Barry Zito Shuts Down Cardinals, Sends NLCS to Game Six

Players of the Day for Friday, October 19, 2012

National League

NLCS: San Francisco 5 St. Louis 0 - San Francisco staved off elimination and sent the series back to their home town, as Barry Zito twirled 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball and the Giants scored four unearned runs off St. Louis starter, Lance Lynn.

Barry Zito

Zito scattered six Cardinal hits and walked one, striking out six, in a do-or-die performance that left the Giants trailing the Cardinals in the best-of-seven series, three games to two.

It was Zito's fifth post-season win against three losses, but just his first as a member of the Giants in two starts this year. All the other wins and losses came in his career with Oakland.

The Giants scored the bulk of their runs in the fourth inning, when, with runners on first and second and one out, Hunter Pence sent a dribbler to the second base side of the mound which Lynn fielded and threw, hitting the base and sending the ball into shallow right center. Marco Scutaro came around to score from second, leaving runners on first and third. Lynn failed to get out of the inning, capped by Barry Zito's perfectly-laid bunt down the third base line, scoring Gregor Blanco with the fourth run of the inning.

Pablo Sandoval added a solo homer in the eighth to complete the rout and send the series to a game six in San Francisco on Sunday, at 7:37 pm EDT.

Barry Zito, Pablo Sandoval Instrumental in 8-0 Rout of Dodgers; Jays' Colby Rasmus Continues Hot Streak

Players of the Day for Monday, June 25, 2012

American League

It was back to regular play on Monday, with interleague games ending for the two leagues Sunday.

Getting right into the swing of things were the Toronto Blue Jays, who wound up in last place in the AL East during the interleague session, going 7-8 against National League teams.

Red-hot Rasmus

Desperate to get back into the race, the Blue Jays opened a three-game series in Boston with a 9-6 victory, tying themselves with the Red Sox at 38-35, 6 1/2 games behind the division-leading Yankees.

Colby Rasmus, who came over to the Jays late last season from St. Louis, continued to provide a solid punch at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a home run (11), two singles, three RBI and a couple of runs. Rasmus got the Jays off to a fast start with a two-run shot in the first as Toronto put a four-spot on the board in the opening inning.

After Boston tied the game at five, the Blue Jays put them way with long balls. J.P. Arencibia launched a two-run blast in the sixth and Jose Bautista finished the job with his 24th homer of the season, taking sole possession of the league lead with a two-run blast that plated Rasmus, who was aboard after singling to lead off the inning.

Rasmus has been one of the hottest hitters in either league recently, hitting safely in eight of his last nine games, with a .410 average (16-for-39), five homers and 15 RBI.


National League

Zito: 7 scoreless

With interleague games out of the way, the Giants and Dodgers got right at it, opening a series that may go a long way toward determining dominance in the NL West.

Sandoval: 3-for-3

The Giants took early advantage, opening the three-game set with an 8-0 win at home to pull to within two games of the Dodgers in the division.

Barry Zito blanked the visitors on three hits over seven innings, allowing three walks and striking out four. With Zito determined on the mound, Pablo Sandoval led the offense with a 3-for-3 effort, two doubles, three RBI and a pair of runs.

Raising his average to .315, the svelte Sandoval doubled home a pair of runs in the Giants' four run first, knocked in another with a sac fly in the second that put the Giants up, 7-0, and scored the final run on Hector Sanchez's double in the fifth.

San Francisco pounded LA starter Nathan Eovaldi (0-4) for ten hits and all eight runs and can tie the Dodgers - who have led the division almost all season - for the top spot with a series sweep.

CORRECTION: Yesterday, Baseball on Deck put the final interleague tally at 140-110 in favor of the AL, but checking up with MLB, the actual total should be 142-110. Somewhere, we missed a couple of games, and regret the error.

Nelson Cruz Helps Darvish Get First AL Win; Barry Zito Blanks Rockies on Four Hits

Players of the Day for Monday, April 9, 2011

American League

The Texas Rangers game against Seattle Monday was supposed to be all about the debut of Japanese import Yu Darvish making his first start in American baseball. Fans were geared up for the flame-chucking hurler, but, as games usually go in Texas, it was the hitters who carried the day.

