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Johnson strikes out 10 in 3-2 win over Padres
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Randy Johnson pitches during MLB baseball action between the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres in Chase Field Sunday.
Julio Jimenez, Tribune
Randy Johnson might be getting older, but winning never does.
D-Backs notes: Webb, Haren named to All-Star team
Stuck in a six-start drought, the Big Unit put on a pitching clinic on Sunday afternoon, allowing one run in 6 1/3 innings and striking out 10 as the Diamondbacks salvaged one game of a three-game series against the Padres with a 3-2 win at Chase Field.
Johnson allowed a solo homer to Scott Hairston on the second pitch of the game and nothing else. He had previously lost six straight starts with a 7.94 ERA in that time span to drop to 4-7 on the season.
"I don't care how long you've played in this game - and he's played for a while - when you have a couple of outings that don't go your way, if you do pitch (well) at times you are kind of wondering when that next win will come," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "It looked like he had quite a bit of fight in him there (Sunday)."
With the victory, Johnson is now just 11 shy of 300 wins.
The recent losing streak didn't seem to get Johnson down.
"For me, I could walk out of this locker room right now, say that I'm done and be pretty content," Johnson said.
Hairston's homer held up until the bottom of the fifth, when Justin Upton hit a 484-foot homer to left field, the second-longest home run in Chase Field history.
Stephen Drew gave Arizona the lead with a two-out single to score Robby Hammock in the same inning, and Mark Reynolds made it 3-1 with a solo blast in the sixth.
San Diego scored once in the ninth and had a runner on third with no one out, but closer Brandon Lyon escaped the jam.
He struck out Chase Headley, got a grounder from Khalil Greene with the infield in and another grounder from pinch-hitter Brian Giles to end it.
"That's not the easiest situation to get out of," Melvin said.
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