Henry Schulman
SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
The Giants led the majors with 75 runs over the first 15 days of July. When was the last time anyone could say that halfway through a month?
All well and good, but the 2010 Giants will travel only as far as their pitching carries them. Two games into the second half, the starters have stated their travel plans forcefully.
One night after Tim Lincecum blanked the Mets on six hits, Barry Zito threw his best game of the year Friday in a 1-0 victory. In eight innings, he allowed two hits, walked two and, for the third time as a Giant, struck out 10.
Brian Wilson allowed a hit in the ninth but blew a 97-mph fastball past Carlos Beltran to complete his 24th save in 26 chances.
"The last two games, Timmy and Barry, their mound presence has been outstanding," said first baseman Aubrey Huff, who scored the only run, in the fourth inning. "You could see it in their faces."
Lincecum and Zito had to be good, because Mets starters R.A. Dickey and Jonathon Niese were as well.
New York continues to search for its first run in the second half. The Giants have outscored the Mets 3-0.
Zito won for the first time since June 12 and the second time in his last 11 starts. One of his best games as a Giant followed one of his most controversial.
The Giants were leading 6-1 in Milwaukee on July 8, when manager Bruce Bochy pulled Zito in the fifth inning. Zito needed one more out to qualify for a win, but he had just walked his fifth and sixth hitters to load the bases and had thrown 113 pitches in 4 2/3 innings. Compare that with Friday, when he threw 112 over eight innings.
Zito was not thrilled. Asked after beating the Mets if he pitched with some carryover anger, he said, "It was tough for me to get taken out in that situation. It may have had an effect, but it wasn't conscious. I just want to go out and help the team."
Zito struck out five of his first nine hitters and allowed only a Ruben Tejada single in the fourth inning and a bloop double in the seventh by Beltran. Bochy had no qualms about pulling Zito after eight.
"He's going to have to go through the heart of their order again," Bochy said "If he pitches a complete game, you're looking at 125 pitches, maybe more. That would be a lot of work. That would be uncharted territory for him. We've got an All-Star closer who hadn't pitched in a couple of days. It was time."
Huff had three hits and scored on a fielder's choice after he walked with one out in the fourth. The critical hit came from - who else? - Buster Posey. His double gave him a 10-game hit streak and sent Huff to third.
For the second night in a row, the Giants scored a run on pure hustle. Huff was running on contact, and Pat Burrell grounded to second. Alex Cora threw home, but Huff slid in ahead of the tag.
"Scary situation there," Huff said. "When I was called safe, it was a good feeling. I don't think I'd ever been pumped to score in the (fourth) inning. There was a great atmosphere out there. It felt like a playoff atmosphere, not like I know what that's like."
To that end, the Giants caught the Dodgers for third place in the West. Both stand 3 1/2 games behind first-place San Diego and a half-game behind Colorado for the wild card.
The Giants played without Freddy Sanchez, who was scratched with the flu.
No comments:
Post a Comment