Cruz: 3-4 HR 4RBI

While Darvish got the win, he wasn't particularly effective, allowing eight hits, four walks and five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings before being pulled, but the Rangers had already put eight runs on the board and Darvish would get the win as Texas belted Seattle, 11-5.

The Rangers hit four homers off three different Seattle pitchers, including the third-inning, three-run bomb by Nelson Cruz - his first of the year - that tied the game at five. An inning later, Mitch Moreland's two-run job and Josh Hamilton's solo shot put Texas ahead for good.

Cruz singled with two aboard in the first inning, driving in the second Texas run and singled again with two down in the seventh, but was left stranded. He finished up 3-for-4 with four RBI as the Rangers took sole possession of first place in the AL West at 3-1, 1/2 game better than the 3-2 Mariners.


National League

After being swept three straight by Arizona to open the season, the Giants needed a quality start from Barry Zito, and the big lefty delivered a sterling performance, tossing a complete-game, 7-0 shutout at Colorado.

Zito: complete game

Zito had a strong outing, giving up two singles in the third inning, another in the fourth and a two-out double to Ramon Hernandez in the the seventh inning, before cutting down the final seven Colorado batters in order. He struck out four, did not issue any bases on balls and no Colorado player advanced past second base.

Pablo Sandoval staked Zito to a 2-0 lead in the first with his second homer of the year and second year shortstop Brandon Crawford's bases-loaded double completed the scoring for the Giants in the fifth.

The Giants are 1-3, tied with the Rockies and Padres in the NL West cellar. The only winless team remaining in the National League is Atlanta, losing their fourth straight, an 8-3 road loss at Houston.

In the American League, Minnesota is 0-4 after losing their home opener, 5-1, to the Angels.

Bengie Molina Slams, Hits for Cycle; Zito Shuts Out Mets on 2 Hits

Players of the Day for Friday, July 16, 2010 American League When Bengie Molina was traded by Seattle to Texas - making room on the Giants' roster for super prospect Buster Posey - nobody made much of the deal. Like his two brothers, Yadier and Jose, Bengie is a solid defensive catcher, but hardly a bog-time threat at the plate. Since joining the Rangers, Molina has proven to be just what he's supposed to be, an experienced receiver with limited plate potential, until Friday's 8-4 win at Boston, when he helped the Rangers maintain their 4 1/2 game lead over the Angels by hitting for the cycle. Molina's 4-for-4 night included the requisite single, double and triple, all of which proved inconsequential, but his 5th inning grand slam turned a 3-3 tie into a Ranger rout. It was only the 8th time in major league history that a player hit for the cycle and had a grand slam in the same game. The triple, completing the feat, didn't come until Molina's last at-bat, in the 8th inning. Slow of foot, Molina legged out onlythe 6th three-bagger of his 11-year career. National League Barry Zito had it going on Friday night. After striking out five of the first nine batters he faced - retiring all of them - Zito surrendered a leadoff single to Mets' shortstop Ruben Tejada, but only allowed one more hit for the remainder of his 8 stellar innings, a 7th-inning double by Carlos Beltran. Brian Wilson came on for the save in the 9th, and the Giants shut the Mets out for the second straight night, 1-0. On Thursday, Tim Lincecum twirled a six-hit complete game in a 2-0 win. It was the third time the Mets have been shut out in the last four games. Zito fanned 10 overall, walked two and allowed just the two hits, improving his record to 8-4 while keeping the Giants nestled snugly in third place in the torrid NL West. San Diego leads Colorado by 3 games, with the Giants and Dodgers both 3 1/2 back. In terms of the wild card, the Cardinals, Giants and Dodgers all trail the Rockies by 1/2 game. Notable: In their first game back after the All Star break, the NY Yankees paid tribute to deceased owner George Steinbrenner and public address announced Bob Sheppard, both of whom passed away in the past week, Nick Swisher paid tribute in his own special way. Swisher clubbed an 8th-inning solo homer to right field, tying the game with the Rays at 4-4, then singled home Curtis Granderson with two outs in the 9th for the 5-4 walk-off win. The Yankees improved their lead over the Rays to 3 games. The two teams play Saturday and Sunday and Yankee stadium. Minnesota slowed down the first place White Sox, ending their 9-game win streak with a 7-4 win. The Tigers could have tied the Sox for first place in the AL Central with a win, but dropped an 8-2 decision in Cleveland. Chicago leads the Tigers by a single game, and Minnesota by 3 1/2. Miguel Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a single in three at-bats.

