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Giants send Zito to hill in San Diego

Jul 16, 2011 - 3:13 PM (Sports Network) - Barry Zito has been unstoppable since coming off of the disabled list with a foot injury and will try to keep his unbeaten streak intact tonight in the third test of a four-game set against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

Zito is 3-0 with a 1.29 earned run average over his last three starts and threw eight innings of one-run ball in a 2-1 win over the Padres on July 7. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter for the first time in 2011. The 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner with Oakland improved to 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA in six total starts.

The lefty is 2-0 in four road starts this season, but is only 4-8 with a 4.13 ERA in 19 career games (18 starts) against the Friars.

San Francisco is counting on Zito to pad its lead atop the National League West standings even more, as the current division leaders grabbed a 4 1/2-game edge over Arizona with Friday's 6-1 win against the Padres. The Diamondbacks lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday night.

Giants ace and two-time NL Cy Young Award honoree Tim Lincecum pushed his mark to 8-7 with six innings of one-run ball and seven strikeouts. He walked three batters and scattered just three hits before Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo and Guillermo Mota kept San Diego off of the scoreboard the rest of the way.

"He didn't pitch quite as efficient as he would have liked, but it's a good job," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Lincecum. "It's fair to say his command wasn't quite as sharp or had good stuff, but he found a way to give us six solid innings."

Andres Torres had three hits, drove in two runs and scored three times, while Cody Ross homered for the Giants, who have won four in a row and are 8-4 this month. Pablo Sandoval went 0-for-2 with two walks and saw his career-best hitting streak end at 22 games. Sandoval hit .323 during the run. Prospect Hector Sanchez walked in a pinch-hit role and he replaced Pat Burrell on the roster after the outfielder was placed on the disabled list.

The Giants also transferred utility man Mark DeRosa from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL. DeRosa hasn't played since May 18 because of inflammation and a partial tear of a tendon in his left wrist.

After the Giants wrap up this series in San Diego, they will return to the Bay Area for a six-game residency versus the Dodgers and Brewers.

San Diego is mired in a seven-game losing streak and didn't get much help from starting pitcher Dustin Moseley. Moseley fell to 2-9 on the year and was tagged for four runs and seven hits in six innings for the loss.

It didn't help that the Padres produced just four hits to San Francisco's 11. They reached the scoreboard in the fourth inning, when Alberto Gonzalez scored on an Orlando Hudson groundout. Third baseman Chase Headley left Friday's game in the bottom of the first inning with a strained right calf and is day-to- day. He departed Thursday's game with a left ankle ailment.

"With this group right here we have to keep fighting through it and hopefully they come together and start stringing some hits together as a group," Padres manager Bud Black said.

The Padres will head east to battle Florida and Philadelphia after this set.

Cory Luebke will take the mound tonight for San Diego and he's 2-3 with a 2.57 earned run average in 32 games (3 starts). He lost at San Francisco the last time out in a 2-1 defeat, allowing both runs and five hits in six innings.

The left-handed Ohio State product is 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA in two career games (1 start) against the Giants.

The Padres won 12 of 18 meetings with the Giants a season ago, but San Francisco owns a 5-3 advantage in this year's series.