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Johnson sparks big inning as Diamondbacks knock off Phillies

Jul 13, 2008 - 1:58 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Adam Eaton was so ineffective that even Randy Johnson drove in two runs.

Johnson ignited an eight-run fourth inning with a two-out, two-run double and pitched six effective frames as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-4, on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.

"It's something that you take pride in," Johnson said of his hitting. "You realize that you're gonna strike out more than you're gonna put the ball in play. I helped myself out. Obviously, after that, there were many more hits to follow. It was a nice inning for us to go out and score eight runs. For any pitcher, that's a luxury."

Johnson (6-7) allowed four runs, five hits and a walk with three strikeouts in winning his second start in a row following a six-game skid. The 44-year-old lefthander improved his career mark to 11-3 against Philadelphia.

Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino had two home runs and three RBI, finishing with three hits off Johnson.

Mark Reynolds hit his 19th homer of the season and drove in four runs and Chad Tracy added three RBI for the Diamondbacks.

With the game tied at 2-2 in the fourth, Eaton got the first two outs before completely falling apart. He gave up a single by Alex Romero before walking Bobby Hammock on four pitches. That brought Johnson to the plate, who was 2-for-21 on the season after grounding out in the second.

Johnson battled Eaton through a nine-pitch at-bat before lining a 3-2 offering into the left field corner for a two-run double.

"You've got to be able to help yourself," Johnson said. "I've had the same thing done against me (by an opposing pitcher), so I know it helped. It got us going a little bit."

Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin marveled at Johnson's at-bat.

"(Johnson) put on a clinic. We might have to put that on video for our guys," Melvin said. "I was impressed. It was actually a good at-bat. It's not like he just went up there and swung at the first pitch and got a cookie and hit it to left field. He actually was grinding through the at-bat, fouled some pitches off and finally got a ball that he could handle."

When told of Melvin's remark about making a video of Johnson's at-bat, the southpaw was candid in his assessment.

"Watching me hit and run is like watching (former NBA player) Manute Bol shoot a three-pointer, I guess," Johnson joked. "It just isn't a pleasant sight. Every once in a while, I'm lucky enough to put the ball in play."

Johnson's hit opened the floodgates as Conor Jackson lined an RBI double to make it 5-2. Eaton departed after intentionally walking Orlando Hudson to load the bases.

"Got two quick outs, (was) in a real good groove and then not getting Johnson out was definitely a turning point," Eaton said. "I had Johnson 1-2 and he fouled some pretty decent pitches off. Going nine pitches, I definitely like my chances of doing that again and getting him out."

R.J. Swindle came on and promptly surrendered a two-run single by Tracy before Reynolds blasted a three-run homer into the left-center field seats, increasing Arizona's advantage to 10-2.

"Everybody just seemed to go up there and put tough (at-bats) together," Reynolds said.

Johnson went to the mound for the seventh inning, but left the game after one warm-up pitch.

"I had a little cramp in my leg," Johnson said. "Nothing to worry about."

"His calf was cramping just a little bit," Melvin added. "Actually, the baserunning escapades took something out of him."

Eaton (3-8) surrendered eight runs, seven hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings with four strikeouts. It was the second straight dismal outing for the righthander, who gave up eight runs in his previous start.

"My ERA (of 5.71) is brutal," Eaton said. "It seems like either I'm good or I'm horrendous. Today, I was good for a few innings and the rest was bad. Just eliminating that big inning for me right now seems to be the key."

Arizona staked Johnson to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning.Tracy delivered an RBI single and Reynolds added a run-scoring grounder.

Victorino tied it for the Phillies with a two-run homer in the third and added a solo shot in the fifth inning, capping his first career multi-homer performance.