With the San Francisco Giants dealt a curve ball before game time with ace Tim Lincecum missing his start due to the stomach flu, the team turned to Barry Zito to keep the Philadelphia Phillies at bay. And after a rough first inning Zito never get truly settled into the game as the Phils launched four homers on the night, leading to an eventual 7-2 victory at Citizen's Bank Park.
Zito's (L 3-3) tough night was kicked off with a three run jack by Raul Ibanez in the first, followed by another jack in the fourth by John Mayberry. Chase Utely hit an inside the park homer off of him in the sixth, capping off Zito's seven inning outing with six earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts. Ryan Howard would take Guillermo Mota deep in the eighth just to add insult to injury, marking the fourth homer of the night for the Phillies, maybe a little payback for their NLCS loss last October.
The Giants got off to a good start offensively as a Pablo Sandoval sacrifice fly scored Andres Torres after his leadoff double. Aaron Rowand pinch hit in the eighth, and launched his fourth home run of the year to left field, but aside from that the offense was stuck at square one.
As for the Phillies Vance Worley (W 7-1) he earned his first complete game of his career against the defending champs, allowing only two earned runs on three hits along with one walk and four punch outs.
With the loss the Giants move to 59-44 on the year. Full box score can be found here.
The Giants will send out Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum tomorrow depending on the status of Timmy's health, and will square off with the Phils' Cole Hamels. First pitch is set for 4:05 pm PT with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.