Johnson Dominates Brewers
Seattle Mariners pitcher Randy Johnson was so dominant Friday night he had Milwaukee Brewers batters swinging at pitches at the same time they were trying to get out of the way.
While his explosive slider and usual blazing fastball baffled Milwaukee, the Mariners hit three balls lopsided with drives over the center field fence for an 8-1 victory in front of 37,430 in the Kingdome.
Johnson struck out 11 Brewers and gave up just three hits - one a mistake change-up that resulted in Milwaukee’s only run when former Spokane Indian Matt Mieske hit it over the fence.
The victory was Johnson’s 16th in a row. The American League record for consecutive regular season victories is 17. Johnson will likely have a shot at equaling the mark next Wednesday in Chicago.
Johnson, who was relaxed and jovial in the clubhouse after the game, said he was aware of the record, but didn’t want to dwell on it.
“The more you guys bring it up, the more I’ll think about it,” he said. “Then I’ll probably get rocked and shelled and I’ll be looking for you. You don’t want a mad Big Unit after you, do you?”
Johnson, not so angry, was after the Brewers on Friday. Other than Mieske’s homer, they really had no chance.
Johnson grew increasingly dominant as his pitch count inflated. After Milwaukee used a Marc Newfield single and an error by Alex Rodriguez on a ball hit by Mike Matheny to mount a bit of a threat in the fifth, Johnson struck out the next four in a row.
His fastball hit 99 mph in that stretch and he threw one slider Eddy Diaz swung at that hit him in the foot.
“He was as good as I’ve seen the way he was throwing that slider down and in at the shoe tops,” said catcher Dan Wilson, who started the offensive barrage with a 410-foot, three-run shot to center.
It was the 70th game in Johnson’s career he reached double digits in strikeouts.
“As the game progressed, I got a bit more animated and a bit more into the game,” Johnson said. “You could definitely see the difference between the first five innings and the last three innings.”
Seattle had an 8-0 lead heading into those last three innings, giving Johnson plenty to work with. Having thrown 128 pitches through eight innings, though, Johnson gave way to Bobby Ayala to finish the game.
“It’s really irrelevant to pitch a complete game if you’re up by seven runs,” Johnson said. “It’s different when it’s a 2-1 ballgame or one-run game. Then it’s critical.”
Johnson has not thrown a complete regular-season game since September 1995. He also hasn’t lost since that August, a span of 24 starts. He has a ways to go, though, to catch New York Giants screwball specialist Carl Hubbell, who won 24 games in a row spanning 1936 and 1937 for the major league mark.
Through the first three innings, Johnson was only as good as Milwaukee starter Jeff D’Amico. They were in a scoreless duel until Wilson came up after Ken Griffey singled and Paul Sorrento doubled.
D’Amico’s curveball had been effective until Wilson drove one out of the park.
It was his first home run of the season, though Wilson is seventh in American League batting average. It was also the first time Wilson could recall hitting a ball out to straightaway center.
“I’m just glad it got out in the situation that we were in,” Wilson said. “Three runs was all we needed with Randy out there.”
But the Mariners didn’t stop there.
D’Amico began to fall behind in the count consistently as he worked into the fifth inning. A 2-0 pitch he threw to Rodriguez found his power zone for a 439-foot, two-run homer to center field and a 5-0 lead.
Griffey joined the home run derby in the sixth with his 14th, a three-run shot off reliever Sean Maloney.
Griffey had been fooled by two change-ups for strikes before going deep.
The power show moved the Mariners’ record against right-handed starters to 14-7, best in the A.L.
In today’s 7:05 p.m. game, Milwaukee’s righty Jose Mercedes (1-0) is scheduled to face Jeff Fassero (4-0) of the Mariners.