And by “settles down,” I mean that Verlander was all over the place in the first. And by “all over the place,” I mean that he threw an 0-2 pitch at Pablo Sandoval’s eyeballs, and that somehow turned into a Giants lead. Next time, throw it down the middle, Justin. Sheesh.
Zito holding 1-0 lead for Giants after Verlander settles down
Both pitchers look sharp in the early innings of Game 1, although looking sharp means something really, really different for these pitchers. For Zito, it means flopping a slow curve over for strikes, or burying in the dirt when he’s ahead in the count, and it means getting his slutter to bust right-handers in on the hands.
For Verlander it means doing everything better than every other living pitcher.
So far, Zito has thrown 30 pitches over the first two innings, and Verlander has thrown 32 pitches. Zito’s allowed two runners -- both in the first -- and Verlander has allowed just one, but it went over the center-field fence.
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