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Giants-Marlins Preview

Jun 8, 2009 - 4:40 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

San Francisco (28-26) at Florida (27-30), 7:10 p.m. EDT

After achieving his latest milestone, Randy Johnson is poised to continue his most successful stretch of the season for the San Francisco Giants.

Pitching on three days' rest, the veteran tries for his third straight victory while looking to continue his dominance of the host Florida Marlins in the conclusion of a four-game set Monday night.

Johnson (5-4, 5.12 ERA), who turns 46 in September, became the 24th pitcher to record 300 victories after allowing an unearned run and two hits in six innings of a 5-1 victory over Washington in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday.

Two months into his 22nd season, Johnson become the first pitcher to get 300 on his first try since Tom Seaver in 1985. He's the sixth left-hander to reach the milestone and the second-oldest pitcher to do it.

"It's a long-range achievement," Johnson said. "It's not a one-game or a one-year achievement, it's a career achievement. I'm going to think about this for a long time.

"I get more gratification out of that because of the way I'm doing it now than the way I did it 10 years ago."

No longer as overpowering as he once was, Johnson is 2-0 with a 1.04 ERA with 14 strikeouts over his last three starts. Despite bruising his shoulder Thursday, Johnson volunteered to make this start rather than force the club to call up a pitcher from the minors for one outing.

"It validates Randy saying that it's not just 300 he's after," manager Bruce Bochy told the Giants' official Web site. "He wants to help the organization and the team win ballgames. Here he is wanting the ball Monday after he could be pushed back a day or two."

The Marlins' consistent futility against Johnson over his career has helped him pave the way to 300. He's 8-1 with a 1.78 ERA in 13 starts versus them.

San Francisco (29-26) won 3-2 on Sunday and has taken two of the first three in the set while improving to 4-2 on a 10-game road trip. The Giants are 10-4 since losing four in a row.

Tim Lincecum allowed two runs, Bengie Molina had two RBIs and Aaron Rowand extended his career-high hitting streak to 17 games.

Rowand is 7 for 14 in the series, and batting .411 (30 for 72) with 11 RBIs during the majors' longest active hitting streak. He is a lifetime .363 hitter against the Marlins.

Rookie Chris Coghlan hit a two-run homer Sunday for Florida (27-31), which had just five hits. Coghlan, who was recalled from the minors on May 8, is 3 for 7 in the series.

Sean West (0-1, 3.31) makes his fourth career start for the Marlins in this contest.

After allowing three runs over 12 innings in his first two starts, the left-hander gave up five - three earned - and four hits while walking three in 4 1-3 innings and suffered his first defeat in a 9-6 loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday.

"You hope he will bounce back, and get back on track and be the Sean West that we saw in his first two outings," manager Fredi Gonzalez told the Marlins' official Web site.