Marquard in 1914.

For a time, that destiny appeared inescapable for Zito.

He was 0-8 after nine starts and his first home victory didn't come until July 5. The boos that trailed him off the mound were so loud, they'd have caused Armando Benitez to blush.

The Giants mercifully pulled Zito from the rotation in late May, but he missed only one turn. He spent the next two months working to overhaul his approach, throwing from a lowered arm angle and incorporating a sinking, two-seam fastball.

"We said he would get back on track," Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's a different pitcher in this second half. He's pitching with a lot of confidence and command."

A clue that his stuff continues to improve: Zito has held opponents to a .208 average over his past five starts.

Zito struck out nine, matching Lincecum's total from a day earlier. The Diamondbacks' whiff-happy lineup had the same luck with Zito's curveball and change-up as it did with Lincecum's much harder stuff.

But the most unlikely hitter in Arizona's lineup drove in the first run in the second inning. Left-hander Doug Davis lofted a two-out single that scored Chris Young. The hit matched Davis' season total from 2004, when he went 1 for 64.

Zito returned the favor in the bottom of the inning, hitting a crisp single that scored Nate Schierholtz after his two-out triple.

Omar Vizquel isn't a part of the Giants' youth brigade, but Bochy said the 41-year-old shortstop regained his starting role after Emmanuel Burriss' season-ending injury. If this is his farewell tour, the 11-time Gold Glove shortstop began it with his usual panache. He helped the Giants take their first lead in the eighth, hitting a leadoff double to start a two-run rally.

"It gives me a chance to raise my batting average a bit and to enjoy it a little more," said Vizquel, who isn't retiring but is unlikely to be a Giant next season. "On a personal note, it's more gratifying than leaving on the bench or with an injury."