PHOENIX — Call it a throwback victory. The Diamondbacks opened the 2012 season the same way they won the NL West a year ago — by closing out the Giants.
A few of the names on both sides have changed, but the D-backs followed the precise blueprint put together during their 94-win, division-title season last year in a 5-4 victory Friday at Chase Field.
Ian Kennedy went 6 2/3 innings for the win while extending his mastery of the Giants, the D-backs’ bullpen carried the baton through to a J.J. Putz save and the offense rocked two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum for the third time in as many meetings.
"It was just like the D-backs of last year, definitely," center fielder Chris Young said. "The pressure is on, and the guys find a way to come through."
Coming in, Lincecum called it a "statement" game, but the D-backs made the biggest statement in a season opener between the two most recent NL West winners and the teams most consider the favorites again this season.
Beforehand, the D-backs received their hardware spoils from 2011: Kirk Gibson was presented with his Manager of the Year plaque, Gerardo Parra his Gold Glove and Daniel Hudson and Justin Upton their Silver Slugger bats.
Then they turned the page, although the identity that defined 2011 carried over.
Young and Paul Goldschmidt homered off Lincecum in the first inning for a quick 3-0 lead. After the Giants drew even on newcomer Melky Cabrera’s two-run homer in the fifth and an RBI groundout in the sixth, Ryan Roberts decided the game with a two-run double into the cutout in the left-field fence in the bottom half of the frame.
"If you could draw it up, that’s pretty good," Gibson said.
Roberts’ double conjured up images of 2011 and his walkoff grand slam that capped a six-run, 10th-inning rally in a 7-6 victory over the Dodgers in the penultimate game of the regular season.
Roberts did the Gibson fist-pump while rounding the bases on that one. This time, he calmly pulled up at second as Justin Upton and Goldschmidt scored. Upton had opened the inning with a double into the left-field corner, and Goldschmidt looked at three breaking pitches after falling behind 1-2, drawing a walk. Giants catcher Buster Posey’s fielding error — in his first start since last May 25 — on Jason Kubel’s swinging bunt loaded the bases.
"Same mentality," Roberts said of the D-backs. "Guys in front of you work hard to get on, so you don’t want to make a mistake."
It was not a comeback victory, since the D-backs never trailed, but it felt a lot like one of their league-high 48 come-from-behind wins last year.
"It’s good to see everybody pick it up where they left off," Roberts said.
Kennedy, 21-4 and the fourth-place finisher in Cy Young voting in 2011, did exactly that. He was not at his best, giving up nine hits in 6 2/3 innings, but it does not seem to matter against San Francisco.
Kennedy has won his last four starts and is undefeated in his last six appearances against the Giants after going 3-0 with a 1.22 ERA in five starts against them last year. He has nine quality starts in his last 11 games against them, and has given up more than two earned runs against them only twice.
"Our offense really put me in a good situation, putting me on the board quick against Tim. You know you are not going to get very many runs when he is throwing," Kennedy said.
The D-backs were 84-0 when leading after eight innings last year, and the bullpen also looked familiar. Submarining left-hander Joe Paterson stranded the tying runs on first and second while getting the only batter he faced, Aubrey Huff, on a soft grounder to first in the seventh. Paterson threw nine pitches, eight of which were strikes.
David Hernandez cruised threw a 1-2-3 eighth to get it to Putz, who gave up a two-out, run-scoring double to Pablo Sandoval before retiring Posey on a grounder to short, using his new cut fastball to get the game-ending out.
"I’m just happy that Miggy (catcher Miguel Montero) has the confidence to call it in a one-run game," Putz said.
Lincecum has not beaten the D-backs since the Giants’ World Series-winning 2010 season, losing his last three starts last season while giving up 10 earned runs and 17 hits in 10 innings. That moved to 15 earned runs in the last 15 1/3 innings on Friday. It has been a Jekyll-and-Hyde match, as Lincecum won seven of his first nine career decisions against Arizona.
"You kind of know what his plan is against you and what type of pitches he is featuring," Young said. "He’s pitched extremely well against us in the past. You just have to find a way to make an adjustment and never give in and hope he leaves something over the middle and makes a couple of mistakes."
Young said he hit a slider that hung following two good ones.
Goldschmidt followed later in the inning with his most recent home run against Lincecum, giving him three in 11 career at-bats against the Giants' star.
"He’s seeing something a little different than everybody else," Young said. "He’s been able to have some success against Lincecum, which not everybody does."
Except maybe the Diamondbacks.
Follow Jack Magruder on Twitter
