Zito ends year with bruised arm, not ego

Barry Zito called it the hardest and most painful comebacker he ever took off his body, which jibes with catcher Buster Posey's observation that it "came off the bat hot." "I'm guessing it was going over 100 miles an hour when it hit him," Posey said. This was no way for Zito's season to end, taking a shot off Adrian Gonzalez's bat on his pitching arm in the sixth inning of Friday night's 7-2 Giants victory. At least it missed his elbow, hitting him in the forearm just above. X-rays were negative, and Zito heads into the offseason with a bruise. "He got me as square as it could have gotten me," Zito said. "But the Baseball gods treated me well tonight. I didn't die and it didn't break." The only thing broken Friday was San Diego's strange hold on the Giants at Petco Park this season. Their fifth win in a row and 87th of the season was their first in seven games here this season. To add insult to injury, Zito did not get the win. The score was 1-1 when Gonzalez's liner shot off Zito's arm high into the air and landed on the infield for a single. Juan Uribe broke the tie in the seventh with a leadoff homer against Kevin Correia. That started a six-run rally aided by two Everth Cabrera errors. Travis Ishikawa hit an RBI single and Andres Torres a two-run double. Zito ended his third consecutive losing season as a Giant at 10-13, although there must be an asterisk denoting the 10 starts in which the offense did not score when he was on the mound. Zito's final ERA of 4.03 is his lowest with the Giants and more than a full point better than last year's 5.15. "I think I made a lot of strides this season," Zito said after showing off a welt on his arm in which the seams of the Baseball clearly can be seen. "I put it together in the second half for the most part. I got back to some of the things I was used to doing earlier in my career. "I'm excited about next year and hope to be doing that from the start." Zito has not missed a start due to injury in 10 big-league seasons and should be able to make his next one in April. Manager Bruce Bochy believes Zito's stuff and command were better this season and said, "It was a pleasure to see how Barry picked it up." If only science could divine a way for Zito to pitch well in the first half. His ERA before the break this year was 5.01, after the break 2.83. He allowed a first-inning run Friday on two walks and an Oscar Salazar single. Pablo Sandoval tied the game 1-1 in the fourth inning with his 24th homer and 186th hit, which also ended Correia's shutout streak at 231/3 innings. Bochy has rested all of his regulars at various points in the past month, but not Sandoval, who has started 28 consecutive games, during which he has maintained a .314 average. Bochy said the Panda "doesn't handle days off well. He's young. He can handle the load." On the other hand, Bochy said Bengie Molina and Randy Winn would not start any of the three games here, Molina because of a hand injury and Winn because the team wants to look at younger outfielders. If so, both potential free agents might have played their final games as Giants at home Thursday. John Bowker started in left field and could go into the winter as a candidate for next year's lineup, as Ishikawa and Fred Lewis did last winter. That did not work out as the team hoped. Bowker, who doubled in the six-run inning, had a great Triple-A season but has struggled again in the majors, particularly over which pitches to swing at and which to take. "He hasn't had as many at-bats as Nate Schierholtz and Freddie," Bochy said. "That's why he's being thrown out there. This helps the evaluation process." Reliever Sergio Romo left the game in the eighth inning with a mild right-knee strain. The knee locked up as he threw a pitch to Gonzalez. Bochy said Romo is "doubtful" for the final two games of the season. Miller surgery: Justin Miller, who did an exceptional job in 44 games as a long reliever, said he will have arthroscopic surgery Monday on his right elbow to clean out bone spurs. Miller went on the disabled list two weeks ago and opted for surgery after throwing on consecutive days this week. Miller said he wants to return in 2010. "I hope they go off what I did here," he said. "I'd love to come back."