SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
Barry Zito was destined to beat his old team one of these times. He pitched well enough to do it Saturday night, but the Giants' bullpen pitched poorly enough to ruin it.
Almost.
Closer Brian Wilson entered in a virtual lose-lose situation in the eighth inning and turned it into a win-win. He escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam and earned his 17th save, preserving the Giants' 5-4 victory and Zito's first win over the A's.
"It was about Brian Wilson tonight," Zito said. "He stole the show."
Wilson, however, wanted to pay his respect to Zito now that the lefty has beaten every big-league team.
"Yeah, we were aware of that," Wilson said. "I was thinking about a little beer shower afterward, but he's got 10 years in. It ended in dramatic fashion. That's how you like to do it."
Before Saturday, Zito had lost all four of his starts against Oakland (while producing an 8.85 ERA), and none of the games was close - the Giants were outscored by a combined 32-5. On Saturday, he completed seven innings for the first time against the team for which he played the first seven years of his career.
Then he waited for the relievers to wrap up the win. Not an easy task.
The bullpen issued four walks in the eighth inning, including two on eight consecutive balls thrown by former A's reliever Santiago Casilla and Jeremy Affeldt.
Guillermo Mota began the conga line by failing to retire any of his three batters, walking Mark Ellis, surrendering an RBI double to Kevin Kouzmanoff and walking Jack Cust.
One out later, Casilla four-pitch-walked Ryan Sweeney to load the bases, and Affeldt four-pitch-walked Gabe Gross to make it a one-run game.
Manager Bruce Bochy had seen enough and called on Wilson for his first five-out save since May 9 in New York. One little mistake would have kept Zito winless against the A's, but Wilson struck out Adam Rosales on an 88-mph slider and got Rajai Davis to bounce to shortstop.
In the ninth, Wilson overcame more drama after giving up singles to Ellis and Cust.
"That's what I signed up for," he said. "You get a chance to be a hero or a failure. I always like to choose the hero option. It's more lucrative, and fans like it."
Zito gave up homers to Matt Carson and Rosales and exited with a 5-2 lead.
Andres Torres doubled and scored in the first inning and singled home a run in the second. The Giants added two in the third on an RBI triple by Aubrey Huff, followed by Juan Uribe's single.
Pablo Sandoval homered in the sixth - his first homer since May 28 and second in 45 games - but not before telling Torres he'd do exactly that.
One month after the Giants were swept in Oakland, the Giants could return the favor with a win in today's matinee.
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