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Monday, November 9, 2026Nov 9

Zito, Giants beat Cards, close NLCS deficit to 3-2

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photo St. Louis Cardinals’ Lance Lynn breaks his bat as he hits into a double play during the second inning of Game 5 of baseball’s National League championship series against the San Francisco Giants, Friday, Oct. 19, 2012, in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS – The big curveball was back, and Barry Zito mixed in some well-placed fastballs, too.

It was just like the good old days.

Zito was at his best Friday night, pitching San Francisco back into the NL championship series with a 5-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals that narrowed its deficit to 3-2.

“All things considered, you know, there’s definitely some playoff memories there, but they were in a different uniform,” the soft-tossing lefty said after his first playoff win in six years sent the series back to San Francisco.

“This was probably the biggest one for me.”