Mauer Goes 5-6 to Keep Twins on Top; Zito Outshines Wainwright for 2-0 Giants Win

Players of the Day for Saturday, April 24, 2010 American League If you wanted to design a baseball-hitting machine, you'd probably use Minnesota catcher, 3-time AL batting champion and 2009 AL MVP Joe Mauer as a prototype. After spraying out 5 hits in 6 at-bats in Saturday's 12-inning, 9-7 win at Kansas City, Mauer's batting average stands at .381 and the 13-5 Twins have a 3-game lock on first place in the AL Central. Mauer's 5-hit night included a double, triple, three singles and a sac fly in the top of the 12th which added an insurance run for Minnesota. He drove in 2 runs and scored one, in addition to handling 6 different pitchers from behind the plate. Mauer will be hard pressed to repeat as MVP again - his 12 RBI are only third-best on his team, but the potential for another batting title looms large. He's currently third behind KC's Scott Podsednik (.382) and Seattle's Franklin Gutierrez (.397). National League San Francisco still trails San Diego by one game in the NL West, but, after Barry Zito out-dueled Adam Wainwright for a 2-0 win over St. Louis, the Giants have served notice that they almost surely have the best starting rotation in the majors. Zito worked a very strong 8 innings, allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks while fanning a season-high 10 St. Louis hitters, striking out every Cardinal starter except catcher Yadier Molina. Zito, who hasn't had a full-season winning record since his 2006 campaign with the A's, is off to a 3-0 start with a sparkling 1.32 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP. Surrounded by the likes of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jeffrey Sanchez, Zito has responded in the early stages of the season with some of the best pitching of his career. The Giants have taken two straight in their West coast weekend series with the Cards, with Sunday's finale pitting Brad Penny against the Giants' Matt Cain.

Zito, Young Each Toss 6 Shutout Innings; Crawford Single Plates Pair in 9th

Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 6, 2010 American League

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Carl Crawford only had one hit in his four at-bats, but it was a 9th inning scratch single that drove home teammates Sean Rodriguez and Kelly Shoppach with the tying and game-winning runs in Tampa Bay's 4-3 home opening win over the Baltimore Orioles. Crawford's timely hit came off Baltimore closer Mike Gonzalez, who entered the game with a run run lead, but left it after getting only one out in the 9th and allowing a pair of Rays to cross the plate. Blown saves are nothing new for Gonzalez, who blew 7 of 17 opportunities last season. On Tuesday night, he opened the 9th by fanning Pat Burrell, but then allowed a single to Rodriguez and a double by Shoppach. After intentionally walking Jason Bartlett, Crawford delivered the decisive blow.

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National League Two pitching performances were so strong that there was no way to separate them; thus, San Francisco's Barry Zito (left) and San Diego's Chris Young (right) share Player of the Day honers in the NL. In the Giants' 3-0 win over Houston, the only Astro batter Barry Zito couldn't retire was second baseman Jeff Keppinger (2 doubles, walk). Other than him, Zito shut down Houston on one hit and no walks over six innings. All told, Zito allowed 3 hits and a walk, while striking out five. Zito is a key to the Giants' success this season, already having moved into the #2 slot after Tim Lincecum got them their first win of the season on Monday. The 2-0 Giants are the only NL West team without a loss.

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In San Diego's 6-3 win over Arizona, starter Chris Young worked a very impressive 6 full innings, allowing just one hit (to Justin Upton in the 4th) and 3 walks with 5 Ks. After an error in the first inning, Young set down 9 in a row before Upton's single, but never let a runner past second base. Young, who was a stud for the Padres from 2005-2007, with a 32-20 record, sustained injuries in each of the past two seasons and returned a combined sub-par record of 11-12. Back at full strength, Young is expected to pick up much of the slack left by the departed Jake Peavy. Thus far, he's off to a fine beginning.

