Zito, Byrnes help prevent sweep
Zito's the man again for A's
Lefty has provided team's last three wins
Susan Slusser, Chronicle Staff Writer
Boston -- In the past two weeks, the A's have three victories. Barry Zito was on the mound for all of them.
On Thursday at Fenway Park, the 24-year-old left-hander upped his record following Oakland losses to 4-0, throwing eight shutout innings against baseball's hottest team. The resulting 5-0 win prevented what would have been Boston's second sweep of the A's in a week.
"Stopping a sweep is huge for morale," Zito said. "We were kind of getting frustrated."
The Red Sox are leading the league in hitting but they couldn't mount much of anything against Zito, who had fantastic control and allowed only six hits, no two in the same inning, and walked none while striking out six.
"You're going to be hearing a lot about Barry Zito this year," former teammate and current Boston center fielder Johnny Damon said. "He could very easily break off 10 straight wins for them."
Zito (4-2) also had the luxury of an early lead. The A's, blasted by Art Howe the night before after what the manager termed "an embarrassment" of a defeat, sprang into action immediately with three runs in the top of the first.
"We weren't tight, which can happen when you get aired out," Zito said. "We were like, 'It doesn't matter, let's go get it.' I felt a different aura."
A primary catalyst wasn't even in the lineup until shortly before game time.
Eric Byrnes stepped in as a replacement for Jeremy Giambi (who fouled two balls off his right foot on Wednesday), and the team's extra outfielder showed his dynamo side, beating out an infield single to lead off the game.
Randy Velarde followed with a bloop to right and Eric Chavez walked to load the bases with nobody out for cleanup hitter Jermaine Dye.
Dye was coming off a forgettable night Wednesday, when he struck out three times and hit into a double play, but he smoked a double barely past Boston left fielder Rickey Henderson to bring in two runs. A groundout by Miguel Tejada pushed across another.
"That was a big lift for everyone for our No. 4 hitter to do that," Howe said of Dye. "He had a tough night last night, but he showed what he's made of and came through in a big way."
Byrnes added zip to the lineup all night, reaching on another infield single in the second. "I know he has wheels now. On a couple of groundballs, he looked like Ichiro (Suzuki) out there," Boston starter Frank Castillo said.
Byrnes doubled to lead off the seventh, then scored on a ground-rule double to right by Chavez. Byrnes' three hits were a career high, and he also was hit by a pitch.
"I was pretty much just trying to make something happen, because the last few games, there hasn't been much going on," he said. "If I can bring some life to the team, I'm excited to be that guy."
Howe said that Byrnes earned another start tonight in Toronto (and Giambi said he'll probably need another day or two for his foot). A greatly expanded role is likely for Byrnes if he keeps getting on base.
"I hope the guy goes crazy for us and forces us to play him every day," Howe said. "We need someone to do that -- why not Eric?"
"Eric definitely brings a spark to the lineup," Zito said. "He's amazing."
Byrnes had taken some inspiration from Howe's postgame rebuke on Wednesday. "It was great to see," he said. "We needed a kick in the butt and that's what we got. . . . Everyone came out and played hard today."
Howe was pleased with his team's response, saying, "We played the way we're capable of playing. The effort tonight was exactly what you want every single night."
Chavez cautioned against taking too much out of one win, however, especially considering that the A's had dropped 10 of their previous 12.
"We need to win three, four, five games in a row to heal this team," the third baseman said. "That's the only thing that will heal this team. If we lose tomorrow, you can sweep this under the mat. It won't matter."
E-mail Susan Slusser at sslusser@sfchronicle.com.
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