Chris Haft As the AT&T Park spectators confirmed, the continued rebirth of Barry Zito was something to behold.
Zito subdued the St. Louis Cardinals for eight innings in the Giants' 2-0 victory Saturday to hike his record to 3-0 for the first time in his 10-year career.
Andres Torres rapped a pinch-hit RBI single off Adam Wainwright to shatter a scoreless tie in the eighth. Aubrey Huff added a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to clinch the series for the Giants and seal the Cardinals' first series defeat of the season.
Brian Wilson pitched the ninth inning for his second save in two nights, which sealed San Francisco's fourth shutout of the season. But, as he said, "The story is Zito tonight. The guy was on fire."
Zito's flame has burned brightly all month, as his 1.32 ERA demonstrates. Gone, apparently, is the Zito who struggled in the season's first half and approached hitters tentatively. The Zito the Giants now see bears a strong resemblance to the one who captured the American League Cy Young Award with Oakland in 2002. Except the 2010 version might be better, because now Zito complements his fastball, curveball and changeup with a slider.
Giants fans, who watched Zito compile a 31-43 record in his first three seasons with the club, discerned the difference. As the left-hander worked his last inning, they saluted him by chanting his first name, just as they did for home run king Barry Bonds for so many years.
"That was really cool," Zito said. "When they want to support guys, they really do it in a special way."
Zito gave the sellout crowd plenty to cheer about as he allowed three hits and struck out 10. It was Zito's 13th career double-digit strikeout effort and his second as a Giant. The other came on July 5, 2008, against the Dodgers.
Oddly, Zito said that he "didn't feel really in command" until his final three innings, when he mastered his changeup. He finished his outing with a flourish by striking out the side in the eighth inning.
"I didn't want to give them any space to breathe or get their foot in the door," Zito said.
The Cardinals launched their only significant threat in the fourth inning, when Felipe Lopez singled and Ryan Ludwick walked with nobody out. But Albert Pujols, batting .455 (5-for-11) lifetime against Zito, smacked a double-play grounder to third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who made a difficult pickup of a tricky hop.
"You can't practice that," Sandoval said.
Matt Holliday's infield single prolonged the inning and left runners at the corners before Zito coaxed Yadier Molina's fielder's-choice grounder.
"He just threw what he wanted," St. Louis third baseman David Freese said. "He had us off-balance all night. He was using all his pitches and we hit the ball where he wanted us to hit it."
Giants manager Bruce Bochy has noticed Zito's constant confidence.
"Really, every start, he has been that good," Bochy said. "He's in a nice zone right now. It's something we need, too. We're having trouble scoring runs."
Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright (3-1) was just as effective as Zito for seven innings, yielding four hits while permitting one Giant to advance as far as second base.
Then Nate Schierholtz doubled to deep right field on an 0-1 curveball.
"I just reacted to it," he said.
Up came Torres, who fouled off one bunt attempt and missed another. Then he grounded a 1-2 pitch sharply up the middle to score Schierholtz easily.
"I just told myself to stay positive, get a good pitch and put it in play," Torres said.
Torres advanced on Eugenio Velez's sacrifice bunt and almost was trapped off second base on Edgar Renteria's grounder to shortstop, but slid safely back into the bag headfirst. Sandoval's infield single loaded the bases and preceded Huff's sacrifice fly.
The rally rescued Zito from a no-decision, which he received in Los Angeles last Sunday when he left with one out in the eighth inning and a 1-0 lead before Manny Ramirez belted a two-run homer off Sergio Romo.
"That's great to get him a win, with the effort he gave us," Bochy said.
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