SAN FRANCISCO – Diamondbacks pitcher Max Scherzer bobbed and weaved his way through five innings Sunday, allowing one run but making 104 pitches and having to fight his way out of trouble a couple of times.
With one out in the second, the right-hander walked Aaron Rowand, then allowed a broken-bat single to Pablo Sandoval. Scherzer got out of it by getting Travis Ishikawa out on a fly ball to deep center and then striking out Edgar Renteria.
In the fourth, Scherzer walked Randy Winn leading off, surrendered a single to Bengie Molina, then walked Rowand to load the bases with nobody out. He escaped, allowing just one run on Ishikawa’s sacrifice fly.
Scherzer also worked around a leadoff walk to Fred Lewis in the fifth.
Giants starter Randy Johnson was impressed.
“Max Scherzer is going to be one of their aces,” Johnson said. “Seeing him firsthand pitch last year, pitching as well as he did today, being able to throw 97 miles per hour like he does and have a good breaking ball.”
San Francisco won 2-0 as Johnson took a no-hitter into the seventh.
Offense sputters again
Sunday was just the most brutal offensive day in a brutal first two weeks.
The Diamondbacks entered the game 14th in the National League in hitting at .227 and collecting just one hit didn’t help matters.
In the three games in San Francisco, Arizona scored just two runs – both in the ninth inning in the win Saturday after being shut out for eight innings by reigning Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum.
“Of course it’s a concern,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We haven’t swung the bat well to this point and that’s why we have the record (4-8) we have.
“We’ve had some real good pitching performances and when you don’t swing the bat you put a lot of pressure on your pitching staff to be perfect and at this point we have to be perfect.”
Webb getting close
Brandon Webb threw on flat ground before Sunday’s game and, according to Melvin, appeared to show no effects of his shoulder injury.
“He feels good,” Melvin said.
Webb was shelled for six runs in four innings on opening day against Colorado, then went on the disabled list with tightness in his right (pitching) shoulder on April 13.
Webb will throw a bullpen session Tuesday.
Melvin didn’t want to rule out a possible minor-league rehabilitation assignment for Webb but indicated that the pitcher might be fine facing hitters in a simulated game.
“We’ll see what course of action we take, whether or not a couple of bullpens, whether or not we’re going to do a sim-game with him, whether or not to do something live,” Melvin said. “I want to take it day to day and bullpen session to bullpen session.”