Instant Replay: Mets 9, Giants 1

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCOThe Mets scored five two-out runs off Barry Zito in the first two innings and the Giants offense remains missing in action as a disappointing homestand came to an ugly close with a 9-1 loss.Starting pitching report: Barry Zito used to hear boos regularly when he departed the AT&T Park mound. It had been awhile since the high-priced lefty was greeted by boo-birds; Thursdays start brought back bad memories, however.Bruce Bochy mercifully pulled Zito from the game with one out in the fifth inning, two runners on and six runs in. One of the two runners that Shane Loux inherited came around to score, giving Zito seven earned runs, the second most hes allowed this season. He allowed eight runs in 3.1 innings in Anaheim on June 19.Zito retired the first two batters he faced, Ruben Tejada on a ground ball to short and Andres Torres on a strikeout looking, before the wheels came off. He issued back-to-back two out walks to David Wright and Scott Hairston, then hit Daniel Murphy with a pitch to load the bases. Jason Bay and Ronny Cedeno made him pay with a single and a double, respectively, and the Mets had a quick 4-0 lead. Zito got Rob Johnson to ground into a fielders choice to keep New York from batting around, but he had to throw 36 pitches just to get through the first frame.The Mets used another two-out rally in the second to tack on a fifth run, when Wright followed Torres double with a single.Zito put together 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth, but a full count walk to Torres leading off the fifth put him right back in the stretch. After getting Wright to fly out to center, Zito gave up a single to Hairston and Murphy followed with an RBI single to knock Zito from the game.Zitos final forgettable line: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, K (84 pitches, 51 for strikes). The loss knocks him to 8-8 on the year and his ERA jumped from 3.89 to 4.27 in the process.Bullpen report: Shane Loux, called up after Wednesdays loss, allowed one of his two inherited runners to score in the fifth inning and stayed in the game for mop-up duty in a blowout.After finishing up the fifth, Loux stayed in and put together a scoreless sixth but couldnt escape the seventh. He gave way to Clay Hensley after the Mets expanded their lead to 9-1 with a walk, single and double.Hensley got a quick out to end the seventh, worked a scoreless eighth and recorded the first out of the ninth to lower his season ERA to 2.95.Sergio Romo got a chance to put two recent game-changing home runs allowed in his rear-view mirror by getting the last two outs of the ninth. He walked Jason Bay before striking out Ronny Cedeno swinging and Rob Johnson looking.At the plate: The Giants followed up Wednesdays three-hit, one-run output with another stinker.Other than Melky Cabrera, who came a home run short of hitting for the cycle, the Giants had just one hit, a Brandon Belt triple in the second inning.Belt sent a ball to Triples Alley that was bobbled by right-fielder Scott Hairston. Had Belt been running hard out of the batters box, he may have been able to score for an inside-the-park home run. Instead, he was stranded when Brandon Crawford struck out looking to end the inning.The Giants lone run came in the fourth after Cabrera led off the inning with a triple. Hunter Pence is still hitless in his two-game Giants career, but drove the ball far enough for a sacrifice fly and his first RBI since the trade.The Giants struck out four times and worked just two walks against Chris Young and the Mets bullpen. San Francisco also went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position.In the field: Ryan Theriot botched a double play when his relay throw to first sailed way over Brandon Belts head. He avoided an error because the ball stayed in the field of play.On the bases: All was quiet on the basepaths. With just six baserunners all game and two coming on triples, there werent many opportunities for thefts.Belts lack of hustle out of the box on his second-inning triple may have cost him his first home run since June 23 in Oakland.Attendance: The Giants announced a crowd of 41,843 for their 139th sellout in a businessmans special.Up next: The Giants look to erase the memory of a 3-7 homestand as they had out on the road first to Colorado for three games, then St. Louis for four. In the series opener against the Rockies, the Giants will see a familiar face in Jonathan Sanchez. Traded this offseason for Melky Cabrera, the lefty is 1-8 with an abysmal 8.32 ERA between Kansas City and Colorado. The Giants will send Ryan Vogelsong, who is 8-5 with a 2.22 ERA, to the mound to oppose Sanchez.