Johnson Comes to Fore Against Angels : Mariners: Usually overshadowed by Griffey, he pitches three-hitter in 5-0 victory.

Anyone seen Randy Johnson lately? He’s a 6-foot-10 left-hander. Pitches for the Seattle Mariners. Long, stringy hair. Intimidating presence on the mound. You can’t miss him, can you?

Johnson, who shut out the Angels, 5-0, Monday at Anaheim Stadium for his seventh victory in eight starts, finds himself pushed into the shadows by Ken Griffey Jr.’s torrid home run-hitting pace.

Comparisions to Babe Ruth have placed Griffey in the spotlight to the exclusion of every other Mariner. Friday, Griffey homered off Kansas City’s David Cone, hitting his 30th home run earlier in the season than any man in major league history.

So it figured that it would take something special to shove Johnson into the limelight Monday.

A three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts seemed to work OK for Johnson, 9-3 with a 3.28 earned-run average.

And get this, Johnson said he didn’t feel particularly sharp until the middle innings.

“I didn’t have anything in the bullpen (throwing before the game),” Johnson said. “The first couple of innings, I was kind of lethargic. Then I started getting more into the game. The first few innings, I didn’t know how long I could go.”

Seattle Manager Lou Piniella had another viewpoint.

“I’ll tell you this, he had no-hitter stuff,” Piniella said after Johnson completed his fourth shutout in six starts. “My God, the three hits they got. . . . Two were bouncers up the middle and the other was a flair to right.”

Indeed, the Angels managed nothing of substance against Johnson. Tim Salmon’s first-inning single was the only clean hit they had and the only ball hit to the outfield until Chili Davis flied out to end the seventh.

Gary DiSarcina and Bo Jackson had infield singles up the middle. And J.T. Snow battled Johnson for a two-out walk in the eighth. But those four were the only Angel baserunners.

By the fourth inning, Johnson appeared almost unhittable. In the end, he threw 111 pitches and almost every one appeared to baffle the Angels.

The Mariners gave Johnson a five-run lead without the benefit of a hit from Griffey, which ranked as something of a shock. Griffey walked twice, flied out twice and struck out.

Angel starter Joe Magrane (2-4) wasn’t so lucky with Jay Buhner and Mike Blowers.

In the third inning, Buhner hit a 1-and-1 pitch over the left-field wall for a two-run homer.

Blowers’ two-run single to center in the fifth pushed Seattle’s lead to 4-0 and it appeared the Mariners were on the verge of landing a knockout blow to Magrane.

When Magrane walked Edgar Martinez to load the bases with two out in the fifth, it marked his seventh walk of the game, a career high.

Seattle extended its lead to 5-0 after Mitchell’s bases-empty homer in the eighth.

The five-run lead enabled Johnson to cruise the rest of the way. The pressure was off by then, he said.

“His ball was really exploding all over the place,” Piniella said. “His fastball was alive and his slider was biting.”

After the game, the Angels recalled catcher Greg Myers from the disabled list, optioning Jorge Fabregas to triple-A Vancouver and keeping Chris Turner in the majors.

It seemed a curious move, considering Fabregas was batting .283 and Turner .133. But apparently the Angels were more concerned about having two left-handed hitting catchers--Myers and Fabregas--than batting averages.

“The move with Fabregas, in the long run, will further his career,” Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “He just needs to catch. For him to be the player he can be, he needs to catch. To do what he’s done at this level is excellent. To do what he needs to, he has to be at the triple-A level.”