SAN DIEGO -- Geoff Blum didn't exactly have the best vantage point for each of the 75 pitches that left Greg Maddux's hand Wednesday, though he's confident that he didn't miss anything he hadn't seen before.

"I've faced him 20 times too many," said Blum, who started at third base Wednesday. "You get a good idea how much his ball moves by the swings guys are taking."

Especially the ones that catch only air, which was mostly the case during the Padres' 4-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a crowd of 31,568 who got to see Maddux earn victory No. 334, which also happened to be his first as a Padre.

Maddux (1-1) threw six scoreless innings, helping the Padres win their third consecutive series to open the season. He struck out six, didn't walk a batter and absolutely pounded the strike zone with, well, strikes.

"Absolutely, it's fun to watch him," Padres pitcher Jake Peavy said. "It's amazing what he does. It's great to be on his side."

Maddux's game, as it is, is rather simple. He keeps the ball down, relies on some unique movement on his fastball and locates his pitches. His plan of attack isn't complicated nor does it involve trickery or deception. He comes right after you.

"I thought that Greg threw the ball very well," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He used his fastball to both sides of the plate and he really had them off-balanced. ... I think Greg pitched his game."

Really, it's that simple.

What's not so simple to explain is how Maddux gets so much movement on his fastball. The ball twists and darts and offers such a late break that opposing hitters are left with little time to do anything with it.

"It's rare; you can't teach it," Black said. "It's something us in baseball have talked about, his natural movement. It's what makes him who is he."

Maddux could have likely worked deeper into the game Wednesday, but after a long sixth inning that saw the Padres (6-3) score a run and send seven batters to the plate during that inning, Black decided he had seen enough of Maddux.

What Black hasn't grown tired of seeing yet, and at its current rate of success, is a nasty bullpen that has yet to yield a run this season.

After Maddux departed, sidearm reliever Cla Meredith -- who like Maddux knows a thing or two about natural motion -- got a ground-ball out and two strikeouts in a quick seventh inning before Scott Linebrink (eighth inning) and Doug Brocail (ninth) took care of the rest.

The Padres' bullpen corps has now worked 28 1/3 innings this season without giving up a run. That's already the longest streak in club history to open a season and is creeping up on the longest scoreless stretch at any point (32 innings, set in 1978).

"I am running out of adjectives here for these guys," said Black, who has found himself essentially uttering the same platitudes about his bullpen seemingly every night. "I've got to look up other words to describe these guys."

The Padres got to San Francisco starting pitcher Noah Lowry (0-2) for a run in the third inning as Marcus Giles singled in Jose Cruz Jr., who had walked to start the inning.

San Diego tacked on a second run later in the inning when Mike Cameron was credited with an infield single that third baseman Rich Aurilia made a nice play on. But Aurilia's throw to first got past Ryan Klesko, allowing Giles to score.

The Padres added a third run in the sixth inning when Lowry walked Cameron and Adrian Gonzalez with one out. Josh Bard then followed with an RBI single to right field. Bard suffered a groin injury on the play. He'll be re-evaluated Thursday.

Brian Giles drove in his first run of the season with an RBI single in the seventh inning.

"I feel really good," said Giles, who is hitting .278. "I wish I had better results. But as long as you have a good approach, things will fall into place."

Not that Maddux needs to be told as much about having a good approach.

"Down and away ... there's no secret," Maddux said. "Just locate the ball and change speeds."