SAN FRANCISCO -- Bruce Bochy envisioned a disappointing flight to St. Louis that might have been if San Franciscos mistake-filled funk had extended into another day against the Oakland Athletics. Pablo Sandoval hit a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth, Barry Zito delivered another timely victory to end a six-start winless stretch, and the Giants beat the Oakland Athletics 5-2 on Thursday to avoid a season sweep in the Bay Bridge Series. "If this game got away from us, it would have been a long flight to St. Louis, believe me," Bochy said. "I thought today was really critical. Theres some pride involved. The last thing you want to do is get swept here in this Bay Series." A day after San Francisco made three errors and two other defensive miscues, the Giants finally got to A.J. Griffin (5-4) to snap the As six-game winning streak with their lone win in the four-game interleague rivalry between last years West division champions. Brandon Belt doubled in two runs in San Franciscos four-run sixth. Zito (4-3) won against his former club for his first victory since beating San Diego at home April 21. The Giants improved to 7-0 in his home outings and have won 13 straight regular-season games started by Zito at AT&T Park. "He was just being Zito out there," Belt said, "We needed it." San Francisco hasnt lost a home start by Zito since last Aug. 2 against the New York Mets. The Giants have won 14 straight starts by the lefty at AT&T Park when including Game 1 of the World Series last fall against the Tigers. Coco Crisp doubled among his three hits, but that was all the As could do against Zito. Yoenis Cespedes added an RBI single in the seventh, extending his career-best hitting streak to 12 games. Oakland (31-24) missed a chance to move a season-best nine games over .500 and lost for only the second time in 13 games. The As have dropped 11 of their past 14 in the Giants waterfront ballpark, which drew a sellout crowd of 41,250 for the afternoon finale. "I think our team showed a lot of fire and we were competitive," As third baseman Josh Donaldson said. "You go through a season and get tons of opportunities when you dont come through. But at the same time were playing the game right way and I guarantee you well be ready for the White Sox." The Giants lost the first three games of this Bay Area rivalry to drop the season series for the first time since going 2-4 in 2008 after a sloppy 9-6 loss Wednesday night. Sandovals hit in the sixth gave the Giants their first lead in 23 innings. "Weve been waiting on an inning like that," Bochy said. San Francisco avoided its first season sweep by the As since the clubs began playing interleague matchups in 1997. Zito faced trouble in each of his first five innings before finishing his day with a 1-2-3 sixth. He delivered just the third quality start in the past 16 by the Giants struggling rotation. The 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner for Oakland is 3-4 in seven career starts against his old team. "I get some juice just because its a tough team," Zito said. "Weve got a lot of talent in the Bay right now. Its good to see. We definitely know what we need to do, we have to go out there and be better on the starting side." Sergio Romo, San Franciscos fourth reliever, finished for his 14th save in 16 chances. Zito allowed a leadoff double to Crisp in the first and Jed Lowries walk before the two pulled off a double steal, but Zito then retired the next three Giants batters in order to escape unscathed. He allowed a two-out walk to Griffin -- making his first career plate appearance -- in the second then Crisps single, and pitching coach Dave Righetti paid the lefty a mound visit. Cespedes walked leading off the third, but was caught stealing. Donaldson walked, then Nate Freiman grounded into an inning-ending double play. "Amazing, really," Bochy said. "He was quite the Houdini today. I dont know how he did it." Zito walked a season-high six batters, struck out five and allowed one run and three hits in six innings. Zitos 117 pitches were his most since also throwing 117 on Aug. 6, 2010, at Atlanta. Griffin, a younger version of Zito with his similar style and big curveball, gave up four runs and five hits, struck out five and walked one in 5 2-3 innings. As manager Bob Melvin spent more than an hour in traffic Thursday morning trying to get across the bay during rush hour -- after doing the same leaving late Wednesday. "Literally the Bay Bridge Series," he said. "I was on the Bay Bridge an hour last night and an hour this morning. Quick turnaround." Notes: San Francisco CF Angel Pagan will test his injured left hamstring Friday in St. Louis with batting practice and running. He received a cortisone shot Wednesday and has missed five straight games. He could play as soon as Saturday. "Hopefully very soon. Im going crazy right now," he said. ... Giants 2B Marco Scutaro was out of the lineup with what Bochy calls "the crud" that has been going through the clubhouse. ... RHP Chad Gaudin will start Sunday at St. Louis for the Giants if not needed before, and Bochy believes he can go five or six innings considering he has 75 major league starts and has thrown 70-plus pitches. ... San Francisco RHP Ryan Vogelsong had his cast removed from surgery last week on his broken pitching hand. He is now wearing a splint and began working out again Wednesday.Dakari Monroe Jersey . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys China . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. http://www.cheapchiefsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-chase-litton-jersey .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. Charvarius Ward Jersey . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. Daniel Sorensen Jersey . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No.LAS VEGAS -- Demetrious Johnson has drawn comparisons to former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Now he shares a distinct number with him.Johnson (25-2) defended the UFC flyweight championship for the ninth consecutive time at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale on Saturday, defeating Tim Elliott via unanimous decision. All three judges scored it for Johnson: 49-46, 49-46, 49-45.The win moves Johnson into a tie with St-Pierre for the second-longest title reign in UFC history. He is just one away from tying the all-time record of 10, held by former middleweight champion Anderson Silva.The victory was mostly a foregone conclusion for Johnson, with the major exception the opening round. In the first, Elliott locked in a guillotine and then transitioned to a DArce choke. The submission looked tight, but Johnson gave a thumbs up to the referee.I wasnt going out, Johnson said. I said, Hey, hey, hey, [referee Herb Dean], dont you stop this fight. And he said, I got you dog.He blitzes on you. I stayed composed like a champion. I knew my grappling would be the best way to beat him.In addition to the choke, Elliott dropped Johnson with a left hand later in the round. Despite that strong start, it was Johnsons fight from that point on. Elliott showed heart and drew a positive response from the crowd with his unorthodox striking but was badly outwrestled.According to Fightmetric, Johnson was credited with five of six takedowns and a whopping 16:52 of control time. He spent the majority of the fight in top positionn, landing short punches and elbows and hunting submissions.ddddddddddddHe threatened Elliott with rear-naked chokes in several rounds and appeared to have it locked up in the fourth. Johnson had his hooks in and the right arm under the neck, with Elliott grimacing. Somehow, the challenger wriggled out.Elliott also stayed very active from the bottom, landing enough elbows himself to keep things competitive. He created several scrambles but ultimately forfeited dominant position to Johnson too often to turn the tide.The matchup was unique in that Elliott, 29, was not publicly revealed as Johnsons opponent until Wednesday. Elliott earned the shot by winning the 24th season of The Ultimate Fighter. The UFC actually cut Elliott in 2015 after he lost three in a row.Man, I know I can get in there with anybody and compete, Elliott said. Even this fight, even though I was down when the time ran out, if its a fight to the death, I beat everybody.ESPN.com ranked Johnson the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world coming into the event. A Washington-based fighter, he has not lost since 2011. His only loss in the UFC came at 135 pounds to current bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.Johnsons next challenge will likely come in the form of Joseph Benavidez, whom he has defeated twice, in 2012 and 2013. Benavidez won his sixth straight fight Saturday by defeating Henry Cejudo by split decision.Cheap JerseysChina NFL Jerseys next challenge will likely comerseys[/url] Wholesale Basketball JerseysWholesale Baseball Jerseys ' ' '