By Morris Phillips

As both a fan, and a honoree on Saturday, Mark Mulder had one wish: that his former teammates, Barry Zito and Tim Hudson, could really compete against each other, Zito pitching and Hudson batting.

“That would have been better because Huddy used to always brag about how he would have raked Zito,” Mulder recalled.

In an afternoon of nostalgia mixed with big-time competition, Zito versus Hudson also might have been an opportunity for the A’s starter to record a critical out early.  Zito saw his afternoon on the mound end all to soon, after one batter in the third inning, having allowed six hits, including a home run, and the A’s trailing 4-3.

Hudson didn’t even make it that far as manager Bruce Bochy elected to lift the 40-year old pitcher just one week away from his retirement from baseball in the second inning.  Huddy never looked comfortable, walking three and being charged for all three runs scored by the Giants in the second.

“It’s hard to be a fan and also compete too,” Zito said in trying to explain the difficult juxtaposition both pitchers faced, needing to compete while absorbing the adulation of a sellout crowd.  “It usually one or the other.  So it was definitely great to be part of it and I enjoyed it walking out there and getting a warm reception from the fans.  Seeing how they responded to Huddy was awesome.  You got to keep a mindset too.”

Both managers certainly did, desperately wanting to win as usual.  Bob Melvin saw his unpopular decision to lift Zito pay off when the A’s responded with five runs in the third to take an 8-4 lead.  Melvin’s tolerance for anything other than recorded outs was obvious; he used eight pitchers in the ballgame, none lasted longer than the 2 2/3 innings pitched by Aaron Brooks.  But the Giants had the bats working, scoring the final seven runs of the ballgame to win 14-10.

Jarrett Parker, the 26-year old September callup for the Giants, picked the wrong day to have all the attention fall on him.  Parker homered three times to propel the Giants, including an impressive shot off Zito in the second, and a grand slam in the eighth that broke the 10-10 tie.

Billy Butler was among the offensive heroes for the A’s.  His home run off Matt Cain in the sixth scored Danny Valencia and extended Oakland’s lead to 10-7.  Valencia continued to impress, contributing three hits, a walk and two runs scored.

Reliever Ryan Dull took the loss for the A’s.  Dull allowed Parker’s grand slam, the second home run in as many days allowed by Dull, who had acquitted himself pretty well in nine previous relief stints, all since September 1.

Hudson, no doubt wanting to best Zito and keep the Giants’ flickering post-season hopes alive, threw just 34 pitches before his balky hip flared up and Bochy removed him.  The veteran with 222 career wins still hopes to make a final start of his career on Thursday against the Dodgers at AT&T Park.  But after the game, it was difficult for him to thank the fans without his disappointment in his performance leaking in.

“It was a good day for me and Zito to pitch, the fans were awesome,” Hudson said.

The A’s and Giants conclude their series on Sunday with Sean Nolin facing the Giants’ Chris Heston.  The Giants rookie has failed to win any of his nine previous starts, going 0-5.