MLB: Barry Zito Outduels Jonathan Niese as Mets Lose Second Straight

For the second straight game, the Mets got shut out by the Giants—this time 1-0 at AT&T Park.

Barry Zito pitched an absolute gem, one which may have even been better then Tim Lincecum’s start yesterday.

The Mets lineup seemed lost without Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan . It was a Mets lineup that featured Jeff Francoeur as the five hitter, Ruben Tejada as the leadoff man, and Jason Bay hitting second.

Francoeur was promised this start by Jerry Manuel , but Jerry couldn’t have known that Reyes wouldn’t be able to play, which put him in a tough position by not being able to have both Pagan and Reyes in the lineup.

Jon Niese pitched a great game, only allowing one run over seven innings, but couldn’t get a sprinkle of run support—the Mets only had three hits throughout the game. The game's only run came in the third inning. While trying to get out of a second and third jam, a ground ball was hit to Alex Cora where he tried to go home with it, and Aubrey Huff scored.

Notes:

Carlos Beltran went 1-for-4 for the second straight night. He had a pop-up double but struck out swinging with a runner on first to end the game.

Jason Bay went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts, and Barry Zito, over eight innings, tallied 10 strikeouts.

Bobby Parnell pitched a seven-pitch scoreless eighth inning, getting his ERA down to 1.42.

The Mets announced that Luis Castillo will return for next weekend's series against the Dodgers.

Tomorrow, the Mets play the Giants at AT&T park at 9 ET, with Hisanori Takahashi facing Matt Cain.