Jays Remain Baffled 16 Strikeouts Later

Seattle Mariners catcher Dan Wilson can tell when opposing teams know they’re in trouble with Randy Johnson.

Wilson hears the mutterings of frustration as the hitters try to hit Johnson’s 98 mph fastball and devastating slider.

“Just by some of the swings they take and some of the things they do in the batter’s box,” Wilson said. “They’re guessing after Randy shows them he’s Randy.”

Johnson made the Toronto Blue Jays his latest victim, striking out 16 and pitching a three-hitter Saturday in a 3-0 victory. He improved to 10-1 with a 2.66 ERA, and leads the majors with 168 strikeouts.

Johnson is on a record strikeout pace this season - 12.78 per nine innings - after his second-best career strikeout performance.

The 6-foot-10 left-hander, who led the majors in strikeouts the past three seasons, now threatens to break Nolan Ryan’s major league record for strikeouts per nine innings (11.48), set at Houston in 1987.

Without a doubt, the four-time All-Star is having his best season.

In 1995, the M’s are 15-2 in his 17 starts. In 118 innings, he’s got four complete games and two shutouts.

“As my career’s gone, I’ve gotten a little bit better,” Johnson said.

After becoming the victim of Johnson’s 14th career shutout, Toronto’s players sat and ate quietly. The Blue Jays talked in hushed tones and gestured to each other about the Johnson slider that they couldn’t locate with their bats.

According to Toronto’s Joe Carter, Johnson’s slider is the pitch that really makes him impossible to hit.

“His fastball isn’t the pitch he gets people out with,” Carter said. “It’s his slider. When he’s ahead in the count and he’s ahead in the game, you don’t have the luxury of sitting back.”