SAN FRANCISCO — Barry Zito had himself a nice little Sunday afternoon.
He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He walked off the mound to a standing ovation at AT&T Park. And the Giants rallied just in time to reward him in a 3-2 interleague victory over the Texas Rangers.

There was one way it could’ve been better, though.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” Zito said. “It’d be really nice to face the A’s again.”
Zito (4-7) didn’t pitch against his former team when the Giants swept them earlier this month in San Francisco, and he’ll keep his jacket buttoned on Monday when they cross the bridge to begin a three-game series at Oakland Coliseum.
After shedding the green and gold to sign a $126 million contract with the Giants in December, 2006, Zito is 0-3 with a 9.22 ERA in three starts against the A’s. His unfinished business will have to wait until 2010, but he’s ready to address it now. He even admitted that he counted the boxes on his pocket schedule two months ago to see where his starts would fall this month.
“It’s a new year, and my stuff is the way I want it,” Zito said.
“Especially in their yard, I was hoping to pitch there. It didn’t work out, so hey, next year.”
The Zito of the past two seasons might not have escaped the first inning Sunday. He was coming off a pair of rocky starts, and when he walked the first two batters he faced Sunday, there was reason for Manager Bruce Bochy to expect a bullpen-draining afternoon.
But this season, Zito is showing the ability to bounce back. So too are the Giants.
Zito worked out of his first-inning jam and didn’t allow a hit until the seventh, when Andruw Jones snaked a tying, two-run home run inside the left field foul pole. The Giants still managed to reward Zito’s effort, rallying on three singles in the bottom of the inning. Aaron Rowand alertly went from first to third on Edgar Renteria’s single to center field and scored on Randy Winn’s clean hit to right field as the Giants swept the three-game series.
During the past two games, the Giants’ pitching staff held the Rangers to six hits in 20 innings.
It was an important showing against a first-place club, especially after they’d just dropped three consecutive to the Los Angeles Angels.
“When you look back at a series like this and you’re beating good teams,” said Zito, “you realize we’re a real threat in the National League.”
Rowand’s triple to sparked a two-run third inning against Texas ace Kevin Millwood. With the bases loaded, Rowand scored on Travis Ishikawa’s forceout and Winn followed him home when shortstop Elvis Andrus made an errant throw to first base while attempting to complete a double play. It was a rookie mistake because Ishikawa had the throw beaten.
Millwood was the better bet for a no-hitter Sunday. In 2003, he threw the last no-hitter by a Giants opponent when he beat them at Philadelphia. Instead, Zito’s bid was his longest since went 7 1/3 hitless innings in 2005 — against the Rangers, in fact.
Zito is 18-5 against Texas and owns more victories against them than any opponent. He chalked up his Texas success to coincidence, saying he was unfamiliar with most of their hitters Sunday. And he didn’t think too hard about the no-hit bid, either.
He lost it after Michael Young walked to lead off the seventh and Jones turned on a changeup.
“You’ve got to treat every pitch like a new pitch and give it the focus it deserves,” Zito said. “You can’t pitch for something like that.”
Bochy was just happy that Zito overcame those two early walks and a few boos from the crowds.
“It wasn’t an auspicious start,” Bochy said. “He kept his composure and made pitches. He looked very, very determined today.”