O’S Hammer Big Unit Baltimore’s 13-3 Win Leaves Johnson One Victory Short Of A.L. Record

Unbeaten by pain, undeterred by surgery, Randy Johnson wasn’t about to let a little rain stand between him and history Thursday.

And so one of the longest winning streaks in major league history ended the old-fashioned way - on a baseball diamond, where the Baltimore Orioles did what no one but the Seattle Mariners had done for parts of three seasons.

They won a game the “Big Unit” started, beating Johnson and the Mariners, 13-3.

When it was over, Johnson walked out of a clubhouse crammed with media without saying a word, and when one national baseball writer tracked him down in the hallway outside, the interview was brief.

“What, you just show up to cover the end of the streak?” Johnson asked - and kept moving.

Rained out of a Wednesday start in Chicago, Johnson set off in pursuit of his 17th consecutive victory in a steady drizzle that became a downpour. When the game was delayed for 57 minutes in the top of the sixth inning, Mike Mussina and the Orioles led 2-1.

When the game resumed, both starters stayed in the game.

“Under any other circumstances, Randy doesn’t go back out there,” manager Lou Piniella said. “He was going for an American League record, he had the chance to do something only a few pitchers have ever done in this league.

“But I was concerned, believe me. He said he wanted to try it.”

After nearly an hour of watching it rain, Mussina went back to the mound, threw seven pitches and retired three Mariners in the sixth inning. Johnson went to the same mound and watched whatever chance he had at victory slip away.

Cal Ripken Jr. singled with two outs. Pete Incaviglia popped a ball into short right field that banged off Joey Cora’s glove for another single. That brought up Chris Hoiles, whose two-out, two-run double in the first inning against Johnson had put Seattle behind.

On Johnson’s 15th pitch of the sixth inning - his 117th of the game - Hoiles hit a three-run home run that gave Mussina a huge cushion.

“Randy had a great streak, he should be very proud,” Piniella said.

In the end, he lost a game after winning 16 in a row, dating back to Aug. 1, 1995. In defeat Thursday, he struck out 10 batters in six innings.

On this night, Johnson was the second-best pitcher in the game. Mussina came out dominant - striking out six of the first seven Mariners he faced - and controlled the Seattle offense until this one was all but decided.

“Mussina is always nasty, but tonight he was really something,” shortstop Alex Rodriguez said. “He hit corners, he just threw a masterpiece.”

Piniella was in no mood to discuss Mussina’s mastery, not after watching relievers Josias Manzanillo give up three runs and Bob Wells give up five. And he saved some of that ire for the Orioles grounds crew and the umpires.

“Let me make this clear, the rain delay had nothing to do with our losing,” Piniella said, “but it wasn’t raining any harder when they stopped the game than it was when the game began.”

So why did the umpiring crew stop it? Piniella asked the same question.

“They said the grounds crew chief had radar in his little hut over there and it showed heavy rains coming in,” Piniella said, steam rising. “I told them if he wanted to play with radar he should join the damned Air Force. Radar!”

Orioles 13, Mariners 3

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Cora 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .271 ARodriguez ss 4 1 0 0 0 2 .301 Griffey Jr cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .347 EMartinez dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 .319 Buhner rf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .227 Sorrento 1b 3 0 1 1 1 1 .316 DaWilson c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .324 RDavis 3b 3 1 1 1 1 0 .317 Ducey lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .300 Totals 33 3 5 2 3 9 Baltimore AB R H BI BB SO Avg. ByAnderson cf 4 2 2 2 1 1 .352 Reboulet 2b 5 2 1 1 0 2 .256 CRipken 3b 5 1 2 1 0 1 .320 Incaviglia dh 4 1 1 0 0 2 .294 Hoiles 1b 4 2 3 6 0 1 .318 Hammonds lf 3 1 0 0 0 2 .253 Webster c 4 1 1 0 0 2 .148 Tarasco rf 3 2 2 0 1 0 .233 Bordick ss 3 1 1 2 1 0 .196 Totals 35 13 13 12 3 11

Seattle 000 100 020 - 3

Baltimore 200 003 35x - 13

E-Cora (5), CRipken 2 (7), Hammonds (2). LOBSeattle 6, Baltimore 2. 2B-Hoiles (4), Tarasco (1). HR-ByAnderson (3) off BWells; RDavis (5) off Mussina; Hoiles 2 (6) off BWells, RaJohnson. RBIsSorrento (15), RDavis (17), ByAnderson 2 (19), Reboulet (7), CRipken (30), Hoiles 6 (15), Bordick 2 (9). CS-Tarasco (1), Bordick (1). GIDPARodriguez.

Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 3 (DaWilson, Ducey 2); Baltimore 2 (Incaviglia, Hammonds).

Runners moved up-EMartinez, CRipken.

DP-Baltimore 1 (Bordick and Hoiles).

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA RaJohnson L,4-1 6 6 5 5 2 10 120 3.06 Manzanillo 1 3 3 2 1 0 37 3.68 BWells 1 4 5 5 0 1 30 11.91 Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Mussina W,4-1 7 5 3 1 1 8 98 3.57 TeMathews 2 0 0 0 2 1 29 2.93 Mussina pitched to 3 batters in the 8th.

Inherited runners-scored-TeMathews 2-1.

HBPby BWells (Hammonds). WP-Manzanillo.

T-3:04. A-45,026 (48,262).