Randy Johnson

at San Francisco 6, Atlanta 3: Randy Johnson (4-4) gave up one run and three hits in six innings to earn his 299th victory. The 45-year-old left-hander struck out five to run his total to 4,843, second most all-time. St. Louis 3, at Milwaukee 2: Todd Wellemeyer (5-4) and the Cardinals bullpen silenced the Brewers, who struck out 27 times in the three-game series.

Left-handed complements A look at some of baseball's best left-handed trios of starters: 2003 Oakland Athletics Mark Mulder; 15-9; 3.13 Barry Zito; 14-12; 3.30 Ted Lilly; 12-10; 4.34 1997 Seattle Mariners Randy Johnson; 20-4; 2.28 Jeff Fassero; 16-9; 3.61 Jamie Moyer; 17-5; 3.86 1993 Atlanta Braves Tom Glavine; 22-6; 3.20 Steve Avery; 18-6; 2.94...

Randy Johnson, who hadn't pitched for the Seattle Mariners since May 12, was activated Tuesday and pitched two innings of scoreless relief against the Cleveland Indians. He pitched the sixth and seventh innings and gave up only one hit. Mariner Manager Lou Piniella said Johnson, who won the AL Cy Young Award last season after going 18-2, will be used in middle relief until he was ready to start again.

ESPN, the MLB Network and the Internet weren't around in 1968; otherwise, could you imagine how cranked up the hype machine would have been for Bob Gibson versus Denny McLain that fall? Gibson went 22-9 with a 1.12 earned run average for the St. Louis Cardinals; McLain went 31-6 with a 1.96 ERA for the Detroit Tigers. Both won Cy Young Awards that season. The aces squared off twice in the 1968 World Series, in Games 1 and 4, with Gibson throwing complete-game five-hitters to win by the scores of 4-0 and 10-1.

Randy Johnson and the San Francisco Giants agreed to an $8-million, one-year contract Friday, meaning the 45-year-old pitcher will go for his 300th win with a new team. Johnson, a 21-year big league veteran who spent the last two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, was born in Walnut Creek, about 30 minutes from the Giants' park. He grew up in nearby Livermore. The five-time Cy Young Award winner has 295 victories after going 11-10 with a 3.91 earned-run average in 30 starts last season.

at San Francisco 3, Colorado 2: Randy Johnson yielded four hits and struck out nine over seven scoreless innings in his 297th victory. Cincinnati 4, at Pittsburgh 0: Bronson Arroyo gave up four singles over eight innings, and the Reds ran the Pirates' scoreless-innings streak to 22. St. Louis 6, at Washington 2: The Cardinals hit a season-high four home runs, by Albert Pujols, Chris Duncan, Ryan Ludwick and Joe Thurston.

Bert Blyleven , nicknamed Bert "Be Home" Blyleven by ESPN's pun-loving Chris Berman , might actually have to wait until the eleventh hour to gain entrance to the Hall of Fame. . . . The former Garden Grove Santiago High star, fifth on the all-time strikeout list, should have been voted in long ago. . . . Randy Johnson , whose Cooperstown bust must include his signature mullet, will have a much shorter wait. . . . If NBA teams could still draft players straight out of high school, O.J. Mayo never would have even visited USC, Tim Floyd might still be pulling his hair out in front of the Galen Center scorer's table and the unfairly punished current team wouldn't have had the rug pulled out from under its promising season.

Randy Johnson has been unbeatable since last July, and it was more of the same Monday night in his finest performance of the year. Johnson pitched a three-hitter, striking out 12, and Jay Buhner homered as the Seattle Mariners ended a three-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Johnson (6-0) retired the last 17 batters--striking out the side in the ninth--to win his eighth consecutive decision, matching his career high.

