MVN - Most Valuable Network

Game #33 vs. San Francisco

PNC Park | 7:05 | Dumaitrait vs. Barry Zito | Box

I think this is what the Giants expected out of Barry Zito but it still wasn’t enough. Their erstwhile ace went five innings and gave up two runs, both coming on a homer from Xavier Nady. He was aided by two line drive turned double plays that ended innings.

The real story was Phil Dumatrait earning his first ML win. He tossed 5-2/3 scoreless innings of three hit ball. He gave way to Tyler Yates with a runner on second.

The Pirates relief corp shut the door until the 9th when the Giants had three straight singles off Matt Capps to plate one. Capps finished the game with a 4-6-3 DP from the bat of Jose Castillo.

Pre-Game Thoughts
Phil Dumatrait gets his second shot in the rotation this year. His first time out was underwhelming. He gave up four runs in four innings pitched and received a no decision against the Nationals. He has yet to face any of the Giants.

“I’ll take ‘Free Agency for $100, Alex.’”
“The answer: ‘This was the worst free agent signing ever.’”
“Who is Barry Zito?”

He is back in the rotation after the banishment following a disatrous April. His ERA is over 7.50. His velocity is down. The result: an 0-6 mark. Zito never actually appeared in relief, though he hasn’t started since 4/27.

The long time Pirates haven’t seen much of Zito. 45 of the team’s 61 ABs come from Chris Gomez, Doug Mientkiewicz and Luis Rivas. Overall the team is just 10-61. Zito gave up three runs in six IP in his lone career appearance vs. Pittsburgh. That was last August when the Pirates swept the Giants behind Tom Gorzelanny’s first career shutout.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under May, 2008 Pittsburgh Pirates, Phil Dumatrait, Tyler Yates, Home, Matt Capps, NL West, Jose Castillo, Xavier Nady, Game Threads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.