Owings, Jackson smother Giants as D-backs rock Giants

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Micah Owings can forget about a frustrating spring thanks to his impressive results so far -- and a Diamondbacks offense that is producing in every way.

Owings stayed unbeaten, Chris Young and Conor Jackson each homered and Arizona beat the San Francisco Giants 8-2 on Tuesday to become the first 10-win team in the majors.

Owings (3-0) struck out six in six innings and didn't give up a hit until Eugenio Velez singled leading off the fourth. The right-hander won his fifth straight start dating to last September and didn't allow a baserunner past first until Fred Lewis went from first to third on Velez's sixth-inning double. Aaron Rowand followed with an RBI groundout.

Owings gave up one run and three hits with two walks. He made a slight tweak to his changeup that is allowing him to throw the pitch more regularly.

"I feel a lot better with it this year," said Owings, who was 8-8 with a 4.30 ERA last season. "I've been able to use it more and more, lefties and righties. I have a lot of confidence in it."

Jackson homered for the second consecutive day and had three RBIs for the Diamondbacks (10-4), who bounced back from a loss in Monday's series opener. They also spoiled San Francisco's celebration 50 years after major league baseball moved to the West Coast when the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers relocated from New York.

Jackson hit a solo homer leading off the second, drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth and doubled in a run in the ninth to follow his three-RBI game from Monday with another impressive performance.

Young hit his third career home run in his first eight at-bats off Kevin Correia (1-2), who allowed five runs and five hits in six innings, struck out six and walked three.

"He's such a good mistake hitter. Every time I make a mistake to him, he hits it," Correia said. "There are a lot of guys I can get away with those mistakes. Not him."

Eric Byrnes drove in a run with a bases-loaded bloop single to center in the fifth that Rowand almost got under. Orlando Hudson singled home a run in the seventh and Stephen Drew added an eighth-inning sacrifice fly.

"There's really not a weak link in the lineup, especially today with Micah pitching," Young said. "It's going to be a battle for any team to get through us easy. We're going to go up there and work hard every at-bat, so that when some guys are struggling you're going to have other guys to pick you up."

Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin certainly likes the balance throughout his batting order.

"Sometimes it's the top. Sometimes it's the bottom. Sometimes it's the middle," the skipper said. "When we're swinging the bat well, there's no breather in our lineup."

John Bowker, who became the first Giants player to homer in his first two games last weekend, hit his first career triple leading off the seventh against Tony Pena and singled in the ninth. Jose Castillo drove Bowker home.

The Diamondbacks' Young, Byrnes, Hudson and Justin Upton all wore No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. Ray Durham sported the number for San Francisco as baseball celebrated Robinson breaking the color barrier on April 15, 1947.

Tuesday also marked the 50th anniversary of the first game played by the Giants at Seals Stadium, where they faced the Dodgers on April 15, 1958. San Francisco formally recognized the club's move West with a pregame ceremony. There also was an earlier celebration held at the exact location where Seals Stadium used to stand, and a commemorative plaque was laid in the ground.

The first pitch was thrown at the exact same time of that 1958 game, too: 1:34 p.m.

Melvin held third baseman Mark Reynolds out of the lineup as a precaution after he had a scary fall over the railing of a photo well Monday night.

"He's a little banged up," Melvin said. "He could play. His back's a little bit sore and his shin is sore. He'll be back in there tomorrow. That was scary. We were lucky."

Game notes
Bowker is 6-for-10 with seven RBIs in his first three major league games. ... Correia has never beaten Arizona in 11 career outings. "It's still unbelievable just to be here and trying to contribute as much as I can to help this team win," he said. "It's been busy the past few days, that's for sure." ... The Giants are waiting until Wednesday to activate RHP Vinnie Chulk (strained throwing shoulder) from the disabled list, but cleared roster room by optioning RHP Keiichi Yabu to Triple-A Fresno after the game a day after his first victory in nearly three years. ... San Francisco LHP Noah Lowry, recovering from forearm surgery, hopes to begin throwing off a mound as soon as this weekend.