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San Diego at Arizona

Scoreboard
San Diego0005000106102
Arizona «00052000x7111
Diamondbacks 7, Padres 6
 

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PHOENIX -- Randy Johnson finished a trying -- but impressive -- season as a winner.

Whether he will be back in an Arizona uniform remains to be determined.

Johnson got some rare offensive support, including his own two-run double, and the Diamondbacks rallied from a five-run deficit to beat the San Diego Padres.

Johnson (16-14) allowed six runs -- only one earned -- and 10 hits in eight innings. He struck out eight and walked none.

"It was nice to sum up the end of my performance for this year that way," Johnson said. "We battled. That's the biggest thing."

He threw 123 pitches, 91 for strikes.

"I'm gassed right now," Johnson said. "There's somewhere on my body that's not sore or tired, but I'll let you know tomorrow."

It was the first time in 11 starts that Arizona scored more than three runs for Johnson, the major league strikeouts leader with 290.

After undergoing knee surgery last year, Johnson came back to finish with a 2.60 ERA that's second-best in the majors, a major league-leading 290 strikeouts and a .197 opponents' batting average, best in the National League. All that for a team that has lost 111 games.

With one game to go, Johnson has 32 percent of Arizona's victories this season -- the highest percentage since Nolan Ryan had 22 of California's 58 victories (32.4 percent) in 1974.

Fans watching Johnson conclude his sixth season with Arizona were left wondering whether it would be his last. The 41-year-old left-hander has a year -- and $16 million -- left on his contract, with a no-trade clause, and he might listen if the Diamondbacks try to trade him.

Johnson brushed off a question about the possibility.

"Let me just enjoy today's game," he said.

The Padres scored five unearned runs after shortstop Jerry Gil's two-base throwing error to go up 5-0 in the fourth, but the Diamondbacks rallied to tie it in the bottom half of the inning. Johnson's two-run double off starter Brian Sweeney brought in the tying run.

"It was his day," Sweeney said. "He did a good job -- and knocked me out of the game."

Chris Snyder's two-run double put Arizona up 7-5 in the fifth. Miguel Ojeda's leadoff homer in the eighth cut it to 7-6.

Shea Hillenbrand doubled twice and scored both times for the Diamondbacks. Greg Aquino pitched the ninth for his 15th save.

"It was nice," Hillenbrand said. "It's too bad we couldn't have done it for him more often."

With one out in the fourth, Gil fielded a routine grounder and threw wildly past first, with batter Mark Loretta advancing to third.

Rich Aurilia followed with an RBI single, the Padres' first hit of the game. Phil Nevin singled, then Ojeda grounded into a fielder's choice for the second out. Xavier Nady singled sharply off third baseman Chad Tracy's glove to bring in the second run.

Jay Payton's bloop RBI single made it 3-0, then Alex Gonzalez tripled to left-center to drive in two more and make it 5-0.

Arizona's rally began with Hillenbrand's one-out double, then Snyder walked. After the runners advanced on a wild pitch, Josh Kroeger and Luis Terrero hit RBI singles. Then, Gil grounded into the gap between second and third. Loretta fielded the ball, but threw wildly past first and another run scored.

That brought up Johnson, who doubled to the fence in right-center to tie it at 5, and Sweeney's night was over.

"It got a little ugly that inning - on both sides. You get five runs, you'd like to think you can hold it, but we didn't," San Diego manager Bruce Bochy said. "That's one I know we let get away."

Mike Bynum (0-1) took the loss even though he gave up just one hit in two-thirds of an inning, Doug DeVore's dribbler up the middle leading off the fifth.

Notes

Johnson and the rest of the Arizona team left the field with two outs in the third inning when the scoreboard showed three outs. Johnson tipped his hat to the crowd after returning to the mound to record the inning's final out. ... Johnson is 14-3 against the Padres. ... In the fourth, Johnson had an 0-2 count on Ojeda, Nagy, Payton and Gonzalez but gave up hits to all four.


AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2004, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
 
 
 
Players of the Game
Arizona

R. Johnson
IP 8.0
H 10
ER 1
BB 0
K 8
Arizona

C. Snyder
AB 3
R 1
H 1
HR 0
RBI 2
 
San Diego Padres
Freddy Guzman, CF5020010 .194
Mark Loretta, 2B5110001 .335
Rich Aurilia, 3B4111023 .246
Phil Nevin, 1B4010013 .289
Miguel Ojeda, C4211011 .261
Xavier Nady, RF4111020 .243
Jay Payton, LF4121000 .260
Alex Gonzalez, SS4012021 .223
Brian Sweeney, P2000001 .000
    Mike Bynum, P0000000 .000
    Steve Watkins, P0000000 .000
   a- Humberto Quintero, PH1000000 .254
    Jay Witasick, P0000000 .000
   b- Terrence Long, PH1000000 .293
Totals3861060910 
a-grounded out for Watkins in the 7th
b-grounded out for Witasick in the 9th
Batting
3B - Alex Gonzalez (1, R. Johnson)
HR - Miguel Ojeda (8, R. Johnson)
RBI - Rich Aurilia (44), Miguel Ojeda (26), Xavier Nady (9), Jay Payton (55), Alex Gonzalez 2 (27)
2-OUT RBI - Xavier Nady (4), Jay Payton (23), Alex Gonzalez 2 (16)
SB - Freddy Guzman 2 (5, 2nd base off R. Johnson/Snyder, 2nd base off R. Johnson/Snyder)
Team LOB - 5
Fielding
E - Mark Loretta (10, Wild throw), Steve Watkins (1, Missed catch)
San Diego Padres
Brian Sweeney 3.1755130 5.65
Mike Bynum (L,0-1) 0.2111000 54.00
Steve Watkins 2311020 6.28
Jay Witasick 2000010 3.21
WP - Brian Sweeney (1)
Pitches-Strikes - Brian Sweeney 63-38, Mike Bynum 8-7, Steve Watkins 32-20, Jay Witasick 27-18
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Brian Sweeney 1-6, Mike Bynum 1-1, Steve Watkins 4-1, Jay Witasick 3-2
Batters Faced - Brian Sweeney 18, Mike Bynum 3, Steve Watkins 10, Jay Witasick 6
Arizona Diamondbacks
Chad Tracy, 3B5010011 .285
Alex Cintron, 2B4010012 .264
Doug DeVore, LF4110001 .223
Shea Hillenbrand, 1B4220003 .309
Chris Snyder, C3112100 .240
Joshua Kroeger, RF4111011 .167
Luis Terrero, CF4121011 .249
Jerry Gil, SS4110012 .183
Randy Johnson, P3012010 .125
   a- Carlos Baerga, PH1000000 .235
    Greg Aquino, P0000000 .000
Totals3671161611 
a-grounded out for R. Johnson in the 8th
Batting
2B - Shea Hillenbrand 2 (35, Sweeney, Watkins), Chris Snyder (6, Watkins), Randy Johnson (3, Sweeney)
RBI - Chris Snyder 2 (15), Joshua Kroeger (2), Luis Terrero (14), Randy Johnson 2 (6)
Team LOB - 6
Fielding
PB - Chris Snyder (3)
E - Jerry Gil (5, Wild throw)
Arizona Diamondbacks
Randy Johnson (W,16-14) 81061081 2.60
Greg Aquino (S,15) 1000010 3.15
Pitches-Strikes - Randy Johnson 123-91, Greg Aquino 14-8
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Randy Johnson 10-7, Greg Aquino 2-0
Batters Faced - Randy Johnson 35, Greg Aquino 3
Game Information
Attendance - 30733
Game Time - 2:38
Temperature - 75
Umpires - Home - Dana DeMuth, First Base - Marvin Hudson, Second Base - Jim Joyce, Third Base - Kerwin Danley
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