Buehrle Perfect Against Rays; Zito on Right Track Again

Players of the Day for Thursday, July 23, 2009 American League Mark Buehrle worked over the Tampa Bay Rays like little leaguers, tossing the first perfect game since Randy Johnson turned the trick in 2004, in Chicago's 5-0 win over the Rays. Buehrle (11-3, 3.28) struck out 6, got 11 batters on ground balls, 8 on flies and 2 on foul pops. In going the distance, he threw 116 pitches, of which 76 went for strikes. First baseman Josh Fields provided almost all of the offense with a second inning grand slam. The fact that Buehrle threw the perfect-o against the Rays is testament to the man's mechanics and work ethic. Tampa Bay has the 4th highest Batting average in the league, third in home runs and RBI, tied for second in on base percentage and third in slugging percentage. Buehrle shut down one of the best-hitting teams in either league. It was the 16th perfect game in major league history, and Buehrle's second no-hitter. He faced the minimum in his 2007, 6-0 win over Texas, walking Sammy Sosa, but then picking him off first base moments later. He joins six other players since 1900 who have tossed a no-hitter and a perfect game, Randy Johnson one of them, and the only active player in that group, The magic was almost ended in the 9th inning when Gabe Kapler launched a drive to deep left-center, but the ball was captured in an exceptional over-the-fence grab by defensive replacement DeWayne Wise to preserve the perfect game. Buehrle retired the final two batters with a strikeout and ground ball to short. Buehrle received a call from President Barack Obama following the historic effort. Just a week ago Buehrle met Obama personally in the AL All Star game clubhouse. The win moved the White Sox closer to the top of the AL Central, just .001 behind the Tigers and no games behind. The Tigers are 49-44, the Sox 50-45. National League Don't write off the Giants just yet. After losing five of six coming out of the All Star break, Barry Zito - who's been up-and-down for the past three seasons - turned in one of his better performances of the season, working over the Braves for seven innings in a 5-1 win for San Francisco. Zito allowed just three hits, punching out 6 on strikes while allowing five bases on balls. Clearly not working with his best control, he was around the plate enough to keep the Atlanta batters off-balance most of the night. After the Giants scored in the top of the 8th to make the score 2-1, Zito was lifted for a pinch hitter. The Giants scored three more times to guarantee Zito's 6th win against 10 losses this season and close to within one game of Colorado for second place in the NL West, but more importantly, closer to the wild card lead. The Giants have a wealth of pitching talent on their roster and hope to reach the post-season on the strength of their arms. Clearly Barry Zito will have to have more games like Thursday's if they plan on playing in October.

Scott Drives in 7 for O's; Zito Delivers for Giants

Players of the Day for Tuesday, July 7, 2009 American League After being shut out, 5-0, on Monday, the Orioles' hitters got back at Mariners with a 12-5 rout highlighted by Luke Scott's 3-hit, 7 RBI night at the dish. Scott got things started for the O's in the first inning, lashing a bases-loaded single up the middle to plate the first two runs of the game. In the 6th, with the game tied at three, Scott struck again, this time with a double that brought home two more runs. He later came home on Melvin Mora's single, to up the lead to 7-3. But Scott was hardly finished. In the 7th he cranked out his 17th home run of the season, a 3-run shot that put the game on ice and upped his seasonal RBI total to an even 50. The 3-for-4 effort upped his batting average to .305. With the Angels and Rangers so far splitting their series in Anaheim - and now in a flat-footed tie for first in the division - Seattle remains 3 1/2 off the pace. After finishing up with the O's Wednesday, they host a crucial four-game series with Texas beginning Thursday. As for the O's, they're in their usual spot, dead last in the AL East, 13 1/2 back. National League With all the attention focused on Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito has become somewhat of a forgotten man in the Giants' rotation. It was just a few years back that Zito signed a lucrative deal with San Fran, but since jumping across the Bay from Oakland, Zito has compiled a record of 26-38 and an ERA close to 5.00. On Tuesday, however, there was hope that Zito (5-8) still had what made him such a hot property as he mowed down the Florida Marlins on 4 hits over 8 1/3 innings en route to a 3-0 Giants' win. Allowing just one walk while punching out 6 on strikes, Zito's stuff wasn't exactly electric, but good enough to have Bay area fans buzzing about the prospects of running down the LA Dodgers in the NL West. With a healthy Barry Zito and Lincecum continuing his outstanding season, the Giants could continue to cut into LA's 7-game edge. As it stands right now San Fran is already the leader in the wild card race, a full three games ahead of their closest competitor, Milwaukee. A couple of caveats for the Giants: Randy Johnson, who went on the 15-day DL Tuesday, might be gone longer. He is, after all, 45 years old, but a healthy Big Unit back in time for late August into September couldn't hurt. The other big if is how well Ryan Sadowski will continue to throw. He's 2-0 with an ERA of 0.00, but he's only been on the mound for 13 innings. If the Giants can stay in the hunt until Johnson's return, the sky's the limit.

