Friday, April 12, 2002
Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 4
The Associated Press
DENVER — For most of the long first inning, Randy Johnson looked beatable. Then he quickly put a stop to such foolish thinking.
Johnson settled down after a shaky start, and the Arizona Diamondbacks stopped a three-game losing streak by beating the Colorado Rockies 8-4 Thursday night.
The Diamondbacks improved to 5-0 in games started by Johnson and Curt Schilling. When the World Series co-MVPs do not pitch, Arizona is 0-5.
Johnson (3-0) survived a rocky first inning in which he gave up two runs on just one hit and threw 37 pitches. He then limited Colorado to two hits over the next six innings, striking out nine overall.
The four-time Cy Young winner became the first NL pitcher to win three games this season.
Johnson's first inning was so rough that the Diamondbacks had Miguel Batista begin warming up.
“Randy had trouble getting loose in the bullpen,” manager Bob Brenly said. “His velocity was way down in the first inning. As his pitch count climbed into the 30s, we became concerned.
“As the game went on, he loosened up and got the velocity back. For my money, that's one of the best games he's pitched. With the way he started, for him to regroup and come after a good hitting team the way he did was tremendous.”
Johnson said his shoulder has felt tired since his last start, calling it “dead arm.”
“I'm not going to kid anybody,” he said. “If I don't have an overpowering fastball and slider, I am as vulnerable as anybody out there. I minimized the damage in the first inning. As the game went on, I hit my spots better.”
Damian Miller drove in four runs with two homers and a single, and Junior Spivey hit a bases-loaded triple. Luis Gonzalez broke an early-season slump with three hits, including a solo homer.
Miller hit solo home runs off Jason Jennings and Chris Nichting. Spivey also doubled and singled.
Jennings left in the third after being struck on his pitching elbow by a line drive off the bat of Steve Finley. The Rockies medical staff said Jennings bruised his right elbow, and precautionary X-rays at a hospital were negative.
The Rockies squandered a potentially big inning in the first.
Juan Pierre was hit by a pitch and scored on Juan Uribe's triple. Larry Walker and Todd Zeile both walked, loading the bases with no outs. Uribe scored when shortstop Tony Womack misplayed Todd Helton's short bouncer for an error.
With the bases still loaded, Johnson struck out Benny Agbayani and Jose Ortiz and retired Gary Bennett on a groundout.
“All the great pitchers, you want to try to get to them early,” Rockies manager Buddy Bell said. “We had a real big chance there. You don't want to let those opportunities get past you.
“It's uncanny how guys like that — Johnson, (Nolan) Ryan, all of them — just settle down and find a way. And that guy is pretty doggone good.”
Johnson struck out the side in the second.
Walker led off the Rockies' third with a double and went to third on a groundout, but Johnson got Helton on a popup and Agbayani on a groundout.
After Walker's double, Johnson retired nine straight batters. He allowed a single to Todd Zeile, then retired six more in a row.
Womack led off the fifth against Dennys Reyes (0-1) with a single, and two walks loaded the bases. Miller greeted Rick White with a two-run single.
The Diamondbacks led off six straight innings with hits. The streak ended only when Pierre made a diving catch in right-center to rob Womack in the eighth.
Spivey's base-clearing triple in the seventh off White made it 7-2. Finley and Danny Bautista singled, Miller was intentionally walked and Spivey tripled into the right-field corner.
Colorado got two runs off Arizona relievers in the eighth, including Zeile's RBI single.
Notes: The Rockies went over 25 million in home attendance at Coors Field, which is in its eighth season. In 562 home dates, the Rockies have averaged 44,527. The milestone came just after the team had its two smallest crowds ever, on Tuesday night (30,153) and Wednesday (29,522). ... It was Colorado's 700th home game in all. The team played its first two seasons at Mile High Stadium. ... Spivey made a diving catch of Jose Ortiz's liner behind second base in the sixth. ... It is Arizona's last stop on a three-city, 10-game road trip with no days off.
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Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 4