Chris Haft
MLB.com
The Giants love having Randy Johnson on their side. What they don't need is facing young whippersnappers who strive to emulate him.
They encountered one Monday night in the form of Florida Marlins rookie Sean West, who performed a nice Johnson imitation at Land Shark Stadium. The 6-foot-8 West, two inches shorter than Johnson and seven days shy of his 23rd birthday, measured up to his idol by no-hitting the Giants for six innings and earning his first Major League victory in Florida's 4-0 triumph.
The decision forced the Giants to settle for a split of the four-game series and prevented them from clinching a .500 record on their three-city, 10-game trip, which concludes with a three-game visit to Arizona beginning Tuesday.
Offense remained a concern for the Giants. They mustered three hits -- including two in eight innings off West, who opened the season in Double-A and made his fourth Major League start. They accumulated a grand total of five runs in their two victories here and lost the only game in which they scored four runs.
At least the Giants avoided being on the flip side of history. Brett Carroll, who went 3-for-4 and lacked only a double to hit for the cycle, hit a three-run homer off Johnson in the second inning for his first Major League round-tripper. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, a cycle and a no-hitter never have been achieved in the same game.
And for the first time since their trip started last Tuesday in Washington, rain didn't prolong San Francisco's evening. This game was delay-free, ending a five-game stretch in which the Giants sat around for nine hours and 22 minutes.
"I guess we got so used to the delays that we got thrown off by starting on time," manager Bruce Bochy said.
Bochy's humor seemed suitable, since it was difficult for the Giants to feel too disappointed. West, their tormentor, eclipsed Johnson, who became the 24th Major Leaguer to win 300 games in his previous start. But West grew up admiring Johnson, the patron saint of tall, hard-throwing left-handers everywhere.
"It's so surreal seeing him out there on the mound today. It was like a dream," said West (1-1), who lost his no-hitter when Edgar Renteria singled sharply on the first pitch of the seventh inning, a slider. "He comes up to bat [in the third inning], and I have to strike him out. That was pretty cool. It would've been even better if I would've gotten a hit off him, but just seeing him out there is a dream."
Johnson comprehended West's admiration.
"I was the same way," Johnson said. "I don't remember who my first win was against [Pittsburgh's Dave LaPoint], but I remember who my first hit was against [the Cubs' Calvin Schiraldi]. I'm out there to win. I suppose if I was going to lose, I probably would have even rather lost to a no-hitter. He obviously had that kind of stuff."
Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand, whose 17-game hitting streak ended with an 0-for-4 effort, attested to West's excellence.
"He has good downward angle on his fastball and he threw the heck out of his slider today," Rowand said. "In all the video and [scouting] reports and stuff that we had, he didn't throw nearly as many sliders. In fact, one game he threw 91 pitches and 72 were fastballs. Tonight was different. ... He has good life on his fastball. It jumps on you a little bit because he's a little bit deceptive with his delivery."
Even in defeat, Johnson remained a worthy example by working five innings on three days' rest, one fewer than usual, which enabled the rest of the starting rotation to remain on its regular schedule. Upon being rained out of his start last Wednesday, Johnson immediately realized the impact that would have on the pitching staff and volunteered before he pitched the next night at Washington to return in Florida on short rest.
"You try to pick up the team," Johnson said. "It was a situation where I felt good enough to do that. ... It's a thing that I've done in the past. No big deal."
The game was definitely a big deal to West, however. That was fine with Johnson.
"You've got to start somewhere," the Big Unit said. "You get your first win and hopefully you build from that and have many more to come."
 San Francisco (29-27) Lost 1 | Florida 4, San Francisco 0 |  Florida (28-31) Won 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Standings thru 6/8/09 | Recap: SF | FLA | Wrap | Gameday |
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