ATLANTA — Barry Zito gave up only three hits in seven innings and the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves 5-1 on Thursday to avoid a four-game sweep.

The Giants improved to 2-5 on their 10-game road trip while the Braves, who had a four-game winning streak end, finished a 6-2 homestand. They were denied their first four-game sweep of the Giants in Atlanta.
Zito (6-10) walked five batters but gave up only one run on Yunel Escobar’s second-inning homer, and San Francisco scored four unearned runs in the eighth to break up a 1-1 tie.
Reliever Peter Moylan and right fielder Ryan Church committed throwing errors in the inning, which began with left-hander Mike Gonzalez leaving the game with an injury.