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."

Bright side: Encouraging developments actually might have outnumbered the dreadful ones for the Giants against the Cubs.

Randy Winn homered off Cubs starter Ryan Dempster in his first at-bat.

"He was taking over for Barry [Bonds], I guess," manager Bruce Bochy jokingly said.

Another regular to sparkle was Aaron Rowand, who twice singled sharply in his first game as a Giant.

Otherwise, the Giants' youngsters and non-roster players took over.

Fred Lewis went 2-for-2 with an RBI triple. Non-roster infielder Brett Harper ended a long at-bat by drilling a fourth-inning RBI double off Sean Gallagher. Eugenio Velez lashed a run-scoring triple in the sixth, two innings before fellow speedster Rajai Davis contributed an RBI double. Shortstop Brian Bocock dove up the middle to snare Casey McGehee's grounder and scrambled to his feet to throw him out.

"I saw some good things," Bochy said.

Second baseman Emmanuel Burriss turned the late innings into his personal highlight show. He beat out a routine grounder to third base in the eighth, then made a pair of slick plays going to either side on grounders in the ninth. Burriss began working out at second base only Wednesday after Bochy, perhaps mindful of Ray Durham's iffy health, told him to be prepared for anything. Primarily a shortstop, Burriss had played second only during fall's instructional league and in the Arizona Fall League.

"The last thing we want and the last thing the Giants want is for us not to be ready," said Burriss, citing the number of infielders who have been playing more than one position.

Jack Taschner pitched two perfect innings and projected closer Brian Wilson worked a scoreless ninth.

Injury update: Durham was scheduled to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging examination Thursday evening to make sure his sore right shoulder isn't seriously injured. Bochy hoped that Durham will be able to serve as a designated hitter Friday against Seattle or Saturday against Oakland.

Bochy said that concern over Barry Zito's right wrist led the Giants to prevent him from swinging until recently, thus hastening their decision to use a DH when the left-hander pitches Saturday. Zito, who was bothered by soreness in the wrist last year, recently began hitting and should be able to bat in his next start, Bochy said.

Bengie Molina's strained left quadriceps continued to improve, sustaining his hopes of appearing in a game early next week. Molina caught bullpen sessions from six pitchers, exceeding the two he anticipated.

"It's a good test for me," said Molina, who also took batting practice.

Infielder Rich Aurilia (right hamstring) expects to play in one of Friday's split-squad games.

Top prospects: A pair of Giants farmhands made Baseball America magazine's annual Top 100 prospects list: third baseman Angel Villalona, who was ranked 33rd, and right-hander Tim Alderson, listed 84th.

Villalona, the youngest player in the rankings at 17, is poised to begin his first full professional season after playing in the Arizona Rookie League and for short-season Salem-Keizer last year. Alderson, 19, compiled an 0.00 ERA in three games spanning five innings for the Arizona summer club, after the Giants made him their second first-round selection (22nd overall) in last June's First-Year Player draft.

For what it's worth: No scout from the Chicago White Sox was seen on the premises Thursday. The presence of a White Sox emissary would have bolstered speculation about the Giants' interest in trading for Chicago third baseman Joe Crede.

Up next: Split squads of Giants will be in action at 12:05 p.m. PT Friday, with Tim Lincecum starting in Scottsdale against Seattle and Sanchez traveling to Mesa to face the Chicago Cubs in his bid to win the No. 5 starting spot.