The pain in Randy Johnson's shoulder isn't getting any better and the soreness has forced Seattle's pitching ace to miss his scheduled start today against Oakland. Bill Krueger will start in place of the Mariners' all-star, who will undergo an examination by team doctors Monday in Seattle. Johnson (11-2), who has thrown four complete games, including two shutouts, is leading the AL in strikeouts with 195 and batters are hitting a league-low .217 against him.

Randy Johnson apparently will not need surgery to correct his back problem, but the Seattle Mariners' Cy Young Award winner will be out the rest of the month, according to the team doctor. A bulging disk is what irritated a nerve and put the 6-foot-10 left-hander on the 15-day disabled list. Further tests were being conducted. Johnson is 5-0 this year. He began experiencing lower-back and right leg problems during his April 26 start in Milwaukee.

Bert Blyleven , nicknamed Bert "Be Home" Blyleven by ESPN's pun-loving Chris Berman , might actually have to wait until the eleventh hour to gain entrance to the Hall of Fame. . . . The former Garden Grove Santiago High star, fifth on the all-time strikeout list, should have been voted in long ago. . . . Randy Johnson , whose Cooperstown bust must include his signature mullet, will have a much shorter wait. . . . If NBA teams could still draft players straight out of high school, O.J. Mayo never would have even visited USC, Tim Floyd might still be pulling his hair out in front of the Galen Center scorer's table and the unfairly punished current team wouldn't have had the rug pulled out from under its promising season.

Randy Johnson made what could be the last appearance of his brilliant, 22-year big league career, pitching one inning of relief in the San Francisco Giants' 4-3, 10-inning win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday. Although the Big Unit gave up an unearned run in the seventh that tied the game at 3, Pablo Sandoval provided the go-ahead run when he homered on the first pitch of the 10th inning. It was Sandoval's 25th. The 46-year-old Johnson said Thursday that he'll take his time in the off-season deciding his future.

San Francisco 6, at St. Louis 3: Randy Johnson won his third straight decision and 303rd of his career despite giving up two home runs to Albert Pujols. It was the third multi-homer game in 10 games for Pujols. at Pittsburgh 3, Chicago 0: Freddy Sanchez went three for three and drove in two runs for the Pirates. The Cubs went 11-14 in June. Arizona 6, at Cincinnati 2: Dan Haren held the Reds scoreless into the seventh inning and hit his first career home run for the Diamondbacks.

San Francisco 6, at Oakland 3: Randy Johnson went seven innings to pick up his 302nd victory. N.Y. Yankees 8, at Atlanta 4: Francisco Cervelli hit his first career homer to break the Yankees' 14-inning drought in Atlanta, then Alex Rodriguez had a key two-run single. at Detroit 5, Chicago Cubs 3: Gerald Laird and Miguel Cabrera homered to help the Tigers win their sixth in a row. Boston 6, at Washington 4: David Ortiz homered and got his 1,000th RBI. at N.Y. Mets 11, St.

The tall left-hander had not given up a hit through six innings -- and Randy Johnson was already out of the game. Facing the Big Unit, 6-foot-8 rookie Sean West flirted with a no-hitter in the fourth start of his career. West did not give up a hit until the seventh inning, Brett Carroll backed him with the first home run of his career, and the Florida Marlins defeated the San Francisco Giants, 4-0, on Monday night.

at San Francisco 6, Atlanta 3: Randy Johnson (4-4) gave up one run and three hits in six innings to earn his 299th victory. The 45-year-old left-hander struck out five to run his total to 4,843, second most all-time. St. Louis 3, at Milwaukee 2: Todd Wellemeyer (5-4) and the Cardinals bullpen silenced the Brewers, who struck out 27 times in the three-game series.

With San Francisco Giants pitcher Randy Johnson closing in on victory No. 300, the question has arisen: Is this the last time we see someone join the 300-win club? In this era of five-man rotations and strict pitch counts, the conventional thinking is that Johnson will be the last. Nolan Ryan, president of the Texas Rangers and a proponent of returning to four-man rotations, holds out slim hope for the endangered species.