Pool photo by Elsa/Getty Images
The Giants' Barry Zito allowed six hits in seven and two-thirds innings.
ST. LOUIS — The San Francisco Giants have secured another two days to dream, another trip home, and another opportunity to conjure more of the unthinkable magic that has propelled them this far.
Facing elimination in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series on Friday night, the Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-0, following the lead of Barry Zito, whose gutsy and sparkling pitching performance stunned and silenced a capacity crowd at Busch Stadium.
Once already this October the Giants achieved the near impossible, winning three straight games away from home to overcome a 2-0 deficit against the Cincinnati Reds in the division series. Now, trailing in this series by three games to two, they head back to AT&T Park for Game 6 on Sunday night.
"I'm happy for the team," Zito said, "and I'm happy the fans get to see us back at AT&T Park."
At home, the Giants will send Ryan Vogelsong, who pitched seven strong innings during their Game 2 win, to the mound for Game 6. Should they force a Game 7, the ball would go to Matt Cain. They are still the underdog, but they have been here before.
"Our backs are against the wall, and there is no tomorrow," outfielder Hunter Pence said. "We're not here to fall and fold. We got here because we're going to fight."
Zito, 34, produced the most significant performance of a stirring bounce-back season. Zito, who won nine games in 2010 — and was left off the playoff roster as the team won the World Series — and only three during an injury-plagued 2011, recorded 15 regular-season victories this year. The Giants have not lost a game started by Zito since Aug. 2.
"You've got to be professional and you can't pout," Zito said of his struggles. "I worked on a lot of stuff during the off-season and came back stronger for it."
As Zito thrived, Cardinals starter Lance Lynn was knocked out after just three and two-thirds innings for the second time this series. His outing Friday was uncannily similar to his Game 1 start, when he no-hit the Giants through the first three innings before falling apart in the fourth.
Lynn opened the fourth Friday by allowing a pair of singles. One out later, Pence hit a potential double-play ball to the mound. But Lynn's throw was so low it bounced off the front of the second-base bag and into center field, and the error let Marco Scutaro race home from second.
"A good throw there and we're out of the inning," Lynn said. "I just short-armed it a little bit. I could have gotten myself out of an inning. It was definitely my fault."
One out after that, he walked Gregor Blanco, loading the bases, before Brandon Crawford slapped a sharp single to center, scoring two. The misery continued, and Lynn's night ended, when Zito pushed a bunt single down the third-base line, making the score 4-0.
The Cardinals could not inflict similar damage on Zito, though they had chances early on. Like Lynn, Zito was trying to bounce back from a poor showing during his last start, a two and two-third innings outing in Game 5 of the division series. He vowed to be more aggressive this time, and he was, more through precision than force.
Employing a curveball that looped in as slowly as 71 miles an hour and a fastball that maxed out at 85, Zito left a runner on second in the first, got an inning-ending double play to escape a bases-loaded jam in the second, and escaped the fourth unscathed after allowing a leadoff double to Allen Craig.
"I was just living pitch to pitch, moment to moment," Zito said. "Looking back on it, things work out."
Zito said he regretted how nitpicky he was in his last start, when he gave up four walks. On Friday, the only walk he had was intentional. He left the game in the eighth after allowing six hits and recording six strikeouts, and his 115 pitches were the most he has thrown since August 2010.
"I don't know how many times we needed to win this year, he found a way to get it done for us," Manager Bruce Bochy said.
The Cardinals' offense had received a pregame lift when outfielder Carlos Beltran was penciled into their starting lineup. Beltran, who entered Friday batting .400 this postseason with three home runs, strained his left knee during Game 3 and missed Game 4.
But it was the Giants' offense that hummed, and Pablo Sandoval pounded a solo home run off Mitchell Boggs in the eighth, giving the Giants a five-run cushion. That quieted the St. Louis fans to near silence and stamped the Giants' ticket home for a reunion with their own.
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