Who is Noah Lowry

02/28/2008 8:11 PM ET
By Chris Haft / MLB.com

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Noah Lowry's 97 regular-season starts since Aug. 1, 2004, are the most by a Giant in that stretch. But that didn't prevent the left-hander from feeling antsy about Thursday's seemingly insignificant outing in the Giants' Cactus League opener against the Chicago Cubs.

"Your first time out there, your adrenaline's going," said Lowry, whose rocky performance set the tone in the Giants' 12-6 loss. "I didn't do a very good job of containing that."

The amped-up Lowry struggled to harness his timing and rhythm -- key elements for the finesse pitcher he is. As a result, Lowry displayed anything but finesse, allowing three runs and two hits in 1 1/3 innings. He walked three, threw a wild pitch (one of two deliveries he fired to the backstop on the fly) and hit Kosuke Fukodome with the first Major League pitch the Cubs right fielder saw. Of Lowry's 35 pitches, only 15 were strikes.

The best development for Lowry was emerging pain-free. He confessed to feeling mildly anxious about possible lingering effects of the left forearm stiffness that forced him to miss last September.

"You never know what's going to happen," Lowry said. "You can put in all the work you want and hope for the best until you go out there. If you go at game speed and you come out and it feels good and it's good between innings, that's a good feeling."

Obviously, it wasn't all good for the Giants' projected No. 3 starter.

"With that being said, the outing for me stunk," he said. "I was terrible out there."

Right-hander Kevin Correia, who allowed five third-inning runs, was just as self-critical.

"The main thing in Spring Training is to get better each time out. That's going to make it pretty easy to do a little better next time, I'm sure," he said.

But Correia wasn't worried about falling behind Jonathan Sanchez in the competition for the No. 5 starting spot.

"I'm just looking to get ready for the season," Correia said. "I know I'm going to throw the ball well once we get going. It wasn't a great outing, obviously, but it doesn't get any earlier than this."