Party Like It's 2002

On the strength of back-to-back homers from their 4 and 5 hitters, a solo shot from their third baseman, and two doubles from Rich Aurilia, one of an RBI variety, the San Francisco Giants easily dispatched a hapless Florida Marlins team 8-2 for their third win in a row.

In other news, Barry Zito turned in a Cy Young performance to get an easy win.

Also, the New England Patriots upset the heavily favored St. Louis Rams in a completely fair and square Super Bowl XXXII, the reign of Kobe and Shaq has no end in sight, and the nation collectively shudders at the sight of Gary Condit.

Okay, that last paragraph didn't happen, but you would forgive me for thinking we entered a time warp last night.

Instead, Baked Zito has shed the Zit0-8 label (Zit1-8 doesn't quite have the same ring) with an encouraging performance in which he allowed only one hit after a allowing a first inning run in 6.1 strong innings.

Zito now has a 3.26 ERA following his paid leave of absence. Although he continues to walk way too many people, his command of the two-seamer, which he had put in mothballs years prior, seems to have made a difference.

An impressive win over arguably the best team in the NL with their de facto ace on the mound. Cainer faces the Burke Badenhop in the Saturday night game.

Gigantes Roundup:

- Vizquel should tie Aparicio tonight.

- An interesting (if slightly played out) "what-if" on what could have been if the Giants outsourced their ace position in 2006.

- Bruce Jenkins opines (in a way only BJ does) that, given our knowledge of Bill Neukom, Brian Sabean may not see the second year of his contract.

- Yabu san rocks.

Commentary Igniter: How many wins will Barry Zito get this season?