SAN FRANCISCO -- Chad Gaudin might just be pitching himself right into a permanent spot in the San Francisco starting rotation. He certainly pitched the defending World Series champion Giants to an important victory to begin the seasons second half against the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks, striking out eight in seven scoreless innings to build on his impressive monthlong stretch in a 2-0 win Friday night. "Its 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. Arizona starter Ian Kennedy (3-7) was denied career win No. 50 yet again in his eighth try. 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. "What a great job he did tonight, which we needed," manager Bruce Bochy said. Gaudin 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. "Obviously Id like to start and enjoy starting," said Gaudin, so valuable for his versatility. 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. "I signed over here to do what Im doing now," Gaudin said. "Its great. Ive put a lot of time and effort and work into having a good craft and pretty much dedicated myself to getting better and staying consistent. Its kind of surprising, but at the same time I kind of expect it out of myself." Gaudins 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. The Giants are determined to put some steady play together -- and Gaudins stellar outing was a start. The club began a key stretch with 10 games at home in AT&T Park, including Tuesdays doubleheader with the Reds in which Cincinnati is the home team in the opener to make up a July 4 rainout in Ohio. Gaudin allowed three hits and didnt walk a batter for the second time in his seven starts. "Everything he does for us, its a big lift," closer Sergio Romo said. Romo, the Giants fifth reliever, finished the five-hitter for his 22nd save and San Franciscos 10th shutout. Arizona was blanked for just the second time after losing 3-0 to Atlanta on June 28. "We had no offence going on at all tonight. They just shut us down," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. 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. Kennedy lost his third straight during an eight-start winless streak in which he went 0-3 since beating 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. Thats what I really tried to do." He even shaved his beard during the All-Star break to try to get on track. The right-hander said he had a professional barber give him the trim Monday, his first in 26 months since his daughter, Nora, was born in late April 2011. "I needed a change," he said. But Arizona lost its sixth straight second-half opener. Notes: 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 RHP Ryan Vogelsong, who had surgery May 21 a day after breaking two bones in the pinkie area of his pitching hand, will face live hitters for the first time Saturday and could begin a rehab assignment early next week probably beginning with Class A San Jose before going to Double-A Richmond during the teams next road trip out East. ... San Francisco INF Joaquin Arias isnt likely to come off the DL on Tuesday when eligible as he returns from an emergency appendectomy. ... Giants CF Angel Pagan has begun baseball activities and agility work in Arizona as he tries to work back before seasons end from left hamstring surgery. ... 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. ... All-Star fathers: Giants Jeff Francoeur and Sandy Rosario each welcomed baby girls during the break, Emma Francoeur on Monday in Atlanta and Saadet Rosario on Thursday in New Jersey. . Pedro scored from a pass by Lionel Messi in the 33rd minute and added two more goals in the 47th and 72nd after Valdes saved his second penalty in four days following his stop in Wednesdays 4-0 over Ajax in the Champions League. [url=http://www.hockeycanadiensauthority.com/larry-robinson-canadiens-jersey-c-2... Robinson Canadiens Jersey Authentic . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. h... . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. [url=http://www.hockeycanadiensauthority.com/henri-richard-canadiens-jersey-c-25... Richard Canadiens Jersey . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. . Bryzgalov stopped 25 shots on Saturday in the Oklahoma City Barons 4-1 victory over the Abbotsford Heat. The Oilers signed Bryzgalov to a one-year $2 million contract last Friday after shedding payroll by dealing defenceman Ladislav Smid to the Flames. Aditya Tare, the Mumbai captain, lauded birthday boy Abhishek Nayars counterattack that helped the defending champions scrape home by two wickets in a low-scoring thriller against Tamil Nadu in their Ranji Trophy opener in Lahli.Set a target of 97, Nayar came in at the fall of the third wicket on 24 and then watched the side slide to 35 for 5. He then conjured a fighting unbeaten 56-ball 45 with the tail to see Mumbai through on what Tare described a tricky wicket.One person you can bank on during crisis is Abhishek Nayar, Tare told ESPNcricinfo. He is a specialist when it comes to playing under pressure and hes done it a lot of times in the past. The wicket had already started to deteriorate. It would viciously bounce or keep low because the cracks had widened. It was always never going to be a cakewalk for us. I thought we did pretty well to hold our nerves.While there were inevitable comparisons to Mumbais one-wicket heist against Tamil Nadu last season, both Tare and Nayar said that game hadnt crossed their minds during the chase.Nayar, who turned 33, revealed he was promoted - he had batted at No.7 in the first innings - to counter Rahil Shahs left-arm spin. Chandu sir [coach Chandrakant Pandit] sent me up the order because their left-arm spinner, Rahil [Shah], was bowling really well, Nayar explained. So, they sent me to try and get him out of the attack and get some runs flowing. The mindset was that I have to play aggressively and take them on.Nayar was appreciative of No. 9 batsman Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who contributed 12 runs to their 30-run stand for the eighth wicket. I expected five-six runs from each one of them and if they could collectively get 10, I could get the remaining 40, he said. But with Sandhu prised out by Aswin Crist with Mumbai needing seven, Nayar decided to take a chance against debutant seamer K Vignesh, who had a memorable debut, picking up nine wickets.The move worked as Nayar smashed a six off the first ball withh a pick-up shot to level the scores before hitting the winning run two balls later.dddddddddddd I wasnt sure whether or not we will be able to sustain for one more over because the ball was doing quite a bit and they were bowling well, he said. So, I decided to take a chance in the first ball of the over. Because I knew what he was bowling to me - he was bowling that to me for quite a while - I set myself up for that. I just gave it a full throttle, hoping that even if I didnt time it, the ball would still go out of the ground.While scoring was difficult, Nayar also credited Tamil Nadu for their accuracy. It was basically a very green pitch. Initially, there was a very thick covering of grass that made it very tough for stroke-play. What made things more difficult was the outfield was super slow, so getting boundaries was not easy. In normal grounds where you get four runs, you get two for it. Later on, the cracks widened up on the pitch, so it was quite uneven.We ended up batting in the toughest session of the game - in the morning - when the ball did the most. With the new ball, I anticipated them to come in hard and they bowled really well, so kudos to them. Tare admitted it was nerve-wracking for him to watch the chase unfold.I was just sitting in the dressing room by myself with my pads on, with sweaty palms ball after ball, he said. I just cant stay out and rub my anxiety on to others. It is a sort of superstition and a way of hiding my nervousness also.He also singled out the will to win as a constant trait of any Mumbai team. In many situations, many teams would give up, or they wouldnt know how to win, but our history is such that there have been so many games which we have almost lost, but the Mumbai team has won it, he said. There is a lot of faith in one another and not giving up. Thats what we showed today. [url=http://www.wholesalenfljerseyssports.us.com/]Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '