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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. Fake Jordan . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Cheap Air Jordan Online . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. https://www.wholesalejordanshoeschina.com/air-jordan-19-for-sale-119k/ . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. Cheap Retro Jordan . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. Wholesale Air Jordan . Siddikur, whose previous win on the circuit came in Brunei three years ago, finished his bogey-free round with a birdie on the 18th for a total of 17-under 199. Indias Shiv Chowrasia, who has finished runner-up in this tournament twice, was in second place after a 66.Winning 11 straight games is no doubt an impressive feat and has the Toronto Blue Jays back into the Wild Card race in the American League, if not the race for the AL East division title. However, the thing that really surprised me was where this streak fits in, historically. The Blue Jays also won 11 in a row in 1987 and 1998. They have tied a franchise record, but it is actually tied for the lowest franchise record win streak in American League history. The Angels also won 11 in a row, once back in 1964, but every other team in the American League has a longer franchise record win streak. The 2002 Oakland As, the team Michael Lewis wrote about that led to the movie Moneyball, set the all-time American League record with 20 straight victories. The As finished at 103-59 that season and had the streak broken by the MInnesota Twins on September 6. It was also the Twins who eliminated Oakland in the American League Division Series that year. The longest win streak of all time is generally credited to the 1935 Chicago Cubs, who won 21 in a row. The oddity of that streak was the first 19 games were played at Wrigley Field. The winning roll finally ended on September 28 at St. Louis. The Cubs finished the year at 100-54 and made it to the World Series, where they ultimately lost to the Detroit Tigers. Before you start thinking streaking teams never end up winning big, let me give you the flip side. The 1947 Yankees won 19 in a row from June 29-July 18. They finished the year at 97-57 and stopped Brooklyn in the Fall Classic in seven games. The 1906 Chicago Cubs, the so-called Hitless Wonders, won 19 straight and wound up with a sterling record of 116-36, and ended up with a .763 win percentage, the highest in Major League history. Then they went on to upset their cross-town rival, the Cubs in the World Series. The strangest win streak I could find in the modern era belonged to the 1916 New York Giants of John McGraw. They actually won 26 in a row. However after the 14th game, they played a 1-1 tie with Pittsburgh in a game that was called after nine innings, likely because of darkness as it was the second game of a double-header. So technically, it doesnt count as a 26-game streak. It was 14, then a tie, then 12 more wins, but they werent beaten in 26 games. There were some real oddities in this streak.dddddddddddd All 26 games from September 7-30 were played at home by the Giants at the Polo Grounds. The Boston Braves finally ended the streak in the second game of a twinbill. It was the deadball era, so maybe this shouldnt be too surprising, but the Giants racked up 10 shutout victories in those 26 wins. The Giants were an extremely streaky team in 1916. They also won 17 in a row at one point, and had losing streaks of eight and six games. Also during the 26 game streak, they beat every one of the other clubs in the 8-team National League at least once. You would think after all of that the Giants must have had a great season. Wrong! They finished 86-66 and wound up in fourth place in an 8-team league. The first two times the Blue Jays put together 11 game win streaks didnt exactly have happy endings either. In 1987, Jimy Williams team lost the division title to Detroit in that heart-breaking final weekend, three-game sweep at old Tiger Stadium. In 1998, Tim Johnsons only year at the helm, the Jays streak ran from August 27-September 7. It actually looked as though the Blue Jays might catch the Yankees for the division lead. However, their final road trip brought them down. After winning three out of four in New York, they lost two straight at Cleveland, two in a row at Detroit and two out of three at Tampa Bay to finish the journey at 4-7. After that, they were done. This years Blue Jays have won 15 of their 18 games, are showing strengths in all facets of the game and they only figure to get stronger when Jose Reyes returns from rehab later in the week. This might actually turn out to be a year when a lengthy win streak actually translates into post-season success. For those who were wondering, the Montreal Expos never had an 11-game win streak. Their best was 10 and they accomplished that three times. Their offspring, the Washington Nationals have had one 10-game win streak. Of all the other National League clubs, the lowest franchise record win streak is nine by the Florida/Miami Marlins, who have done it four times. Colorado had two 11-game win streaks, and the New York Mets have had four 11-gamers. All the other teams in the Senior Circuit have exceeded that 11-game total as their franchise records for winning streaks. ' ' '