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Haren, Diamondbacks muzzle Giants

Sep 17, 2008 - 5:06 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Dan Haren gave himself an early birthday present.

On the eve of his 28th birthday, Haren threw a four-hitter as the Arizona Diamondbacks muzzled the San Francisco Giants, 2-0, on Tuesday.

"You could tell early on that he had that focus back in his eye," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said as Haren picked up his first win since August 20. "He was throwing the fastball for strikes, wasn't afraid to throw it over the plate and had a good breaking ball. It was about as good as we have seen."

Haren (15-8) matched his career high with 12 strikeouts while walking two. He threw 83 of his 117 pitches for strikes in picking up his first victory in five starts.

"I really didn't do too much differently, to be honest with you," Haren said. "I really focused hitting on my spots, keeping the ball down. I wasn't focused on overthrowing or trying to do too much, just wanted to get to the basics. I have had my struggles, so it is nice to get that feeling again. I have been searching for it for a while."

The shutout was the first of the righthander's career. It is was his sixth career complete game and first since July 31, 2006 for the Oakland Athletics against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

"I have never had (a shutout) before, and my complete games have been few and far between, so it is special," Haren said.

Haren's stellar effort was much-needed as Arizona continued to struggle with runners in scoring position. The Diamondbacks have gone 23 at-bats without a hit in those situations.

"I just focused on keeping (the ball) down," the righthander said. "If I was going to miss, I was going to miss down. That is something I got away from. I don't know what to attribute that to. Maybe trying to do too much and going out there and trying to throw a complete-game shutout instead of just going out there and pitching."

Matt Cain (8-13) pitched effectively but allowed solo homers by Chris Snyder and Stephen Drew that proved too much for the Giants to overcome. Cain lasted seven innings, allowing seven hits and two walks while striking out seven.

"I made two mistakes that cost me," Cain said. "Sometimes you will get away with those, but today, they were two mistakes that didn't stay in the ballpark."

Snyder led off the third with his career-high 16th home run of the season. His total is the most by a Diamondbacks catcher in a single season, two more than the previous mark of 14 by Kelly Stinnett in 1999.

Drew opened the sixth with his 18th homer, a shot to right field that provided the final margin.

The victory kept the Diamondbacks (74-76) 4 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (79-72) in the National League West. They are 3-2 on this homestand.

"Yeah, the Dodgers won," Snyder said. "Whatever. The main thing is, we have to go out and have fun playing baseball. We can't control what they do. We can control what happens in here.

"If we have fun and enjoy it, then we will see what happens at the end. Anything can happen."