Barry Zito Wasn't Half Bad

...but Albert Pujols was just a little bit better.

I've decided that when reporting on the Giants, taking the "This team sucks and here's how last night's game proves it" strategy just ain't going to cut it for me. Chances are, the Giants won't make the playoffs and you have to look as these games as if we are playing for something else. I'm not saying this is how it should be (because it certainly is not how things should be) but it is what is. That being said, I am going to try and take the positives from every game.

Last night, Barry Zito looked good. He looked quite close to his old self. His Oakland A's self. His velocity was up on the fastball and he threw a couple of curveballs that were really sharp. I seriously thought he might have a win ... until a Ray Durham error gave Albert Pujols a chance and Albert Pujols did just exactly what you fear Albert Pujols will do. The Cardinals took a 4-2 lead and never looked back. All three runs were unearned, but Zito would still like that pitch back. "Letting Pujols beat me obviously spoiled anything about the game," Zito said. "But as far as having decent command and getting quicker outs, I was better than I was."

Next time out, I predict Zito improves to 1-3.

The Giants also made some pretty bad baserunning mistakes last night but - considering that I am still trying to get over today's gut-wrenching loss - I don't even feel like getting into it.