The Tomahawk Times - Zito leads Giants over hapless Braves, 5-0

ATLANTA -- It may not happen very often, but Barry Zito threw seven scoreless innings to help the Giants grab a 5-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Monday.

The Giants jumped on Jorge Campillo for a three-run first inning. Aaron Rowand 's sacrifice fly and a pair of run-scoring singles by Rich Aurilia and Pablo Sandoval gave Zito a 3-0 lead to work with.

Zito (7-15) threw more like the former Cy Young winner who signed a lucritive seven-year contract prior to last season, limting the Braves to just five hits over seven innings.

Rowand struck again in the sixth inning, connecting for his 12th homer of the season and extending the San Francisco advantage to 4-0.

An errant throw by Brian McCann in the seventh cost Atlanta another run. With runners on first and second, Campillo issued a walk to Dave Roberts, but McCann lost track of the count and attempted to throw out the runner advancing to third on ball four. This allowed Emmanuel Burriss to scamper home and make it 5-0.

Campillo (7-6) was roughed up for five runs on seven hits in six and two thirds innings on the afternoon. It's the second straight start in which Campillo has yielded five runs.

The Braves best scoring chance came undone in the bottom of the eighth, when McCann hit a potential double down the line that richocheted off first base umpire Ted Barrett with a man aboard. Chipper Jones was forced to stop at third and was stranded there when the inning ended.

Atlanta's seven game homestand could not have gone much worse, with just one win and six defeats. The losses send the Braves 13 games under .500 with a 56-69 record on the season.

On Deck: The Braves will begin a two city roadtrip with a visit to Shea Stadium and a three game set against the New York Mets starting Tuesday. Jo-Jo Reyes will return from the minors to take on Oliver Perez in the opener. Game time is set for 7:10 PM EST