SAN FRANCISCO – Arizona's Trevor Cahill flirted with a no-hitter Wednesday night, but for the Giants, the biggest concern wasn't at the plate.
Their own young starter, Madison Bumgarner, was knocked around for the third straight start in a 6-2 loss.
Bumgarner was charged with four earned runs for the third consecutive outing, all losses. He has given up 20 hits and walked eight over 16 2/3 innings during the span, easily the worst of what has been a stellar season for him.
Rookie Adam Eaton got the Diamondbacks going early, leading off the game with a single and scoring four batters later on Miguel Montero's single.
In the Arizona fourth, Chris Johnson tripled with one out and scored two batters later when a diving Xavier Nady couldn't cleanly snag John McDonald's flare to shallow left field.
Aaron Hill's run-scoring double chased Bumgarner with one out in the seventh, and Jean Machi then gave up three successive hits as the Diamondbacks pulled away.
While Bumgarner struggled, Cahill cruised. He struck out five of the first nine hitters and needed just 59 pitches to get through five perfect innings.
Brandon Crawford scuttled the perfect game with a walk in the sixth, but Eaton saved the no-hitter with a diving catch on Angel Pagan's sinking liner with two outs.
Marco Scutaro broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single in the seventh, and the Giants loaded the bases and knocked Cahill out of the game. Brandon Belt singled in two runs off Mike Zagurski, but pinch hitter Ryan Theriot hit into an inning-ending double play.
In the eighth, both benches cleared after Pablo Sandoval took exception with McDonald, who came into third base without sliding on a force play.
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