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 Yet Kennedy is still searching for answers and making adjustments after losing his third straight start, outpitched by Chad Gaudin in the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks' 2-0 loss to the Giants on Friday night.
Kennedy (3-7) was denied career victory No. 50 in his eighth try as his winless stretch reached eight starts since he beat the Cubs on June 1 in Chicago.
"You just try to be positive. Like, 'Just get that out of the way,'" Kennedy said. "Just keep going out there, grind away, find adjustments to do. That's what I really tried to do."
The right-hander said he had a professional barber give him the beard shave Monday.
But Arizona lost its sixth straight second-half opener, stumbling against Gaudin and five relievers.
"We had no offense going on at all tonight. They just shut us down," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said.
Gaudin, who might just be pitching himself right into a permanent spot in the San Francisco starting rotation, struck out eight in seven scoreless innings.
"It's huge," Gaudin said. "Any win in our division is huge."
All-Star Buster Posey hit an RBI double, Hunter Pence added a run-scoring single as San Francisco started a key series to open the second half by pulling within 5 1/2 games of the D-backs in the NL West race.
Kennedy settled in after he gave up two runs in the first and that was all the Giants needed on a quiet day by Arizona's hitters. Kennedy allowed two runs on five hits in six innings, struck out three and walked three.
"He came out trying to establish his fastball and they came out very aggressive," Gibson said. "They got some hits on him and got two runs out of it. He made some pitches and got out of it after that. He got his arm up and was hitting his spots and just started throwing all of his pitches."
Kennedy had been 3-1 with his eight previous starts at AT&T Park, and was riding a five-game winning streak against the Giants over his previous 10 starts in the rivalry.
"I wasn't throwing extremely hard, my stuff wasn't as great but I got through what I needed to do and handed it over to the bullpen," he said. "You try to knock that rust off early. I know last year we went through that. We wanted to come out and have more energy."
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 Gaudin was at his best yet this year.
He is unbeaten in seven starts since joining the rotation in early June to replace the injured Ryan Vogelsong -- and he is making for a tough decision by the Giants' brass when Vogelsong is ready to return next month.
In his past four starts, Gaudin (4-1) has a 0.77 ERA, two earned runs in 23 1-3 innings. He has an 11-inning scoreless streak.
Not bad for a guy who signed a minor league deal with the Giants and had no guarantee of making the team out of spring training.
Gaudin's only loss came in relief during an extra-inning loss April 24 against Arizona at home.
Gaudin also got a defensive gem from Giants rookie Kensuke Tanaka. The converted infielder made a sliding catch near the foul line in left field, reaching back over his head after overrunning the play to rob Paul Goldschmidt leading off the fourth. Gaudin tipped his cap to the outfielder.
Gaudin allowed three hits and didn't walk a batter for the second time in his seven starts.
"Everything he does for us, it's a big lift," closer Sergio Romo said.
Romo, the Giants' fifth reliever, finished the five-hitter for his 22nd save and San Francisco's 10th shutout. Arizona was blanked for just the second time after losing 3-0 to Atlanta on June 28.
Santiago Casilla escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth. Romo has a 29-game scoreless streak against the D-backs spanning 21 2-3 innings and dating to Sept. 6, 2010.
NOTES: Kennedy lost to the Giants for the first time since Sept. 29, 2010. ... Arizona's streak of 79 games with an extra-base hit ended. It was the longest active streak in baseball and second-longest in club history. ... D-backs RHP Brandon McCarthy is scheduled to pitch a rehab start Sunday for Triple-A Reno and likely one more after that before being re-evaluated. He collapsed at a Phoenix restaurant last month with a seizure related to the head injury he sustained while pitching last September. ... Giants Hall of Fame broadcaster Lon Simmons celebrated his 90th birthday and threw out the ceremonial first pitch to a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 41,924. "It always has surprised me," Simmons said of the support.
[Associated
Press; By JANIE McCAULEY]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
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