In fact, Randy Winn's two-run homer was the Giants' third in two days, the first time this season they homered in consecutive games. It also was the first time they scored more than three runs back to back.

Big deal? For this team, absolutely.

The Giants beat the Diamondbacks 5-3 for their fifth straight victory, and Edgar Renteria and Winn were the guys who muscled up. Renteria, the free-agent shortstop who had an awful start, doubled off the center-field wall for two RBIs, and Winn's homer capped a four-run rally in the fifth inning.

That took Johnson off the hook. For the first time as an opponent, he pitched at the park where he had 65 of his 296 wins. He labored through three scoreless innings, issued seven walks and was pulled one out into the fourth.

It ended the rotation's streak of six straight quality starts during which it surrendered three runs in 422/3 innings.

quot;I just didn't have command of any of my pitches,quot; Johnson said. quot;I'm not going to psychoanalyze and dissect everything. I've played this game long enough. I've had a lot of bad games. I didn't get hit hard. But I definitely put the team in a bind by constantly putting runners on base.

quot;Overall, everything went pretty well except for me showing up to the ballpark.quot;

The beauty of the streak was that the starters issued few walks - seven in the six games four by Jonathan Sanchez. Off his once-comfortable mound, Johnson matched that - his first seven-walk performance since July 25, 2000, when he lasted 52/3 innings at St. Louis.

In each of Johnson's innings, the Diamondbacks put runners in scoring position. He escaped three straight jams - with an assist in the second from left fielder Fred Lewis, who caught Chris Snyder's sinking liner and doubled up Chris Young. But in the fourth, Johnson walked Young and served up Justin Upton's first homer of the season.

Johnson walked Snyder and Felipe Lopez and was done after 81 pitches, his ERA through four starts bulging at 6.16. It was his shortest outing since June 2007 and second fourth-inning exit as a Giant.

quot;He's 45. He's going to have days where he's not going to be sharp,quot; manager Bruce Bochy said. quot;The bullpen saved us.quot;

Five relievers, including Sanchez, stifled the Diamondbacks the rest of the night. Sanchez, available out of the bullpen because his rotation turn was skipped, threw a scoreless sixth inning, and Brian Wilson earned his third save.

quot;You have to win ballgames all sorts of ways,quot; Winn said. quot;Recently, our starting pitchers have been outstanding. When your starting pitcher struggles, you've got to pick him up. It was nice we could return the favor.quot;

Renteria has eight RBIs in four games after producing one in his first 12, and Winn's homer was the Giants' 10th of the season the final National League team to reach double digits.

Eric Byrnes homered off Justin Miller to make it a one-run game, but Emmanuel Burriss' bloop single in the sixth made it 5-3.