• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Zito, Feliz too much as Giants down Dodgers

Aug 3, 2007 - 7:07 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- In the absence of Barry Bonds tying history, Pedro Feliz is making a name for himself while another famous Barry may have found his groove.

Feliz hit two run-scoring singles and Barry Zito won for just the second time in 10 starts as the San Francisco Giants downed the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2, on Thursday.

Bonds went 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored in his four plate appearances on Thursday and is 2-for-14 with 10 walks since clubbing home run No. 754 against Florida on Friday. He remains one shy of tying Hank Aaron's all-time record.

"He should hit it (No. 755) at home," Giants pitcher Steve Kline said. "That city has been so good to him, the fans love him up there. He should hit it where they'll fully appreciate him."

The seven-time National League MVP, who was lifted for pinch runner Fred Lewis in the seventh after drawing his second free pass, did collect his first hit in his 20 at-bats against the Dodgers with a second-inning single, raising his batting average to .138 (5-for-36) against Los Angeles this season.

"He's just another guy in the lineup," Dodgers starter Brett Tomko said. "I think our pitchers (have done) a good job against him all year."

"I think facing Barry raises pitchers' games because they don't want to give it up," Zito said. "They want to get him out and have him move on to the next city."

Feliz delivered an RBI single during a three-run first inning and added an insurance run with another run-scoring base hit in the seventh to help the Giants notch their sixth win in their last eight games. In San Francisco's 19 contests since the All-Star break, the 32-year-old is hitting .319 (23-for-72) with 19 RBI.

"He's just played great baseball for us, defensively and at the plate," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "I said this earlier - he's one of the most underrated (players) in our league."

Coming off an abysmal July that saw him go 1-2 with a 7.82 ERA, Zito (8-10) lasted 5 2/3 innings, yielding one run and seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Zito, who improved to 9-0 with a 2.00 ERA in the 10 games in which San Francisco has won when he started.

"Right now, it's more important that Barry Zito get a win than for Barry Bonds to get a record," Bochy said. "Barry Bonds is going to get it, it's just a matter of time. Z did a great job tonight. We need that from him."

The three runs the Giants provided for Zito while he was in the contest marked only the ninth time in 22 starts the offense gave the lefthander more than two runs of support.

"After we scored the runs in the first inning, you want to shut them down and show your guys you can build on the lead," Zito said.

After Zito and reliever Kevin Correia held Los Angeles in check through seven innings, the Dodgers loaded the bases in both the eighth and ninth innings against three Giants relievers before Kline worked around a walk in the final frame to record his second save in as many chances.

The Giants gave Zito all the support he needed in the first inning against Tomko (2-9), who allowed five consecutive batters to reach after retiring leadoff hitter Dave Roberts. Omar Vizquel singled and scored on Randy Winn's RBI double to post San Francisco's first run.

"I think I came off too aggressive in the first inning and got wild," Tomko said. "I was just trying to make quality pitches and get in a rhythm."

Bonds drew the 2,535th walk of his career and moved to second when Feliz singled to left to plate Winn and put the Giants ahead, 2-0. Mark Sweeney was then hit by a pitch before Kevin Frandsen mercifully ended the stretch with a sacrifice fly that scored Bonds.

"I was a little wild in the first inning," Tomko said. "I hit Sweeney (and) gave up a couple of hits, but (I) was able to settle down after that."

"Pitching with the lead doesn't change the way you want to pitch," Zito said. "You just want to be aggressive and come out and attack guys."

San Francisco saw 44 pitches from Tomko in the first while batting around. Tomko threw 102 pitches in just five frames, surrendering three runs and five hits with three walks.

"(After) that first inning, despite all the pitches, (Tomko) really regrouped and made some adjustments," Bochy said.

Russell Martin had two hits and an RBI for the Dodgers, who dropped their fourth straight series.

"That Martin kid, it seems like he could catch 162 games for them," Kline said. "He can do it all."