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Zito goes eight, leads Giants over Rockies

Sep 3, 2008 - 11:07 PM By Brady Delander PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DENVER (Ticker) -- The San Francisco Giants needed a game like this.

Everything clicked as Barry Zito pitched eight stellar innings and the Giants' stagnant offense came alive to roll over the Colorado Rockies, 9-2, on Wednesday afternoon.

Nate Schierholtz recorded four hits, Scott McClain added three and three runs - including his first career home run - and Travis Ishikawa drove in three runs and added two hits. Pablo Sandoval also connected for a homer in a game that was never in doubt.

"We did need that one," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's been a rough trip. We had to come off a tough loss (Tuesday) and we hadn't won a game on this road trip. We definitely needed this, not only for our personality but to break the rut we've been in."

Zito (9-16) held Colorado to four hits and two runs, striking out five to win for the third time in four starts. San Francisco had lost five straight games and seven of its last eight.

"That was probably my favorite game as a Giant," said Zito, who is 9-8 since dropping his first eight decisions of the season. "I stayed within myself, didn't worry about results or anything like that and kind of let things happen around me instead of trying to make things happen."

Rockies starter Aaron Cook (16-9) was manhandled from the start. The club's top pitcher gave up six runs and 10 hits in just three innings, easily the worst performance of Cook's All-Star season.

"It was a rough day," Cook said. "It just wasn't working for me out there."

With regular starters Randy Winn, Bengie Molina and Rich Aurilia taking the afternoon off, the middle of the order was left to a tag team of September call-ups.

But they delivered to the tune of the Giants' biggest offensive output since June 29. The makeshift 2-3-4 combo of Schierholtz, Sandoval and McClain combined to go 9-for-15 with five RBI.

"They picked us up today, those kids," Bochy said.

Schierholtz was the first to connect with a pitch from Cook, lashing a double to left field in the first inning. McClain delivered a two-out single to drive home Schierholtz and Aaron Rowand followed with another single. Ishikawa took advantage with a run-scoring hit to left, staking San Francisco to an early 2-0 lead.

Garrett Atkins helped the Rockies (66-75) take back a run with a leadoff double in the second. Atkins scored on a fielder's choice grounder from Jeff Baker, but the Giants (60-79) weren't finished pounding away on Cook.

San Francisco batted around in the third, with McClain driving in another run before Ishikawa ripped a double over the head of Ryan Spilborghs in right field for two more runs. Not done yet, Emmanuel Burriss dropped an RBI single in shallow left to plate Ishikawa and put the Giants ahead at 6-1.

Sandoval lifted a home run over the fence in right field, and McClain followed by driving a low sinker from Steven Register into the left-field seats for his first major league homer.

"I knew I put a good swing on," McClain said. "Initially, as it was leaving, there was a moment of relief when I knew it was going to go. I wanted to slow things down to a walk and take it all in. It was such a relief."

McClain has hit a combined 361 homers in the minor leagues and Japan.

"With all those home runs he's had in Japan, to get one here, the team was just elated for him," Bochy said of McClain. "We kid him that he looks more like a staff member."