Bay Bridge Series

[GiantsFanatic]

Giants pitcher Barry Zito isn't sure what he will do when A's catcher Jason Kendall comes to the plate Thursday.

The two were teammates and became close friends for two years in Oakland before Zito left as a free agent after last season. Now Zito comes back for the first time to face his old team in McAfee Coliseum, and Kendall has vowed to make Zito laugh when the two face off for the first time.
"He said he's going to try to make me laugh," Zito said this week. "And if I look at him, he will. So no way."
Kendall says he won't let Zito off that easy.
"Then I won't get in the box," Kendall said when told Zito wouldn't look at him. "I'll just stand there until he looks at me."
So Zito isn't sure what he'll do.
"I told someone he will probably be the one who tries to mess with me," Zito said before leaving Houston on Thursday afternoon to return early and prepare for his Friday start. "I guess I'll just do whatever comes naturally. I can't aniticipate what I'll do, but I'm sure it will be fun."
Kendall looks forward to the meeting and says if the umpire makes him get in the box, he'll try a different tactic to make Zito laugh.
"I'll figure something out," he said cryptically. "I might have to say something if he won't look at me. It's not like he's going to be wearing earplugs. I will make him laugh."
Both Zito and Kendall live -- and surf -- in Southern California during the offseason, and for Christmas 2005, Kendall gave Zito a custom green-and-gold surfboard that commemorated Zito's 2002 American League Cy Young award.
"He's one of the coolest teammates I've ever had," Zito once said of Kendall. "I like everything about the guy."
The Giants played in Oakland at the end of Spring Training, but Zito didn't face his former teammates at all this spring.
"I'm going to have to go tunnel-vision guy," Zito said. "It's not just the guys [on the A's]. It's the security guards, the fans who were so good to me ... it's the whole deal."
Zito doesn't know what to expect from the A's fans.
"If they have to boo me, that just shows what good fans they are," Zito said. "I will totally understand that. They are great fans. It's a great atmosphere."

Complete coverage >

Zito will face A's righty Chad Gaudin in the opener. Dan Haren will duel fellow righty Matt Cain of the Giants on Saturday evening, and A's lefty Joe Kennedy is scheduled to take on Giants righty Matt Morris in Sunday's afternoon finale.
Expected to be the Giants' designated hitter throughout the series is Barry Bonds, who enters Friday's game 10 home runs away from tying Hank Aaron on the all-time chart. As a DH, Bonds has hit nine career Interleague homers, second to injured A's DH Mike Piazza's 11, and Bonds is the all-time Interleague DH leader in intentional walks (21) and runs scored (23).
"We'll pitch him the same way we always have," said A's manager Bob Geren. "Very carefully."
Pitching matchup
OAK: RHP Chad Gaudin (2-1, 2.93 ERA)
After giving up one run on five hits in a career-high eight innings against the Royals in his previous outing, Gaudin was roughed up by the Indians last weekend for five runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. This will be Gaudin's first career start against the Giants.
SF: LHP Barry Zito (3-4, 4.29 ERA)
Zito has been relatively consistent with the Giants, logging five quality starts and limiting opponents to three or fewer earned runs in six of his eight outings. He had allowed one home run all season until last Saturday, when he gave up three long balls in Colorado, including two by Matt Holliday.
Player to watch
Left fielder Shannon Stewart is the only active Athletic with more than seven career at-bats against Zito. He's 3-for-21 (.143) against San Francisco's ace lefty, but he's batting .318 (14-for-44) against southpaws this season.
Interleague by the numbers
All-time records in Interleague Play: The Giants' 86-75 Interleague record is ninth best in the Majors. The A's 103-73 mark is second best behind the Yankees' 103-71.
Giants all-time record vs. A's: 27-29 Giants Interleague notes: Zito is 8-8 with a 3.53 ERA in Interleague Play. ... Bonds has hit .303 with 39 home runs and 78 RBIs in Interleague Play. He has hit .333 with 18 homers and 32 RBIs against the A's all-time, including .300 at McAfee Coliseum with eight home runs and 15 RBIs. ... Ray Durham hit .274 while playing 54 games for Oakland in 2004. ... Armando Benitez is 4-2 with two saves in 22 appearances against Oakland. ... A's first baseman Dan Johnson is 8-for-22 (.364) against the Giants.

Zito vs Gaudin today
Cain vs Haren on Satuarday
Morris vs Kennedy on Sunday

I'm in the bay area right now visiting family, I'm definetly going to see if I can get tickets to the Satuarday's game!

[love_that_reefer]

Zito was crushed in his first start against his former team. Bonds on the other hand got back into the swing of things going 2-3.

[love_that_reefer]

Once again the Giants fail to give Cain any offensive support and he goes 2-4 on the year. Cain gave up 3 runs in 6 1/3 IP and now has an ERA of 3.30. Winn continued his hitting streak which is now 18 games. Molina hit a two run shot, his fourth on the year.

[GiantsFanatic]

Giants win 4-1! Morris had a CG 2hit, 1er, 2bb, 9k! Winn is still on fire 3-5 hr, Feliz went 2-3, Ortmeier went 3-3, Aurrilla homered aswell.