D-backs stymied despite Cahill's solid outing

PHOENIX -- It doesn't matter what uniform Tim Hudson wears, the D-backs can't hit him.

Hudson made his Giants debut Wednesday night, and he tossed 7 2/3 stellar innings to help lead his new team to a 2-0 win at Chase Field.

"Hudson was good, really good," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. "Throws a lot of strikes, keeps it down, stays ahead of you. Early on, he kind of came out and the first time through, he threw a first-pitch strike to everybody but two. Then you start swinging at the first pitch and he's one step ahead of you. He's very crafty. His balls start in the zone and they look like strikes, and he's got great movement, great control to both sides of the plate, so it made it tough on us."

It would be more noteworthy if Hudson did not look good against the D-backs.

Hudson allowed just three hits and did not walk a batter to raise his career mark against Arizona to 8-1 while lowering his ERA against the D-backs to 1.99.

Whether he's been with the A's, Braves or Giants, Hudson has clearly been a snake charmer.

"Even the pitches that he left up, we couldn't get a handle on it, so you tip your cap," second baseman Aaron Hill said. "He did a great job and we just couldn't manufacture any runs tonight."

Hill said the D-backs talked in their pregame hitters' meeting about making Hudson get the ball up. However, that was the last thing the right-hander did.

"It's a great hitters' park if you're able to elevate the ball," Hudson said. "So it's very important to keep the ball down and try to own the bottom of the strike zone. They have a good hitting club over there."

On the bright side of the ledger for the D-backs, they got a nice start from Trevor Cahill.

The right-hander, who struggled last season as well as this spring, held the Giants to two runs on four hits in lasting six innings.

Control has been an issue for Cahill in the past, and it bit him in the fifth when he walked Ehire Adrianza with one out. After Hudson sacrificed him to second, Angel Pagan brought him home with a single to right as the Giants went up, 1-0.

"I still feel like my fastball command isn't there as much as I would like," Cahill said. "I feel like my changeup wasn't as good as it has been in the past."

One inning later, Michael Morse gave the Giants a 2-0 lead when he doubled home Hunter Pence.

Morse's hit was a liner to center that seemed to freeze Tony Campana for a second, and then he broke back on the ball and it just ticked off his glove for the double.

"When he hits it that hard, as soon as I took one step in, it was all she wrote, pretty much," Campana said. "It hit my glove; it caught a little leather. So that makes it hurt a little worse when that happens."

The D-backs, on the other hand, had trouble getting anything going against Hudson.

Arizona did not muster a hit until Gerardo Parra led off the fourth with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch, but Hudson recovered to retire the next three hitters and strand Parra.

Then in the seventh, Paul Goldschmidt led off the frame with a double, but could not advance any further after Hudson set down Martin Prado, Miguel Montero and Mark Trumbo.

"He was good," Campana said. "He hit his spots; his sinker was running a lot. He got ahead of a lot of guys and then he could kind of pick at us. He was hitting his spots pretty much all night with all of his pitches, pretty much, and that makes him pretty tough."

The hit by Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak to 24 games, tying him for the second longest in franchise history with Tony Womack, who accomplished the feat in 2000. Luis Gonzalez holds the club record of 30 set in 1999.