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Johnson, Diamondbacks stymie Padres

Jul 7, 2008 - 12:20 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Randy Johnson displayed flashbacks from past glory and provided a reminder of how he obtained his intimidating nickname.

"The Big Unit" recorded double-digit strikeouts for the 211th time in his career, pitching the San Diego Padres past the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-2, on Sunday to help his team avoid a three-game sweep.

Johnson (5-7), who struck out a season-high 10 batters in 6 1/3 innings, allowed a leadoff home run to Scott Hairston in the first inning and silenced the Padres the rest of the way.

"(Johnson) had good command of his slider going down and in, he was pitching away just enough and it looked like his velocity at times was a little bit better," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "He had great command today and that was a big win for us."

The 44-year-old lefthander won for the first time since May 18 and his 289th career victory passed Tommy John for sole possession of 24th place on the all-time list.

"If you only throw 92, 93 - everybody does that these days - and if you are facing .270 to .300 average hitters, you feel a little bit venerable out there so location is a necessity," Johnson said. "My location was a lot better. My slider was a lot better."

The Diamondbacks' bullpen almost blew Johnson's chance to snap a personal six-game losing streak, though.

Reliever Brandon Lyon allowed a leadoff single in the ninth to Adrian Gonzalez and coughed up an RBI double to Kevin Kouzmanoff, cutting the deficit in half. But he retired three straight batters and stranded Kouzmanoff at third base to secure the win.

"That is not the easiest situation to get out of with a man on third and nobody out, but the first one is the key," Melvin said of Lyon, who earned his 18th save of the year. "Then (Lyon) kept the ball on the ground with the infield in and then gets the third out. For a guy who is not really a strikeout pitcher, he does have the weapons to get a strikeout when he needs to."

Justin Upton led off the fifth with a solo homer to tie the game off Padres starter Josh Banks. Upton's blast was estimated at 484 feet, the second-longest homer at Chase Field. Richie Sexson hit a 503-footer on April 26, 2004.

"It is a good feeling anytime you do it, when you hit a home run but it tied the game up and gave us a chance to get back in it," Upton said. "That made it even bigger."

Banks followed by hitting Robby Hammock, who came around to score off Stephen Drew's two-out RBI single.

In the sixth, Mark Reynolds blasted his 18th home run of the season to hand Arizona a 3-1 lead.

"I made some good pitches but some pitches took off on me," Banks said. "The home run to Upton was a fastball that ran up and in on me. It was suppose to down and away but it took off. The pitch to Reynolds I didn't throw as hard as I normally do. I did that a lot today."