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Zito silences potent Mets lineup

May 31, 2007 - 3:24 AM FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- When the San Francisco Giants decided to blow away the competition and hand over a king's ransom to Barry Zito this past winter, they had nights like Wednesday in mind.

Zito pitched seven scoreless innings to outduel Tom Glavine and Pedro Feliz drove in three runs as the San Francisco Giants handed the New York Mets their first shutout loss of the season with a 3-0 victory.

"A lot was said about him pitching here and he went out and did a great job," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Zito. "We really needed it."

Barry Bonds, who needs nine home runs to tie Hank Aaron's all-time record of 755 home runs, was back in the starting lineup and was 1-for-3 with an intentional walk. The run production instead came from Feliz, who had a two-run single in the first and an RBI triple in the third to help the Giants snap a four-game losing streak.

Rich Aurilia tied a career high with four hits for the Giants, who snapped the Mets' four-game winning streak.

The Mets were among the teams interested in Zito during the offseason, but the free agent lefthander elected to leave the Oakland Athletics and sign a hefty seven-year, $126 million contract with the Giants. That did not provide Zito any additional motivation.

"I don't pitch with any vendetta. I just went out there and threw strikes," Zito said. "It's always great coming to New York with all the trash-talkers in the stands before the game. I enjoy pitching here."

It will take years to determine if Zito is ultimately worth the money, but he has some had initial success against the Mets. The lefthander won a 9-4 decision in San Francisco on May 7 and joined John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves as the only pitchers to defeat the Mets twice this season.

Zito (5-5) allowed six hits and did not walk a batter. He kept the Mets baffled with his curveball, getting five of his seven strikeouts looking.

"He showed that you don't have to throw 100 miles per hour to get people out," said Mets third baseman David Wright, who took one of the called third strikes. Jack Taschner pitched a scoreless eighth and Brad Hennessey pitched the ninth to gain some redemption with his 10th save.

Glavine (5-3) remained stuck at 295 career victories, allowing three runs and nine hits over seven innings and throwing a season-high 122 pitches. That extra work may have worked to the Giants' advantage.

"It makes you feel more comfortable against the guys the more pitches you see," said catcher Bengie Molina, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

Glavine again was plagued by early struggles, needing 30 pitches to get through the first inning after needing 31 and 28 in his previous two outings. The lefthander has allowed first-inning runs in each of his last four starts.

"There's not a lot I can do about it," Glavine said. "It's just a streak of bad luck early in the game."

Aurilia and Bonds singled with two outs in the first before Bengie Molina walked. Feliz then brought home two runs with a single to left field.

Molina singled in the third and scored on a triple by Feliz over the head of center fielder Carlos Beltran.

While Bonds was booed lustily every time he came to the plate, due in part to his alleged involvement in baseball's steroid scandal, a more favorable reception greeted Mets reliever Guillermo Mota, who made his season debut after sitting out a 50-game suspension for failing a drug test. Mota pitched two scoreless innings.

"I feel more comfortable," Mota said. "I feel better now than I did yesterday."

Zito worked out of a jam after allowing a pair of singles to open the second inning.

Paul LoDuca doubled in the seventh for his 1,000th career hit, but was left stranded when Julio Franco took a called third strike to end the inning.