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Zito pitches well, Cubs' bullpen doesn't

Jul 18, 2007 - 5:09 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Barry Bonds didn't hurt the Chicago Cubs, their own pitchers did.

Bonds came up empty in a pinch-hit appearance in the eighth inning but the San Francisco Giants took the lead anyway and held on for a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.

Bonds was out of the starting lineup for the second straight day as Giants manager Bruce Bochy gave his aging slugger another day off to rest his sore legs. Bochy did call on Bonds in the eighth with the game tied, 2-2.

"Barry had a good at-bat off a tough lefty," Bochy said. "It is nice to have a weapon like that coming in off the bench."

The Cubs countered with Will Ohman and the lefty reliever prevailed. Ohman nearly hit Bonds with a 0-1 pitch and ran the count full before getting Bonds on a hard liner that was hit right at left fielder Alfonso Soriano.

"Anytime you get a good at-bat against a lefthanded pitcher you know you are really close (with his timing)." Bonds said. "I just hit a line drive right at him (Soriano)."

Unfortunately for Chicago, Ohman had another out to get and he was unable to do so. He walked pinch hitter Guillermo Rodriguez to load the bases and then issued another walk to Dave Roberts to force home Fred Lewis and give the Giants a 3-2 lead.

"You can think what you want but it wasn't a lapse in concentration," Ohman said. "The fact is I just didn't execute."

San Francisco pushed the lead to 4-2 on an infield single by Omar Vizquel that scored Pedro Feliz.

Giants starter Barry Zito (7-9) had allowed 35 runs in his last 30 innings but was much sharper Tuesday. The lefthander yielded two runs and five hits in seven innings to pick up his first win since June 4.

"That's how I pitch," Zito said. "That's how I pitch when I am who I am, when I am pounding the inner third of the plate."

The 28-year-old struck out eight without a walk and rebounded from his last outing in which he was pounded for five runs and eight hits in four innings by St. Louis on July 8.

"Barry was pounding the strike zone all night," Bochy said. "He had all of his pitches working and had good command, Barry was sharp today."

Vinnie Chulk came on and pitched a scoreless eighth and Brad Hennessey worked around a leadoff double by Aramis Ramirez in the ninth to pick up his sixth save.

The Giants took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Vizquel walked and moved to second on a single to center by Randy Winn. Bengie Molina plated Vizquel with a single to left and, after Rich Aurilia lined out to third, Feliz doubled to deep left to score Winn.

Derrek Lee hit a solo home run in the sixth for Chicago, which had its four-game winning streak snapped.

Carlos Marmol (2-1) took the loss, allowing two runs, a hit and three walks in 1 1/3 innings.

"Well, you can't walk three people in the eighth inning and expect to win," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "That kind of pitching makes it very tough to get a victory."