Oakland A's Notes: A's Take It To Zito

If facing former teammate Barry Zito was strange for the A's, watching him struggle the way he did must have been just as bizarre.

The patient approach of Oakland's hitters contributed to a nightmarish first inning for Zito in his inaugural appearance at McAfee Coliseum as an opposing pitcher. He walked four and gave up three runs in the first inning alone as his Giants were routed 15-3. Zito was pulled in the fifth, having tied a career high with seven walks.

"It was a little bit different, just to see him (in a different uniform)," A's second baseman Mark Ellis said. "He didn't have his best start. I'm sure he's not as happy as we are."

A's starter Chad Gaudin, who went six innings for the victory, claimed that pitching against Zito wasn't a big deal.

"I kind of didn't really think about it too much," Gaudin said. "I think it was more of a big deal for him."

A'S 15, GIANTS 3: Oakland unloaded on former teammate Barry Zito, getting homers from Dan Johnson and Travis Buck and a grand slam from Mark Ellis in the rout. Chad Gaudin bounced back from a poor outing his last time out and went six strong innings.

Saturday Notebook
--2B Mark Ellis' grand slam was his 40th career homer, moving him past Dick Green for the most homers by an Oakland second baseman. Ellis, known more for his excellent work with the glove, is hitting .333 over his last seven games.

--RHP Esteban Loaiza was found to have a torn meniscus in his right knee after getting an MRI. But the plan is for Loaiza to try to pitch through the pain as he continues rehabilitating on the 60-day disabled list. He's eligible to come off the DL on May 31.

--RHP Rich Harden still can't shake the soreness in his right shoulder and will stop throwing for a couple of days. Harden had been playing catch regularly but hasn't pitched in a game since April 15.

--1B Dan Johnson collected a two-run homer off Barry Zito. What's important about that? It was just the fourth career homer off a lefty for Johnson, who has hit 29 homers in his career.

--LHP Ron Flores was recalled from Class AAA Sacramento to take the roster spot of pitcher Dallas Braden. With Huston Street on the DL and Justin Duchscherer unavailable with a hip injury, the A's were short on numbers in the bullpen. Flores pitched a scoreless inning Friday against the Giants.

BY THE NUMBERS: 2 -- The number of errors 2B Mark Ellis made on the same play May 13 against Cleveland. That equaled the number of errors he made all of last season, when he set a major league record for fielding percentage by a second baseman (.99684).

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It literally takes me a calendar day to get to third. I wasn't worried about any cycle or anything like that. All three (outfielders) would have had to collide with nobody backing up." -- 1B Dan Johnson, on whether he was upset he didn't get the triple he needed to hit for the cycle May 10 against the Royals.