Mariners’ Johnson No-Hits Tigers

On the days that Randy Johnson pitches, his teammates go out of their way to avoid him. Way out of their way.

“I’m a very moody person,” the 6-foot-10 left-hander said Saturday night after pitching the first no-hitter in Seattle Mariners’ history, a 2-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

“Just ask Brian Holman. If he were here, he would tell you that. I like to be in my own little world. I don’t like people talking to me. People have called me another Bill Lee.”

Saturday night, Johnson (4-3) overcame his own wildness, walking six and striking out eight.

Johnson a left-hander acquired from the Montreal Expos on May 25, 1989, in the trade for Mark Langston, pitched the first no-hitter at the Kingdome, which opened for baseball in 1977.

He said another Mariners’ left-hander, Matt Young, was the only teammate to speak to him.

“I sat next to Matt and he said, ‘Come on, R.J., let’s go out and do it,’ ” Johnson said. “Brian Giles came by and shook my hand but didn’t say anything.”

Johnson entered the game with a 4.73 earned-run average and had allowed 12 home runs, the most in the major leagues. His previous low-hit game was a five-hit victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on July 23, 1989.

Two of the walks and two of the strikeouts came against Cecil Fielder, who shares the major league lead in home runs with 19.

Johnson struck out Fielder on three pitches to begin the ninth inning. Chet Lemon fouled out to first baseman Alvin Davis and Mike Heath then struck out swinging on an 0-and-2 pitch, Johnson’s 136th pitch of the game, as the crowd of 20,014 erupted.

Johnson threw 87 strikes and 49 balls. The Mariners said he had 50 pitches of 94 m.p.h. and more. His final pitch, to strike out Heath, was clocked at 97 m.p.h., his fastest of the game.

Johnson’s toughest jam came in the sixth inning, when he loaded the bases on walks to Tony Phillips, Gary Ward and Fielder, but struck out Lemon to end the inning.

Ward hit the hardest ball of the night for the Tigers, a 365-foot fly in the first inning that center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. caught one step in front of the warning track.

In the seventh inning, Tracy Jones hit a slow roller to third baseman Edgar Martinez, whose throw pulled Davis off the bag. But umpire Derryl Cousins ruled that Davis tagged Jones on the helmet. Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson came out of the dugout to protest, but after the game, the Tigers said Jones was definitely out.

“He was out,” Anderson said. “I checked with my guy (Jones).”

“I was out,” Jones said. “The umpire was waiting for the tag to see if he (Davis) dropped the ball, but he didn’t.”

Johnson said the key for him was pitching inside.

“I’m a power pitcher,” he said. “I give up a lot of home runs. Scott Bradley and I talked about it before the game. We decided I had to throw my fastball inside.”

Ward also reached when shortstop Mike Brumley bobbled his routine grounder in the fourth.

It was the second no-hitter of the season but the first complete-game nine-inning no-hitter in the majors since the Cincinnati Reds’ Tom Browning pitched a perfect game against the Dodgers on Sept. 16, 1988. The last complete-game no-hitter in the American League was pitched by the Milwaukee Brewers’ Juan Nieves against the Baltimore Orioles on April 15, 1987.

The Mariners were the victims of this year’s no-hitter, as Langston and Mike Witt combined to pitch the Angels to a 1-0 victory over the Mariners on April 11.

The Mariners have had four one-hitters in their 14-year history. The most recent was on April 20, when Holman got the first 26 outs before allowing a homer to Ken Phelps in a 6-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

Holman wasn’t on hand to see his teammate accomplish what he didn’t. His wife gave birth to a baby in Kansas this week and Holman was still with her.

The no-hitter was the 12th pitched against the Tigers and the first since the Angels’ Nolan Ryan beat them, 6-0, on July 15, 1973.