As ugly as it gets

AP is reporting that Zito was booed frequently during his stint today, even though it was the shortest of the year. Attendance didn't even hit 40,000 today, despite the recent surge of competent play, coupled with lovely weather. It's becoming obvious that fans aren't quite as stupid the ownership thinks -- and they're not going to keep shelling out $50 a seat and $8 a beer when they have plenty of other options.

Andrew Baggerly of the Merc-News is already asking the obvious question -- do the Giants keep up the charade that "he's going to turn it around" or does Zito get DLd or sent down to Fresno to work this out? Here's the interesting part -- The Giants cannot just cut Zito loose, as the Pittsburgh Pirates did with former Giant Matt Morris on Sunday. Zito is owed roughly $112.5 million from now through 2014, a figure that includes the $7 million buyout of an option year. The major league record for cash absorbed by a club while releasing a player is $22 million, which the Arizona Diamondbacks decided to eat when they released Russ Ortiz in 2006.

In other words, this is like a bad marriage where the couple stays together for the sake of the kids. Here's how the first inning went --

Barry Zito pitching for San Francisco
J Hairston walked.
C Patterson singled to shallow center, J Hairston to third.
C Patterson stole second.
J Keppinger walked.
B Phillips singled to shallow right, J Hairston scored, C Patterson to third, J Keppinger to second.
E Encarnacion popped out to third.
J Votto singled to right center, C Patterson and J Keppinger scored, B Phillips to third, J Votto advanced to second on play.
R Freel singled to left center, B Phillips and J Votto scored.
P Bako tripled to deep right center, R Freel scored.
E Volquez struck out swinging.
J Hairston popped out to shortstop.
6 Runs, 5 Hits, 1 Errors

Projected Giants record -- 68-94