By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – Yeah, the Giants are going to miss the playoffs a year after winning it all. But that doesn’t mean they can’t go out in style and take something positive out of this last week to carry into next season.

Beating the eternal rival Dodgers will accomplish just that. The boys down south already wrapped up the National League West, so the Giants might as well give them something to think about heading into 2014.

The Giants evened up this three-game series at AT&T Park Wednesday night with a 6-4 win, inching a little closer to that goal.

At the same time, Wednesday marked perhaps the end of starter Barry Zito’s six-year, $126 million tenure with the Giants. Although he didn’t give a glimpse of his Cy Young Award-winning days with the A’s way back when, he came away with the victory nonetheless.

To illustrate how much Zito needed this win, he had lost his previous eight decisions and just avoided his career-long losing streak of nine straight, which stretched from July to September of 2010.

He went five innings and gave up only two runs (one earned) on four hits, striking out one and not walking anyone. However, he apparently wasn’t too happy with the way his night ended, as he was shown in the dugout shaking his head in disapproval shortly after his outing concluded.

The offense was not an issue for the Giants. They jumped right on Dodgers starter Ricky Nolasco, loading the bases with no one out in the second inning. Second baseman Tony Abreu then cleared them with a shot into the gap in right-center that just skipped past right fielder Yasiel Puig’s glove to give the Giants a quick 3-0 lead.

Zito cruised through the first three innings without any issues. However, he hit a speed bump in the fourth that, fortunately for him, didn’t turn into something bigger.

Puig and Carl Crawford led off the inning with singles, and Matt Kemp followed that with a double to bring Puig in. Three batters later, shortstop Brandon Crawford booted a grounder by Jerry Hairston, Jr and allowed Crawford to score.

Zito bore down and got the next batter, Skip Schumaker to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the threat and keep the Giants’ lead at one run.

Pablo Sandoval, who probably weighs as much as his batting average these days (.273), replenished that lead in the fourth with an opposite-field two-run homer that just made it to the first row of the stands.

The two teams traded 1-spots in the sixth while LA picked up a run in the eighth as Kemp drove Crawford home with a single.