Zito, Giants Blown Out by Padres
Jul 14, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Barry Zito (75) after a home run by San Diego Padres catcher Nick Hundley (back) during the second inning Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants had generated some momentum heading into the All-Star break. Their offense busted out on Friday and Saturday, and Tim Lincecum’s no-hitter was the cherry on top. Having also won Thursday, they could’ve swept the lowly Padres and really increased the momentum meter.
But the Padres salvaged the fourth and final game of the series. Barry Zito gave up four runs and lasted just two innings before the bullpen collapsed, as the Giants lost 10-1.
Zito permitted three solo shots. One off the bat of Chris Denorfia in the first inning, and Nick Hundley and Will Venable went back-to-back in the second inning. Zito became the fifth Giants pitcher to allowed three or more home runs in a game this season.
The road wasn’t too kind to Zito in the first half. He wasn’t able to pick up a road win in eight tries, and his road ERA settles at 9.89.
The lefty was on a short leash Sunday. He walked Everth Cabrera on four pitches to lead off the third, and Bruce Bochy quickly jumped out of the dugout to pull him. In hindsight, the switch could’ve gone either way, but as Zito licked his wounds, Jake Dunning only created more chaos.
On the first pitch Dunning threw, Cabrera stole second base with ease, and the speedster scored a few moments later on Carlos Quentin’s double that nearly clanked off the first tier of the Western Medal Supply building in left field.
Jeff Francoeur played the carom perfectly, picking up the ball on one bounce to prevent the back runner to score.
The Giants got sloppy after that. Dunning walked Chase Headley before striking out Jedd Gyorko on a high slider. In what initially looked to be an easy double play, Marco Scutaro bobbled Tony Abreu’s feed. He got one out, but lost a golden opportunity to escape the inning without too much damage done.
And the Padres capitalized on the mistake. Hundley and Venable both drove in a run on singles after Javier Lopez replaced Dunning.
George Kontos didn’t get much defensive help either. Denorfia singled to lead off the fourth inning. Kontos induced a double play grounder, but Pablo Sandoval’s throw to second base was high and wide. With runners on first and third, Kontos walked Headley to load the bases, and Jesus Guzman blooped an infield single over Buster Posey’s outstretched arm to plate the Padres’ eighth run.
Quentin added a two-run homer off Kontos in the fifth to secure Eric Stults’ win.
Santiago Casilla made his first start since May 20. He permitted a bloop hit, but he was sharp in his return.