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Johnson, Drew power Diamondbacks past Phillies

May 7, 2008 - 6:02 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- So far, in a battle between two of the National League's best offenses, it has been two 40-something pitchers that have prevailed. On Tuesday, it was Randy Johnson's turn.

Johnson hurled six effective innings and Stephen Drew belted a three-run homer to key a five-run fourth inning, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 6-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

In Monday's series opener, 44-year-old Jamie Moyer befuddled Arizona's offense, the second-highest scoring unit in the NL. He even helped his own cause, collecting two hits and an RBI in an 11-4 rout of the Diamondbacks.

Just about 24 hours later, turnabout was fair play for the 44-year-old Johnson, who collected his first RBI since October 2, 2004, while allowing his team to overcome its second-worst defeat of the season against the Phillies, who entered Tuesday with the fourth-highest scoring offense in the NL.

Johnson (2-1) won his second straight decision, allowing four runs and five hits while striking out six and walking two.

"I felt great in the beginning of the game," Johnson said. "That was a good as I felt, as far as my back, all year. I pitched according to that the first couple of innings, then I just lost my control a little bit and then got a little frustrated with the execution of some of my pitches."

With the Diamondbacks trailing, 2-1, in the fourth, Arizona took advantage of the wildness of Adam Eaton (0-1), who sandwiched walks to Justin Upton and Miguel Montero around a double to Mark Reynolds to load the bases.

Johnson drew yet another walk on four pitches to force home the second run of the game before a fielder's choice groundout by Chris Young plated another.

"Walking the pitcher on four pitches was pretty pathetic," Eaton said. "You don't mind losing if you're beat, but if you beat yourself, (that's another story). I don't think Arizona beat us today, I think I beat us."

"I knew there was one out, the bases were loaded and I wanted to be patient and not do anything stupid," Johnson said. "The bat was taken out of my hands by walking, so I let the real people do what they are suppose to."

Drew capped off the inning, sending a two-strike pitch from Eaton over the fence in right, leaving the Diamondbacks with a 6-2 cushion.

"Two guys on third and first ... I wasn't trying to do too much to be honest," Drew said. "I didn't know it was gone. I knew I hit it well, I knew I hit it on a line, but I didn't know if it had enough height to get it out."

"The fourth inning was the story of the game," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He (Eaton) walked the pitcher with bases loaded on four pitches. He didn't come close. He had all the chances in the world to get out of the inning but he didn't get it done."

The Phillies mounted a small comeback in the fifth with an RBI double from Eric Bruntlett and again in the sixth, when Jayson Werth blasted a solo homer off Johnson, his sixth of the season.

Chad Qualls and Tony Pena each tossed a scoreless frame before handing the game over in the ninth to closer Brandon Lyon, who worked around a pair of singles to post his 10th save in 12 chances.

"(It's) similar to last year; we feel good if we have the lead after six innings with our three guys fresh and available," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "We feel like we are going to win the game."

Bruntlett had two hits and three RBI for the Phillies, who lost for just the fifth time in their last 15 games.