Zito key to Giants postseason hopes

The San Francisco Giants are taking a run at the NL Wild Card again. I say again because of the torrid run the Colorado Rockies have been on until recently that saw thew Rockies overtake the Giants. The Rockies have now dropped four straight after losing a 5-3 decision to the Giants at AT&T Park last night. The Giants victory pulls them to within one game of the Rockies in the Wild Card standings. And the Giants are once again relevant in the NL West standings sitting only six games behind the hated rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Pitching wins games and everyone knows of the 1-2 punch the Giants pitching staff offers in Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. But the key to the Giants run might be identified as Barry Zito. Barry Zito? That's right, Barry Zito. How can that be? Last night Zito's line: 8.1 IP, 8 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K.

In the offseason, the Giants brought in future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. The original thought was that Johnson would be the #3 in the Giants rotation. But Johnson has been on the disabled list since July 7 with a bum shoulder (torn rotator cuff). There's a chance the Big Unit could be back this season, but that's still up in the air. Johnson is 8-6, but his ERA is 4.81.

Next choice: Jonathan Sanchez? Sanchez did throw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on July 10th and he was actually headed to the bullpen, maybe even Triple-A when he tossed his no-no. Since that game, Sanchez is 3-2 and has knocked 0.41 off of his ERA. That's pretty good. But look at Zito.

The Giants drove a Brink's truck to snare Zito from their across the bay American League rivals, the Oakland A's. Zito took the money and has suffered ever since. Not because his back pockets were weighing him down, although A's fans would try to convince you otherwise. Zito suffered due largely to being ineffective and having a shattering of his confidence. That confidence could have taken an even bigger hit with the fact that both Johnson and Sanchez were seen as better options in the rotation.

But Zito has turned his season, and maybe his career, 180 degrees. Since the All-Star Game, Zito has started to show slight glimpses of what made him the 2002 AL Cy Young winner. Since the All-Star Game, Zito has a 4-2 record with a 1.92 ERA. Before the break, Zito was 5-9 with a 5.01 ERA. For the season: 9-11, 3.94 ERA. The All-Star break helped Zito as much as any player in baseball. The break appears to have given Zito a new lease in San Francisco and if the Giants were to make the postseason, he may have even pitched himself into the #3 slot. That could see him get a start, maybe even two, depending how big of a run the Giants would make.

The Giants can make a run deep into the playoffs and they will need Zito to keep up his personal run if the Giants have a chance to win the NL Wild Card, maybe even the NL West.

Zito is important to the Giants. He's back, not all the way, but he's getting there.