Oct 2, 2009 9:59 pm US/Pacific
Line Drive Knocks Out Zito, Giants Beat Padres
SAN DIEGO (CBS 5 / AP) ―
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Barry Zito of the San Francisco Giants.
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
Barry Zito's last start of the season was marred when he was hit near his left elbow by Adrian Gonzalez's line drive in the sixth inning of the San Francisco Giants' 7-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Friday night.
Also Friday, Kevin Towers, the longest-tenured general manager in the major leagues, was fired by the Padres, a person familiar with the situation said. The Padres said only that CEO Jeff Moorad will address the media on Saturday afternoon.
Zito grimaced and didn't go after the ball, which landed between the mound and third base. He was checked by a trainer and immediately left the game, which was tied at 1.
It was only the second time Zito (10-13) lasted past the fifth inning in his last six starts. He finished with a losing record for the third straight season since signing a $126 million, seven-year deal with the Giants.
Zito is winless in his last seven starts against San Diego, including 0-4 in six this season. The lefty allowed one run and three hits in 5 1-3 innings, struck out six and walked two. Brandon Medders (5-1) got the last two outs of the sixth.
Pablo Sandoval and Juan Uribe hit solo homers for the Giants, both off former Giants pitcher Kevin Correia (12-11). Sandoval homered just inside the foul pole in right field leading off the fourth, his 24th. Uribe's homer leading off the seventh inning went an estimated 437 feet and over the Padres' bullpen beyond center field. It was his 16th.
Coming in, the Giants had been 0-6 at Petco Park this season, scoring just 11 runs with one homer.
The Giants, eliminated from the wild-card race on Wednesday night, scored six runs in the seventh inning, aided by two errors by shortstop Everth Cabrera. Four of the runs were unearned. Cabrera had both a fielding error and a throwing error.
Henry Blanco homered for the Padres in the seventh, his sixth.
Correia allowed five runs, three earned, on six hits in six-plus innings. The first four batters reached against Correia in the seventh before he was pulled.
NOTES: Sandoval was 2 for 24 (.083) at Petco Park this season before his homer. ... Correia finished the year with career highs in wins (12), losses (11) and innings (198).
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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