It had been three straight solid starts for Barry Zito, three straight Giants wins in those games started by Barry Zito, but zero victories for Barry Zito himself.
Friday night in Los Angeles San Francisco's number four starter made the fourth-straight strong outing the charm.
Zito pitched six innings, allowing just one run on eight hits and two walks. The former Cy Young Award winner also struck out five. And this time the Giants lineup did just enough to reward those efforts, giving him his first win of the season, as San Francisco topped the Dodgers, 3-1.
Despite allowing a total of just three runs in his last three starts combined, Zito remained winless thanks to an anemic Giants lineup that managed just one run in two of those outings.
But Friday night at Dodger Stadium the San Francisco bats erupted for three whole runs. And while that might not sound like a lot, it was more than enough for Zito, who has a 1.03 ERA in his last four starts.
Of course, the Dodgers were without a key component as Manny Ramirez sat out the second game of his 50 game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance. Los Angeles is now 0-2 without its star slugger.
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But as they say, the Dodgers' loss is the Giants' gain. Or in this case, Barry Zito's gain.
