"Barry Zito has been around so long and scrutinized so deeply, it's hard to tell anymore.

Was that the Zito of old who mixed toxic walks with three-run kerosene bombs Saturday night at Petco Park? Or was this the new Zito? What can the Giants expect from their highest-paid player these days, anyway?

The worst came true for those who wondered if the bubble would pop on Zito's solid, three-start return from the disabled list. The pop was so loud, it could have set off car alarms in the Giants' disastrous 11-3 loss to the San Diego Padres.

By the time the Padres chased Zito in the fourth inning, he had thrown just 48 of his 85 pitches for strikes and allowed eight earned runs -- his highest total in more than two seasons. Former Giants farmhand Jesus Guzman hit a three-run home run in the first, and Orlando Hudson hit a three-run shot in the third as the normally meek Padres stopped the Giants' four-game winning streak.

Zito's next start would come Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers, a high-powered team that has bossed him over his career. As for Jonathan Sanchez? He makes a rehab start for Single-A San Jose on Sunday and is scheduled to start once for Triple-A Fresno after that.

Many will panic. This is Zito, after all, and he has held hands with disappointment so often in five seasons as a Giant. The alternative is to see Saturday's outing as the outlier, not the three starts that preceded it.

"That's how I'm looking at it," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Hopefully that's how he looks at it, and all of us look at it.

"That's a tough night for him. He's been throwing so well. "... It just happens. Starters go out there and don't have their best stuff. You chalk it up as an off night."

Will Zito (3-2) see it the way Bochy does?

"Yeah," he said. "You have to isolate any experience out there. Just get back to the day-to-day."

The Padres gave out rally pom-poms to their fans on Saturday, which seemed foolishly optimistic. They are dead last in the N.L. in runs scored -- the only club with a lower output than the Giants. They had scored a total of five runs over their previous six games. "