Indians Claim Ohio; Mets Squeak by Yanks, Hunter Slams Brewers

Note: During Interleague play, games played in AL parks are listed under American League, NL parks, National League. Friday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops American League Grady Sizemore (right) smacked a 2-run homer in the 3rd inning and added 3 singles to go 4-5 with 3 runs scored, 3 RBI and a stolen base (15) as the Cleveland Indians took the first game of the Ohio series, 9-3, over Cincinnati. Bay Area Bombing - The San Francisco Giants brought out their ace, Barry Zito, a former A's pitcher, but the Oakland A's greeting was not very cordial. Zito lasted into the 5th inning, allowing 7 runs on 6 hits and - get this! - 7 walks, as the A's pounded their crosstown rivals, 15-3. Zito (3-5) has mostly struggled in the NL, accruing an ERA of 5.13, issuing 28 bases on balls while striking out 30. After Zito's departure, the A's continued piling on. They scored in every inning except the 2nd and 4th, with the big blast coming in the 5-run 8th, capped by Mark Ellis' grand slam. Barry Bonds singled twice in 3 at-bats but hasn't hit a home run in his last 8 games, his longest such drought of the season. Aaron Boone went 2-3 with a grand slam home run in the 3rd inning and scored another run as the

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Florida Marlins beat up on their Sunshine State hosts, Tampa Bay, 8-4. Placido Polanco had 3 doubles in 4 at-bats, scored twice and drove in 3, Gary Sheffield was 2-5 with his 7th home run, 3 RBI and 3 runs, and Sean Casey stroked 4 singles in 5 trips to the plate, drove in 2 and scored twice as the Detroit Tigers ripped the St. Louis Cardinals, 14-4, in the first of a three-game rematch of last season's World Series participants. Other AL Scores LA Angels 9 LA Dodgers 1 San Diego 8 Seattle 1 - C. Young (W, 5-3) 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K National League Torii Hunter (right) pounded a grand slam home run in the third inning, singled and scored in the 6th and starter Boof Bonser won his second game of the season, holding the Milwaukee Brewers to 1 run on 3 hits over 7 innings in an 8-1 rout. Bonser struck out 11 batters while walking just one. The Twins snapped a 3-game losing streak, sending the Brewers to their 6th loss in their last 8 games. Oliver Perez (5-3) outdueled Andy Pettitte, pitching 7 2/3rds innings in the Mets' 3-2 win over the Yankees. Perez allowed just 4 hits and 2 earned runs, both which came off the bat of Hideki Matsui's 4th inning homer. That was all the offense the Yanks could muster as reliever Joe Smith finished the eighth by striking out Derek Jeter and Billy Wagner mopped up in the 9th for his 10th save. Other NL Scores Pittsburgh 11 Arizona 5 Cubs 6 White Sox 3 Philadelphia 5 Toronto 3 Baltimore 5 Washington 4 Texas 7 Houston 4 Kansas City 5 Colorado 2 - Royals win 3rd straight, 5 of last 6