I put a picture of Zito from the his days with the A's because that was the team he was with the last time he threw a complete game shutout, back in 2003. His 274 consecutive starts between shutouts is the 3rd largest such streak in MLB history. That fact should be more remarkable, but given the way he's pitched in the years since joining the Giants, I doubt many people expected him to ever throw another shutout.
And this wasn't a mediocre shutout, either (Is there really such a thing as a mediocre shutout?): four hits allowed (only one extra-base hit), four strikeouts, a solid 71 strikes to 43 balls, a base hit in the 7th inning (the Giants are hitting!!), and zero walks, which I think is the most impressive stat of all.
One of, if not the biggest reason for Zito's struggles over the course of his Giants' career has been his extremely high walk rate: he has an average of 4.1 BB/9 since joining the Giants. To put that stat into perspective, Cliff Lee -- a low-walk pitcher -- has a career average of 2.1 BB/9. Quite the discrepancy. I didn't get to see the game, but judging from the highlights and the zero walks, Zito seemed to have great control of every pitch in his arsenal.
One start obviously doesn't mean Zito will continue to pitch like he did today, but Giants fans have to be encouraged by what they saw from him. At this point, Giants fans just want Zito to keep his team in the game. Shutouts like this are just gravy.
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