ST. LOUIS — Barry Zito briefly considered it, but he wouldn't rank the great defensive plays his teammates on the San Francisco Giants made Friday night. It would be like picking favorites with your children. But he did name a few that he really appreciated. The Giants defense definitely made its presence felt in a 5-0 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the NLCS, one that extended San Francisco's season at least one more plane flight West. Zito tossed 7 2/3 innings, allowing six hits and one intentional walk — perhaps the best performance of his career, given the stakes. But his line wouldn't have been nearly as clean without the likes of Hunter Pence and Angel Pagan in the outfield, along with Pablo Sandoval and Marco Scutaro in the infield. The first play Zito mentioned was Pence making a basket catch on Pete Kozma in the fifth inning. But what perhaps Zito didn't realize: Pence made a basket catch without the basket. The ball nicked his bare hand and fell between it and his left wrist. His glove had nothing to do with it. There's really no reason he should have caught the ball. But he did: