Barry Zito: Finally Something to Build Upon

This is what Brian Sabean envisioned when he signed Barry Zito to that infamous $126 million contract in the winter of 2006.

Coming off of his shortest outing of the season (and one of the shortest of his career) against the Detroit Tigers, Zito looked nowhere close to the pitcher that lasted just two innings five days earlier.

The velocity was up. The curve was snapping like his days in Oakland. He was working quickly between pitches. This was vintage Zito.

Zito (3-11) gave up just one run, a pinch-hit single by Shin-Soo Choo in the seventh inning, on four hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out four without giving up a walk in what was undoubtedly one of his best starts in a Giants' uniform.

Upon seeing manager Bruce Bochy step out of the dugout after a Kelly Shoppach double in the seventh inning to take the ball from his starter, Zito clearly showed the desire to stay in the game. It is something that has been a rare sight in his year-and-a-half in San Francisco.

"When you saw him out there on the mound, he just had a great look about him," Bochy said. "That's the Zito we knew. He had a good rhythm out there, pounded the zone and went after them."

This is something that Giants' fans, and Zito more importantly, have been searching for.

So what was the difference Wednesday night?

Zito gives much of the credit to a meeting he had with Bochy, Pitching Coach Dave Righetti, and Bullpen Coach Mark Gardner. He has rediscovered his two-seam fastball and lowered his arm slot, which was quite visible.

Because of the changes, there was an increase in velocity, with him topping out at 88 mph on more than one occasion, much better than the 84 mph fastball Zito was featuring for much of the season.

However, it was not simply a change of mechanics that made things click.

"Just letting it fly and trusting yourself was the key," Zito said. "That's the hardest thing to do in life, the hardest thing to do in baseball. When you do it, you usually see good results, which is something I haven't been able to do a lot this year.